Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread

About

For nearly two decades, Dairy Hollow House—a country inn and restaurant tucked into the Ozark Mountain resort town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas—welcomed guests from all over the world. Praised by the New York Times, Southern Living, Bon Appetit, and Good Morning America alike, the much-loved inn offered sparklingly fresh, innovative “nouveau’zarks” cuisine—respectful contemporary interpretations of local traditional cooking infused with seasonal ingredients. Although the famed inn is now closed, you can still enjoy the satisfying and life-affirming dishes by the James Beard Award–winning writer/restaurateur Crescent Dragonwagon in this thirtieth-anniversary edition of Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread, a story rich cookbook as gutsy and distinctive as a steaming bowl of Gumbo Zeb.

Author

Crescent Dragonwagon is the author of more than fifty books across five different genres. A workshop leader, speaker, and former innkeeper and restaurateur, she is also cofounder of the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow. She lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Find more recipes and goings-on at dragonwagon.com, where you can subscribe to Dragonwagon’s blogs, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer and Deep Feast.

Praise

“This reissue of the iconic, thirty-year-old Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread is a boon to a new generation of cooks and readers. Dragonwagon is a magical author: not only do her recipes sing with flavor; her storytelling enlivens every single page. Soup and bread in her capable hands create all the right magic for the body and soul.”
—Raghavan Iyer, author of 660 Curries

“I love the food, the stories, and the passion so apparent in Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread. My only regret is that I didn’t discover the book when it first came out. I have no doubt that I’d be a better cook and host if I’d grown up with a copy, but now I am happily making up for lost time. This is a terrific book.”
—Steve Sando, founder of Rancho Gordo

“One of my all-time favorite cookbooks. Crescent’s wit and wisdom shine through, and the recipes are as timely and delicious today as they were when I first cooked them.”
—Nathalie Dupree, coauthor of Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking

“Brilliant in its simplicity. A prime example of what a talented cook can do given a firm sense of place and a feel for its products.”
—Village Voice

“Crescent Dragonwagon is the Alice Waters of the Ozarks . . . turning out a nightly stream of creations wherein the best of country and city converge.”
—House Beautiful

Contents

Introduction: Welcome to Dairy Hollow House
Come on in, we’ve been expecting you.

Stocks—The Foundation
Before there’s great soup, there’s great stock. Some take little time, others are slow-cooking.
Chicken Stocks • Fish Stocks • Vegetable Stock

Fillips, Flourishes, and Fine Points
Those little touches that can make an ordinary soup sensational.
Before-the-Soup Fillips • After-the-Soup Fillips • Contemporary Colorations—Part Garnish, Part Zap • Delicious Dairy Dabs That Make a Difference • Delicious Low-Fat Dairy Dabs • A Few Notes on Cooking from This Book

Chicken Soups to Crow Over
A dozen favorites, from comforting to supreme-plus one fabulous duck soup for fall.
Entrée-Style Hearty Chicken Soups • Lighter Chicken Soups

Fine Fish Soups—From Creek and Lake
Chowders, Cioppinos, and Stews—some pure Ozark, others classics with an Arkansawyer twist. All fresh and savory.

Vegetable Soups for Market-Day
Nothing inspires soup-making more than garden-fresh vegetables brought or picked at the peak of perfection.
Artichokes • Avocados • Beets • Broccoli • Cabbage • Carrots • Celery • Fennel • Garlic • Greens • Green Beans • Mushrooms • Onions • Green Peas • Potatoes • Pumpkins • Radishes • Tomatoes • Zucchini

The Soup—The Solution to dieting
A delicious, low-fat soup with unlimited variations.
The Soup • How to Make the Soup: Basic Themes and Variations • Ethnic Themes and Variations

Hot, Hearty Bean Soups—Luscious, Lusty Legumes
Fragrant and filling, warm-you-right-up bean soups make for particularly good dining on crisp, cool, days.
Black Beans • Black-Eyed Peas • Chick-Peas (Garbanzos) • Cranberry Beans • Great Northern Beans • Kidney Beans • Lentils • Lima Beans • Navy Beans • Peas • Pinto Beans • Red Beans • Split Peas

Gumbo Zeb—History in a Bowl and More
A legendary Southern bowlful that packs a wallop.
Gumbo Zep Base • Completing the Gumbo Zeb Base

Delectable Dairy Soups from Dairy Hollow
Cream, milk, or buttermilk; yogurt or cheese. These gentle, much-loved finishes add richness and elegance to many soups.
Cream- and Milk-Based Soups • Yogurt- and Buttermilk-Based Soups • Cheese Soups

Sweet Harvest Fruit Soups
The sweetest seasonal bounty, from apples to watermelon, becomes mostly first-course soups that are sophisticated yet easy to prepare.
Bananas • Blackberries • Blueberries • Cherries • Cranberries • Melon • Oranges • Peaches and Nectarines • Strawberries

Nut Soups—From Soup to…
Rich and creamy and perfect starters for special-occasion meals.

Loaves, Muffins, and More
At Dairy Hollow House our overflowing breadbasket is filled with a wild assortment, from local Skillet-Sizzled Cornbread, the Ozark classic, to imported Scotch Baps, which followed an unusual route from Inverness to us.
Yeast Breads • Rolls • Quick Breads • Biscuits • Muffins

Salad—The Green Palette
The third in the magnificent triumvirate—original salads that add refreshing color and texture.
Composed Salads • Grain-Based Salads

Index

Review

“A prolific writer of several genres (not just cookbooks), Dragonwagon wrote this book about the foods served at her Ozarks inn, Dairy Hollow House. The book is exactly what it says—soups, breads, with some bonus salads thrown in for good measure—but you should read it as a master class in the language of recipes, and the comfort one can find in a recipe written with generosity and kindness. Much like the feeling one finds at the bottom of a well-constructed bowl of soup, come to think.”
—Stained Page News, August 2022

Media

“Dragonwagon Cooks” by Rex Nelson, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Feb. 18, 2023