The Mountain Kitchen: Recipes from Andiamo Lodge

Baked eggs:

• Vegetables you have on hand
• Desired number of large fresh eggs (can do individual dishes with one egg or a dish to share with 2 or 3 eggs)
• Desired amount of cheese for topping
• Fresh herbs for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sauté vegetables, such as mushrooms, onions, and red and yellow peppers, until tender.
3. Spoon grits onto bottom of a baking dish.
4. Scatter vegetables over grits, then break eggs over top. Do not stir.
5. Top with desired amount of cheese.
6. Bake until the eggs are the consistency you desire. (Colleen prefers them runny or jammy.)
7. Garnish with herbs … done and dusted! Serve with toast soldiers or bread.

Photo by Colleen Duffley

Apple-Cider Bundt Cake or Muffins

“Living on Lookout Mountain, we have access to so many fresh, seasonal things,” says Colleen. “We love to give our lodge guests food that is in season and picked by us. We are so lucky to have a you-pick apple farm right in Mentone. Little River Orchard has so many varieties to choose from. For this recipe, I used Honeycrisp and Jonagold. Here is the website for info and for you-pick dates when in Mentone: https://www.lrorchard.com. Our honey is from Shinbone Valley Bee Company: https://www.facebook.com/Shinbone2020/.”

For the Cake:

• 1 ¼ cups mild-flavored oil
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• ⅔ cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoon hard apple cider
• 3 eggs at room temperature
• 2 cups packed grated apple, plus 2 cups apple chunks (about 4 medium apples)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon for tossing with apple chunks
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt

Honey Glaze:

• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoon honey (Colleen uses local honey from Shinbone Valley Bee company)
• 2 tablespoons hard apple cider
• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Pinch of kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan. Set aside. (If you use a small pan, you can use the rest of the batter for muffins or use all for muffins.)
2. In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, hard cider, and eggs with a spoon. Stir in the grated apple.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together 2 cups all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the apple mixture, and mix only until it all comes together in a smooth batter.
4. Toss apple chunks and 1 tablespoon flour, then fold the apples into the batter.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Gently tap the pan on the counter several times to make sure the batter has fully settled into the nooks of the pan.
6. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a serving plate.
7. Combine all glaze ingredients in a saucepan, and bring to simmer for 2 minutes.
8. Drizzle half of the glaze over the warm cake. Save the remaining glaze to drizzle over the cake when it is fully cooled and ready to serve.