Aside from country music, Dolly Parton‘s other passions include cooking up home style fare in her kitchen! In 2006, Dolly published her first cookbook, “Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s: Love, Laughter, and Lots of Good Food,” which featured 125 recipes collected from her childhood, family members, Dollywood, Dixie Stampede, and her own travels.
“I still like to try new foods as often as I can. But when it comes to cooking for myself and my husband Carl and my great big extended family, which numbers into the multiple hundreds these days, what we really want to eat is what comforts us most: good, hearty food rooted in Mama’s cooking and those country gatherings of my childhood. It’s the food from those Mom and Pop joints that welcome you in as if you’re family. We really just want food that is lovingly made and joyfully served up,” the country music legend explained about her culinary preferences.
Check out one of Dolly’s signature dishes and the heartwarming story behind it below!
Dolly Parton’s Stone Soup Recipe
Ingredients
2 quarts chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 (14 ½ ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 small head cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 pound turnips, peeled and diced
2 large carrots, diced
1 small onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 smoked ham hock
1 very clean stone (optional)
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Directions
Combine the stock, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, turnips, carrots, onion, garlic, and ham hock in a large soup pot. Add the stone, if using. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the soup is thick and the vegetables are fork-tender, about 2 hours. Remove the ham hock from the soup, remove the meat from the bone, and chop it into ½ inch pieces. Add the meat back to the soup. Season to taste with the salt and pepper. Serve piping hot.
Like most things with Dolly, this recipe has a touching back story. Growing up with eleven siblings, the songstress’ mother, Avie Lee, would send all her children out to find the perfect stone for stone soup. Avie Lee would then examine each stone and select the one from the child who needed an extra bit of love and attention that day. With so many little ones at home, this was one extra way to make everyone feel special.
That story makes you want to add the optional stone to the pot!
Share this with other fans of the beloved country music maven!
