Cooking with Guest Blogger Lady Smokey

Hi Y’all! Dolan & Ali Marie asked me to be a guest blogger. Since I am a huge fan of their work and they are some of my very favorite dining companions, I was naturally thrilled!

Thinking about what to write about for my first post, I was inspired by one of my favorite of Dolan’s creations, Whiskey Creek Guitar Company.

Art can indeed inspire culinary creations. This piece reminds me of all the things I love about the South. There is a great warmth and charm about it, just like a Southern comfort meal. My husband, Grant, helped me with this meal. We are a good team- I like to come up with the ideas and prep everything and he swarms in and executes it all in a timely manner. We listened to Marty Stuart’s new album, Ghost Train, as we cooked.

I always knew about Marty Stuart but I never understood the depth of his talent and spirit until we moved to Nashville five years ago. Besides being an extremely talented musician and songwriter, he is an incredible human being filled with the spirit of generosity. He has one of the largest collections of country music memorabilia, is an amazing photographer, and continually works with up and coming country musicians as well as aging country music stars. He is truly doing his part to keep the real spirit of old school country music alive. His latest album, Ghost Train, was recorded at the famous RCA’s Studio B in Nashville. This is truly a country music album with lots of twang and a little bit of rock-n-roll thrown in. This album has great energy and could serve as a great introduction to Marty Stuart if you are unfamiliar with his music.

It’s a bit too chilly out now to use the grill or the smoker so we decided to make an oven roasted chicken. Tennessee whiskey was the inspiration for the glaze. We used a little George Dickel that is made in the Cascade Hollow of Tennessee, about an hour outside of Nashville. The recipe went something like this...

Tennessee Whiskey Maple Chicken
Brine ~
2 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
¼ cup George Dickel Whiske
2 cups water (enough to cover your chicken)

6 chicken thighs (skin on, bone-in)
1 tsp olive oil
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey
2 Tbsp dark soy sauce (or Tamari)
Sea salt & black pepper to taste

Brine the chicken overnight (8 hours minimum). Pat dry. Make a glaze with the last 4 ingredients. Place olive oil in a large pan on the stove. Sear chicken thighs to brown. Coat the chicken with the glaze and place in an oven safe dish. Roast chicken 40 minutes in 400-degree oven.

Collard Greens are an essential Southern side dish (and so nutritious!) so we cooked up a mess. The important thing to remember about collards is you really need to wash them well. You will also want to remove the large veins, as they can be a little too tough to eat. Collards need a bit longer to cook than other greens so get them started early.

Collard Greens
2 Tbsp butter (olive oil or bacon fat can be substituted)
One small onion, diced
One large bunch collard greens (washed thoroughly, large veins cut out, coarsely torn)
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1 tsp Tabasco
Sea salt & black pepper to taste

Sauté the onion in butter on medium heat until soft. Add collard greens and stir to get them coated and then add stock. Sprinkle in Tabasco. Lower the temperature to simmer. Simmer approximately one hour, stirring occasionally.

One of my favorite herbs to use in the Fall and Winter is rosemary. It is so plentiful and easy to grow but you have to be careful to use it sparingly as it can overpower all the other flavors pretty easily. Another favorite of mine in the fall is Comte cheese- an Alpine cheese from France made from unpasteurized cow’s milk. It is nutty and slightly sweet and pairs perfectly with all these delicious fall flavors. So, I decided to combine the rosemary and Comte with some roasted potatoes. I used a combination of Yukon Golds and Russets.

Roasted Fall Potatoes
3 large Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter Fresh rosemary Comte cheese (or Gruyere)

Thinly slice potatoes and place in olive oil greased baking dish (one layer). Place tiny pats of butter on top of potatoes. Roast in 400-degree oven for about half an hour. Sprinkle with sea salt, black pepper, finely chopped rosemary about half way through cooking. When done, finish with finely grated cheese.

I’ll end this post with dessert. What makes the perfect Fall/Winter dessert? Pumpkin pie, that’s what! I’m originally from South Carolina where we have an abundance of pecans. My Mom sends us a big box of South Carolina pecans every year about this time. I decided to try to combine my love of pumpkin pie with my love of pecans and this is what I came up with...

But before we get to the pumpkin pie, we should discuss the crust. Please don’t use a store bought crust. It just will not taste the same. The key to a good pie is in the crust! And, it is super easy to make your own. Here’s my basic pie dough recipe I learned long ago from our friend Britt who was a pastry chef in Seattle and now resides in Idaho. (Note: it is always advantageous to make friends with your local pastry chef!)

PIE DOUGH
(Makes a double crust for a ten-inch pie, or 2 ten-inch pie shells.)
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (I use White Lilly)
8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I use organic butter)
1/2 tsp sea salt
6-8 tablespoons ice water

Place flour, butter, and salt in food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse 24 times. (I use my hands instead of a food processor and it works just fine! You get a good work out and there’s less to clean up. If you use your hands, be gentle- your objective is to make the butter into little crumbs or grains, not to mush it all together, do not over mix. Slow down.) The largest pieces of butter should be the size of grains of rice. Transfer mixture from food processor to large bowl. Sprinkle with 6 T of ice water. Make your hand into a claw as if you are trying to grab a basketball one handed, and using your rigid claw hand, stir dough briefly until the liquid is incorporated. Squeeze a handful of dough in your palm. It should have just enough moisture to stay together. If it seems dry and crumbly, add more water a teaspoon at a time until you can squeeze it into a ball that doesn’t crumble when broken apart. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. Roll out onto floured surface as quickly as you can. Balls of dough can be stored in fridge for a week or so or you can also freeze them.

Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Crumble Top
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp freshly ground ginger
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp arrowroot (or cornstarch)
1 1/2 cups of roasted pumpkin, pureed
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 extra large eggs
1 cup coconut milk

For crumble top:
1 cup pecans, toasted & ground
½ cup flour
½ cup sugar (I use organic cane sugar)
½ cup unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the pumpkin open and into four wedges, clean the seeds out (I roasted them up with a little salt for a yummy snack!) cut the strings out and rub the inside with a little olive oil and place face down in a baking dish. Bake for about an hour, until the pumpkin is tender when forked. Once cooled, scoop out the flesh and mix well in a blender or food processor. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Stir together brown sugar, salt, arrowroot. Add the pumpkin, vanilla, maple syrup, eggs and mix well. Then, add the coconut milk and gently stir. Pour into the unbaked pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes and then turn oven down to 350 degrees for another 40 minutes (set timer for 20 minutes, though, as you will need to add the crumble top!).

Make the crumble top. Grind roasted pecans in a food processor or chop very finely. You can then add the other ingredients to the food processor or mix by hand. Be very careful and open oven door and quickly but gently crumble the topping over the pumpkin pie. Bake for the remainder 20 minutes or until pie is set.

Happy Eating!

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Special thanks to our good friend Lady Smokey for today's guest blog post. We cannot wait for our next free weekend to try our hands at these recipes. And, believe us, you're going to love the pie dough recipe. We've had the pleasure of eating many of Lady Smokey's pies as well as baking a few of our own using this dough and they're good....eat-a-whole-pie-in-a-few-days-by-yourself good!

For more recipes and classic country music love, check out the Lady Smokey blog. And, while you're traveling around the web, drop by husband, musician, and cooking partner Big Smokey's blog too.

Stay tuned for another Lady Smokey post in January.