Featured
David’s Pea Salad —
snappy! herby! fresh!
The Seer of Frogtown
Jim Embry has made sustainability his lifework and was recognized for it with a 2023 James Beard Foundation Leadership Award. We took a drive out to Jim’s Madison County farm to learn about his vision for the earth.
Kentucky Spring Rolls
Cool, crispy, crunchy, fun to make and fun to eat, our Kentucky Spring Rolls can be filled with all kinds of farmers market veggies. Pick up a package of rice paper sheets and one of rice noodles and turn the production into a tasty project. Chef Tyler McNabb says these spring rolls are great just as they are, but feel free to add proteins like tofu, shredded cooked chicken, beef or pork; or poached shrimp or mussels.
Bonus! no cooking required except for boiling water to soften the noodles.
Bread & Butter Pickled Poke
Pokeweed is a foodstuff that people turned to when little else was available. In spite of its natural toxicity, it was and still is valued as a reputed spring tonic. If you’re feeling adventurous (and in good health), here’s a recipe from Chef Ouita Michel’s great-grandmother Myrtle Molly Zimmerman.
Seed Saving
Our garden game is growing! Holly Hill Inn line cook and DirtWorks manager Ian Feeback learned from the best – Bill Best, that is! – and has started several varieties of heirloom seeds for planting in our garden soon. Join along as we learn what heirloom plants mean for the food world and why we should care about them.
Radish Frittata
Do you get as excited as we do when bunches of baby radishes start showing up in the market? And then buy lots more than you should? Us too. When you’ve eaten your fill of radishes with sweet butter and coarse salt, try this deliciously different way to enjoy them. Pro tip: baby turnips would be equally good given the same treatment.
Spring Greens Soup
Here’s a great basic recipe that’s infinitely variable according to your garden, the farmers market or your fridge. Make it a forager’s soup by swapping out some or all of the cultivated greens for wild ones like stinging nettles, dandelion leaves and ramps.
Arwen’s Hippie Salad
Arwen Donahue shares her recipe for this “freaking beautiful” salad made with odds and ends from the garden she tends with her husband (and our staff farmer) David Wagoner at their Three Springs Farm.
Stock Tidbits
Our January Pantry Challenge taught us the value of using up every scrap and making stock is a great way to do so. At Holly Hill Inn, a giant stock pot simmers all night long and its savory aroma greets us first thing in the morning.
Digging Dirt Works
Staff farmer David Wagoner has launched DirtWorks. We’re going even deeper into our commitment to not only buying local, but growing local. DirtWorks is our initiative to tend a garden at every Holly Hill and Co. restaurant, not just for the beauty that plants bring us, but for their culinary possibilities as well.
Our Neighbors Could Use a Hand
Hunger is no joke. Chef Ouita Michel went to Houston for a national chefs summit hosted by the James Beard Foundation and came home more determined than ever to fight for food access and justice.
Okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki is just one of the recipes that FoodChain has sent out with its meal kit boxes. We love its punchy flavors. It’s quick and easy and packs a lot of different veggies into one tasty dish. Plus it can be varied to reflect what’s in season and in your fridge!
Getting By: The Pantry Challenge
In which we rethink our relationship with food and how to make the most of our culinary assets.
Lynn’s Marinara Sauce
Lynn Tomlinson Aubrey makes this delicious sauce with her own homegrown and home-canned tomatoes. We added a few twists.
Taking Stock
Year-end inventory is an obligatory ritual in the restaurant business; but it’s not a bad idea for the rest of us, either!
Sustaining One Another
Chef Ouita Michel just got back from the 2022 Food & Wine Festival in Aspen, Co. While there, she participated in a panel discussion on sustainability in the restaurant industry and had her expectations upended in an eye-opening way.