Tag: cooking

BGS 5+5: Adam Chaffins

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Adam Chaffins
Hometown: Louisa, Kentucky
Latest Album: Trailer Trash EP (released May 16, 2025)
Personal Nicknames: “Chaffins”

Genre is dead (long live genre!), but how would you describe the genres and styles your music inhabits?

I’ve considered myself a multi-genre artist from the beginning. While I feel confident identifying as a country artist, that label doesn’t capture the full range of my influences. Growing up, I listened to country alongside Top 40 hits and classic rock – those styles shaped my ear just as much. In high school, I discovered bluegrass and jazz, and during college I really dove deep into those genres and honed my craft within them.

All of those influences have filtered into my writing today and I think that’s especially clear on this new EP. Music, like culture, is becoming increasingly interconnected and multi-dimensional. It’s exciting to see more country artists exploring new spaces and I want to make music that is part of that evolution.

Which artist has influenced you the most – and how?

Speaking of multi-genre artists, Willie Nelson is a great place to start. He’s part of the foundation of country songwriting – hell, songwriting in general. His music draws from so many different influences and we wouldn’t have the classic Willie Nelson records without that breadth.

It’s tough to single out just one artist as my biggest influence, but more often than not, when I’m writing a line or delivering a phrase, I catch myself asking, “What would Willie do?” His sound has never felt forced or put on – it’s authentic because he’s lived every word of it. Beyond the music, his lessons in patience and positivity have been a huge influence on me and have played a big part in keeping me grounded and continuing to make music.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

I love the outdoors – it’s essential for my creativity. Whether I’m kayaking on the lake, hiking with my dog, or cycling down country backroads, being outside helps me reset. When I’m feeling bogged down by the ‘business’ side of music, stuck on a lyric, or just need a break from a piece I’m learning, nature gives me the space to clear my mind. It’s like a creative reset button – being in the elements helps me return with energy and perspective.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

Some of my earliest memories are of wanting to be a musician – or at least be around musicians. I had toy guitars and drum sets and would just bang away, trying to get the sounds in my head out long before I had any idea what I was doing.

One moment that really stands out happened before I could even read or write. A local DJ I was obsessed with was doing a promo at a car lot and my mom took me to meet him. I thought he was the gatekeeper to all of music. I remember scribbling on sticky notes – what I explained were the instruments and band members I wanted for my future group. He smiled, folded the notes, and tucked them into his shirt pocket with a wink, just before going back on the air.

Looking back, that moment felt like an early manifestation. Even then, I knew music was where I wanted to be – I just didn’t have the words for it yet.

If you didn’t work in music, what would you do instead?

I love to cook. When the world shut down during COVID and there were no shows to play, I got a big offset smoker trailer and started smoking whole chickens outside a locally owned grocery store. Honestly, I probably earned fans faster with barbecue than I ever have with music…

That said – it’s tough work. Tending fires inside a steel pit during a Tennessee summer isn’t for the faint of heart. But then again, neither is rolling around the country in a van playing songs for strangers. I guess one just happened to be the dream I had first. I still cook and smoke meat whenever I can and, if I weren’t making music, I could absolutely see myself doing that full-time.

Photo Credit: Natia Cinco

BGS Podcast ‘The Shift List’ Joins Osiris Network

Posted on by Editor

The Bluegrass Situation is proud to announce that season 2 of The Shift List is now hosted on the Osiris podcast network.

The Shift List goes inside the kitchens of leading chefs to find out what kind of music fuels their shifts in the kitchen, influences their food and touches their lives. Partnering with BGS, the leading online source for roots culture, The Shift List offers a unique perspective on music through the eyes of the culinary world’s driving forces.

Host Chris Jacobs has talked to innovative chefs from around the world about the music that plays in their kitchens during a shift, including Copenhagen’s Rosio Sanchez (NOMA, Netflix’s Ugly Delicious), Kentucky’s Edward Lee (610 Magnolia, Top Chef), and Oklahoma City’s Colin Stiringer and Jeremy Wolfe (Nonesuch, Bon Appetit’s #1 Best New Restaurant 2018).

“The Shift List is a unique look into music through the culinary world, providing an intimate and authentic view of music from some of the world’s leading chefs,” said RJ Bee, CEO of Osiris. “The launch of The Shift List, in partnership with BGS, represents our expansion into more musical and cultural genres. Look for much more roots music and culture content from BGS and Osiris.”

Season 2 will include innovative chefs sharing the music they love from places like Hawaii, San Francisco, Austin, Montreal and more. Catch up on every episode of Season 1.

Subscribe to The Shift List wherever you get your podcasts — Apple Music, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Mushroom Pesto Crostini

Posted on by Editor

People have strong feelings about mushrooms — mushrooms and cilantro. One might overhear a conversation about them and mistake the subject for politics or religion. There are words like “hate,” “disgusting,” and “adore.” I happen to love them. The earthy, umami taste of mushrooms is something I crave. Some of my favorite ways to eat them are in in velvety eggs, a salad of leafy greens and pecorino romano, and any sort of vegetable sauté. 

Several years ago, when I was in a phase of experimental cooking, I would pour over cookbooks for hours and dream of all the lavish dinner parties I would throw. You know, as a broke 21-year-old could easily do! One of my favorite cookbooks during that time was Giada DeLaurentis’ Italian Made Easy. I realize a celebrity chef’s cookbook is not the modish choice, but every single thing I made from that cookbook was wonderful. There were multiple recipes for pesto, but the one that stuck was the mushroom pesto. I have made a few changes to it over the years, but I have to credit Giada for the idea. (Call me, girl!)

Most recently, I included it in a Father’s Day meal with my family. We served it atop grilled steak tenderloin, salad, potatoes, and the most delcious homemade rolls, courtesy of my sister-in-law. My grandma wasn’t so sure of the pesto, but a few other family members (who aren’t keen on mushrooms) loved it. Today I decided it needed to be the star of the show. It may not be for everyone, but it’s perfect, if you are looking for something unique to try!

I recommend pairing this with Anaïs Mitchell’s Hymns for the Exiled. It’s weirdness and awesomeness go well with the mushrooms. 

Ingredients

For the pesto:
1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
8 ounces white button mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted 
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups fresh Italian parsley leaves
3/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan. 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the rest:
3 ripe avocados, lightly mashed with salt and pepper
36 slices (1/2-inch-thick) baguette bread, toasted with olive oil, salt, and pepper
5 strips of bacon, cooked according desired doneness. You can obviously leave this out to keep it vegetarian! 

Place the porcini mushrooms in a bowl of hot water; press to submerge. Let stand until the mushrooms are tender — about 15 minutes. Scoop out mushrooms as not to stir any dirt that may have sunk to the bottom of the water. Discard mushroom water.

Combine the porcini mushrooms, button mushrooms, walnuts, garlic, and parsley in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. With the machine running, gradually add the oil, blending just until the mushrooms are finely chopped.

Transfer the mushroom mixture to a medium bowl. Stir in the parmesan. Season the pesto with salt and pepper, to taste. If not using mushroom pesto right away, cover tightly with plastic wrap to prevent possible discoloration of mushrooms.

Layer each slice of bread with some avocado, mushroom pesto, and bacon. Enjoy! 

Mango-Butterscotch Pudding

Posted on by Editor

I recently had the honor of hosting a notable birthday dinner for one of my besties, Kristin Russell. It was notable for a number of reasons — a celebration of life, resilience, and all things new. Kristin has been one of my go-to touchstones for the past few years in this wildly complex journey of life to date. The least I could do to show my gratitude for her constant feeding of my soul was to feed her beautiful belly, as well as the beautiful bellies of some of her lovely friends.

The menu was all things Comforting (capital C, if you know what I mean). Chicken liver mousse with strawberry and pomegranate gelée and all the accoutrement, sun dried tomato and chickpea dip, cornish game hens with pear bourbon sauce, zucchini gratin, creamy parmesan and garlic polenta made with local Riverplains Farms corn meal, and the pièce de résistance which I would like to share with you now — mango butterscotch pudding.

This sweet, salty, creamy, and cloud-like dessert was a complete brainstorm.

Translation: I had no idea what I was doing.

I'm not a major dessert eater. Never have been. When I do partake, I rarely take more than a couple of bites of the thing — even if I spent hours creating it. I generally fret about making desserts overall, unless we're talking about pies. To me, though, pie making is all about the dough and the crust, so I'm just saying that I'd much rather wrap my all-butter-crust around some chicken or corned beef instead of, say, apples … if it's all the same to you.

So back to fretting; I had stayed up the night before until almost 4 am reading through dessert recipes. I had gone foraging in the fridge already to see what I had that I might be able to utilize. I found two beautifully ripened mangos — so that was happening. I also knew that a friend of Kristin's (and now a friend of mine), Jennifer Niceley, would be bringing a harvest of farm fresh chicken's eggs from her family's East Tennessee farm, Riverplains, so I was Googling "dessert recipes with a LOT of eggs." Would it be a mousse? Hmm … Meringues? Weeeelll? Then, I read through a pudding recipe and got that spark in the dark! Seven other pudding recipes and a few videos later, I had my marching orders for the next day.

I woke up at 8 am the next morning with pudding on the brain. I efficiently completed the remainder of prep work for the meal I had to do, put some Nina Simone on the speakers, then sat on a kitchen stool like a kid on Christmas morning waiting for Miss Niceley and the Eggs to arrive. "Miss Niceley and the Eggs" … I need to hurry up and write that children's book.

When Jennifer arrived, it was like handing your baby to grandma. I confidently handed my iPad to Jennifer with some additional gibberish-filled mad science instructions about my hopes for this dessert. Let it be said that only another fellow avid cook could interpret what I told Jennifer that day. I also have to note that I don't know what I would've done without Jennifer's warm presence and helping hands that afternoon, in general … We shouted to each other over the Vitamix the whats and hows of pudding prep and muscled through the steps together. The biggest challenge for me in the process was eliminating the sensation that you were eating fur while eating the mangoes. I solved that by straining the mango pulp (after blending it) two or three times through a sieve until I could guarantee that not an ounce of the puréed mangoes' texture resembled cat fur.

In the end, it looked and tasted like all birthday pudding should taste — immaculate. Indeed.

Hope you think so, too.

Mango-Butterscotch Pudding

SERVINGS: 8

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter*
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (*leave this out if using salted butter)
3 1/2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks (or 7 small)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 ripe mangoes — peeled, chopped, puréed, and STRAINED (They're hairy little buggers, so you will need to use a sieve to remove the "hair.")
1 small packet or sheet gelatin
1/4 cup cornstarch, sifted
3 tablespoon sugar

Optional: fresh mint, pomegranate seeds, berries, whipped cream, and/or crumbled ginger cookies for garnish

DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until just golden brown; do not let it get dark or, sorry to tell ya, you'll need to start over.
Add brown sugar and cook while stirring, until sugar is just starting to dissolve.
Add milk and salt; bring to a simmer. Remove from heat.
Whisk egg yolks, sifted cornstarch, and sugar in a large bowl until smooth.
Add puréed and strained mango to egg mixture. Stir until smooth.
Add gelatin to hot milk mixture, whisking with speed constantly to avoid getting lumps.
Pour hot milk mixture from saucepan into egg & mango mixture, slowly and in rounds, whisking per every small pour.
Wipe out saucepan. Strain custard through a fine-mesh sieve back into saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking very often, until it bubbles occasionally and starts to thicken (about 5–6 minutes).

Optional: If you do have any lumps in your mixture for some reason, transfer the mixture to a blender and blend briefly on low speed until smooth.

Place 8 ramekins or bowls on a rimmed baking sheet. Divide pudding evenly among ramekins and chill until set, at least 3 hours.

Optional: Top each pudding with whipped cream and any of the suggested garnishes, if desired.

Salmon Cakes with Mirepoix

Posted on by Editor

When I was 18 years old, I moved to Alaska and found myself in the middle of wonderful adventures in music, hunting, and fishing. My good friends Ginger Boatwright and Doug Dillard were about to play some shows the Summer I arrived. They invited me to join them and fill the fiddle slot. Good times were had!

I met plenty of friendly folks traveling around the state. Many became life-long friends. Some of the folks I met that first Summer and my family that lived there would often invite me along on their annual freezer-filling hunting and fishing expeditions. I even brought my dad along when he would come to visit from California. There was so much about Alaska’s bounty. Of course, respecting Mother Nature and taking only what you needed was paramount. And the idea of not having to go to the supermarket for meat was an incredible idea. It is a foreign idea to some, but it didn’t take me long to get used to making it happen all the time in the North Country.

I found a different way of life than what I grew up with in California. I had done some hunting and plenty of fishing, but not like what I was doing in the last frontier. It was more about subsistence, and the quality of Alaska’s protein is remarkable — the most organic, free range, healthy, and flavorful critters you can imagine, including deer, moose, caribou, salmon, halibut, cod, king crab, tanner crab, Dungeness crab, scallops … the list goes on and on. Harvesting the animals and packaging them for safe storage in the freezer or jarring/canning them for the shelf takes energy, but the rewards are immeasurable.

Alaskan summers were always filled with a plethora of flavorful, rich salmon. I have an affinity for it. Glazed, marinated, grilled, smoked, beer battered, poached, and even raw. Having so much around meant finding new ways to prepare it, as to not get tired of the same old, same old. So, I experimented and started making salmon cakes using ingredients I always have on hand like onions, carrots, and celery. These aromatics are often referred to as mirepoix. (Pronounced, MEER- pwah.) I often add garlic to it and use the combo for soup and sauce bases, too. In addition, caramelizing it in butter will get a sweeter, more complex taste. It’s a great starter for many dishes.

Here is the guide to one of my favorite uses of mirepoix and canned or jarred salmon. When I made this last, I was listening to Black Prairie’s A Tear in the Eye Is a Wound In the Heart. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 pint jar of wild Alaska or Pacific NW Sockeye/Red or Chinook/King salmon, broken up
1/2 medium sweet onion, minced
1 medium sized celery stick, minced
1 small carrot, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 of a sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed into fine bits
2 eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

In a nonstick skillet on medium-high heat, caramelize onion, celery, carrot, and garlic in butter. Salt and pepper to taste. Let aromatics cool and then, in a bowl, mix with salmon, eggs, and crushed Ritz crackers. Form into 3-inch diameter by 1/2-inch thick patties. Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Place patties in hot skillet. Cook a couple at a time as to not crowd them in the pan. DO NOT MOVE THEM AROUND until they are browned on one side. Once brown, gently turn them over and let cook until brown on the other side. Should make about 4-5 patties.

Serve with steamed rice or potatoes, or green leafy vegetables, or on a sandwich.