Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2014 - 45

Cherry Pepsis, even Chocolate Pepsis."
Despite being heralded by Motz, Northgate
Soda Shop goes about its unpretentious way,
delighting a largely local clientele by serving a
South Carolina signature: hamburgers crowned
with pimento cheese.
Northgate Soda Shop
918 North Main Street
Greenville, South Carolina
864-235-6770

With tree trunks
supporting it and old stone
fireplaces warming it, the
Lake Rabun Hotel and
Restaurant may well be the
last surviving mountain
lodge on a lake in Georgia.

Lake Rabun Hotel & Restaurant
With tree trunks supporting it and old stone fireplaces warming it, the Lake Rabun Hotel and
Restaurant may well be the last surviving mountain
lodge on a lake in Georgia. Amid the Blue Ridge
Mountains and across the road from Lake Rabun,
the building was constructed in 1922 and renovated in 2008. Preservationists who oversaw the
renovation made sure that, while adding modern
touches, the history and the rustic feel of the place
were not compromised.
The kitchen is overseen by Jamie Allred,
described as among the best of the young new
Southern farm-to-table chefs. During growing
s e a s o n , A l l re d o r g a n i ze s Fe a t u re d Fa r m e r
Thursdays, when local growers not only provide
produce but also visit the restaurant to describe for
diners their growing methods and philosophy.
Outside the restaurant kitchen is a culinary herb
garden, where guests are invited to pinch and smell
as much as they want.
Soup made from local butternut squash, fritters
of pimento cheese, and buttermilk-soaked fried
chicken all pay allegiance to the restaurant's
Southern heritage. And from Chef Allred's kitchen
comes a fitting tribute to north Georgia, mountain
trout covered in pecans.

PECAN CRUSTED MOUNTAIN TROUT WITH
LEMON-CAPER BEURRE BLANC

From Executive Chef Jamie Allred
Lake Rabun Hotel & Restaurant
Lakemont, Georgia
Serves 4
Beurre blanc:
¼ cup white wine vinegar
¼ cup white wine
½ large shallot, sliced thin
½ pound of unsalted whole butter (2 sticks),
cold, cut into ¼-inch pats
Zest of 1 lemon
1 ½ tablespoons capers
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 boneless mountain trout filets,
skin on, 5-6 ounces each
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
⅓ cup pecans, ground in food processor
¼ cup vegetable oil
Trout filets: Season trout filets on both sides to taste with salt
and pepper. Place each filet in pecans skin side up and lightly
cover the flesh side of the trout. Set aside. Heat two 10-inch
sauté pans on medium high heat; add half the oil to each pan.
When oil starts to smoke slightly, place filets, pecan side down,
into pan and pan-fry until slightly golden. Flip and continue
cooking for 2-3 more minutes until cooked through.
Transfer to plates. Prepare the beurre blanc.
Beurre blanc: Combine vinegar, wine, and shallot in small
saucepot. Reduce on medium-high heat until it has the consistency of thick syrup. Turn heat to very low and slowly whisk in
the butter one or two pieces at a time until emulsified with the
reduction. Strain, add lemon zest and capers, and season with
salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately over trout filets.

Canyon Kitchen
The building was once a barn. The food is both
rustic and refined. Canyon Kitchen in Sapphire,
N.C., is the collaborative creation of trout farmer
Sally Eason and award-winning Chef John Fleer.
When the Vanderbilts were buying land around
Asheville, the Jennings family was doing so in
Jackson County. On that property, Sally's father
Dick Jennings once raised mink. To feed those
mink, Dick began stocking a trout pond. Realizing
that raising mink in the mid-20th century represented a losing proposition, Dick abandoned that
endeavor and devoted the rest of his career to fish.
On the menu most every night at Canyon
Kitchen is trout, now raised by Sally and her family
in Haywood County. John Fleer and his kitchen
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014 | 45

Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2014

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