Our Angel - Each week, Angel Sturgeon has an article
in the Barren County Progress. She includes a recipe
from the Farmers' Market.

Be sure to check it out each week!

Also, her family's traditional recipe for dressing is below...

The Beall Family Peanut or Oyster Dressing

2 loaves crumbled light bread
1 stalk chopped celery
1 stick butter
2 cups water
1 can spanish peanuts chopped (you may use canned oysters instead) both are a Beall family tradition
broth from turkey or chicken
salt and pepper to taste

Cook celery and butter in 2 cups water on medium heat until celery is tender. Chop nuts and crumble bread . Drain celery and add to peanuts and bread crumbs . Pour enough broth over that to make it moist . Add salt and butter to taste. Bake in pan unttil golden brown or place over turkey or chicken, which ever you choose, and let brown.

Dutch Lettuce

4 large eggs, boiled, chopped
1 Tblsp cider vinegar
5 cups lettuce, cut in pieces
4 potatoes, boiled and cubed
salt pork, cubed and browned

You make sure the lettuce is pretty dry before cutting it up into a large bowl. Add the potatoes and eggs. Fry the salt pork till browned and the fat is rendered out. Remove from pan and add the vinegar while the grease is still hot then pour immediately over the salad and toss.

As she told me this recipe I thought it sounded awful familiar. My father's family made something they called "Kilt Lettuce." He came from the Appalachian region of Tennessee. The differences were that my dad would add just a few leaves of fresh mustard to give it a zing and tossed the vinegar with leaf lettuce and chopped green onions. He would use bacon instead of salt pork. He would pour the hot grease over the lettuce till it was "Kilt." If it didn't get killed enough he would put it back in the skillet and toss it around till it was.

I have my own version of this which is like my Dad's only I don't kill mine, and I add the bacon to the lettuce before drizzling partially cooled grease over the lettuce, virtually making an oil and vinegar dressing. I like my lettuce still alive!

Now that I live in south central Kentucky, I asked people if they had ever eaten "Kilt Lettuce." They didn't know what I was talking about till I started telling how it was made and they said they did eat it but it was called "Wilted Lettuce" here.

I found another recipe called Dutch Lettuce on the internet and it has yet another difference - a different way of dressing the salad. Here it is:

Dutch Lettuce

5 slices bacon, diced
1 beaten egg
1/3 c. vinegar
1/4 c. minced onion
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. water
6 c. torn leaf lettuce

Place lettuce in bowl. In a skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Do not drain. Combine egg, vinegar, onion, sugar, water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add to bacon and drippings. Heat just to boiling, stirring constantly. Pour hot dressing over, toss lightly.