Southern Sweet Potato Pecan Pie

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Burnside, buttermilk pie, Chef Troy Mendoza, Christmas, feast, Houmas House, New Years, orchard, pecan trees, pecans, pie, Plantation, Southern, sweet potato, Sweet Potato Pecan Pie, The Cabin Restaurant

Chef Troy Mendoza & a freshly baked Sweet Potato Pecan Pie

Last week, the I posted the recipe for The Cabin Restaurant‘s Buttermilk Pie, a surefire hit at any family Christmas feast. Today I’m going to give you another delicious pie recipe that is wholly Southern and perfect for Christmas time: Sweet Potato Pecan Pie. Pecan trees drop their nuts from about mid-October through New Years, so if you live near a pecan orchard or have access to fresh pecans, they will only make the the pie tastier (especially since it is such a labor of love to crack all those pecan nuts!). This is an old Southern recipe, and The Cabin used served pecans pies when it catered at The Houmas House, just down the road in Burnside. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Pecan Pie
1 pie

Ingredients
4 tbsp Butter, melted
8 tbsp Brown sugar
Pinch Salt
3 Eggs
3/4 cup Corn syrup
1 tbsp Sweet potato puree
1 1/2 cups Pecans
1 Pie shell
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch Nutmeg
4 tbsp Vanilla

Method
Combine butter and sugar together

Add salt, eggs, corn syrup, sweet potato and vanilla. Beat until well blended

Spread 1 cup pecans in the bottom of the pie shell, pour mixture over pecans, then sprinkle 1/2 cup pecans over the top.

Bake in a preheated over set at 375° for 55 minutes or until golden brown

Wrap and refrigerate pies aſter they cool until serving

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Houmas House Plantation

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Alexandre Antoine Latil, Allen Crochet, Architecture, Ashland Belle Helene, Burnside, Burnside Plantation, colonial, Congress, Dr. George Crozat, garçonnières, Greek Revival, Historic Preservation, Houmas House, Houmas Indians, John Burnside, John Smith Preston, Latil's Landing, Louisiana, Maurice Conway, New Orleans, parties, Plantation, receptions, Restoration, Revolutionary War, Sazerac, Senate, South Carolina, Spanish, Spanish Colonial stylea, Sugarcane, The Cabin Restaurant, Tourism, Turtle Bar, Wade Hampton, weddings, William Donaldson

I wrote a post a few weeks back on in a wood-cut of Ashland Belle Helene Plantation which hangs in the garçonnière at The Cabin Restaurant. There are several wood-cuts of local plantations hanging on the wall. The one in the picture above is a wood-cut of Houmas House Plantation, which is about 3 minutes away from The Cabin in Burnside, Louisiana. Allen B. Crochet, a local artist, carved the wood-cuts a few years back. Because there aren’t any labels on the artwork, it is hard for out-of-area visitors to identify which plantations they are. I  profiled the Belle Helene woodcut already, and today I will give you a little bit of history on Houmas House!

Houmas House/Burnside Plantation has somewhat unclear origins. It may have been in 1774, when Maurice Conway and Alexandre Antoine Latil purchased several thousand acres of land from the Houmas Indians. Latil may have erected a simple Spanish Colonial house shortly after the purchase. Other records suggest that a house, possibly built by William Donaldson and John W. Scott was on the property by 1809. Either way, a four-room brick house dating to the colonial era remains as the rear portion of the current main house. The building now houses Latil’s Landing Restaurant.

The main house, pictured in the wood-cut above, was constructed in 1840 by John Smith Preston and his wife, the daughter of General Wade Hampton, a famous Revolutionary War hero and U.S. Congressman and Senator from South Carolina. The house was built in the Greek Revival style. Two garçonnières sit on either side of the house. Today, one of them houses the Turtle Bar (one of my favorite places to grab a sazerac!).

The property was purchased by John Burnside, a.k.a. the “Sugar Prince of Louisiana”, in 1857 for a whopping $1 million. He renamed the plantation after himself and ended up owning nearly 800 slaves, making it the largest plantation in Louisiana at the time.

After the death of Burnside in 1881, the property passed through several hands until 1940, when Dr. George Crozat of New Orleans purchased the plantation and undertook a comprehensive restoration. The restoration was completed at the time of Crozat’s death in 1966. Houmas House was left to relatives who opened it to the public in 1970. Kevin Kelly, the current owner, purchased the plantation in 2004 at exhaustion and undertook another comprehensive restoration. Houmas House is a major player in the tourism industry today, drawing thousands upon thousands of visitors from all over the world for tours, weddings, receptions, and parties.

Top 5 Things to do in Ascension Parish

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Antebellum, Ascension Parish, Ascension Parish Tourism Commission, Baton Rouge, Bayou, Bayou Lafourche, Cajun, crawfish boil, Creole, Donaldsonville, Fall Fest, Houmas House, jambalaya, Jambalaya Capitol of the World, Jambalaya Festival, Live Oak, Louis Armstrong International Airport, Louisiana, Mississippi River, New Orleans, Oliphant Images, Plantation, River Road, seafood, Sugar Plantation, Sugarcane, Swamp Pop, The Cabin Restaurant

Ascension Parish, Louisiana is an attractive tourist destination for the diversity of it’s cultural resources, heritage, and culinary tradition. Located between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, the parish is uniquely situated for day trips from either city. It is also close enough to both airports that longer visits are a breeze. So, the next question to ask is: what are the best things to do and see when you visit Ascension? I’ve compiled a short list below that should entice you to come pay us a visit!

1. Eat local: Ascension Parish is known as the Jambalaya Capitol of the World, and for good reason. It is a standard dish in all households here and is also a staple on menus in local restaurants. We even have our own Jambalaya Festival every year! Most restaurants in the area serve traditional Cajun and Creole food and feature fresh Louisiana seafood on their menus.

Houmas House. Taken by Oliphant Images

2. Tour a plantation: Ascension Parish was once one of the most lucrative places to operate a sugar plantation in antebellum Louisiana. The fabulous wealth acquired by the planters allowed them to build stately plantation homes. Although many have been demolished over the past 150 years, some still remain, like Houmas House and Bocage. They are definitely worth a visit! 

3. Visit Donaldsonville: A sleepy little town on the west bank of the Mississippi River, Donaldsonville sits at the fork of Bayou Lafourche and the river. It is the largest historic district in Louisiana outside of New Orleans and was once the state capitol, way back in the early 1800s. It is quaint, the food is good, and it’s a step back in time.

Jambalaya Festival

4. Go to a festival: Louisiana is known for its outdoor festivals. We hardly need any excuse at all to throw up a few tents, boil some crawfish, and listen to some live music. Ascension Parish is no exception: it has 3 major festivals (Jambalaya Festival, Swamp Pop Music Festival, and the Hot Air Balloon Festival) as well as smaller festivals like the Cajun Village Fall Fest.

5. Drive the great River Road: Louisiana’s fabled Great Mississippi River Road consists of a corridor approximately 70 miles in length located on each side of the river between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. While driving on it, you pass several antebellum plantations and really get to soak in the natural beauty of the area, with thousands of acres of sugarcane fields, ancient live oaks. There are even a few areas where you can drive up the levees and watch the barges and ocean-going sea vessels cruise up and down the river!

For help with planning an itinerary, please visit the Ascension Parish Tourism Commissions website.

Garçonnières

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Antebellum, Bourbon, Civil War, Creole, Creole plantation, French, Garçonnière, historic brick, Historic Preservation, Houmas House, Louisiana, Old Crow, Old South, Plantation, Plantation homes, Sazerac, Schoolhouse, The Cabin Restaurant, Turtle Bar

The Cabin Restaurant has several restored buildings on site, ranging from slave cabins to Creole plantation homes to historic Schoolhouses. However, one of the main buildings in the restaurant is a reconstructed “Garçonnière”. A garçonnière is the French term for a bachelor’s apartment. The name originated from the French word for a boy or bachelor – garçon.

Prior to the Civil War, most large antebellum plantations in Louisiana constructed these buildings away from the big house. It was the custom on the larger plantations to have a separate house for boys once they reached their teens, so they could do “manly” things. It also kept them from being tempted by the influences of unmarried women in the extended family, and from any unmarried women staying in the house. The Old South was very particular with its customs, and keeping young, unmarried men and women separated was a key concern for them. In smaller plantation houses the attic was considered the garçonnière.

The Cabin’s garçonnière was reconstructed with salvaged historic brick. The roof is supported by four massive beams that were manufacturer’s rejects, obtained for a bottle of Old Crow bourbon (as the old saying goes, “Old Crow will make you crow!). It’s a beautiful place to eat or throw a party in!

If you are interested in seeing an original garçonnière, head right down the road from The Cabin to Houmas House, which has both original garçonnières, one of which serves as the Turtle Bar, one of my favorite places to grab a Sazerac.

The Old Delta Queen

Tags

American South, Burnside, California, Chattanooga, Delta King, Delta Queen, Hoopskirt, Houmas House, Levees, Louisiana, Mississippi River, National Register of Historic Places, Ohio River, Panama Canal, Pittsburgh, Sacramento River, San Francisco, San Joaquin River, Scotland, Steam Engines, Steamboat, Stern-mounted Paddlewheel, Stockton, The Cabin Restaurant, U.S. National Historic Landmark, USS Delta Queen, World War II

A few weeks ago, I was rummaging through some old pictures of Al Robert’s taken in and around The Cabin Restaurant in Burnside. I stumbled across the one above of the Delta Queen, a steamboat the plied the Mississippi during the the mid-20th century. It used to stop off at Houmas House and drop passengers off for an afternoon of touring around the stately plantation home (in fact, my fiancé’s mother’s first job was as a tour guide at Houmas House during the 1970s when the picture was taken; she had to walk up and down the levees to the steamboat in one of those big hoopskirt dresses to escort passengers to the house).

Today, the Delta Queen is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Historically, she cruised the major rivers that constitute the drainage of the Mississippi River, particularly in the American South. 

The Delta Queen is 285 feet (87 m) long, 58 feet (18 m) wide, and draws 11.5 feet (3.5 m). She weighs 1,650 tons (1,676 metric tons), with a capacity of 176 passengers. Her cross-compounded steam engines generate 2,000 indicated horsepower (1,500 kW), powering a stern-mounted paddlewheel.

The hull, first two decks, and steam engines were ordered in 1924 from the William Denny & Brothers shipyard on the River Leven adjoining the River Clyde at Dumbarton, Scotland. Delta Queen and her sister, Delta King, were shipped in pieces to Stockton, California in 1926. There the California Transportation Company assembled the two vessels for their regular Sacramento River service between San Francisco and Sacramento, and excursions to Stockton, on the San Joaquin River. At the time, they were the most lavishly appointed and expensive stern wheel passenger boats ever commissioned. Driven out of service by a new highway linking Sacramento with San Francisco in 1940, the two vessels were laid up and then purchased by Isbrandtsen Steamship Lines for service out of New Orleans. During World War II, they were requisitioned by the United States Navy for duty in San Francisco Bay as USS Delta Queen (YHB-7/YFB-56).

In 1946, Delta Queen was purchased by Greene Line of Cincinnati, Ohio and towed via the Panama Canal and the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to be refurbished in Pittsburgh. In 1948 she entered regular passenger service, plying the waters of the Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland Rivers between Cincinnati, New Orleans, St. Paul, Chattanooga, Nashville, and ports in between. Ownership of the vessel has changed a number of times over the last fifty years.

The Delta Queen was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and was subsequently declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989. Today, she is docked in Chattanooga, Tennessee and has been converted into a floating hotel.