Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 42

Bring to a boil, then cook slowly for 30 minutes.
Put in canning jars and seal. Chow-chow is good
served over soup beans or used as any other relish.
Leather Britches

liz long

Before the era of refrigeration and before the development of canning techniques, Native Americans and
early settlers relied heavily on drying in order to make
the bounty of the garden last through the fall and winter months. Dried, whole beans were referred to as
shuck beans, shucky beans, and leather britches in
America’s Appalachian region. The entire hull is dried,
not just the bean itself. The drying not only preserves
the bean, but it also intensifies the flavor once it is
reconstituted in water.
Modern-day commercial green beans generally
cannot be preserved, at least in an edible way, by drying, because plant breeding has toughened their skins.

Above: Biscuits ready
for country ham and
red-eye gravy.
Right: The late Janette
Carter at work on her
chow-chow recipe.

Pour ¼ cup of brewed coffee into an iron skillet
and sprinkle in one tablespoon of brown sugar. On
medium heat, fry two or three slices of country ham
for about two or three minutes per side. Remove ham
and add ⅓ cup more coffee to the skillet. Increase
heat to medium-high and stir, loosening the browned
particles from the bottom of the skillet. Reduce the
liquid to the point where you added the second measurement of coffee. Serve gravy over biscuits or grits.

The daughter of country music pioneers A.P. and Sara
Carter, the late Janette Carter made this chow-chow
every fall in her Scott County, Virginia kitchen. As
chow-chows go, it’s pretty complex in its spicing and
heavy in the use of brown sugar, which Janette said
should be weighed “scantly.” Chow-chow represents
the genius of the Appalachian people in devising ways
to prolong the garden’s goodness.
1 gallon chopped cabbage
1 gallon chopped green tomatoes
1 quart chopped onions
3 green bell peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons powdered ginger
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons turmeric
1 tablespoon celery seed
3 tablespoons salt
3 pounds brown sugar, scantly (not packed)
One-half gallon vinegar
42 | BlueRidgeCountry.com

larry smith

Janette Carter’s Chow-Chow

Heirloom varieties, such as cut-shorts and greasy
beans, are best for drying.
With a pair of scissors, snip off the stem ends of
each bean. Then, thread a darning needle with white
string, such as kite string. Pass the needle and string
all the way through the center of a bean and then loop
the string around that bean and tie it, to prevent the
beans from coming off the string. Continue until your
string is full, leaving a little space between each bean.
Make a loop on the end of the string and hang the
beans on a wire in a dry place. A typical kitchen is fine.
Leave the beans as they are for about a month. Part of
the appeal of leather britches is the rattle the dried bean
pods make when touched.

http://BlueRidgeCountry.com

Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013