Sorghum's Savor Peach-Sorghum Pandowdy with Cornmeal Biscuits

I was first introduced to the wonderful Ronni Lundy in 2010, when she asked my friend Lora and me to contribute a piece on Pi(e) Day to her online food magazine Zenchilada (if you're not familiar with Ronni's books, editorial work, and contributions to the Southern Foodways Alliance, school yourself!). But I didn't actually meet her in person until this May, when, covered in flour, we whirled about the Jackson County, Kentucky community kitchen, jabbering and singing Dwight Yoakam songs as we made deviled eggs, sweet potato sonker, rhubarb tarts, cake, cocktails, and more for a farm party and feature in her upcoming book on Appalachian foodways. 

We instantly connected-- so much so that when I realized that I'd remembered my Kitchen-Aid mixer but entirely forgot the attachments, she asked me if I was sure I wasn't her long-lost child. I learned a lot from Ronni from just those few hours in the kitchen, but she's been a teacher and inspiration ever since that first e-introduction. One of the biggest lessons I've gleaned from her is through her dedication to the sweet, complex syrup beloved in the Appalachian South-- sorghum.

Ronni champions the ingredient in many forums, but she published a book on the stuff, Sorghum's Savor, earlier this year. It's part reference-part cookbook, with personal essays and historical background, testimonies from chefs and favorite folk musicians (Jean Ritchie, namely) and recipes from Ronni and other notables like Edward Lee, Travis Milton, Nancie McDermott, Sean Brock, John Fleer, and Anna Bogle. It's full of information and wit and appetite-inspiring recipes-- the type of cookbook that you want to read cover to cover.

If I lost you on "sorghum," I suggest you allow yourself the full introduction via Ronni's book and a few jars of the stuff, but here's what you need to know: Sorghum is a grass that resembles corn and similarly can be processed to produce grain. Sweet sorghum varieties, however, can be crushed and processed to produce a molasses-like syrup. In the mountain South and parts of the Midwest, where it's been grown for sweetener since 1850, sorghum syrup is often referred to as "molasses," "sorghum molassses" or by some very old-timers, "sugar cane." If an Appalachian or Midwestern rural recipe from that era calls for "molasses" it's likely that sorghum syrup was what was actually used, as it was readily available and affordable for farm and mountain families.

Though in mainstream contexts, sorghum fell out of favor with the boom of the industrial food system, it has persisted in mountain communities and is now making a comeback with increased interest in traditional, regional foodways. It's a dream ingredient-- sweet but not saccharine nor as bitter as molasses, with a complex savory flavor that varies depending on provenance and process-- a distinct terroir.

I've been baking with it for a while now, and was beyond delighted when Ronni asked me to contribute a dessert to Sorghum's Savor. I liked the idea of doing a pandowdy--essentially a cobbler differentiated by the use of "molasses" as a sweetener and the spooning of filling over the biscuits at the end of the baking time. Fresh peaches and cornmeal biscuits complete the trifecta with sorghum for a hearty summer dessert, which Ronni calls, "Emily's Howdy Pandowdy with Cornmeal Biscuit Top." I recommend enjoying it with a big scoop of homemade vanilla custard. 

Peach-Sorghum Pandowdy with Cornmeal Biscuits

Appears as "Emily's Howdy Dowdy Pandowdy with Cornmeal Biscuit Top" in Ronni Lundy's Sorghum's Savor

Ingredients
For the cornmeal biscuit top:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal (I use Wholegrain Kentucky Heirloom Cornmeal)
1 Tablespoon white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream or buttermilk
Turbinado sugar, for dusting

For the filling:
6 cups peaches, cut into 1/4 to 1/2-inch wedges
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sorghum syrup
1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger, zested and peeled
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With a knife and fork or pastry cutter, cut in the butter until mixture resembles the consistency of cornmeal and peas. Add cream and stir gently to combine.

2. Form dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Store in the fridge for at least 20 minutes while you prepare the filling.

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour the inside of a 9-inch cast-iron skillet, or if that is unavailable, a deep casserole dish of similar size.

4. In a medium bowl, combine peaches, lemon juice, flour, and sorghum. Stir in the ginger as well as the salt. Pour filling into the prepared skillet. Cover top with foil and bake for 25 minutes.

5. While filling is baking, roll out chilled biscuit dough on a clean, floured surface into a 9-to-10-inch circle. Cut 6 to 8 rounds with a biscuit cutter and set aside.

6. Once filling has baked, remove from oven, and arrange cut biscuits evenly over the filling. Sprinkle with Turbinado sugar. Return to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes more, until biscuit dough is light golden and filling is bubbling.

7. Remove from the oven and spoon some of the steaming filling over the biscuit top (this little move is a defining characteristic of a pandowdy, along with the use of molasses or sorghum in the filling!). Return to the oven to bake for 5-10 minutes more. Remove from oven and let cool. Serve slightly warm with a scoop of homemade vanilla custard.

Thanks to Food52 for featuring this post in 8 Food Blog Links We Love!

Related recipes:
Apple-Raspberry Pandowdy
Black Walnut Pie
Peach-Blackberry Cobbler
Surry County Peach Sonker with Dip

Black Walnut Pie

Just a warning--there's a lot going on in this post. I want to talk about sorghum. I want to talk about the black walnut pie with sorghum. And I want to tell you about the time I made a black walnut pie with sorghum, brought it to a music party at a Virginia farmhouse, and there met one of my musical heroes. I also will be combining both digital and film pictures. There's a lot going on.

I had been trying to get my hands on some sorghum syrup, and found some at Scratch Bakery in Durham during a visit to North Carolina last month. Sorghum syrup is made by grinding the tall sorghum grass or cane, which is grown in the southern Appalachian mountains. It was brought to the southern United States in 1853 from Africa, and became an important locally-produced sweetener. A southern recipe from the 1800s that calls for molasses probably meant sorghum syrup, as it was readily available and affordable for farm and mountain families.

The sorghum I got at Scratch came from Spring Valley Sorghum Mill, an old order Mennonite farm in Scottsville, Kentucky. It is a smooth deep amber color with a flavor less biter and more delicate than molasses. It also tastes great on biscuits.

In continuation of my efforts to bake every pie in Nancie McDermott's Southern Pies, I found her recipe for black walnut pie which calls for sorghum. It makes sense that black walnuts are paired with sorghum here, as black walnut is a tree native to the United States, particularly in Appalachia and the Midwest. Because of the intensive labor of cracking black walnut shells, recipes containing black walnuts nearly went completely out of favor. Now shelled walnuts are readily available, though at my local co-op, a sign hangs above the bulk bin, "STOP! Black walnuts are a particular flavor. DO NOT get them if you do not want them!" It's true, black walnuts, especially raw, are an unusual taste, but baked and paired with sorghum and brown sugar, they make for a rich and hearty heirloom pie.

Black Walnut Pie
adapted from Nancie McDermott's Southern Pies 

Ingredients:
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust recipe, halved
3 eggs, beaten
1/2  c. to 3/4 c. packed brown sugar, light or dark
1 c. sorghum (can also use molasses)
1/2 c. (one stick) melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used vanilla-bourbon extract)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. (6 oz.) chopped black walnuts

Directions:
1. Prepare 1/2 Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Chill for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out pie crust and fit into greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Flute crust decoratively. Line crust with parchment paper and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for 10 minutes. Take crust from oven and remove parchment paper and pie weights. Turn oven temperature up to 400 degrees F.
2. With a whisk, mix eggs and sugar in a medium bowl until well combined. Add sorghum, butter, vanilla, and salt and stir until filling is thick and smooth. Add black walnuts and mix until well incorporated. Pour filing into the partially baked pie crust.
3. Place pie in the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 45-55 minutes more or until filling puffs slightly and the center wiggles only slightly when nudged.
4. Place pie on cooling rack and let cool to room temperature. Serve with whipped cream beaten with sugar and 1/2 tsp. orange zest.

I made this pie on a Saturday afternoon, packed it in my Amish pie carrying basket, and brought it to a music party out at a our friend Hannah's farmhouse outside of Harrisonburg, Virginia. As folks started unpacking fiddles and banjos, I unpacked the pie which drew the attention of a woman who had been flatfooting on the other side of the room. As she introduced herself, I suddenly realized that I was shaking the hand of Rebby Sharp, one of my musical heroes.

I was introduced to Rebby's music by my friend Alex when she played her solo album, In One Mouth and Out The Other for me. It is weird and wonderful and combines traditional music with experimental leanings, which describes some of my favorite kind of music. With a little googling, I found that Rebby had also put out a 7'' with another musical hero, Michael Hurley, played in the Richmond band Orthotonics, and then moved to the Blue Ridge Mountains to learn old-time fiddle. A woman after my own heart.

I realized we had some mutual friends through old-time music, so I contacted Rebby via facebook back in December, asking if she would be interested in working with me on a project about her music. She responded and said she was game and to get back in touch in the new year. I was super excited to finally meet her in person, at a music party in a Virginia farmhouse. We talked about weird music, old-time music, Michael Hurley, and pie, and then played some tunes along with a whole slew of others in the "honky-tonk room". Rebby is smart, zany, hilarious and had more energy than all of us 20-somethings at the party combined. So that is how I came to be in a photo with black walnut pie and Rebby Sharp-- a funny experience to have one of your musical role models turn into a friend.

 

It wasn't just Rebby and I who liked the pie. Here's Hannah, our gracious host (and a mean fiddle and banjo player), entering the black walnut PEZ. Thanks to Hannah for having us, hosting a raucous Saturday night party, and unknowingly providing the opportunity to share pie with a musical favorite.