Celebrating Southern Appalachian Food

The season’s first meal featuring any vegetable or fruit is invariably welcomed with gustatory warmth, but this is particularly true of spring. After months of relying on canned, dried or frozen foods, long-term keepers such as winter squash or items from grocery store shelves that never achieve the same standards of deliciousness as vegetables fresh from the garden, spring brings pure culinary joy. The recipes that follow offer a savory sampling of eats linked to earth’s annual reawakening as it takes place in the Appalachians.

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Plowing a rocky field with a walking plow pulled by a steer. Courtesy of the National Park Service.

The first new potatoes of the year are looked forward to from the moment seed potatoes are carefully cut and planted in late winter. Southern Appalachian folks will often rush the enjoyment of this dietary staple by grabbling (gently removing small potatoes without pulling up the entire plant), while allowing other tubers to continue growing.

To feast on new potatoes, gently scrape the thin skin. Don’t try to remove it all—what remains will add a bit of delicious crunch or texture to the finished dish. Small potatoes don’t need to be cut, but if your new potatoes are already rather large, cut into pieces about the size of a golf ball. Boil potatoes in salted water until they are barely fork tender. Do not overcook. Remove potatoes from water and allow to drain well. Heat butter or bacon grease in a cast-iron skillet on medium high. Once pan is hot, add new potatoes, turning during cooking so as to brown all sides. The browning process also works well by placing the pan in a hot oven.

TIP: New potatoes go especially well with soup beans, cornbread and kilt lettuce.

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Grabbling taters with a potato fork. Tipper Pressley.

Both peas and potatoes have long been favorites in mountain gardens, and for many generations, the latter—thanks to a combination of productivity (you can grow a lot of potatoes in a relatively small space) and keeping qualities—was a staple vegetable, perhaps second only to corn in overall dietary importance. Fortuitously, green peas and potatoes reach the edible stage about the same time in late spring, and combining them in a delicious dish was commonplace. In today’s world, you can buy new potatoes at any time of the year, and frozen English peas make the other part of the classic combo something that can be enjoyed through all seasons.

The “creamed” can be a bit misleading, since no cream, just milk, is involved in the dish. Keep in mind that this is a foodstuff, unlike so many, which tends to be lacking in salt. That’s because there’s no salt, other than the small amount present in salted butter, found in the ingredients. You can just add salt and pepper to taste if the amount suggested leaves the vegetable mix tasting bland.

Scrub potatoes with a vegetable brush to remove skin or else wash carefully and leave skin intact. Cut in half, unless some are quite small. Mixed sizes will be the case with those dug from the garden, while grocery store ones will have relative uniformity. Place in a saucepan in enough boiling water to cover and cook until barely tender (about 10 to 12 minutes—you can test with the point of a sharp knife), drain in a colander and set aside. Cook peas in another saucepan of boiling water (required time will be less, perhaps 5 minutes) and drain and set aside as well.

Melt butter in a large skillet and add onion in medium heat, cooking until translucent. At that point, add flour, stirring constantly with a whisk, and cook for a minute or so. Then slowly add milk, again stirring all the while, until everything is well combined. At this point, add peas, potatoes, salt and black pepper. Reduce heat to a slow simmer and allow to thicken until the sauce is slightly creamy. Adjust salt and pepper by taste testing, adding more if needed. Pour into a serving dish or bowl and enjoy. This makes a hearty main dish for an all-vegetable meal or a grand side dish with fried or roasted chicken.

There’s something particularly appealing about the texture and taste of new potatoes. Here’s an easy-peasy way to make a potato salad, liberally laced with boiled eggs, and it’s fit for the pickiest of appetites.

½–1 cup sweet pickles, coarsely chopped (amount depends on how much you enjoy their taste)

Mustard and mayonnaise to taste (make sure you have enough to make the salad creamy)

Boil eggs and set aside when done. While they are boiling, cut potatoes into chunks and boil in a second pot until just tender. Drain and set aside. Peel and chop the eggs. Place eggs and potatoes in a large bowl, add the sweet pickles and then stir in mustard, mayonnaise, dill weed, salt and pepper. Sprinkle the finished potato salad with a really hefty dusting of paprika and place the bowl in the fridge to chill.

TIP: If you like raw onion, chop up a large Vidalia onion and add it to the bowl.

Much like the situation with rhubarb, asparagus is a perennial normally relegated to a location where it can be productive year after year with minimal care—occasional infusions of manure, weeding combined with mulching to allow it to grow without competition and due diligence to avoid disturbing the roots come plowing time. A properly maintained asparagus bed will remain productive for many years, and the tender shoots offer a springtime treat of sheer joy. Whether stewed with a bit of butter, steamed, grilled, coated in olive oil and prepared in the air fryers that have of late become all the rage or as the central ingredient in a casserole (the recipe offered here), asparagus is an upscale vegetable that does wonderfully well in high-country gardens.

Blend flour, butter, salt, black pepper and evaporated milk. Cook in a double boiler, stirring until thickened and smooth. Alternate layers of asparagus, eggs, cheese and sauce. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes.

Each spring, I look forward to the first kilt lettuce of the season. Various names are used for the traditional Appalachian dish: killed lettuce, kill lettuce, wilted lettuce, lettuce and onions, killed salad or the word kilt used here.

Kilt lettuce should be served immediately after making. The dish uses fresh leaf lettuce from the garden or branch lettuce that grows wild along the creek. The way Granny taught me was to begin by picking and washing leaves of lettuce, making sure to dry off as much water as possible. Sometimes I wash mine early in the morning and leave it drying on a towel in the fridge.

Cut up several green onions, including tops, and mix with torn lettuce in a bowl, adding salt and pepper to taste. Pour hot bacon or streaked meat (salt pork) grease over the mixture. Be prepared for lots of hissing and popping when the grease hits the lettuce. Toss and serve quickly. It doesn’t take much grease; a little goes a long way.

Peel and chop fresh beets. Toss with olive oil and turn out onto baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Roast in 450-degree oven for 20 minutes or until tender.

Cook spinach in oil or butter for a few minutes. Add additional butter or oil, salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Pour in heavy cream. The amount depends on the quantity of spinach you’re working with, but it takes only a few tablespoons. Allow spinach to cook until it thickens slightly.

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A skillet of creamed spinach. Tipper Pressley.