What’s orange and white and moUThwatering all over? A Tennessee Vols tailgate! We asked John Antun, director of the UT Culinary Institute and assistant professor in the hotel, restaurant, and tourism program at UT Knoxville, to help us assemble some distinctly “UT” tailgate recipes. To spice it up even more, Antun chose recipes from his already award-winning, soon-to-be-published multicultural cookbook.
Antun received a grant from UT Knoxville’s Ready for the World initiative to publish the cookbook. The book contains 180 recipes from the families of Antun’s students, including matzo ball soup, homemade egg noodles, Maryland crab dip, and pav bhaji, a vegetarian dish from India.
The book will be available to purchase through the UT Culinary Institute and retailers in Knoxville. Each student’s recipe also comes with a description of the food and its significance to his or her family. Though not yet published, the book is already an award-winner. Antun nabbed second-place honors for it from the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFE). In June Antun presented the project at the CAFE leadership conference in Chicago.
My grandfather lived in Chicago during the early 1900s and was probably one of the biggest Chicago Bears fans ever born. It was his passion to go to every Bears home game and have his “chili picnics.” They were a very early version of what we now call a tailgate party. He would make enough for 20 people, and they all showed up at every single home game. Then it became a Sunday ritual at home, watching the game on TV. Although to this day we still call it Bear Chili, it has evolved into what my dad now calls “GoVol Chili” and has become a Saturday ritual.
—Courtney Krich
Ground beef, premium grade 1 lb.
Tomato soup 2 (10.5 oz) cans
White rice, cooked 1 cup
Frozen corn 1 (10 oz.) bag
Chili seasoning packet 1
Chili beans 2 (16 oz.) cans
Cheese, shredded 1 bag
Onion 1 small
Tortilla chips 1 bag
My great grandparents met in an orphanage, so they had very little heritage to draw upon. This recipe was one that my grandmother started making every Christmas morning. Sometimes you have to make your own customs and traditions. My grandmother has since passed, and now my mother has taken over the egg-strada, which we have eaten every Christmas morning for the past 65 years. The dish doesn’t really tell you much about our culture, but it shows a will to create something of a family tradition.
—Nick Robinson
Eggs (or equivalent egg substitute) 6 to 8
Milk, 2% 1 c.
Salt 1 Tb.
Pork sausage, cooked, crumbled, and drained 1 lb.
Cheddar cheese, grated 1 c.
Ground mustard 1 tsp.
Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp.
White bread 6 slices
I was born in Baltimore and lived very close to the Chesapeake Bay, so I grew up around seafood. This recipe is a must for anyone with a hankering for seafood. It best represents where I am from and the types of food we like to eat. If you are from Maryland, you cannot live without crab.
—Brittany Ecalono
Jumbo lump crab meat 16 oz. (two 8 oz. containers)
Cream cheese 8 oz. (one 8 oz. container)
Mayonnaise 4 Tb.
Garlic powder 1 tsp.
Lemon juice 1 lemon (or 1 tsp. lemon juice)
Old Bay Seasoning 2 tsp.
French baguette 1 loaf
The M&M cookies recipe is special to my family. My father’s taste for M&M cookies began in his early childhood . . .. When he joined the military and was stationed at Fort Knox for his basic training, he refused to eat any of the food that was available to the soldiers. His mother would send him M&M cookies every week. My mother started fixing the cookies for him after they were married . . .. M&M cookies are not just a popular dessert for my family; they are part of my family history.
—Rachel Hutchison
Crisco shortening 1 c.
Light brown sugar 1 c.
White sugar ½ c.
Eggs 2
Vanilla extract 2 tsp.
All-purpose flour 2 ½ c.
Baking soda 1 tsp.
Salt 1 tsp.
M&Ms 1 lb.
My mother and her side of the family hail from New Orleans, so I grew up around all things Cajun. The first meal my grandmother would make when we visited was always étouffée. When we walked into grandma’s kitchen and could smell the Cajun spices simmering, we knew that something delicious was in our very near future, and the leftovers would feed us throughout our stay. Étouffée was always just the beginning of a big family gathering, and with it came other Cajun traditions like king cake, crawfish boils, and Mardi Gras. But it was always grandma’s crawfish étouffée that I looked forward to most.
—Lane Francis
Onion, chopped 1 c.
Celery, chopped 1 c.
Green onions with tops, chopped ½ c.
Shallots, chopped 4 Tb.
Garlic, minced 2 cloves
Butter 1 stick
Flour 2 Tb.
Chicken stock 2 c.
Ro-Tel tomatoes 1 can
Salt to taste
Black pepper 1 tsp.
Cayenne pepper dash
Worcestershire sauce 1 Tb.
Crawfish meat, rinsed and drained
(or shrimp, peeled and rinsed) 2 lb.
Cornstarch for thickening, if needed
Objects from long ago and far away promise a tantalizing museum experience this summer at UT Knoxville. The Frank H. McClung Museum is offering “Ancient Bronzes of the Asian Grasslands,” an exhibit from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, through August 3.
The 2008 Lady Vols brought home an unprecedented eighth NCAA women’s basketball crown. Tennessee Alumnus tips its hat to all the championship teams in Pat Summitt’s storied reign
My bleary eyes gazed through a plate-glass mirage as the runway of Las Vegas’s airport drew a literal line in the sand. Sometimes the line between life-changing dreams and nightmares runs thin as the queen of hearts.
Jan Simek steps in as interim Knoxville Chancellor, forensic science on display, and UT Extension’s efforts to put Tennessee’s winemaking industry on the map—these and other stories in this edition of UTopics.
This could possibly be the saddest story you ever read, but it isn’t. Far from it. It’s a story of courage, faith, and friendship that gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “a host of Volunteers.” It begins in 1971. Walter Chadwick, hero of the 1967 Tennessee–Alabama football game who wobbled the game-winning touchdown pass left-handed to tight end Ken DeLong, had just started a promising high-school coaching career in Smyrna, Georgia, near his hometown of Decatur.
Educating students to succeed in the global workplace isn’t just a lofty slogan. Today it’s a necessity. Hundreds of UT Knoxville alumni work in China or travel there frequently. Tennessee Alumnus thanks the many alumni who sent information about their experiences. Unfortunately we couldn’t feature all of them. Here are a few that represent just what a small world our planet has become.
In a retirement center near Minneapolis, three residents—all with a UT connection—get together to cheer on the Vols every time a UT Knoxville game is televised. They might not do the wave, toss Nerf balls around the room, or belt out “Rocky Top” after a touchdown, but their spirit and enthusiasm are always in high gear.
Logan Durham is having a rough—or, maybe that’s “ruff”—year. And he’s enjoying every moment of it. Durham, a sophomore in communications from Cleveland, Tenn., is this year’s lead Smokey, the University of Tennessee’s costumed bluetick hound mascot. He’s assisted by two understudies and a junior Smokey; UT’s Spirit Office typically chooses multiple students to perform as Smokey since the performance schedule is very demanding.
Richmond taps Ayers as president, Mears dies in Knoxville, Geier joins university—these and other stories in this edition of UTopics.
Adam Vicars never expected to follow in his older brother’s paw prints when he got to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, but he did. Adam, 22, who graduates in December with a degree in logistics, spent about 4 years—from 2003 to 2007—as UT’s costumed mascot, Smokey. Adam’s brother, Jason, ’01, was Smokey for 2 -and-a-half years and won the Universal Cheerleaders Association Mascot National Championship in 2000 and 2001. Adam and Jason Vicars are the only brothers ever to have served as Smokey, according to Joy Postell, UT mascot director.
A new softball stadium and basketball practice facility taking shape in Knoxville are changing the campus landscape and boosting UT’s reputation as a powerhouse of intercollegiate athletics. Three women made seven-figure gifts to help make these projects happen. Why? The reasons are as interesting as the women themselves.
One of Bob and Etta Davis’s first dates was to go to a high-school football game together. They attended games on the University of Chattanooga campus when legendary “Scrappy” Moore was coach, and their love of sports persisted over the years.
The basketball Lady Vols captured their seventh national title by beating Rutgers in the NCAA championship game on April 3. The victory marked Coach Pat Summitt’s 947th career win, adding to her reputation as the all-time winning-est coach in NCAA basketball history.
The new Glocker Business Administration -Building is well on its way to a 2008 opening in Knoxville. This is one of the many items in the Summer 2007 installment of UTopics.
