Arkansas Pie: A Delicious Slice of The Natural State

by Kat Robinson

Overview

Dozens of different pies on restaurant menus from the Delta to the Ozarks await hungry diners, and almost every delectable creation is a masterpiece of southern baking. Join food writer Kat Robinson on a tour through an Arkansas culinary tradition. Kat has traveled the state, sampling more than four hundred different varieties and absorbing stories along the way. Learn where fried pie is king and why a pie called possum should be the official state pie. Meet the North Little Rock man who made and sold one hundred different pies in a single day, and discover the new and innovative pie-making methods of chefs in Fayetteville and Hot Springs. It's all here in this mouthwatering and informative collection.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614237792
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	11/20/2012
Series:	American Palate
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Kat Robinson is a dedicated food and travel writer and lifelong Arkansawyer. Her award-winning blog, TieDyeTravels.com, features tales of her journeys and travel experiences. She lives with her daughter, Hunter, in Little Rock. Grav Weldon is a fine art photographer and digital artist currently living in Little Rock and working in the Ozarks and Mississippi River Delta documenting the food, culture and history of the American South.

Table of Contents

Foreword Eric Francis 11

Introduction 15

Variations on a Theme of Pies 21

I The Pies of Legend

The Cliff House Inn (Jasper)* 27

Franke's Cafeteria (Little Rock) 31

Rhoda's Famous Hot Tamales (Lake Village) 35

Ed and Kay's Restaurant (Benton)* 38

Bulldog Restaurant (Bald Knob) 43

Sim's Bar-B-Que (Little Rock) 44

Colonial Steakhouse (Pine Bluff) 46

The Village Wheel (Bull Shoals) 48

Neal's Café (Springdale) 49

Susan's Restaurant (Springdale) 51

The Shangri-La Resort (Mount Ida) 53

The Wagon Wheel Restaurant (Greenbrier) 55

II The Innovators and the Industrious

Ashley's and Capital Bar and Grill at the Capital Hotel (Little Rock)* 59

The Boardwalk Café (Jasper) 65

The Greenhouse Grille (Fayetteville)* 68

Hunka Pie (North Little Rock) 71

302 on the Square (Berryville) 74

Terry's Finer Restaurant (Little Rock) 78

E's Bistro (North Little Rock) 80

III The Pie Powerhouses

Charlotte's Eats and Sweets (Keo) 85

Mama Max's Diner (Prescott) 91

Red Rooster Bistro (Alma) 94

Bobby's Country Cookin' (Little Rock) 97

Jenny Lind Country Café (Jenny Lind/Greenwood) 99

Miss Anna's on Towson (Fort Smith) 103

Hillbilly Hideout (Ozark) 105

IV Pie in the Family

DeVito's Restaurant (Bear Creek Springs/Harrison) 111

Chip's Barbecue (Little Rock) 116

Dew-Baby's (Stuttgart) 119

The Lunchbox (Searcy) 122

V The Delta, Dominion of the Fried Pie

Sweet Treat of the Delta 129

A Delta Pie Trail 134

Rison Country Store (Rison)

Country Village (Star City)

Ray's and Piggy Sue's (Monticello)

Amish and Country Store (Dermott)

Pickens Commissary (Dumas)

Ray's Dairy Maid (Barton)* 139

Big John's Shake Shack (Marion) 142

Cotham's Mercantile (Scott) 144

Poppy's Diner (Lepanto) and Dairy King (Portia) 146

Batten's Bakery (Paragould) 148

Ms. Lena's Whole and Fried Pies (De Valls Bluff) 150

One More Note About Fried Pies 157

Interlude: Jonesboro, a City's Identity Through Pie

Welcome to Jonesboro 163

Sue's Kitchen

Skinny J's

Godsey's Grill

Chef's In

Gina's Place

VI Signature Pies of Arkansas

Pecan Pie at Your Mama's Good Food (Little Rock) 171

Chess Pie at Alley Oops (Little Rock)* 173

Buttermilk Pie at O'Henry's (Conway) 176

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Meringue Pie at Martha Jean's Diner (Beebe) 178

Motorcycle Delights at Oark General Store (Oark) and Catalpa General Store (close by) 179

Coconut Meringue Pie at 65^th Street Diner 183

Key Lime Pie at Dave's Place (Little Rock) 185

Coconut Meringue Pie at Lewis Family Restaurant (Fort Smith) 186

Lemon Icebox Pie at Rita's (Hector) 188

Grasshopper Pie at Club 178 (Bull Shoals) 191

Chocolate Meringue Pie at the Country Rooster (Green Forest) 194

Snickers Pie at Neighbor's Mill (Harrison) 195

Pineapple Delight at the Red Oak Fillin' Station (Hot Springs) 197

Coconut Cream Pie at the Skillet Restaurant and Ozark Fried Pies at the Smokehouse (Mountain View)* 199

Lemon Icebox Pie at Mather Lodge (Morrilton)* 202

Sweet Potato Pie at Lindsey's Hospitality House (North Little Rock) 204

Bourbon Pecan Pie at Ralph's Pink Flamingo BBQ (Fort Smith) 206

Banana Pudding Pie at the Backyard Bar-B-Que Company (Magnolia) 208

Peanut Butter Pie at Three Sam's Barbeque Joint (Mabelvale) 210

Key Lime Pie at Rolando's Restaurante (Hot Springs, Rogers, Fort Smith) 212

Peanut Butter Meringue Pie at South End Grill (Batesville) 214

Toasted Coconut Pie at the Feed Lot (Caraway) 216

VII The Case for Possum Pie

Playin' Possum 221

Stoby's (Conway and Russellville)

PattiCakes Bakery (Conway)

Opal Mae's (Russellville)

Sweet Treats (Lamar)

Sassy's Red House (Fayetteville)

Front Porch Diner (Springdale)

Paula Lynn's Really Homemade Sandwich & Sweet Shop (Bryant)

Barr's Junction (Rosston)

Recipe for Possum Pie*

Myrtie Mae's (Eureka Springs) 229

Appendix I A Few More Recipes 233

Appendix II The Incomplete Compendium of Great Arkansas Pie Places 237

Index 277

About the Author 283

About the Photographer 285