email this pageLike so many chefs, Carter's cooking emphasizes local ingredients: fresh water trout is smoked and paired with spicy black-eyed peas, locally ground cornmeal becomes creamy polenta, and collard greens and country ham are served alongside sorghum-glazed chicken breasts. In fact, Carter has a special affinity for the Southern staple, sorghum, particularly the light Muddy Pond sorghum produced in Monterey, Tenn. He uses it in desserts like his Tennessee Whiskey Cake and Sorghum Ice Cream, as well as in entrées such as his pistachio and rosemary-dusted pork tenderloin with sorghum sweet potatoes.
"Using sorghum is like using maple syrup or molasses. Anything that calls for molasses, you can use sorghum. It's a little lighter, and the flavor is a little different," he says.
Here are a few of Carter's recipes particularly suited to the holidays—cheese puffs are a great party food, and whiskey cake is a great dessert perfect to have on hand for any holiday get together.
Recipes courtesy of Dancing Bear Lodge, Townsend, Tenn.
Candied Pecans
Mark Boughton Photography; styling by Teresa Blackburn
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For a little heat, add 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper to the sugar mixture.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg white
3 cups pecan halves
Instructions
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg white
3 cups pecan halves
1. Preheat oven to 175F.
2. Mix brown sugar, flour and salt in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, beat egg white until foamy; slowly beat in sugar mixture. Fold in pecans. Transfer pecans to a parchment-lined baking pan. Spread in a single layer. Bake about 1½ hours. Cool completely. Break pecans apart. Makes 3 cups.
Recipe courtesy of Dancing Dear Lodge, Townsend, Tenn., "Sweet Home Tennessee," Nov. 2009.
Nutritional Information
2. Mix brown sugar, flour and salt in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, beat egg white until foamy; slowly beat in sugar mixture. Fold in pecans. Transfer pecans to a parchment-lined baking pan. Spread in a single layer. Bake about 1½ hours. Cool completely. Break pecans apart. Makes 3 cups.
Recipe courtesy of Dancing Dear Lodge, Townsend, Tenn., "Sweet Home Tennessee," Nov. 2009.
Per (1/4-cup) serving: 210 calories, 18g fat, 0mg chol., 3g prot., 13g carbs., 2g fiber, 105 mg sodium.
Tennessee Whiskey Cake
Mark Boughton Photography; styling by Teresa Blackburn
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You can substitute 3 tablespoons water and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract for the whiskey.
Ingredients
Ingredients
½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup 2% reduced-fat milk
½ cup sorghum or molasses
¼ cup Tennessee whiskey, such as Jack Daniel’s or George Dickel
Instructions
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup 2% reduced-fat milk
½ cup sorghum or molasses
¼ cup Tennessee whiskey, such as Jack Daniel’s or George Dickel
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Beat butter using a mixer at medium speed; gradually add sugars and beat until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Add to egg mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Stop mixer and add sorghum. Restart mixer and slowly add whiskey. Mix until smooth, about 30 seconds. (Batter will be thin.)
4. Pour into a greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm with Sorghum Frozen Yogurt. Serves 8.
Recipe courtesy of Dancing Bear Lodge, Townsend, Tenn., "Sweet Home Tennessee," Nov. 2009.
Nutritional Information
2. Beat butter using a mixer at medium speed; gradually add sugars and beat until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Add to egg mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Stop mixer and add sorghum. Restart mixer and slowly add whiskey. Mix until smooth, about 30 seconds. (Batter will be thin.)
4. Pour into a greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm with Sorghum Frozen Yogurt. Serves 8.
Recipe courtesy of Dancing Bear Lodge, Townsend, Tenn., "Sweet Home Tennessee," Nov. 2009.
Per serving: 320 calories, 14g fat, 110mg chol., 6g prot., 43g carbs., 1g fiber, 260mg sodium.
Tennessee Cheddar Puffs
Mark Boughton Photography; styling by Teresa Blackburn
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Be sure to cook the water, butter, flour mixture until it's difficult to stir and it forms a ball-like mass.
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups water
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 to 2½ cups all-purpose flour
10 ounces shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (about 3 cups)
6 large eggs
Paprika
Instructions
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups water
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 to 2½ cups all-purpose flour
10 ounces shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (about 3 cups)
6 large eggs
Paprika
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Combine butter, water, sugar, salt and cayenne in a large saucepan. Cook until butter melts. Add 2 cups of flour all at once. Reduce heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until mixture is stiff and forms a ball-like mass, about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Pour into mixing bowl; using a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat 1 minute at medium-low speed to cool the mixture. Increase speed to medium; add eggs one at a time, beating to incorporate before adding the next. Batter should be firm, not runny. If necessary, blend in an additional ½ cup flour. Fold in cheese. Drop by tablespoons onto baking pan lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with paprika.
3. Bake 10 minutes, turn the pan, and bake 10 more minutes. Leftover puffs can be frozen. Makes about 60.
Recipe adapted from Dancing Bear Lodge, Townsend, Tenn., "Sweet Home Tennessee," Nov. 2009.
Nutritional Information
2. Combine butter, water, sugar, salt and cayenne in a large saucepan. Cook until butter melts. Add 2 cups of flour all at once. Reduce heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until mixture is stiff and forms a ball-like mass, about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Pour into mixing bowl; using a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat 1 minute at medium-low speed to cool the mixture. Increase speed to medium; add eggs one at a time, beating to incorporate before adding the next. Batter should be firm, not runny. If necessary, blend in an additional ½ cup flour. Fold in cheese. Drop by tablespoons onto baking pan lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with paprika.
3. Bake 10 minutes, turn the pan, and bake 10 more minutes. Leftover puffs can be frozen. Makes about 60.
Recipe adapted from Dancing Bear Lodge, Townsend, Tenn., "Sweet Home Tennessee," Nov. 2009.
Per puff: 70 calories, 5g fat, 35mg chol., 2g prot., 3g carbs., 0g fiber, 140mg sodium.
Sorghum Frozen Yogurt
Mark Boughton Photography; styling by Teresa Blackburn
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We lightened Dancing Bear Lodge Chef Jeff Carter’s rich and creamy Sorghum Ice Cream by using yogurt in place of the cream and egg yolks. The yogurt’s tanginess is a perfect complement to the rich, sweet Tennessee Whiskey Cake.
Ingredients
4 cups plain low-fat yogurt
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup sorghum
1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup sorghum
1 teaspoon vanilla
1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour mixture into the canister of an ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Makes about 5 cups.
"Sweet Home Tennessee," Nov. 2009.
Nutritional Information
"Sweet Home Tennessee," Nov. 2009.
Per (1/2-cup) serving: 130 calories, 1.5g fat, 5mg chol., 7g prot., 25g carbs., 1g fiber, 75mg sodium.
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