Sara’s Weeknight Meals: Season 07

Episode 705: Arkansas Eats

Sara with Arkansas farmer, Eric Vaught

Sara travels to Arkansas to learn about wild life conservation and to prepare Rice Puppies and Fried Catfish with a local farmer, Eric Vaught, and his family. While she’s there, she discovers some of the best kept secrets about Arkansas’ food, from a famous pie shop to a James Beard Awards winning barbecue joint that serves just one thing: pulled pork.

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Recipes

Thanks to:

the Vaught family

Five Oaks Lodge in Humphrey, Arkansas:  Five Oaks provides several different types of resource habitats for migratory and wintering waterfowl.  It is a full service hunting lodge for duck and waterfowl hunters, as well as corporate retreats and meetings. www.fiveoaksducklodge.com

and the Arkansas tourist board. https://www.arkansas.com

ARKANSAS FOODIE ROAD TRIP:  Here are some of the Arkansas food purveyors we profiled

Charlottes Eats and Sweets in Keo, Arkansas – Located in an historic pharmacy building, complete with old walnut soda fountain. They serve sandwiches, including the famous “Keo Klassic,” salads, burgers, shakes, sundaes, malts; homemade pies, cakes. Their coconut pie was selected as one of the top pies in the South by Southern Living Magazine readers.
290 Main Street, Keo, Arkansas  Open:  11am – 2pm Phone: (501) 842-2123

Superior Brewery, Hot Springs, Arkansas – People have been taking a soak in the thermal waters of Hot Springs, Arkansas, since prehistoric times.  It was protected even before they started the National Park System   And at one of it’s beautiful old bathhouses, they’re taking advantage of that 144 degree water to brew some tasty beers at Superior Brewery.
329 Central Avenue, Hot Springs, AR  http://Superiorbathhouse.com Phone: 501-624-2337

SOMA District, Little Rock, Arkansas – Little Rock is the capital of Arkansas and the center of an urban revival in the close knit community of Southside Main Street or SOMA.  Walking it’s streets you’ll find a new crop of emerging artisan food makers with some pretty delicious ideas.  http://www.southsidemain.org/

• Kent Walker Artisan Cheese –Produces cheese from the the raw cow, goat, and sheep milk of Central Arkansas. 323 S. Cross St., Little Rock, AR  501-301-4963
• Le Pops Gourmet Ice Lollies – Handmade, gourmet ice pops uses all local produce for ingredients;www.lepops.com 5501 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock, AR 501-313-9558
• Hillcrest Artisan Meats 2807 Kavanaugh Blvd Suite B, Little Rock, AR 72205Phone: (501) 671-6328
• Loblolly CreamerySmall batch, handcrafted ice creams, sorbets, ice cream sandwiches, and other icy sweet treats – sold from a solar powered ice cream truck.http://www.loblollycreamery.com  501-396-9609

 Pig Sandwiches in Blytheville, Arkasas – The northeast corner of the state is fertile BBQ country and it’s easy to see why.    Tight by the Mississippi River and so close to Memphis, there is so much great smoked meat here.  But with three outstanding restaurants, you’ll find the best pork per capita in tiny Blytheville and it’s famous pig sandwich.

• Dixie Pig Barbecue – Third-generation-owned restaurant, serving smoked barbecue since 1923; famous for its chopped pork sandwich known as “the pig sandwich,”701 North 6th Street, Blytheville, AR  Phone: 870-763-4936
• Yanks Famous Barbecue– 213 E Main St, Blytheville, AR; Phone: (870) 762-2935;Open: 10:30AM–6PM
• Penns Drivein Bar-B-Q– 367 South Division Street, Blytheville, AR; Phone: (870)762-1593

Jones Bar-B-Q Diner, Mariana, Arkansas – A little south of Blythedale in Mariana is another gem. Jones Barbecue has been here for more than a century, started by pitmaster James Jones’ grandfather’s uncle.  His succulent sauce and top secret slaw have earned him a James Beard award as an American Classic.

219 W Louisiana St, Marianna, AR 72360

HOURS: 7AM-1PM

PHONE: (870) 295-3807

Also mentioned in this show is the annual Gillett Coon Supper, a mandatory stop for any local politician who must prove his mettle by eating a rack of raccoon.  Here’s a link that goes behind this January culinary rite of passage:  onlyinark.com/food/gillett-coon-supper.

thanks to Kat Robinson, a blogger who provided photos of the Coon Supper for us.