New Hopewell Baptist Church Sportsmen Dinner

Last night we attended the annual Sportsman Dinner at New Hopewell Baptist Church in Seymour. This free event attracts outdoor's men (and women)and adventuress foodies from around the area. Despite a light drizzle rain the turn out was huge, many coming for the food, others to hear Ken Sparks, head coach from Carson Newman College speak. Others came for a free chance to win one of the many door prizes including a muzzle loader, a compound bow, a hunting trip and a ton (almost) of fishing rods. I have attended wildlife dinners in several states but this dinner was by far the best organized and the food the most delicious of any I have attended. Wildlife Dinners are usually male territory with men doing most of the cooking. Many I have attended serve charred pieces of unidentifiable meat with deer, bear and elk all looking and tasting the same...burnt. Rarely do they include anything green although many do offer baked beans from a can as the one token veggie. The food at the New Hopewell Dinner showed they knew what they were doing in preparing the wild game. Vension was most prevalent but prepared in many ways; swiss steak, chili, tomatoes and onions, grilled, goulash and more. I always look for something I haven's tried before and this night it was the wild hog BBQ Ribs. I expected a wild flavor and the meat to be tough, instead the ribs were smoked perfectly and fall off the bones tender. The sauce complimented the flavor and it was my favorite of the night. My husband went for the pickled quail eggs and the racoon. Both got a thumbs up and a big thumbs up to the chef behind the dinner and New Hopewell for bringing everyone together. Thank You.

Buttermilk

One of the first things I discovered upon moving to Tennessee was Southerners Love Buttermilk. Growing up my best friend was from Virginia and her favorite meal was beans and corn bread which she washed down with buttermilk.While I still don't drink straight buttermilk, I too have fallen in love with this wonderful Southern treasure. I began my appreciation of this once discarded remnant from churning butter, when practing recipes for the International Biscuit Festival Contest in Knoxville. Using buttermilk made my biscuits light and fluffy. I started using buttermilk in my homemade pancakes and waffles and it really made a difference. Next I started searching regional cookbooks for old time recipes using buttermilk. My first find was Buttermilk Syrup, and while I couldn't imagine what it would taste like I decided to give it a try and Oh how glad I was I did !!! One word 'Amazing'. I now use it on pancakes, buttermilk of course and also use it as a glaze on Sour Cream Pound Cake and cookies. It is so good it would make a piece of leather from an old shoe taste good!! My next buttermilk find came while sitting in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Flipping through the pages of a Tennessee Farm Magazine dated December 2011 I came across an article containg a treasure trove of buttermilk recipes compiled by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Market Development Department. My favorite and one I make on a regular basis is called White Lie Buttermilk Pie. I'm not sure where the name came from, but I can not tell a lie, This is one great pie. The last one I made I added well-drained peach slices just before the pie was done. Delish!! In and around Knoxville there is only one buttermilk to use Cruze Dairy Farms. Check out their website and pictures at www.cruzefarmgirl.com BUTTERMILK SYRUP 1 ½ Cups Sugar ¾ Cup Buttermilk ½ Cup Butter 2 Tablespoons corn syrup 1 Teaspoon baking soda Combine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 7 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla. Serve warm or cold. White Lie Buttermilk Pie 1 single pie pastry 8 Tbs. unsalted butter 1 Cup sugar 3 Tbs. all purpose flour 3 eggs 1 Cup Whole Buttermilk 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract Preheat oven to 450 degress. Line pastry crust with double thickness of aluminum foil and bake 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5-6 minutes longer or until shell is light brown. Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees. In a saucepan over low heat ; melt the butter, stir in sugar and flour. Mix until smooth. In a mixing bowl; beat eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla. Slowly stir buttermilk mixture into the melted butter mixture. Pour into baked pie shell. Using aluminum foil tent the pie and bake for 50-55 minutes or until center is set. Cool on wire rack one hour. Refrigerate for 4 hours before serving. Serve plain or with whipped cream. ( I sometimes sprinkle the top lightly with ground nutmeg before baking )

Ramps and Festivals

Ramps, wild leeks or stinking onion, is a much loved sign of spring in Eastern Tennessee spawning festivals across the region. While West Virginia holds the title of most Ramp Festivals held each spring, Tennessee comes in a close second with Ramp Festivals held each spring dating back to 1959. Old timers speak of ‘ramps’ with nostalgia, recounting stories of going up to the mountains with their grandparents to harvest the pungent bulbs, and anticipation in enjoying this springs harvest. So for the uninitiated what are ramps, where are they found and what to do with them? Ramps/allium tricoccum are a member of the allium family. The flavor of ramps is a cross between an onion, leek and garlic. While the bulb resembles a spring onion, the top is broad and flat, resembling lily of the valley plants. Ramps are part of mountain folklore and used as a spring tonic as one of the first plants to emerge in the spring. Ramps can be found growing from South Carolina north to Canada and west to Missouri and Oklahoma. They are found growing wild in the mountains and forest and prefer to be close to streams. Because of the growing popularity of ramps the state of Tennessee has listed the plant as ‘commercially exploited’, and in 2002 both Tennessee and North Carolina made it illegal to harvest ramps in the Smoky Mountains. Ramps may be ordered during their growing season from April to May from a West Virginia forager at http://www.bloggingwv.com/wild-ramps-for-sale/ The cleaned ramps are chopped including both the bulbs and leafy greens and par boiled for 10 minutes; drain and add to the potatoes or eggs while frying. Boiled ramps are also eaten as a green vegetable, with pasta, soups and any dish that calls for leeks. This weekend we traveled down to Tellico Plains to the 3rd. annual Ramp Dinner and festival. I knew that ramps grew wild in the mountains and were harvest in the early spring. I also knew thew were a cross between an onion and a leek. The dinner was the traditional ramp dinner of scrambled eggs w/ ramps, fried potatoes w/ ramps, boiled ramps, beans, fried side meat, beans, corn bread, drink and dessert for $7.00. The dinner was delicious. After I was able to purchase a bag of cleaned ramps for $5.00, which I used to prepare my fried eggs and potatoes the next day. I now know what all the fuss is about. Unfortunately the oldest Ramp Festival in Tennessee, The Cosby Ramp Festival, has been cancelled. The festival began in 1954, and brought dignitaries from around the nation including President Harry Truman, to the Smoky Mountains to try the treasured allium. Fortunately other communities around Tennessee have continued the Ramp tradition; Tellico Plains Ramp Festival, Traditional dinner, crafts, entertainment; Third Saturday in April. http://Tellico-plains.blogspot.com/2012/03/ramp-festival Polk County Ramp Tramp Festival; since 1958 this is the place to go to learn to identify and dig ramps. The Wednesday before the festival volunteers meet and go out to dig the ramps. On Friday volunteers prepare the ramps and on the last Saturday in April the festival and dinner takes place. http://ramptramfestival.com Unicoi County has been celebrating ramps for 28 years. The event takes place the 2nd Saturday in May and is held at the Flag Pond Community Center. www.flafpond.com/festival/ramp/fest.htm

East Tennessee Transplant

I am a Tennessee transplant, as a matter of fact that is what I wanted to call this blog, but that name was taken. So instead I will call my new blog My Tennessee Discoveries. I have been living in East Tennessee for two years. I have fallen in love with the mountains, the people ( most of them), the history, traditions, food and music of my new home. For the past year I have written a blog about where to eat pancakes in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Sevierville. Now I want to write about the things that are new to me; Buttermilk, Ramps, Harp Note Singing, Native American Flutes, Biscuit Fest, Nashville Hot Chicken,BBQ, Bluegrass, Gospel Sings, and beans. I write this for my family and friends but share it with anyone interested in exploring or re-exploring Tennessee through the eyes of a transplant. :)