An Oasis in the Gluten Free Desert

While on business in Nashville, TN yelped my way to a great little shopping plaza that should have been called foodie plaza!

So I prepared myself for the walk..

 Found this great little neighborhood.

Foodie Plaza

 First on the left...The Wild Cow Vegetarian restaurant two trips to Nashville and I have yet to eat here. Oddly my free day is Tuesday....and thats when they are closed.on the end there, is Jeni's Splended Ice Creams....good lord she ships. Y'all know I have already ordered a pint! If I had words....just think sweet goat cheese cream with pecans and Rosemary. So good. So Good. SO GOOD!   Around the corner there, just out of the photo but very close to parking there is a great little spot with cous cous called the Silly Goose.....the King Kong was a monster, not highly flavored but everything you would expect from shrimp and coconut milk, yummy soothing mellow goodness. They had quinoa as a gluten free substitution, so I could EAT IT! 

I loved Jeni's So much I am thinking about offering it with my catering. It was THAT GOOD.

The Mustard Seed....Does BBQ Good!

Let me just shout out this fab spot for BBQ.  I love me so Mustard Seed BBQ. I have been a firm believer that you don't need sauce for good bbq.  This is one that you can eat without the sauce.

If you are a pork lover the ribs are good....but my lawd, my lawd...the chicken is the business. I have included a photo of the ribs just for your pork viewing pleasure. 

They are the worlds most tender ribs, but they have the FLAVOR on POINT! They are located in the cut, of Beecher and Cascade. Just after the Cah-cade/Cascade split! My Atlanta people know what I am talking about. Its a small business that gets lots of picnics and such.  You may wanna get the number and call before you make the drive just to make sure there is some chicken. They will fill larger orders same day, so make sure you can get your chicken fix on.  They are open Wednesday to Sunday, just imagine me driving around in my car on Tuesday, arranging my day so that I pass through that way at some point on Wed. LOL.

Do me a solid, if you are in Atlanta, check them out the food is extra yummy.

Cherry Limeade Whiskey Cake....at Midnight. YEAH

 Here is a Midnight Cake....I dreamed this up days ago.

The ingredients 1c water, 1/3c oil, 3eggs, Cherry Jello, Cherry Pie Filling,  In the squeeze bottle Tennessee's Finest. 

So I'm lazy right. Eggs, oil, and water in the blender.

Blend 

Add cake mix.....Blend

Here is my pan. Its a very large spring form.

I used non stick spray....why, cuz I don't feel like cleaning up later.

Empty cherries into the middle of the pan.

Pour cake around edges first. 

Then cover completely and let rest for 5-10 Min 

Into the 350 oven she goes for 60 Min. I know thats long but there is a lot going on in there. 

For the glaze....ooh wee. 

So on med heat, melt butter and lime concentrate.

Once butter is melted remove from heat and cool. Once cooled add Jello.

This shot isn't for me...well I did have one. put half the shot  into the cherry lime concoction.

See this handy dandy Gadget. Yeah its my Cake Tester. Every  cook should have one a these!

Tada.....out of the oven and begging me to slice a piece.  

Cake tester in and poking hole, this can be done with a tooth pick, a bamboo skewar, an olive  pick, a fork...lol. whatever you have.

Spoon the cheery lime glaze over the bottom of the cake. 

Now here is the hard part. You must wait 30 Min for the entire  thing to  cool. As you can see from my photo I gave in....oh it gets worse!

So here is the deal, you place a plate on the bottom of the pan, then flip it.
See, told you....I ate the corner LONG before I flipped it. I'm so Ashamed.   

This where you add the liq for the adults. just drizzle a few drops on a freshly cut piece.. Otherwise its pretty Kid Friendly.

Another Great Fusion Project

Today I take on the traditional Jewish/Russian Dish Galumpkins or better known as Cabbage rolls. The major problem with them in my world is you have to make so many and they just taste like meatloaf in cabbage. Now don't let me down you Buppy's recipe....if it tastes like home than you should do it. I'm just figuring I wanna put a little Southern American Caribbean swing on it. So for you die hard traditionalist here is the classic recipie.

Stuffing

11/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 packet of Meatloaf Seasoning or Onion Soup Mix 

2 tablespoons Ketchup

1 pound ground beef

1 large egg

1 cups steamed white rice

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 large heads green cabbage, about 3 pounds each

Sauce

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, smashed

32 oz Marinara Sauce

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoon vinegar

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Make sauce First

Saute garlic in evoo and add can of tomatoes and Marinara Sauce. Bring to a boil turn down to Med add Sugar and Vinager. Simmer while you prepare the rolls

Making the Rolls

Combine the ground meat in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg, and cooked rice. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Remove the large, damaged outer leaves from the cabbages and set aside. Cut out the cores of the cabbages with a sharp knife and carefully pull off all the rest of the leaves, keeping them whole and as undamaged as possible, (get rid of all the small leaves and use them for coleslaw or whatever.) Blanch the cabbage leaves in the pot of boiling water for 5 minutes, or until pliable. Run the leaves under cool water then lay them out so you can assess just how many blankets you have to wrap up the filling. Next, carefully cut out the center vein from the leaves so they will be easier to roll up. Take the reserved big outer leaves and lay them on the bottom of a casserole pan, let part of the leaves hang out the sides of the pan. This insulation will prevent the cabbage rolls from burning on the bottom when baked. Use all the good looking leaves to make the cabbage rolls. Put about 1/2 cup of the meat filling in the center of the cabbage and starting at what was the stem-end, fold the sides in and roll up the cabbage to enclose the filling. Place the cabbage rolls side by side in rows, seam-side down, in a casserole pan.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Pour the remaining sweet and sour tomato sauce over the cabbage rolls. Fold the hanging leaves over the top to enclose and keep the moisture in. Drizzle the top with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Bake for 1 hour until the meat is cooked.

My Next post will have my rendition and photos. Gimmie a little why I will have it soon!