USA Rice, Sunsweet, Ninja, Chef's Choice and thanks to the generous support of - [Narrator] the 2016 Subaru Legacy with symmetrical all-wheel drive plus 36 MPG.

It pairs well with every kind of road.

Subaru, proud sponsor of Sara's Weeknight Meals.

(guitar music) - Today on Sara's Weeknight Meals, with the Mississippi meandering along it's border, this is a place where water rules in hunting and fishing and farming.

It's uniquely southern and a little eccentric.

Bird-calling starts at a young age, (bird call) and the hot ticket is the Annual Coon Supper, where it's said you can't get elected to office without making a stop for smoked raccoon.

I'm here in Arkansas for the food, well maybe not that food, but there are plenty of good things to taste here, and I'm gonna take you on a tour of the best barbecue, breweries, pie shops and food trails the state has to offer.

- It's lines and they're out the door.

They wanna make sure they get their pie.

- We'll check out how farms become bird sanctuaries in the off season.

- See the eagle's nest.

- I thought they were endangered.

- Well they're making a comeback.

- And then join a local family to make their favorite fried catfish and rice puppies, their take on the hushpuppies that are so rightly famous as a southern delicacy.

Rice puppies?

- It's kind of like a hushpuppy but made with rice.

- It's so good.

- Well you know, you made it.

- I'm a chef!

(guitar music) (upbeat rock/jazz music) - Arkansas has it's share of unique restaurants and hot spots, and the friendly people are always happy to tell you where to find them or you can just do it the time-honored way and count the cars in the parking lot.

There are plenty at Charlotte's Eats and Sweets in Keo, Arkansas.

(guitar music) - I always wanted just a little pie shop.

I started this as a weekend thing, just to sell a few pies.

I knew nothing about a restaurant and it just evolved.

Everything has just went crazy here.

They love the pies, and we love fixing them for all of the people that come in here.

We always have coconut, chocolate, and caramel pie everyday.

Tuesdays, we add a custard.

Then on Wednesdays, we add lemon meringue.

On Thursdays, we have a cobbler.

It's either blackberry or peach.

Fridays, in the wintertime, we have pecan.

Pecans come out off of our orchard, and they're fresh.

Saturday, we alternate between banana pudding or lemon icebox pie.

In the winter, we have sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie.

The people that come in, it's lines.

It's lines and they're out the door.

We have people flying in from Dallas a lot.

We have a helicopter that comes in on the helicopter pad out here and the Keo Fish Farms that we have out here, they have a lot of people from China, and before we open, the place is full.

They wanna make sure they get their table.

They wanna make sure they get their pie, first.

- [Narrator] Little Rock is the capital of Arkansas, and the center of an urban revival in the close-knit community of Southside Main Street, or SOMA.

Walking its streets, you'll find a new crop of emerging artists and food makers with some pretty delicious ideas.

(upbeat symphony music) - Well, I'm Kent Walker, and we're at Kent Walker Artisan Cheese, right here in Downtown Little Rock.

I started making cheese as a hobby.

It kind of grew from there.

A couple of restaurants kind of got word of what I was doing, sold them a little bit of cheese under the table, and then they said, "This was great.

"Our customers love it.

"You should do this for real."

- Our main thing that we do are cream and ice pops.

The cream pops are like ice cream and the ice pops are more like sorbet, mostly fruit based.

Some of them are made with coconut milk.

(upbeat symphony music) - Our store has a fresh meat case, which is all sausages that we make in house, bacon that we cure and smoke here, fresh steaks, chickens, anything you would find in a butcher's shop.

(upbeat symphony music) - Today, we're right in front of the Green Corner Store and Soda Fountain where our Loblolly Ice Cream bar is at, right here in the middle of SOMA.

We make handcrafted, small-batch ice cream using hormone-free milk.

We make everything from scratch, and we use local, sustainable, fair-trade, organic ingredients when we can.

- Locally sourcing your food is incredibly important.

Most small local producers value transparency in their production methods.

They'll let you visit the farm.

We lead tours right through our make room We've got big glass windows so you can see right in there when we're making cheese.

It keeps us honest and it educates you about your food.

- We like to use local ingredients because flavor, for one thing, like for instance, strawberries that I get from farmers here are a different variety than what they sell at the grocery store, and they're much sweeter.

They're just a much better tasting strawberry.

- The proliferation of farmer's markets, it's really exciting to see, and that creates opportunity for a lot more farmers, like myself, to be able to reach out to customers in a satisfying kind of way.

- Little Rock's gotten a lot more adventurous and the food truck scene has kind of taken off.

- There's all the wonderful farmers' markets.

There's the River Market and the Bernice Garden Market, to name a couple.

There's a lot of wonderful places to go check out here in town.

- [Narrator] The northeast corner of the state is fertile barbecue country, and it's easy to see why.

Tight by the Mississippi River and so close to Memphis, there is so much great smoked meat here, but with three outstanding restaurants, my pick for best pork per capita is tiny Blytheville and its famous pig sandwich.

(blues music) - We have several good barbecue places here in Blytheville.

- The rib tips, which is our best seller, you got to try them.

If you in Blytheville, you gotta come to Yank's.

- You had Penn's Bar-B-Q.

It's real good.

My dad moved up here from Mississippi in 1920.

That's how he got started in the barbecue business.

That's him on the left there.

Pig sandwiches, or barbecue sandwiches were $.15.

Alright, I got to get in here.

We use charcoal, but we burn it down red before we ever put it under the pit.

That raw-looking meat, we put that on this morning.

This was cooked yesterday.

That's what we're gonna start on.

This is our sauce.

This is our vinegar-based sauce.

A man came in here one day and wanted to know how I made this sauce and I said, "I make it by the gallon."

This is what people eat around here.

(upbeat pop music) - Order up.

My father-in-law started this business in 1952.

- Hello, how are ya'll?

- Good.

- Here's what a whole shoulder looks like.

Order up.

- We decided to start a small barbecue stand here in Blytheville.

We've been here, starting about, maybe two years now, going on three.

Pull up, order, and we'll get you out of here about three or four minutes, and you'll be on your way, quick.

What is the rib tip?

The rib tips is just the end part of the ribs.

Then we just sprinkle a little sauce.

It's a barbecue sauce.

It's not made with a vinegar-based sauce.

So it's like, little bit of brown sugar.

That's all I can tell you about the barbecue sauce, now.

You just gotta try it.

- We do it our way, and the other people do it their way and I like my way.

- We do not put any dry rubs.

We don't put anything on our meat.

- We don't put anything on it, except love.

(upbeat pop music) - [Narrator] A little south of Blytheville in Marianna, is another gem.

Jones Bar-B-Q has been here for more than a century, started by pitmaster James Jones' grandfather's uncle.

His succulent sauce and top-secret slaw have earned him a James Beard award as an American classic.

Here's why.

- Hello, I'm James H. Jones from Jones' Bar-B-Q in Marianna, Arkansas.

(upbeat pop music) Well, we only use hickory wood, and that's a twelve-hour process.

The slower you cook it, the better off it is.

First off, we'll make a fire in this fireplace here and when the wood burns down to coals, then we take this shovel right here and take the coals off from under there, come here and watch your head now.

I'm gonna just pull the door back.

I'm gonna just spread the coals up underneath there.

The sandwiches are $3.00 each with slaw or without slaw.

I got a lady coming right now.

She always get extra slaw on her sandwich.

I already know what my customers want before they even get in here.

A lot of times when people come in here, and you ask them do they want slaw and they look at you real strange when you say you put it on there rather than put it on the side.

(laughs) We got a telephone call that said we had won the James Beard award.

So we had a trip to New York City to accept it, and when they called me up on the stage, you couldn't hear nothing and you couldn't hardly see nothing for the folks clapping and patting their hands and all that.

We really had the red carpet rolled out for us.

We was told whenever you win one of those, it's just like the Oscars in the music industry.

That's the first vacation I've had since I finished high school in 1963, and that one vacation made up for all the time that I hadn't had no vacation.

Really, it's not a day that go by that we don't have someone coming in from all across the United States.

If you get a chance, check that sign-in sheet I got in there.

I had a lady that come here from Yemen, and she said, it took her 24 hours to fly from there to the United States.

She came one month and skipped about two months and come right back again.

Ever since we got back from that New York trip, that was it.

Well, it's been in the family over 150 years, and I've been working with them ever since I was 14 years old.

Daddy had us to come with all the boys.

If either one of them give it up, he'll come back from the grave and do something to us.

So, we gonna sit on that.

(upbeat pop music) (symphony music) - [Narrator] Here in Humphrey, Arkansas it's all about farming and foul.

After the rice harvest, the fields are flooded and ducks and geese come down from the north in masses.

(symphony music) Eric (mumbles) is a local farmer and a conservationist.

- These are all dabbling ducks out here today.

- Dabbling ducks?

- A dabbling duck is a shallow-water feeding duck as opposed to a diving duck, which you'll find in coastal regions normally.

- Oh, diving and dabbling.

- Yeah.

- Wow, party.

(laughs) So, why did they come here?

- Well, they're feeding on the grain that's left over after harvest.

They're feeding on weed seeds.

They're feeding on invertebrate in the water.

- What invertebrate?

- Bugs, small bugs.

- Oh, bugs, okay, alright.

So they're sort of doing you a service besides helping themselves to some dinner.

- Absolutely, absolutely.

- Wonderful.

Now how do we get them to come to us?

- Well, traditionally, we use duck calls.

- Is that what you've got there?

- Yeah, there's a few here.

- Those look like party favors.

- Right, right.

So my kids love them.

So you can make a hut.

(duck call) - Wow.

- And you can string that together to.

(duck call) - I don't see them.

(laughs) You have to do a little more than that.

- Well maybe you should try it.

- Alright, let me see, let me see.

Okay, so hut, hut?

- Hut.

(duck call) I've heard worse.

- Aww.

(laughs) No, that didn't sound very Daffy-esque.

You did much better.

(rock music) Watch out.

A predator is making a comeback, and it's nesting nearby.

Wildlife Biologist, Reese Butler, showed me.

- So you look over here in this big cypress tree, you'll see the eagle's nest.

- Wow, that's a mansion.

That's huge.

- It is, isn't it?

- Why are they here?

- Well, in this lake, there's lots of fish for them to feed on or even the ducks.

- The ducks.

I thought they were endangered?

- Well, they're making a comeback.

- So this is a good thing?

- It's a great thing.

- Clean water is essential for birds and farms and Eric wants to keep it that way.

- Water Conservation is our number one goal.

- Makes sense, rice is grown in water.

- Absolutely.

- So about how many inches?

- In the growing season, we'll have about two inches of water.

- That's all?

Wow, so you work to try to prevent erosion too?

- That's a big benefit of flooding these fields during the winter is it decreases erosion, it increases natural fertility, and it improves water quality.

- Oh, all good.

Now do you fish in these waters too?

- No ma'am, it's not deep enough to fish, but we do have some back at the house.

(rock music) - So what are we making?

- We are making rice puppies.

- Rice puppies?

I mean I've heard of hushpuppies.

They're made with corn meal.

- As a matter of fact, 50% of the rice grown in the United States comes from Arkansas.

- That's wonderful.

- Something we're very proud of.

- I mean, you should be.

That's great, okay so.

- So one cup of white rice, two cups of water.

- Just regular old tap water, huh?

- Absolutely.

(funky pop music) A 10.5 ounce can of French onion soup.

- Oh, now that's interesting.

Is this your idea?

- It is.

- Well, I have to say because not everybody's gonna be able to buy it or doesn't wanna use a can of onion soup, what I think they could do is use beef broth and just some slow, thinly-sliced sauteed onions till they're really caramelized, and that probably will be a really nice substitute.

- One teaspoon salt, a half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

- It's gonna be spicy.

- It's gonna be a little spicy.

- And your kids don't mind?

- They're okay with it, yeah, and about a half a cup of diced bell pepper.

- So now what happens?

- So we're gonna bring this to a boil.

- A bowl, you mean a boil.

I mean, for those who don't speak Southern.

- Sorry a boil.

After we bring it to a boil, we'll add the lid and bring it to a simmer for 35 minutes.

- So do you just fry them naked or do you put something on them?

- No, we'll roll them into balls, roll them into the beaten egg and then roll them in breadcrumbs.

(country music) - Alright, well we've got our whole thing set up.

I think we need to bring in some troops.

Don't you think we can enlist the fam?

- I think I know where we can find some.

- Okay, those little guys have done this before?

- They have, they're pretty fond of it.

(country music) - Okay guys, come on.

- Eric's wife Kelly is helping the kids, Sam, Sawyer, and Braxley, with their favorite cooking chore.

- So, you'll lead the troops?

You're gonna get this taken care of?

- Oh yes.

They love to help me in the kitchen.

They love to be hands-on and to do anything they can to be involved.

- Well, this is sort of like edible play dough, now isn't it?

- Yes, it is.

- But, it's helping you get dinner on the table.

- That's right.

- Alright.

- Use your spoons, and we're just gonna roll these up into little balls.

You can tell you've done this before, Sam.

- My hand is already so messy.

- I know, it is kind of messy, but you guys like to get messy.

- That's exactly it.

- Baxley, you've got a big one there on your plate.

- Told you I had a big one.

(laughs) - Oh my gosh, that is big.

- I think you're all doing a great job, and they're gonna taste delicious with the fish that dad's gonna prepare.

- Alright, so let's see.

So what temp are we looking for?

- 350, we'll fry the rice puppies there because that's the same temperature we fry the fish at.

- Aw, brilliant, okay, oh, here we go.

Wow, good job, good job.

- You guys wanna go cut some flowers for the table?

- Yes.

- Very nice there, mostly all the same size.

So normally, I know you use a fry layer, but not everybody has a fry layer.

So I'm gonna recommend that people at home who don't do this, which is a very deep casserole, no more than two inches of high-heat oil, and use a deep fat thermometer.

So that's what we're gonna do.

- Great.

- Okay, so what do you think?

How many should we cook at a time?

- Probably four or five.

- Yeah, 'cause we don't want it bubbling up.

So here we go.

(guitar music) What do you think, that's good?

- I think that's plenty.

- Of course, when you're doing it, you don't ever want to drop it in from up here.

You just wanna drop it in from down there, right?

- Sure, you make a great point but an even safer way is to put it on the spider and lower it in there.

- Okay, I should trust a guy who fries more than I do.

Go ahead.

That's brilliant.

- So, we're using rice bran oil, and rice bran oil is made from the outer layer of the grain, the top layer, like other oils do.

- And it's got a high smokepoint?

- Absolutely, and for that reason, it's popular in frying turkeys also.

- Now how long do you think these take?

How long in the fry layer?

- About three minutes at 350.

- Okay.

- Okay, so they look like they're done.

- Okay, that's the kind of color we're looking for.

- Absolutely.

- You know, my favorite flavor of food is fried.

So you just made me very happy.

- Great, great.

- Okay, let's get some more in there.

(guitar/bongo music) Now, let's get ready to fry the fish.

You use a commercial fish-fry mix, I understand.

- Yes ma'am.

- Is that right?

Well, I'm gonna show you how to make one of your own from scratch.

- Sounds great.

- We're gonna do this first.

It's my cajun or creole spice mix.

So, we're gonna start with a tablespoon and a teaspoon of hot paprika.

- Okay.

- A tablespoon of garlic powder, (guitar music) two teaspoons of salt, (guitar music) teaspoon and a half of onion powder, and here's the half, and you know what, let's just use the tablespoon and fill it up halfway, which is the same as a teaspoon and a half.

Okay, so there we have our oregano.

(guitar music) - That may be a little much.

- Nah, that's fine.

It's not rocket science.

- Gotcha.

- Half a tablespoon again of thyme, and we're making more than we need, and then your famous, cayenne.

- Go ahead.

- There we go, here we go.

- Do the honors.

- Yeah, and then a teaspoon of black pepper, and then we just stir it up, and we're good to go.

So we need a cup of flour.

You wanna add a cup of flour?

- Sure.

- You just shake it in to our pie plate.

I like to set up pie plates.

It's just a good way to go.

They're nice and wide.

Okay, then a cup of that.

What do you think?

Should we start with about a tablespoon of this?

- Sounds good.

- Okay, and then we'll stir it up.

We may need more.

Alright, let's taste a little bit.

Um, hmm.

- Like it?

- We're killing the kids again, (laughs) but it's good.

I'm gonna say one to two tablespoons.

- Okay.

- I don't think it's terrible.

I think it's nice, I mean, I really like it and your kids are intrepid.

So I think we're fine.

(laughs) Alrighty, so that is our dry mix.

Now we need our wet mix.

You don't always dip it in anything, do you?

- I don't, no ma'am.

- Do you mind if we use a little bit of milk?

- No.

- This one is a collaboration between the two of us.

- Absolutely.

I'm willing to try new things.

- And then we're gonna use catfish.

Now, what's so great is you eat catfish here all the time, right?

- That's right.

- But here's the other happy thing, is catfish is one of the sustainable fish that is farmed in the United States.

There aren't a lot of choices because so many fishes are endangered for all sorts of reasons and especially farmed, is usually an issue but not with catfish.

So it's a wonderful choice for everybody.

So I'm glad we're doing it.

(rock music) When you're doing this, you have to have a wet hand and a dry hand.

So here's my wet hand.

I can do more than one at a time here.

That's so you don't bread your hand.

I inevitably bread my hand anyway.

You know, I always come out with a big fist of dough on it.

Alright, now, dry hand, and then I'm gonna do what you taught me, which is to put it right into the spider.

(country music) Wow, so those are sort of looking done.

How long did that take?

- Just a couple of minutes.

I think they're ready to take out.

- Alright.

Wow, look at that.

Those look delicious.

- Smell good too.

- I can't wait for dinner.

(rock music) Alrighty, here we go.

- It smells delicious.

- Some fried catfish.

- Ummmm.

- I know you guys are hungry, huh?

- Yes ma'am.

Alright, well I just wanna make a toast with our sweet tea to the (mumbles) family.

Thank you all for making my day.

- Did you want some coleslaw?

- Oh, we gotta have the tartar sauce.

Is that your favorite thing?

- Actually, the rice puppies are.

- I love it.

- Great.

- Yeah.

- You guys did a great job rolling those.

- You sure did.

- They're good.

- Do you think that's the one that you rolled?

- No.

- No?

(laughs) - Is it sweet tea?

You're gonna have to peel me off the ceiling after dinner, yeah.

- It's so good.

- Well you know, you made it?

- I'm a chef.

- Of course you are.

You're the chef!

To be honest, Arkansas isn't the first place I would think of as a food destination, but I was so wrong.

The food that is grown here and food that is cooked here is not to be forgotten, especially when it's made with love and served to all the generations gathered around the table.

How could it not be the best?

For recipes and videos, go to our website, saramoulton.com.

- [Narrator] Sara's Weeknight Meals is made possible by USA Rice, Sunsweet, Ninja, Chef's Choice, and thanks to the generous support of - [Narrator] the 2016 Subaru Legacy with symmetrical all-wheel drive plus 36 MPG.

It pairs well with every kind of road.

Subaru, proud sponsor of Sara's Weeknight Meals.

(piano interlude)