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Eastern Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains


ol_ironstomach

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Should you find yourself in Johnson City TN some late morning*, I can't think of a more comforting meal than at Jane's Lunch Box (1109 W Market St), a meat-and-three joint that I plucked off a list, but which turned out to be a bit more. "Dumpling Diva" Jane Myron turns out to also be the current mayor of Johnson City, but her kitchen puts out some solidly tasty fare including a "stagecoach chicken", a moist and juicy chicken breast which appeared to be stuffed with grits(?), then panko-breaded and baked; and the local favorite "chicken and dumplings". Pretty good creamed spinach too. I washed mine down with a "sweet vanilla spice tea", which I suspect is what happens if you crossed Southern sweet tea with chai spices. Despite Myron's notoriety for a recent traffic stop, the restaurant is just bursting with charm. Open for lunch only, 10:30 to 3 PM M-F. Bonus points for the Charley Harper prints that share the walls with local knick-knacks.

* as we did following an expedition to Chilhowie VA, where the overnight forecast called for falling "ice chunks"

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If you should find yourself in Deal's Gap or Fontana Village (Rt 129 also known as The Dragon) in western NC/eastern TN, check out Deal's Gap Motorcycle Hotel Diner (I kid you not). Not exactly fine dining but for a couple of dollars, a huge home-made biscuit with good sausage and scrambled egg (and the ubiquitous American "cheese") and 16 oz of coffee. You also get to dine with people wearing bandanas and leather and sporting various tattoos which makes it even more interesting. Or you can drive to Dollywood in Gatlinburg, TN, about 2 hours away and eat in commercialized purgatory.

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Edit:  Didn't realize there was already a Benton's thread.  Please feel free to move this as needed.

While visiting my ancestral homeland of Chattanooga this past weekend, I drove up to Benton's Country Hams in Madisonville.  When you walk in, the smell of smoke hits you in the face and smacks you around a little bit. My mother talked about how it would be to come home and all of your family smelling you reek of hickory smoke and pork.  It's not the kind of place for people sensitive to smells like that. But, getting through this, you're well rewarded.  They smoke, age, and sell Allan Benton's famous hams, bacon, pre-trimmed packages of prosciutto, home-made pork breakfast sausage in both mild and hot, and various deli meats and cheeses bought from other places, including a few that you don't see anymore like pickle and pimento loaf.   According to articles on the internet, he always keeps back some hams and other product for the local market, so if you happen to be in the neighborhood, you can stop in and buy a ham even if it would take a month or more to have one shipped.

The day we were there, one of the butchers said that they were trimming and boning 40 hams to ship to California. My needs were much more modest, a whole ham to share with my mom and some bacon.  After talking to the butcher about the various ages of ham (Store bought packages of country ham slices come from hams aged 60 to 80 days.  Don't get the aged ones unless you know what Benton's normal one tastes like. He actually prefers the younger hams.) we decided on an 8 month old 18 lb ham.  They were happy to slice it and make two stacks, one for me, one for my mom, and alternate the slices.  Total cost before tax was around $77, plus Tennessee sales tax of 9% or so.  We added on a couple of packages of bacon, a couple of packs of prosciutto for me, and 2 pounds of the hot pork sausage for my mom.

They don't ship the sausage, which is a shame because it is excellent. Mom fried up a couple of pieces to try when we got home.

The ham is traditional, old school country ham.  It has a little chew, but not particularly tough. Unlike store-bought country ham packs, I didn't need to poach the ham in water to take off saltiness.  It has a lot more funkiness in the parts of the slice toward the skin, and less funk and salt toward the bone.

The bacon is probably the most smoky bacon I've ever had, and I'm saving the fat.  The bacon is as much a flavoring ingredient for recipes as a breakfast food.   It would provide nice flavor for cooking greens or green beans, or fried rice, or fried rice noodles with some green onion and sesame seeds.  (Going to the shop is good since you can pick out the perfect mix of lean and fat for you.)

I flew back with ham and other pork in my carryon bag.  Benton's is about 85 miles northeast of Chattanooga and about 45 miles south-southeast of Knoxville.

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Recently in Gatlinburg, TN visiting the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  We stayed at the great Lodge at Buckberry Creek (highly recommended for nice lodging, great location in the more serene hills above town, but still only 5 minute drive to town and park entrance).  Lodge puts delicious fresh baked cookies on your bed each night that vary every day.  Breakfast is included and is a nice buffet of bagels, eggs, meats, great scones and biscuits, etc. The Lodge also is known for its tasty dinner menu, but apparently it books up quick so we never got to eat there.  In town, one great place was Bennet's BBQ.  Excellent smoky, moist, but not overly fatty brisket with really good choice of 4 sauces - I liked the original Rowdy the best (I even bought a jar to bring home).  The coleslaw which is diced and sweet, the way I like it and good onion rings and drop biscuit. The half smoked chicken dipped in the honey BBQ sauce was pretty good too.  Kids did great with super fresh chicken tenders (not frozen stuff you usually get).  One place to skip is Best Italian unless you love tons of bland melted mozzarella - the place is very popular and quality of ingredients were decent, but everything lacked seasoning and wasn't cooked well (soft crust pizza, flavorless stuffed shells) and there famous garlic knots are bread twist rolls covered in diced garlic from a jar and average oil.

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The best Fathers Day gift I have ever given my dad was a case of sauce from Bennett's. We went down there for vacation for about 10 years and the sauce is his gold standard. When I stopped in in 2010 while driving cross country, it was a bit disappointing, but given your review I'll assume it was an off night. (it was empty)

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The best Fathers Day gift I have ever given my dad was a case of sauce from Bennett's. We went down there for vacation for about 10 years and the sauce is his gold standard. When I stopped in in 2010 while driving cross country, it was a bit disappointing, but given your review I'll assume it was an off night. (it was empty)

We went for an early-ish dinner on a mid-week night and it was about 3/4 full. There is also another branch in Pigeon Forge, the next town over. The sauce is rather good - worked great on some grilled steak over the weekend.

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