featured chef: breakfast disguised
as community

Why do I support local?

Michael Peck, Corner Company Beverage Emporium, Jonesborough

“Why do I support local?

Because flavor doesn’t travel well.

Local ingredients taste like where you live — they’ve got character, they’ve got a story, and they don’t need a passport to get here. At Corner Company, we’d rather shake hands with the farmer than read fine print on a box.

When you shop local, you’re not just buying eggs or sausage — you’re keeping your neighbor’s lights on and putting real food on your own table. It’s community disguised as breakfast.” 

 

Michael Peck is the new owner (having taken over the business from Deb Kruse) of the Jonesborough Corner Company Beverage Emporium. 

ARCD caught up with Chef Peck while he was shopping at Boone Street Market, revealing that the breakfast meats and ingredients for many dishes are locally sourced.

crustless quiche

This is the quiche that skipped the crust, borrowed a potato, and still managed to outshine everything else on the brunch table.

 

Ingredients

  • 24 oz (or close enough without touching the pig) JEM Farms Sausage (Limestone, TN)
  • 16 farm eggs (brown, white, blue… if it clucks, it counts)
  • 3 cups local Half & Half
  • 1 big ol’ potato (sweet or russet, your call)
  • Cheese of choice (cheddar is a safe bet, but live dangerously)
  • Optional but highly encouraged: caramelized onions
  • A dash of dry sage, if you’re feeling frisky

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°.

Slice potato thin using a mandolin — aka the deadliest kitchen utensil — and cover the bottom of two greased glass pie pans.

Brown sausage, season with sage, then set it aside on a paper towel–lined plate.

Once cooled, layer sausage over potatoes, then top with cheese. (If you’re already thinking caramelized onions would be perfect here, congratulations — you’re right.)

Pulse eggs and cream in a blender for about 10 seconds, then pour evenly into pans.

Bake for 20 minutes, then check. It should be golden, set, and no longer jiggling.

Cool slightly before cutting, then serve to anyone lucky enough to be in your kitchen.