We admit it. When we visit the Best Places to Live in Rural America, we eat. Sometimes a lot. It's hard not to when you meet some of the best country cooks out there.
You'd expect to meet a great cook in Livingston County, Mo. It is, after all, the "home of sliced bread." The town makes the claim that the first bread slicer was put into operation in downtown Chillicothe in 1928.
Donna Horton's bread recipe was a winner at the Chillicothe Chautauqua Festival's Home of Sliced Bread Contest.
In Fayette County, Texas, another of our editors sampled kolaches, a fruit- or cheese-filled pastry from the area's Czech influence. And you can't go to Kent County, Md., without sampling the crab cakes.
Enjoy a little local flavor from this year's Best Places. —Jamie Cole
MOM'S BREAD
Livingston County, Missouri
4 cups warm water
3 packages yeast
3 teaspoons salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
12 cups flour
DISSOLVE yeast, salt and sugar in water; add oil. Mix in flour.
KNEAD, put in bowl and let rise about 30 to 45 minutes, or double in size. Punch down and make into rolls or loaves, and let rise again.
BAKE 350° to 375° for 15 to 20 minutes.
YIELD: 3 dozen rolls or 6 loaves
CRAB CAKES
Kent County, Maryland
1 pound Maryland crabmeat (backfin or lump)
1 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
1 large egg (or 2 small eggs)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Margarine, butter or oil for frying
REMOVE all cartilage from crabmeat. Mix crabmeat with breadcrumbs, eggs, mayonnaise and seasonings in a bowl. If mixture seems too dry, add more mayonnaise. Shape into 6 cakes.
COOK cakes in fry pan—in just enough oil or butter to prevent sticking—until golden brown (about 5 minutes on each side). May be broiled.
YIELD: 6 cakes
CHERRY CREAM CHEESE KOLACHES
Fayette County, Texas
Sweet Yeast Dough:
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
1 cup margarine, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
41/2 cups flour
Cream Cheese and Cherry Filling:
1 can cherry filling
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
DISSOLVE yeast in warm water.
COMBINE with next 6 ingredients in large bowl. Beat until smooth, about 1 minute.
COVER with damp cloth. Place in refrigerator at least 2 hours or overnight. Combine cream cheese, cherry filling and sugar. Set aside.
DIVIDE dough into egg-sized portions with a spoon; form balls. Place balls on greased baking sheets. With spoon, make indentions in the dough balls for fruit filling.
FILL each indention with a large teaspoon of filling. Let filled rolls rise on baking sheets for about 1 hour.
BAKE for about 20 minutes at 350°, until rolls turn golden brown.
YIELD: 18 rolls
See next page for the world's best pies, straight from Obion County, Tennessee.
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World's Best Pies?
That's what their sign says! And millions of customers can't be wrong. Flippen's Hillbilly Barn in Obion County, Tenn., serves fried pies hot and also ships them all over the country. You can even order them on their web site, www.flippenhillbillybarn.com.
The family land was in cotton until the 1950s, when the Flippens made the change to growing fruit. Their orchards and pies even landed in our magazine in May 1971. Diane Flippen—"Mama Dan" to her customers—now holds the fried pie recipe secret (that's her on the right holding the 1971 article).
Her husband, Jack, doesn't even know it. "He'd blab it to everybody," she says. She's not about to tell us either (she knew we'd blab it). But she did share her baked apple pie recipe, which she makes from Golden Delicious apples from the huge family orchard.
MAMA DAN'S SOUTHERN HOMEMADE APPLE PIE
Obion County, Tennessee
Pie Filling:
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 cups apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 cup dark raisins
2 unbaked, ready-made 9-inch pie crusts
Glaze:
1 large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
PREHEAT oven to 425°. Place 9-inch pie crust into deep-dish pie plate.
COMBINE brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, lemon peel, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl. Mix well. Add apples to sugar mixture; stir until coated. Stir in raisins. Spoon into prepared pie crust.
PLACE pie crust on top of filling. Trim edges, pressing against edge of pan. Using a sharp knife, cut steam vents in pie crust. To glaze, lightly brush crust with beaten egg. Sprinkle with sugar.
BAKE until crust is golden brown—35 to 40 minutes. Place on wire rack and cool for 30 minutes. Serve warm.