Makes about 5 cups
Lynchburg Cranberry Relish is the most unfussy accent to our holiday dinner menu, and it’s on the table every day in December. Delicious as it is, cranberry relish is also a solid starting point for your own creative additions. Consider chunks of fresh pineapple, chopped toasted pecans or walnuts, chopped fresh apples and pears, and a sprinkling of cinnamon. I’ve seen it with horseradish, pistachio nuts, onion, and chopped dried figs. Be sure to chill the relish overnight for the flavors to really meld.
4 cups fresh cranberries
1 whole orange quartered, seeds removed
2 cups sugar
¼ cup Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
Chop the cranberries and the orange in a food processor. Add the sugar and process the mixture just to combine. Place in a covered container and chill overnight. Add Jack Daniel’s just before serving.
Everyday Sweet Red Pepper Relish
Makes 8 cups
Not a day passes at Miss Mary’s that a guest doesn’t ask for the recipe for our sweet pepper relish. Whenever beans are on the menu (which is most days), our diners generously spoon this crimson sweet-savory relish atop their speckled butter beans, pintos, white beans, crowder peas, and black-eyed peas. Use a food processor for the quickest route to uniformly chopped peppers and onions.
2 cups cider vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
6 large red bell peppers, cored, seeded and finely chopped
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons whole mustard seed
1 teaspoon whole celery seed
A pinch of crushed red pepper
Combine the vinegar, sugar, and tomato paste in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add the peppers, onions, salt, mustard seed, celery seed, and crushed red pepper. Simmer about 30 minutes. Cool, cover tightly, and refrigerate. If you’re a canner, seal in ½ pint or pint jars.
Makes 10 servings
I confess to being a purist about many Southern recipes, but not ambrosia. I say the sky is the limit. In addition to the required sweet oranges and grated coconut, add pineapple, grapes, grapefruit, or even kiwi. I’m especially fond of the sparkle that pomegranate seeds bring. Of course, you can add a little Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey. This colorful sweet fruit served in a gleaming cut crystal bowl is an absolute holiday requirement. Adjust the sugar to your liking.
8 large navel oranges
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ cups grated coconut
Additional fresh fruits such as pineapple chunks, grapes or kiwi slices,
pomegranate seeds, optional
Peel the oranges and carefully remove the orange sections, cutting away all the white membrane. If you’re in a hurry, just slice the peeled oranges into rounds, then in half. Toss with sugar and coconut in a large bowl. Add additional fruit as you like. Chill before serving.
Makes about 2 cups
At Miss Mary’s we dip our delicious fried catfish into this versatile sauce. Add a spoonful of fresh horseradish and serve it with chilled shrimp or cocktail catfish nuggets. And absolutely everyone loves to dunk cocktail wieners into the warmed sauce.
1 ½ cups ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
⅓ cup Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
A few drops of hot pepper sauce or a spoonful of prepared horseradish to taste
Combine the ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and dry mustard in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Stir in the Jack Daniel’s and simmer for 5 minutes. Refrigerate until serving time. Stir in the hot pepper sauce or horseradish. Serve with fried catfish nuggets or cocktail wieners.
Makes about 5 cups
Cabbage is abundant and inexpensive, and no one knew that better than Miss Mary. In her day, when times were tight, cabbage appeared in dish after dish, from casseroles to slaws to relishes. Recalling her days in Miss Mary’s kitchen, long time cook Dee Dismukes always laughed about the many times when Miss Mary’s phone would ring with pleas from the distillery to add a few extra table settings for hungry guests.
“We’d just about throw a fit, scared we’d run out of food,” Dee recalls. “Miss Mary would strut into the kitchen like a mother hen with her hands up under her arms and holler, ‘Just stretch it!’ One more cabbage dish often saved dinner, even if slaw, kraut and wieners, and boiled cabbage were already on the table!”
4 cups finely chopped cabbage (about ½ a head, or 1 bag of prepared chopped cabbage for slaw)
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 jar (4 ounces) chopped pimiento
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon celery seed
½ teaspoon whole mustard seed
Combine the cabbage, bell pepper, celery, and pimientos in a large bowl. Combine the sugar, vinegar, salt, celery seed, and mustard seed in a small bowl and pour over the cabbage mixture. Blend well. Refrigerate before serving.
Heard around the TABLE
Quite often our hostesses answer the same questions:
Are you Miss Bobo?
Where do I apply for your job? I thought all the table hostesses were old.
Makes 3 cups
This sure isn’t a traditional Tennessee recipe, but it reminds me of how much my own cooking has been influenced by cooks, ingredients, and cooking styles from around the world. Beyond our own everyday pecans and peaches, Jack Daniel’s complements spicy and fruity flavors in foods I’d never even heard of as a child, like this exotic salsa.
Make it whenever soft ripe mangos are available and you’re in the mood for grilled salmon or shrimp. It’s a wonderful accompaniment to the Grilled and Glazed Salmon on (page 192) and Jack’s Sweet Hot Glazed Shrimp (page 199).
2 ripe mangos, peeled and diced
1 cup chopped fresh pineapple or one cup canned pineapple tidbits, drained
¼ cup chopped red or green onion
¼ cup chopped cilantro
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
¼ teaspoon salt
Combine the mangos, pineapple, onion, cilantro, peppers, whiskey, sugar, lime juice, and salt in a medium bowl. Blend well. Chill before serving.
Sweet and Sour Orange Cherry Sauce
Makes about 1 cup
I often serve this easy sauce with pan-fried thin scallops of pounded pork tenderloin dredged in flour. Stir the sauce into the skillet with the pan drippings and drizzle over the meat on a platter. When grilling, make a batch in a small saucepan to brush over pork, chicken, or duck. Our Lynchburg duck hunters love this sauce, so unless you hunt or know a generous hunter with a full freezer, hunt down a duck in your supermarket.
½ cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoons soy sauce
¼ cup Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons chopped dried cherries
Combine the orange marmalade, soy sauce, Jack Daniel’s, dry mustard, garlic powder, and dried cherries in a small saucepan or skillet. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir until slightly thickened. Add a little water if it becomes too thick.
Makes about 2 ½ cups
Raisins in a tomato onion relish might surprise you, but plumped up with a little Jack Daniel’s, they’re just right. Grilled pork tenderloin really benefits from a touch of this relish, especially when the tenderloin is thinly sliced and served on soft rolls for tailgating and cocktail parties. Be sure to cook the onions long and slow to develop their sweet flavor.
¼ cup golden raisins
¼ cup Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
3 large sweet onions (such as Vidalia), coarsely chopped (about 6 cups)
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
Pinch of thyme
Salt and black pepper to taste
Combine the raisins and Jack Daniel’s in small bowl; set aside to soak. Cook the onions in oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat until tender and golden brown, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the brown sugar and continue to cook 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and the raisin and Jack Daniel’s mixture. Increase the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until thickened. Season with thyme, salt, and pepper. Cool, cover, and refrigerate. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Makes 6 cups
Warm grilled meats beg for the crisp tangy bite of these cold pickled onions and cucumbers. The vinegar turns red onions a pastel pink. The cool cucumbers and the creeping heat of jalapeños add a bright crunch to a picnic table filled with traditional creamy summer salads. Adjust the sugar level to your liking. An inexpensive plastic mandoline or V-slicer makes perfect paper-thin cucumber slices in seconds. Serve this in a clear glass bowl to show off the spectacular colors and shapes.
1 large red onion, cut into quarters, then into very thin wedges
2 large or three medium cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
3 jalapeño peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
2 cups distilled vinegar
2 to 4 tablespoons sugar to taste
1 tablespoon salt
Combine the onion, cucumbers, peppers, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Blend well. Cover with plastic wrap pressing the vegetables into the brine. Refrigerate overnight. Serve cold.
Makes 4 cups
Couldn’t we all use a little extra color during the darker winter season? I stock the freezer in December with holiday cranberries so I can serve this bright, tangy, spicy chutney with pork loin all winter long.
1 cup cider vinegar
½ cup Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
1 cup brown sugar
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 ½ cups chopped mixed dried fruits such as raisins, apricots, apples, prunes, figs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 bag (12 ounces) fresh or frozen cranberries
Pinch of salt
Combine the vinegar, Jack Daniel’s, brown sugar, onion, dried fruits, cinnamon, and cloves in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Simmer about 5 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved and the fruits begin to soften. Add the cranberries and continue to simmer until the cranberries begin to pop and become tender. Add a pinch of salt. Transfer to a bowl and cool. Cover and keep refrigerated.
Squash Bread and Butter Quick Pickles
Makes 1 quart
Quick refrigerator pickles are the way to go if, like me, you just want a jar every so often rather than making a case of jars at one time. We love these squash pickles in ultra-thin slices that only a mandoline slicer can provide. It’s funny how shape can affect taste. Sloppy thick cuts just aren’t as refined in looks or flavor.
1 ½ pounds (about 4 to 5 medium) yellow squash
1 large onion
1 tablespoon kosher or pickling salt (not iodized salt)
1 ¼ cups cider vinegar
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 medium clove garlic, peeled and smashed
1 teaspoon pickling spice blend
½ teaspoon turmeric, optional
Slice the squash into paper-thin discs and slice the onion very thin as well. Use a mandoline for very even slices and quick, easy work. Place the vegetables in a colander in the sink and sprinkle with the salt. Let the vegetables stand about 1 hour to draw out the moisture. Drain. Press the water out with your hands. Place the squash and onion in a sterile quart jar or two pint jars.
Combine the vinegar, sugar, garlic, pickling spice blend, mustard seed, and turmeric in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Pour the hot liquid over the vegetables until covered. Cool. Cover and refrigerate. They’ll be ready to eat in a few days. Keep them refrigerated and eat within two months.
Makes about 3 cups
We serve some kind of bean every day at Miss Mary’s. They might be pintos, white beans, black-eyed peas, green beans, crowder peas, or my favorite, speckled butter beans. No matter the bean, during the summer months they all benefit from our fresh tomato relish. You may recognize this as our Tennessee variation of what folks now call salsa or pico de gallo. In fact, one day I overheard one of our hostesses tell the guests at the table that her mother once said, “Why I’ve been making tomato relish forever, but I sure didn’t know I was making salsa!” Fresh summer tomatoes are a must whenever available.
4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cayenne or jalapeño pepper, finely minced
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and black pepper to taste
Combine the tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, jalapeño pepper, vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Cover and chill until serving time.
Makes 1 ½ cups
Sour onions offer a nice balance to the richness of pulled pork and chuck roast. Put these to work on little appetizer sandwiches made with leftover Shade Tree Pulled Pork Barbecue (page 175). Cut hot dog buns in half, pile on the warm meat, and top with tangy sour onions. These onions offer quite a pucker compared to our Icy Pink Cucumbers and Onions (page 245).
1 medium onion, peeled and very thinly sliced
1 to 2 jalapeño peppers, thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Combine the onion, jalapeño, carrot, vinegar, salt, and sugar in a small bowl. Cover and chill until serving.
Makes 4 to 5 12-ounce jars
Southern summer peaches are as wonderful a gift to us as Tennessee summer tomatoes. To prolong the experience into the cooler season, combine fresh peaches with a little Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey and store them in mason jars. If you go that extra canning step, a jar of these makes a lovely holiday gift.
3 cups water
2 cups sugar
3 cinnamon sticks
12 medium ripe, but firm, peaches
1 cup Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey
Combine the water, sugar, and cinnamon sticks in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Make an ice water bath in a large bowl in the sink. To loosen the skin on the peaches, boil the peaches for 1 minute in two batches. Greener peaches may take a little longer than riper ones. Place the boiled peaches in the ice water bath to cool slightly. Repeat with the remaining peaches. Cut the peaches in half and remove the skin and pit. Remove any tough spots of skin with a paring knife. Cut the halves into medium-size wedges. Add the peaches and the Tennessee Honey to the sugar syrup and simmer until the peaches are tender, but still hold their shape, about 5 minutes.
Divide the peaches evenly among 4 or 5 12-ounce sterilized jars using a slotted spoon. Pour the syrup evenly over the peaches to ½ inch of the top of the jar. Add a half of a cinnamon stick to each jar, if desired. Wipe the rims clean and seal the jars. Refrigerate and use within one month or process the peaches in a water bath for 25 minutes for longer storage. (For high altitude cooking, consult your favorite canning manual for the correct processing time.)
Heard around the TABLE
A school teacher shared this story: A student wasn’t doing well and was not turning in his work. She told him, “I must give you a zero on your paper.” He replied, “Well, that’s better than nothing.”
