4. Microwave the milk in a microwave-safe measuring cup for 30 seconds on high or until warm. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour; cook, whisking constantly, for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the warm milk. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes, or until thickened. Whisk in the cheddar cheese, kosher salt, and black pepper.
5. Increase the oven temperature to 425°F. Line each Parmesan shell with 2 turkey pieces and fill each with 1 teaspoon cheese sauce. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan to a wire rack and top with crumbled bacon and diced tomato. Garnish with flat-leaf parsley leaves.
MAKES ONE 9-INCH PIE
Chocolate Derby Pecan Pie
From the kitchen of Annie Campbell
* * *
This pie may be made a day or two in advance, covered, and refrigerated. Double the filling to make two pies. You’ll be happy you did!
* * *
3 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
One 9-inch prebaked Annie’s Pie Crust (recipe follows) or prebaked store-bought pie crust
Whipped cream or ice cream for topping (optional)
* * *
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Whisk together the eggs, melted butter, flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips, pecans, and walnuts. Spread the mixture into the prepared pie crust.
3. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the filling is set and the top and crust are golden brown. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.
MAKES ONE 9-INCH PIE CRUST
Annie’s Pie Crust
* * *
21/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
21/2 sticks very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pats
6 tablespoons to 1/2 cup cold water
* * *
1. Combine two-thirds (about 12/3 cups) of the flour with the sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to incorporate. Spread the butter chunks evenly over the surface. Pulse until no dry flour remains and the dough just begins to form clumps, or about 25 short pulses. Use a rubber spatula to spread the dough evenly around the bowl of the food processor. Sprinkle with the remaining flour and pulse until the dough is just barely broken up, about 5 short pulses.
2. Transfer the dough to a large bowl. Sprinkle the dough with water; then, using a rubber spatula, fold and press it until it comes together into a ball. Divide the ball in half. Form each half into a 4-inch disk. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or freeze for up to 3 months.
3. On a well-floured work surface, using a rolling pin dusted with flour, roll out the chilled dough into a 12-inch round. Transfer the dough to a pie pan. Press the dough evenly into the pan and use your preferred crimping technique to decorate the edge of the crust. Place the pan in the freezer for 2 hours before baking.
4. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
5. Remove the pie crust from the freezer and line the inside with parchment paper. Place pie weights (or dried beans) on top of the parchment paper to weigh down the crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the parchment paper and weights. Return the pan to the oven to bake for 10 minutes more, or until the crust starts to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool until ready to use.
Cheekwood
A very fancy, old-time fund-raising ball is held every year at Cheekwood, a historic estate in Nashville set on fifty-five acres that includes a vast botanical garden. I’ve always loved Cheekwood, which was donated to the city by the Cheek family. They amassed a fortune from their grocery empire, including Maxwell House coffee (remember “Good to the last drop”?). My grandmother and I often met for lunch or teatime in Cheekwood’s Pineapple Room, which has long been the place in town for the ladies-who-lunch set. Every time we went, we were guaranteed to see half a dozen ladies Dorothea knew.
On holiday breaks as a teenager, I served as a docent at Cheekwood. From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, the “Trees of Christmas” exhibit featured fir trees decked out by local businesses in different themes, such as Visions of Sugar Plums or Christmas Around the World. It was my job to guide people through the exhibit and explain why a decoration had been chosen by a tree’s designer. I loved it because I got to pretend I was an art historian in a fancy museum . . . did I mention I was a huge nerd?
Equestrian Transferware
Growing up, I found that nearly every Nashville dining room I walked into had steeplechase-themed wallpaper. My grandmother took the trend to heart. She had the wallpaper—and the dishes. She loved a horse theme, particularly when it came to her antique English transferware.
Transferware is a kind of ceramics made using transfer printing that dates to eighteenth-century England and usually has a country scene in white and blue or white and red. Once you get into a pattern, you can get addicted to collecting it. Dorothea eventually owned every piece in her pattern’s set, from dinner plates and teacups to platters and bowls, plus a big soup tureen and ladle that my dad and I stumbled upon while rummaging around the flea market at the Fairgrounds Nashville early one Saturday morning. That piece became the focal point of her dining room—often spilling over with fresh peonies from her backyard garden.
To this day, transferware is my favorite item to hunt for at a flea market. I always feel as though I’ve hit the lottery when I find a piece of cranberry-colored transferware that Dorothea would have loved—with a horse on it, of course!
ABOVE LEFT AND NEXT That’s my grandmother’s dining room wallpaper.
Steeplechase
The Iroquois Steeplechase horse race has been a Nashville tradition for more than seventy-five years. It’s a great excuse to put on a pretty dress and have some fun. Seersucker, linen, bow ties, pocket squares, embellished hats, and wacky fascinators—it’s all fair game at Steeplechase.
Every year, my parents and their friends would get together at someone’s home for cocktails before taking a picnic of pulled pork sliders to the track.
MENU
steeplechase picnic menu
* * *
Pulled Pork Sliders with Bourbon BBQ Sauce and Pickled Red Onions
The Mockingbird: Sorghum Old-Fashioned Cocktail
MAKES 24 SLIDERS
Pulled Pork Sliders with Bourbon BBQ Sauce and Pickled Red Onions
From the kitchen of Annie Campbell
* * *
Make the barbecue sauce and pickled onions the week before to get a jump start on this classic Derby recipe. The pork shoulder can be cooked and shredded up to 2 days in advance, then stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
* * *
1/3 cup salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds
2 teaspoons espresso powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 pounds boneless pork shoulder
1 to 11/2 cups Bourbon BBQ Sauce (recipe follows)
24 mini brioche buns, halved
Butter for toasting brioche buns
2 cups Pickled Red Onions (recipe follows)
* * *
1. Combine the salt, brown sugar, paprika, cumin, espresso powder, and garlic. Rub the mixture all over the pork. Wrap the pork tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 250°F. Unwrap the pork and place it in a roasting pan. Cook in the preheated oven for 4 hours, basting with the rendered fat and juices every hour. After 4 hours, or when an instant-read thermometer registers an internal
temperature of 150°F, remove the pork from the oven and wrap tightly in aluminum foil. Return the wrapped shoulder to the oven and cook for 4 hours more.
3. Remove the pork shoulder from the oven and let it rest. When cool enough to handle, shred the meat into thin strands with your hands. Pour 1/2 cup of the pan juices over the pork and stir in 3/4 to 1 cup of Bourbon BBQ Sauce. Taste for seasoning and add more sauce or pan juices, as desired.
TO MAKE THE SLIDERS
Preheat the broiler. Butter the cut sides of the brioche buns and toast under the broiler. Pile hot pulled pork onto the bottom half of the slider bun and top with a few slices of Pickled Red Onions. Secure the top half of the bun using a knotted bamboo skewer or a toothpick, and serve immediately!
MAKES ABOUT 21/2 CUPS
Bourbon BBQ Sauce
From the kitchen of Annie Campbell
* * *
11/2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons Kentucky bourbon or Tennessee whiskey, depending on your team
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup dark molasses
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon hot sauce, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
* * *
1. Whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.
2. Simmer until reduced to a glaze consistency, about 15 minutes (the sauce should reduce by about one-third).
3. Adjust the flavor with more molasses, vinegar, or hot sauce to taste. Cooled barbecue sauce can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for several months.
MAKES 1 QUART
Pickled Red Onions
From the kitchen of Annie Campbell
* * *
Use a mandoline to slice the onions superthin in a flash. These onions get tastier the longer they pickle, so it is best to make them well in advance and store them in the refrigerator.
* * *
3 cups water
2 tablespoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 red onion, sliced paper thin
* * *
1. Combine the water, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan.
2. Heat over medium heat until the salt and sugar are fully dissolved.
3. Remove from heat and let cool. Stir in the vinegar.
4. Pour the vinegar mixture over the onions, transfer to a clean quart-sized jar, and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
The Mockingbird
Sorghum Old-Fashioned Cocktail
* * *
The last time I was in Nashville, I went to a restaurant called the Mockingbird. (It serves these amazing things called “tatchos”—tater tots, lamb chili, beer cheddar, and scallions.) While there, I had one of the best old-fashioned cocktails of my life, which inspired me to do this southern riff on a classic cocktail when I came across some sorghum whiskey.
Sorghum is a type of grass that grows tall into canes with beautiful tassels on top. It grows well in the Tennessee plateau, and the canes can be pressed to extract juice, which is then boiled down to create sorghum syrup. It is a very old-fashioned technique, and although the texture and color of the syrup are similar to those of molasses, it has a very different taste. Muddy Pond sorghum syrup is grown and made in central Tennessee and is available online. That brand is also used in a wonderful sorghum whiskey made by High Wire Distilling Company.
* * *
2 ounces sorghum whiskey or your favorite whiskey
1/4 to 1/2 ounce simple sorghum syrup (recipe follows)
2 to 3 dashes Angostura bitters
11/2-inch-long orange peel (orange part only)
* * *
In a mixing glass or small pitcher, combine the whiskey, simple sorghum syrup, and bitters and stir together. If you like to drink an old-fashioned “neat,” add some ice to the pitcher and strain into a rocks glass. If you like to drink it with ice, pour into a rocks glass over ice. Hold the orange peel over the drink and twist it to express some of the flavorful oil into the glass, then drop the peel into the drink.
MAKES 1 CUP
Simple Sorghum Syrup
* * *
1/2 cup sorghum syrup
1/2 cup water
* * *
In a small saucepot, heat the sorghum syrup and water together to a simmer—do not let it boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Keep covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
CHAPTER 11
Catching Frogs & Selling Lemonade
What I loved about being a child in the South was that we played outdoors all the time. Playing Atari games was a real treat, but most of our days were spent running around the neighborhood, riding our bikes, climbing trees, and getting covered in mud. I had one of those idyllic childhoods where I would get home at three o’clock, throw down my backpack, and run outside with my brother to join the neighborhood kids for kickball or tag until it got dark. Kids ran to one another’s houses, shared one another’s homes. There weren’t a lot of rules, boundaries, or playdates. No one scheduled us. I learned about social dynamics by having to get along with whatever bunch of random kids happened to be outside on any given day. There was a creek that ran through our neighborhood. We would all walk down to the creek and catch crawdads or frogs. (To this day, if I see a frog I will chase it, to my husband’s horror!)
In the evening, whenever our folks left the house, my brother and I would go on a mission to eat all the sweets we could find. John was the family spy. He always managed to see where my mom hid the best treats, and the minute the adults departed, we would find the stash. He would drag the big kitchen stool next to the fridge and climb up to get to Mom’s “hidden” stash of M&M’s or MoonPies. Joy was staying up past our bedtime, watching cartoons, hiding the empty candy bags behind the sofa cushions.
At the same time, we were expected to clean up nicely and to have impeccable manners in polite society.
We were taught to look people in the eye and to say hello and smile. Smiling at people is a big part of life in the South. If a child does not wave back at someone walking down the street, don’t be surprised if the adult says, “Excuse me, little one. Where are your manners?”
Good manners take very little effort. It’s not that hard to smile. My mother likes to say, “Smiles are contagious.” Try smiling at people you don’t even know for a day. Even if you’re not in Nashville, most of them will smile back at you. It really does make a difference. Those little daily kindnesses, they can really change the mood of a block, a neighborhood, a city. My mother made sure we knew it was a necessity to be extra-nice to people doing the hard jobs that make other people more comfortable, like waiters, salespeople, and hotel workers. I love the way my husband is with people at a restaurant—in fact, I always observe how people act with waiters. It says a lot.
My kids sometimes meet hundreds of new people a week, because we have to travel so much for my work. I think there’s something really great about their learning to look people in the eye, to introduce themselves, to be respectful, to take care of other people’s property. We always say in the South that good manners are a kind of passport. If you have good manners, you can go everywhere and people are glad to have you around.
In this spirit, I grew up saying “Please” and “Thank you” and “Yes, ma’am” and “No, sir.” It actually took a long time to drum that “ma’am” habit out of me. I had to live in California for at least fifteen years before I stopped calling women even five years older than me “ma’am.” What can I say . . . it was a huge part of my upbringing!
We were taug
ht manners by example. The older women in our families were unflappably polite. Southern women are strong and outspoken but also beautifully composed and always present their best selves to the world. They believe in character and the presentation of that character. They aren’t afraid to tell you how they really feel.
Someone once told me they thought people in the South were passive-aggressive in their politeness. Certainly not! In my experience, a southern woman will tell you right to your face if she doesn’t like something. If my mother or grandmother wasn’t pleased with my behavior, she’d say, “I don’t like that. The way you’re behaving is ugly. I don’t like when children behave ugly.” I feared their disapproval, and one pointed look from either of them could terrify me. Getting a “Stop acting ugly” was just the worst! I hated disappointing my grandma or my mother.
How to Catch a Frog with Your Bare Hands
Step 1: Be quiet. You have to sneak up on a frog.
Step 2: Cheaters use nets. You want to use your hands. Grab the frog—fast!—by the legs with one hand. Support the rest of the frog with your other hand.
Whiskey in a Teacup Page 8
