Route 129 Smokehouse, New Grass Update, and Tree Color

We have been trying to eat out more so as to spend less time on kitchen cleaning per Bev’s request.  We go to Maryville quite often and about half the time we travel US-411 which takes us past Route 129 Smokehouse which we keep talking about trying. 

Knoxville & Maryville Errand Day And Scrambled Jakes For Breakfast

I’ve long hated going to Knoxville and fighting the traffic and I’m beginning to feel the same about Maryville as in gets more crowded.  So, when I go to either one, I try to accomplish as many tasks as possible and for this trip I had a stop in Lenoir City to drop off some too-big clothes, five stops in Knoxville, and three in Maryville.  We left home at 8:30am and the first stop was at the Good Neighbor Shoppe where they sell donated clothes and furniture then give the money to The Good Samaritan Center which helps the less fortunate in our county.

Tuna Omelet From Leftovers And The Local Bite

While Madison was here, we went to Lakeside Tavern where we have eaten a few times and I had the Ahi Tuna Salad which was greens topped with rare tuna slices and I had most of the salad and three pieces of tuna leftover.  I didn’t get around to eating the salad before it went bad but the tuna was still in fine shape so I decided to have it in a breakfast omelet along with some Tillamook Cheddar.

It was very good but I added the tuna to the eggs too soon which allowed it to cook too much and toughen a little.

Madison Visits And We Made Chorizo Breakfast Burrito with Potatoes and Eggs And Posole

Madison was camping in the Smokies with her new puppy Clover (a Samoyed breed – Spitz family) so she swung by here from Gatlinburg to visit with us for a couple of days and as always it was great to see her.  Hard to believe she will be 29 in December – our oldest grandchild.  Here are a couple of shots of her with her Meme, Aunt Pat, and Grandpop.

When Chef Lea Ann posted her recipe Chorizo Breakfast Burrito with Potatoes and Eggs I knew I had to make it for my favorite meal of the day.  The chorizo I had in the freezer was too old so rather than make a store trip I decided to make my own (pics here and recipe below),  I left out the spicy items, used the recently made fresh tomato salsa in lieu of the red chile sauce and doubled the recipe.  Rather than reproduce Lea Ann's recipe here, you can get it by clicking on the first link above.  It made four well stuffed burritos.

Homemade Chorizo

I had planned to use the package of chorizo that had been in the freezer for a while, but after thawing, I discovered it was no longer useable.  Since I had a package of ground pork in the freezer and didn’t want to make a store trip, I decided to try making my own chorizo.  I went on line and found the recipe for Best Mexican Chorizo on “The Daring Gourmet” blog that looked good so I opted to give it a try.  I omitted the extra fat and anything with heat to get the recipe below and rather than mix the spice into the meat it a bowl, I just added them to it in the pan as it cooked.

Best Mexican Chorizo Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb ground pork

6 oz coarsely ground pork fat (ask your butcher)

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons ancho chile powder

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

4 tablespoons cider vinegar

Instructions:

I didn’t do the below.

Place the meat in a large bowl and all remaining ingredients. Use your hands to thoroughly combine the mixture. Place the it in a colander or sieve over a bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 3 days, daily squeezing out and discarding any liquid (this isn't absolutely necessary but it will more closely resemble the texture of store-bought chorizo). After 3 days, divide the meat up into 6 little 4 oz loaves, wrap each one in plastic wrap and place the loaves in a freezer bag or wrap again in aluminum foil. You can also use wax or freezer paper.

The chorizo will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months. Storing it longer doesn't really pose a safety concern, but the taste will suffer.

The Verdict:

The burritos were very good but a little salty so I’ll one use just one tsp. next time if I make my own chorizo.  Making the chorizo (sorta) worked well but without a few days for the meat to marry with the spices, I could pick out individual flavors, such as the cinnamon.  Since it’s hard to find no-heat chorizo in a store, making the meat this way worked well for Cindy and Bev.  I will definitely make this dish again but with purchased chorizo.

Easy Pork Pozole Verde Recipe

This recipe for Easy Pork Pozole Verde came from Capri on her “Good Food Baddie” blog and since I’ve used it before, I’ll just provide a link to my previous post rather than reproducing the recipe on here.  I used a 2½ lb. Iberico pork roast and pork broth from the freezer and could not get small cans of hominy at either Walmart or the Mexican store and we had to buy a 110oz one – sent the extra home with Madison. 

Look at all of the fat on the right.

The Verdict:

The posole turned out very good and Madison said it was one of the best soups she’s ever eaten – we sent the leftovers home with her.  It is frequently said that fat is flavor and so this pork should be the best meat on the planet - can't imagine why the Spanish want all of that fat.   After removing the fat before and after cooking it, I had about half the meat that the soup needed – this is a pic from a previous version.

Photos can be slightly enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

10/15/26 event date

Iberico Pork And Brussels Sprouts/Sweet Potato Hash

My success with the Iberico Pork so far has been disappointing and the problem may be the cook but I am trying it again today.  The cut for today is Pressa Steak - "a highly prized, richly marbled cut of pork—most famously from the Spanish Ibérico pig—taken from the shoulder area right where it meets the lower neck or collar" and I used the suggestions from Campo Grande to decide how to cook it.  I forgot to take pics before I started working on it but it looked like this one from the web but mine had more fat.

Rao's Meatballs And New Grass Planting

A few weeks ago, Bev made a semi version of Rao’s meatballs and we enjoyed them so she decided to make a batch following the recipe with two ingredient changes as shown in the doubled recipe below.  She used the recipe from Food Network and made 52 two-ounce balls rather than the six ounces ones called for in the recipe.

Mexican For Friday Cards - Salsa and Fajita Skillet

I had been wanting to make a Mexican dish and a one pan dish with some make ahead potential seemed perfect.  But before the Mexican meal, we had the required chips and salsa as a pre card game appetizer.

Two Restaurant Disappointments And New Mower

Real Mexican For Lunch

I didn’t ask why, but Bev has decided she wants to make some tamales which required buying the needed ingredients.  The closest real deal Hispanic store that we know of is La Lupita Mexican Store And Restaurant in Maryville.  I’d been thinking about eating there so after shopping for a new riding lawn mower, we headed to La Lupita for lunch and supplies – masa, lard, corn husks.

My old Kubota mini tractor was having too many issues so I bought this mower.

 

My New Pan, Swordfish Puttanesca And New Family Additions

Since I’ve made this recipe before, I normally wouldn’t post it again but I wanted to show off my new pan.  We have two 12” skillets and a 12” saute pan but I occasionally wish I had a larger one so I bought a 15” cast iron pan.  I normally don’t like to use cast iron pans on the cooktop as they heat unevenly but I decided to get it anyway and for this meal, I gave it plenty of time to preheat to help with this issue.  I increased the recipe amounts by 50% for the six pieces of good looking swordfish that came frozen from Food City.

Home From Townsend For Cindy’s Special Birthday Meal For Us

I’d mentioned in an earlier post that Bev, Pat and I were all celebrating BD’s with our trip to Townsend and Cindy's friend, Ernie, also had a Sep BD so Cindy wanted to make a special meal for all of us when we got home from our short trip.

Cades Cove Loop Road And Peaceful Side Social

Cades Cove Loop Road

One of our desires for the Townsend trip was to drive around the Loop Road in Cades Cove and hopefully see some wildlife but since the girls didn’t want to get up early, we got there a little after 10am rather than my hoped for little after 8am – when the animals are more likely to be out and about.  When I first moved to TN, we could go around the loop and see 100 deer grazing among the cattle but the park no longer leases the bottom land to farmers for that purpose and the green pastures have been allowed to grow up into original habitat. 

As a result, the lush grass that the deer loved has been replaced with what I would call weeds and they are so tall, you likely couldn’t see a deer anyway.

Birthday Celebrations in Townsend, TN

When I first moved to Tennessee, we made regular evening drives around the Cades Cove Loop Road in the Smokies to see the wildlife (mostly deer) but I haven’t been in many, many years.  For low crowds and good wildlife viewing, early morning is the best time to go but we have to leave home earlier than Bev wants to get up, but staying in Townsend saves an hour. 

When Bev had her BD in April, she said she wanted to go to the Appalachian Bistro at Dancing Bear Lodge for her BD dinner but we had yet to make it.  So, when Pat (SIL) and I both had Sep BD’s a plan was born – let’s combine the events.  We made a reservation at the Bistro for Sunday night and reserved a two BR cabin on the river for two nights so we could hit the loop road Monday morning.  Then we could do anything else we wanted in the park and take in the sites/shopping in Townsend the remainder of Mon, before spending a second night and coming home on Tue morning.

We made the hour drive up (up river) to Townsend in time to check in, drop our stuff at the cabin, and make our 5:30 dinner reservation. 

Originally, dancing bear contained cabins, and a lodge with the restaurant and Bev, Rhett and I had eaten there a long time ago but the lodge/ restaurant building burned to the ground in 2013 and new owners (Oldham Hospitality) took over in 2014.  Rather than rebuild the lodge with rooms, they added to the number of cabins and built the bistro and an event center.  Everything is located on a 37acre wooded area up on a hill except the three riverside cabins which are just over a mile away.

The two-bedroom cabin was very nice and seemed to have everything we needed and a balcony that hung over the river.

Foothills Milling Café, Tellico Italian Restaurant, And Bald Cypress

Prior to our trip to the Foothills Milling Company, we hadn’t seen friends, David and Laurie, for quite sometime and wanted to catch up so we invited them to lunch and they suggested the Foothills Milling Café in Maryville (same owners).  We had never been there so we spent plenty of time exploring their expansive online menu of sandwiches.   

I couldn’t find a description of Laurie’s chicken salad but here is a shot of it.

Dave ordered the Tuscan Ciabatta “Prosciutto, genoa salami, ham, mozzarella, sundried tomato pesto, roasted peppers, basil pesto & arugula on pressed ciabatta bun, $15.50.”

I had the Foothills Muffuletta Ciabatta “Shaved black forest ham, genoa salami, local bologna, pepperoni, provolone & olive tapenade on a pressed ciabatta bun, $14.50.”  Sided it with Pesto Macaroni Salad.

And Bev ordered the Meatloaf Melt “House meatloaf, sweet peppadew peppers, fried onions, pimiento cheese, and mayo on a pressed sourdough loaf, $15.50.”

Pic was too blurry to post.

We all enjoyed our meals and as you can see, they don’t skimp on the meat - I ate half for lunch and the remainder for supper.  It was just what I expected from a high-end sandwich shop.  

Tellico Italian Restaurant

We love (especially me) Italian food and upon leaning that there was a place in Vonore that just opened in late August, we knew we had to give it a try.  We made the 15 minute drive to the Vonore Industrial Park and arrived at Tellico Italian Restaurant a little past 11am (our usual eating time for the first meal of the day.  I forgot to get an outside pic but it is located in a small strip mall and the location has had many previous tenants.  When we got there the place had only a few customers.

They have a menu that contains most of the popular Italian dishes and our choices were:

Pat – Lasagna

Bev – Spaghetti and Meatballs

Larry – Meatball Sandwich so I could try their sauce, meatballs, and bread.

We all thought our meals were good but not the blow us away we were hoping for but we will give them another try after they have been open a while longer.

Other than the tough nuked bread, breakfast was very good.

Bald Cypress

I thought I had posted about it earlier but couldn’t find it, but several years ago Bev planted a Bald Cypress Tree in our yard as we liked the ones we had seen around town.  When it got about 8’ tall, I decided it was time to trim off the bottom branches so it would begin looking like a tree.  So I advised our Hispanic yard worker, through an interpreter, to cut off the bottom branches up to a certain point but when I checked later, the top of the tree had been cut off down to that point.  Knowing it was likely to put on a new, but weaker, stem, we just left it alone to see what would happen and did indeed but on several new stems.  But when I asked Bev about removing all but one, she wanted to leave them all.  So rather than a tree that should look like this.

We have a very pretty Bald Cypress Shrub.

Photos can be slightly enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

9/4 & 9/11/26 event dates