Each week in Metro Pulse, contributor Benjamin Pounds explores often overlooked trails located outside of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Quite a few are around an hour’s drive from Knoxville making sure you spend more time on foot exploring abandoned farmlands or admiring mountain views than being trapped in the gridlock that sometimes overwhelms a trip to the Smokies.

Whether headed west to the Black Mountain section of the Cumberland Trail or north on I-75 to Cove Lake State Park in Cumberland County, it’s important to bring food that travels well and doesn’t add too much weight to your pack.

While out on the trail, Mahasti’s Appalachian Trail Mix Cookies are the added sweetness (white chocolate chips!) and crunchiness (Flour Head Bakery Honey Almond Granola!) your hike needs.

Take these cookies on your next outdoor adventure and share photos of your gang on Instagram with us. We’d love to see the satisfied faces after a few hours in the woods.

FHB Honey Almond Granola is available at both Tomato Head locations as well as Butler and Bailey Market, Kroger Bearden, and Three Rivers Market.

1 stick unsalted butter

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 ¼ cup all purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

2  cups Flour Head Bakery Honey Almond Granola *

1 cup dried cranberries

½ cup white chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and the sugars. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

In another bowl mix together the flour with cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and mix well until everything is well combined.

Add the granola, dried cranberries and the white chocolate chips. Mix the batter until the ingredients are mixed in well.

Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving 1-½ inches between each ball.

Bake the cookies in a 350 degree oven for 12 – 14 minutes or until they are golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven, and allow the cookies to cool.

If you’ve spent anytime at the Market Square Farmers’ Market over the past few weekends, you’ve noticed an abundance of summer squash. This simple recipe for Mahasti’s Summer Zucchini & Poblano Soup is a great alternative to preparing zucchini the traditional summer way – standing over a hot grill.

Incorporating poblano peppers adds a slightly sweet and earthy flavorful without overwhelming your taste buds with lots of heat. In case you missed her cooking segment on WBIR last Saturday, we’ve shared Mahasti’s on our blog so grab some local homegrown squash on your next shopping trip and give this recipe a spin in the comfort of your kitchen.

Enjoy!

¼ cup olive oil

1 medium onion, peeled and diced

2 large garlic cloves

1 large poblano pepper, cored, seeded and sliced

5 medium zucchini, ends removed

4 cups water

1 bunch cilantro

2 tsp salt

Peel and dice onion and set aside. Peel garlic, roughly chop and set aside. Rinse pepper, cut down the middle, remove stem and seeds, and cut into 1inch strips and set aside. Remove the ends off all of the zucchini. Cut 4 of the zucchini into 1inch rounds and set aside. Shred the remaining zucchini and set aside separately.

Remove about 1/2 inch off the bottom of the cilantro stems. Place the cilantro in a large bowl of cold water, swish around, and then lift the cilantro out of the water. Repeat the wash process with fresh water until there is no dirt left in the bottom of your bowl when you remove the cilantro. Roughly chop the cilantro and set aside.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent. Add zucchini, pepper and water. Bring the soup to boil, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Add cilantro and salt and blend with an immersion blender until soup is smooth. If using an upright blender, wait for soup to come to room temperature before blending to avoid burning yourself.

After soup is blended add the shredded zucchini. If you used an immersion blender soup will be ready to serve immediately. If you cooled your soup in order to use an upright blender, the soup can be re-heated after you add the shredded zucchini.

Serve with Flour Head Bakery bread and enjoy.

Serves 8- 10

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo includes more than just deciding between frozen or on the rocks. Our blog is chock full of great recipes of your favorite Mexican dishes like pambazos, ancho and coffee roasted pork torta, sopes with chorizo and pickled onions, and chicken enchildas.

Enjoy this fun, easy to follow, flavor-packed recipe featuring chorizo sausage during tonight’s festivities.

1 can prepared refried beans

Pickled jalapeno

Chorizo sausage, sliced

Cheddar cheese

Shredded Cabbage

Chipotle Ranch Dressing

Soft Corn Tortillas

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spread corn tortillas out onto a cookie sheet. Spread each tortilla with the equivalent of 1 tablespoon of refried beans.  Top with chorizo, cheese and jalapenos. Place tacos in the oven until cheese has melted and ingredients are hot, but tortillas are still soft – 5-7 minutes. Remove tacos from oven and top each taco with shredded cabbage and chipotle ranch dressing.

Serve immediately.

The fourth annual International Biscuit Festival was held a few weeks ago in downtown Knoxville. Over 20,000 folks meandered around Market Street and Krutch Park sampling twenty varieties of biscuits from participants such as Southern Living and Rel Maples Institute of Culinary Arts to Pillsbury. There were many types of biscuits ranging from the deep fried to smothered in gravy.

This year’s event marked the first time we entered the festival. Flour Head Bakery made a Sweetwater Valley Farm Smoked Cheddar and Onion Biscuit Pie. And, we’re proud to say Mahasti took second place in this year’s competition for her creation. The response was overwhelmingly positive and many of you have asked for the recipe. We’re happy to now share our winning recipe with you.

As always, share your results with us on Twitter and Facebook. Enjoy!

For the biscuit:

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1 tbl sugar

¼ tsp. Salt

¼ tsp baking soda

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ stick unsalted butter

¾ cup buttermilk

In a medium bowl, mix all dry ingredients together. Cut butter into dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or 2 knives. Stir in buttermilk until a soft dough forms. Pat dough down into a greased 11 inch pie dish. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

For the topping:

2 cups sliced onion

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

1 ½ cup heavy cream

1 cup bread crumbs

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup Sweetwater Valley smoked cheddar cheese, shredded.

Cook onions in ¼ cup of vegetable oil over medium heat stirring occasionally until caramelized about 8- 10 minutes. Add heavy cream to pan and cook until cream thickens. Remove from heat and set aside.

Melt ¼ cup butter over low heat. Mix bread crumbs with melted butter. Set aside.

To assemble pie:

Spread onion mixture over biscuit. Cover with shredded cheese followed by bread crumbs. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 – 12 minutes, until golden brown and cheese has melted. Serve with a side salad as a meal, or as a side dish with chicken or steak.

Serves 6 – 8

(Photo courtesy of Kara and Remington Brown from http://www.kandradventures.com/)

 

Comfort food can take many shapes. In the winter time, comfort foods tend to be warming and rich, as well as easy to make. Tomato Head’s Chicken Enchiladas fit the description.

Mahasti presented the restaurant’s recipe on WBIR this morning. But if you missed it, it’s here for you to give it a whirl. Or, even easier, order your own plate of enchiladas at either the Maryville or Knoxville restaurant today.

Tomato Head’s Chicken Enchiladas
For the Chicken:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/3 cup oil
½ large onion, largely diced
8 cups of water
1 Tbl salt

To Assemble the Enchiladas:

1 -16 oz jar Frontera enchilada sauce
8 – corn tortillas
½ lb shredded Monterey Jack cheese
sour cream
chopped onion

Heat the oil, in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent. Add chicken breast, water and salt. Increase heat to high, when water starts to boil, reduce heat to low and allow chicken to simmer for 20 minutes until done.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the chicken from the broth and allow the chicken to cool until it is cool enough to handle. Shred the chicken by pulling it apart. Set aside.

Pour 1/3 of the jar of enchilada sauce into the bottom of an 8 X 11 baking dish. Arrange 3 or 4 corn tortillas on your work surface. Place approximately ¼ – 1/3 cup chicken on each tortilla followed by ¼ cup of shredded cheese. Roll the tortillas up to form cylinders. Place the tortillas seam side down. Repeat the process until all the tortillas have been filled and place in the baking dish.

Pour the remaining sauce over the rolled tortillas, making sure they are covered entirely. Sprinkle any remaining cheese on top of the sauce. Bake the enchiladas for 20 minutes – or until the cheese melts and the sauce is starting to bubble.

Remove the dish from the oven. Top with Sour Cream and chopped onion.

Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Mahasti presented this “good morning” recipe on WBIR Saturday, December 17th. Did you catch it? If not, the full recipe is posted below and, even better, both the Knoxville and Maryville restaurants will be serving these delights throughout Sunday brunch. Enjoy!

Tomato Head’s Brown Sugar Cinnamon Biscuits with Cream & Orange Caramel Sauce

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
5 Tbl chilled butter, cut into small pieces
¾ cup chilled buttermilk
1/3 cup brown sugar

Measure flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and cinnamon into a medium bowl. Add chilled butter and work into flour with fingertips or a pastry cutter until the butter resembles small beads. Add buttermilk and work flour into buttermilk until you have a soft dough. Turn dough no more than 10 times. Gather into a ball. With a rolling pin, roll out the ball of dough, on a lightly floured surface, to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Scatter half of the brown sugar in the center of the biscuit dough. Fold one edge of the dough onto the sugared area. Scatter the remaining brown sugar onto the area that you just folded over. Fold the non-brown sugared area onto the newly covered brown sugar area. Gently lift the dough up and scatter a little more flour under the dough. Roll the dough back out to a thickness of 1”. Cut the biscuits out with a round biscuit cutter. Gather up any remaining dough into a ball and repeat, flattening and cutting the biscuits. Place the cut biscuits on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

For the Caramel Sauce
1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup orange juice
½ stick butter

Place all the ingredients for the sauce in a medium size saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil. Keep warm while biscuits are cooking.

To Serve

Heavy Cream

Pour a small amount of heavy cream onto a plate, if serving individually, or on a platter if serving family style. Place biscuits on top of cream. Pour caramel sauce over biscuits and serve immediately.

Makes 8 – 10 biscuits depending on the size of your cutter.

‘Tis the season for pies and cakes and sweet things of all varieties. Mahasti presented The Tomato Head’s recipe for Pecan Pie on WBIR this morning and mm mm mm. We want a piece now, and we can have one (and so can you)…pecan pie is on the menu at both the Knoxville and Maryville locations today.

Tomato Head’s Pecan Pie

1 (9 inch) prepared pie crust
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup heavy cream
1 Tbl molasses
4 Tbl unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
½ tsp salt
6 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1.5 cups pecan pieces

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Over medium heat in a large saucepan, heat together maple syrup, brown sugar, heavy cream and molasses until sugar dissolves and mixture starts to bubble. Remove mixture from heat, add butter and stir until the butter has melted. Allow mixture to cool for 5 minutes. Whisking constantly, whisk in the eggs until they are well incorporated.

Fill pie crust with pecans, pour syrup mixture over pecans. Place the pie in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 425. Bake the pie for 45 – 50 minutes or until the filling is set and center jiggles just slightly.

Allow pie to cool for 3 – 4 hours before cutting and serving with fresh whipped cream.

If you weren’t up early on Saturday tuned in to WBIR, you missed Mahasti presenting what’s sure to become a favorite for gatherings of family and friends.

Simple to make, warming and good, this soup’s one to prepare in advance and have on the stove top for snackers while the “big dinner” is in the works.

The Tomato Head’s Bacon and Cheddar Soup

½ lb bacon, diced
1.25 cups celery, finely chopped
½ cup onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 – 2 small jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
1 Tbl fresh thyme
1 ½ stick butter
2/3 cup flour
6 cups water
3 cups heavy cream
14 oz mild cheddar cheese, shredded
12 oz smoked cheddar cheese, shredded

In a 6 quart pot over medium heat sauté bacon until bacon is crisp. Add celery, onion, garlic, jalapenos and thyme. Sauté the vegetables until onion and celery are translucent. Add water, and cream. Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium skillet. Add flour, whisking constantly until the mixture is smooth. Add the flour mixture to the soup and stir constantly until the soup thickens slightly. Add cheeses and stir soup until cheese has melted.

Serve.

The Episcopal School of Knoxville (ESK) decided they could have healthier kids and a better lunch program if they converted a portion of their farm-like acreage and turned it into actual farm. Headmaster Jay Secor and Head Chef, Renee Nye (along with many others from ESK) have been collaborating with Mahasti, founder and co-owner of The Tomato Head, to revamp their school’s food program. The results have not only been delicious, but inspiring.

Secor and Nye joined Mahasti on WBIR this morning as she presented The Episcopal School of Knoxville’s Mac-n-Cheese recipe, and together they shared more of the ESK story. The school truly took a “soup to nuts” approach as they assessed and changed their program—converting acreage into gardens and space for chickens, committing to buying local as much as possible, even baking bread from scratch and preparing food to order. The focus of the food at ESK is now on freshness, taste, and healthiness.

“It can seem overwhelming at first,” noted Mahasti, speaking of the changes and new approaches she introduced to ESK. “But it’s actually easier than everyone thinks. And it’s so much better for the school and the children.” Secor and Nye proudly agree.

In fact, the consultation process that Mahasti provided went so well, she’s excited about working with other schools who may be interested in developing a healthier food program. And most kids are thrilled to know they’re school lunch has a Tomato Head touch.

Of course, Mac-n-Cheese is a much beloved dish for many kids. ESK students love the new version they get to eat in their dining hall, and Mahasti shared the school’s recipe this morning on WBIR.

(In addition, both the Maryville & Knoxville restaurants will be serving a very special take on this Mac-n-Cheese recipe today. It’s very different, but once you try it, you’ll swear by it—this delicious mac-n-cheese on a pizza topped with Benton’s Bacon and Roasted Onion. Unforgettable yum.)

Episcopal School’s Macaroni and Cheese

For the White Sauce:
4 oz unsalted butter
2 oz flour
4 cups Cruze Farm milk
1 cup heavy cream
1.5 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

In a large skillet, or medium sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk constantly until no more lumps remain. Add remaining ingredients and whisk constantly until sauce thickens.

Yields 5 cups

To assemble Macaroni and Cheese:
3 cups Sweet Water Valley Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1 cup heavy cream
1 box Barilla Plus Elbow pasta, cooked according to package directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place cooked pasta in a large bowl. Add cheese, heavy cream and 4 cups of the white sauce to the bowl and mix until well incorporated. Save remaining sauce for later use.

Place macaroni and cheese in a 3 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with some additional shredded cheese.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until dish is bubbling and cheese has melted. Remove from oven and allow macaroni and cheese to sit for 5 minutes and serve.

Serves 8 – 10

If serving fewer than 8 people the recipe can be followed up to the point of placing the macaroni and cheese in a baking dish. You may place as much of the mixture as desired in a smaller baking dish, baking only what is needed, saving the remainder of the mixture for baking the next day.