STREAKED MEAT DUTCH OVEN POTATOES
Thoroughly scrub 5 or 6 good-sized baking potatoes and then quarter them. Place in a Dutch oven and sprinkle black pepper to taste over them. Cover with strips of fatback and cook at 400 degrees for about an hour. Check while cooking to be sure they aren’t overheating and use a fork to make certain the potatoes are done. You may need to add salt but do not do this until after the potatoes are cooked. The streaked meat will usually contain enough salt to season them.
JC
—Celebrating Southern Appalachian Food written by Jim Casada and Tipper Pressley.
Streaked meat is salt pork. It’s also commonly called fat back, streak-o-lean, side meat, salt bacon, and pork belly.
If you enjoy the salty goodness of streaked meat you will love this dish. So easy to make and so tasty. The potatoes take on the wonderful flavor of the meat and get crispy around the edges and the streaked meat cooks to perfection too. Add some cornbread and beans and you have a real feast.
You can find our cookbook here.
Last night’s video: Living in the Mountains of Appalachia – 2024.
Tipper
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love all these comments about ways fat back, streak-o-lean, etc were cooked and with foods. I remember my mother and grandmother frying thick slices of salt meat and serving it as a side to a dish that I think was sauerkraut. I’ve been wanting to ask if anyone remembers there ancestors eating it with sauerkraut this way.
Betty, granny often served kraut with side meat 🙂
That stricken meat would be good on a hot biscuit. When I was a kid, from killing hogs we had meat all winter. Ham, sausage. So good with the gravy. Tipper keep a man we know in your prayers. He has been missing since 11:00 pm last night. He has Dementia. It was rainy and sleet last night. I fear the worst. I just pray they find him. The police and the dogs are looking for him.
Gigi-I’m so sorry. I will pray for him.
As a child in Bluefield, Mawmaw Smith, who lived next door, would make me a treat I loved. She’d fry fat back and wrap it in a slice of white bread and hand it out the back door where my mom couldn’t see me. Dearly loved that but my mom didn’t want me eating that. Still remember how much I enjoyed that.
My grandmothers & my Mom would cook steak-o-lean meat for a side meat when we had dried beans & cornbread, and of course slices of onions, milk or sweet tea.
My Mom is 98 now & going strong. The lifetime of salted meat & “grease” apparently have not hurt her one bit. I would be more worried about the additives, antibiotics etc etc added in our foods today than salted meat & meat grease seasoning.
Mama fried salt pork, she rolled it in cornmeal and fried it…I long for a taste of that long ago meat but when I have bought salt pork in stores in recent years it just does not taste like it did sixty years ago. I would rather hold onto my memories than to buy todays version and try to recreate it only to end up with something quite distasteful because of the poor quality of food offered to us in stores these days.
Delicious meal indeed, I love it. It started snowing here in Bassett yesterday around noon 1-5-25, and snowed all the rest of the evening, then it turned into rain and sleet for the rest of the night, today Monday our power went out around 7:46 this morning and hasn’t come back on yet and it is 2:14 pm as I write this. Please stay warm beautiful people. God bless all the BP&TA family and God bless Granny. Praying for all the Hurricane Victims in NC. Please protect them, Lord.
Sounds delicious & cozy !!!
I’ve heard it called fat back, side meat or salt pork by my parents. It was good. Our electricity was off two hours this morning. We kept warm. We have about an inch of snow on the ground here in Va and a layer of ice over it. It’s supposed to snow a little more and maybe have some freezing rain later. Everyone stay safe and God Bless yu.
Sounds yummy. Despite sounding unhealthy, I think there is nothing better than frying potatoes in bacon grease.
Yum. This takes me to a childhood memory meal. As Larry Eddings commented above, potatoes were often called ‘spuds.’ Have a wonderful day Tipper, Matt & family, and praying those who were down with the ‘crud’ are feeling well again, & no one else got it! Sometimes it is not good to ‘share!’ but hard to avoid when gatherings happen.
Delicious!!
Mother could cook the most delicious meals in that old dutch oven. It is snowing outside and I think from about 3 a.m., this morning it started and we have about an inch or two on the driveway now but by tonight it could be up to 6 inches. Time to make the snowcream:)
The recipe sounds good but all I can think about is all the sodium in the meat. Sometimes the things that taste the best are not the best for us.
Paula, I no longer worry about what is healthy or unhealthy. I have worked hard manual labor jobs all of my life starting when I was 12 years old and until I retired. When I would look at the front of my colored tee shirt and see a big salt ring, I figured I didn’t need to worry about sodium, I had sweated it out. In the past the unairconditioned, sealed up window cotton mills of the south passed out salt tablets to the employees. A good test for knowing what is healthy food is like this, taste everything, if it tasted good it is bad for you and if it taste bad it is probably good for you.
I used Tipper’s recipe and have a roast cooking in my crock pot and will cook some green beans later on with a chunk of fatback in them for seasoning and a pone of unsweetened cornbread. Jiffy Mix ain’t allowed in my house! I will save enough room for dessert, a small bowl of cornbread and milk.
Here here for unsweetened cornbread.
I wish I was close enough to come for supper.
I am on my way to my Aunt Imogene’s funeral in Sevierville. I hope this weather holds until she is buried and we are back home safe. Me and my sister Charlesetta fixed her hair last night. I guess people in the south still do this. That being said, I fixed some Soup Beans with ham hock, Potato Salad and cornbread to add to today’s meal at the fellowship hall and Charlesetta fix a big pot of soup and hot water cornbread. We have a large CLOSE KNIT family and sure would appreciate your reader’s prayers. Aunt Imogene was 100 years old and my two living remaining aunts are almost 100 years old. They still have brilliant minds and usually cook breakfast for their families on Saturday. They have been Goldy aunts all of my life. They have been faithful to God and his church. I was blessed to be raised in a Godly home. Aunt Imogene led me to the Lord when I was in a day revival at age 12. God bless everyone and be safe. Thank you.
Drama, I’m so sorry for your loss. I’ll pray for you and your relatives to have peace and for the weather to be good until you get back home. It’s comforting to know that you will see her again one day in Glory. The food you prepared sounds delicious. I grew up with it and when I go home to see my 95 yo mother, she fixes up a good old Appalachian meal. Although lately, she has not been feeling good and not able to cook as much. Standing for a long period of time is hard for her to do. I, also, was raised in a Godly home. God bless you and your family.
I will be praying for your family today and also the weather.
Sounds like you have been very blessed in the family department.
Christmas Gift. Today is Old Christmas.
We’re only getting rain here in East NC. Did get a small amount of sleet yesterday. like you Tipper I’m hoping for snow.
I will pray for you and your mother. My mother’s name was Laura Imogene, she was most often called Jean. Just like you, my wife and I were also raised in Godly homes and both of our families were close knit.
Mama used streaked meat but also just plain fat back. I loved when she had cooked the fat back and I was allowed to make a fat back sandwich on a piece of soft sunbeam bread. Anyone else familiar with doing this?
Yes ma’am. Also good on a homemade cat head biscuit.
Sounds good! It is a cold snowy day so I am making Ham and Beans in my slow cooker later I will make fried Potatoes with Onions and Cornbread. We had ham left from Christmas so I cut in cubes to freeze for Beans for this Winter.
I love to read all the comments on here!
Still praying for Granny!
I have a very old iron Dutch oven that I use to make lots of soups. My mama gave it to me a long time ago and I don’t know where it came from. It is great on top of the stove, as well as, in the oven. I love anything with bacon/fatback, so I am sure this potato recipe would be yummy. It’s a snow holiday here in WV—all 55 counties have school closed. Lots of snow and rain mixed. We had a foot of snow a couple days ago. It’s not that deep now, but we got a few more wet and heavy inches last night. It’s not over yet. Stay warm and safe everyone.
I introduced my 20 year old grandson to Salt Pork a couple years ago. I cooked a meal like my Great Grandmaw always fixed for our noonday meal. Salt Pork fried, fried fresh sweet corn, pone of cornbread, green onions from the garden. Cold milk to drink! Now it’s the meal he always asks for if I am cooking for him specially. Oh, the precious memories!
We didn’t get any snow overnight but there is some ice this morning. I looked out when it was light enough and saw icicles hanging off a step ladder on my back deck. That’s enough winter for me!
The schools here are on a 3 hour delay.
Ed, I am in full agreement with you, nothing but a cold rain here this morning, but the weathermen think there is a pretty good chance of some type of ice/snow mixture staring Friday afternoon. I think I remember you saying you had to go to work even it did snow, I did too for 38 years, I don’t care if never snows again, I don’t have to go now, but some of my family does, so I still worry. It has been colder than normal(last 15 years the weathermen say) and will continue at least through the 15th.
Not only did I have to drive to work in the snow at 10:00 PM, part of my job for a while was to take stranded 2nd shift workers home and go get 1st shifters that couldn’t get out of their driveways. That was way before GPS and cell phones and driving in strange territory, in near whiteout conditions, is worrisome.
That brings up a “words of wisdom” phrase for Tipper. “You have to know where you are, to know where you are going.”
That’s definitely some good eatin’! And that’s one of those good for cold weather meals, too, which might prove to be something worthy of throwing on these next few days for many of us around southeast as Old Man Winter is threatening to show us what he’s capable of with the cold air this week and snow potential going into the weekend. Stay warm, Tipper and family, and here’s hoping we get some much-desired snow for our region.
Yum! That looks delicious!
Oh those do sound delicious. Add a pot of beans and a cake of cornbread for a nice meal on au cold evening.
Sounds wonderful!
That sounds sooo good, it’s definitely easy to make!
On another note, have you received any of this snow this snow storm that’s hitting the Ohio Valley and beyond? We’re in one of the heaviest bands here in south central Indiana and looking out, I’m guessing we have 12 inches so far. Plus it’s cold and the wind-chill is in the single digits. I’m very thankful that we didn’t lose any power so far and hopefully we don’t.
Denise-wow that is a lot of snow! Only rain for us here 🙂 Stay warm!!
So I finished digging out our paths to bird feeders, scrap peeling spot in our woods and around our trucks. My husband came out and we cleaned off our trucks and then instead of digging out our trucks, which are 4 wheel drive, we drove back and forth clearing out the driveway. While we were out, I measured 10 1/2 inches of snow. It’s cloudy out, but according to the forecast, the snow storm is done around here.
Denise-glad you got it all dug out 🙂
What a wonderfully simple way to cook potatoes. Spuds, as my father often called them are a staple food at my house and I’ve always loved salt pork.
I will have to try this. For me and many other older southerners, you can’t cook a pot of beans and some other foods without adding a chunk of fatback or streak of lean meat to the pot. I grew up eating this several times a week for breakfast and still love it. It was fried fatback, milk- sawmill gravy made using the fatback grease and homemade biscuits. Having a piece of good homegrown cantaloupe to go along with it was icing on the cake. My family called this gravy “hunky doo gravy.” I joke and say I would ask for this as my last meal if I was on death row. When growing up we never ate cereal (cornflakes) or toast for breakfast. I seldom eat it now. I am able to get good old fashioned style fatback from the same person I buy my fresh sausage from, none of this grocery store stuff for me.
Hopefully direct to farm will be something that becomes increasingly popular, I agree with you completely.
I think I may confuse some people when I say fresh sausage they are fresh but are made by the McCall family in a government/health department inspected shop like all other meat processors. The family has been making and selling these sausage for more than 40 years. The family owns a produce shop in Honea Path, SC, pronounced Honey Path. The older natives nicknamed it Sugar Foot.