Organic Harvest in Hoover has the best selection
of gluten-free groceries in the Birmingham area.
Photos by Sean Kelley.

By Sean Kelley

Finding gluten-free alternatives to breads and pastas hasn’t always been easy for Birmingham residents with celiac disease or wheat allergies. When our son was diagnosed in 2008 with a wheat allergy, we struggled to find gluten-free options, making most of his baked goods from scratch.

But going gluten-free in the Magic City is finally becoming easier.

Area supermarkets carry some gluten-free packaged and frozen foods as well as gluten-free flours and baking mixes from Bob’s Red Mill and Pamela’s Products. Often, we buy our pancake and bread mixes at Publix and rice noodles from Walmart.

For a better selection, we visit Whole Foods in Mountain Brook, which has its own selection under its Gluten-Free Bakehouse label. We also shop at two locally owned stores: Golden Temple in Five Points South and Hoover, for rice bread in the freezer and baking mixes on the shelves; and Organic Harvest in Hoover, with the most extensive line of products, including cereals, cookies and breads.

Gluten-free mixes for baked goods fill the shelves
at Organic Harvest.

Organic Harvest also offers gluten-free wraps in its cafe, one of a few restaurants with true alternatives. Several chains in town do offer gluten-free menus, such as Firebirds, Mellow Mushroom and P.F. Chang’s.

Mellow Mushroom offers a gluten-free crust on its menu.

We took our son to Mellow Mushroom’s Southside location recently for a Hawaiian pizza. The restaurant began offering a gluten-free crust this year.

“We’re all eating the same pizza,” he remarked.

For a kid who often doesn’t get to eat the same food as everyone else, having another option was quite a treat.

Have a gluten-free favorite in the Birmingham area? Share it in the comments below.

• • •

Also:

• Birmingham Celiac Disease Support Group
• Urbanspoon’s list of gluten-free restaurants in Birmingham.

• • •

Sean Kelley (@seankelley) is a Birmingham health writer and food lover as well as writer, editor and online content manager for Everwell.

• • •

Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!

By Celeste Ward

Before Giada, Ina, Paula or Emeril came along, one original stood out: Julia Child.

Her wit, her charm and that unmistakable voice: She was truly a force in the kitchen. In celebration of her 98th birthday today, we present one of Child’s most beloved recipes, Chicken Breasts with Mushrooms and Cream. Caution: You might find yourself unabashedly licking the sauce off your plate!

She taught me to never give up, no matter how difficult the recipe — or life in general — seems. While watching her TV show, “The French Chef” [aff. link], you can’t help but smile. Those early episodes aired unedited, so viewers witnessed a down-to-earth, endearing chef, mistakes and all! So many watching fell in love with her charming demeanor.

Video: Julia Child shows how to make an omelette
on an episode of “The French Chef.”

Child discovered herself and her love for cooking in Paris. The food, people, culture and joie de vivre completely enamored me on my first visit and continues to influence my cooking.

In her memoir, “My Life in France” [aff. link], she quoted one of her teachers, chef Max Bugnard. It reminds me of why I love to cook.

“You never forget a beautiful thing that you have made … Even after you eat it, it stays with you, always.”

• • •

Let’s celebrate Julia Child’s birthday with one of her
most incredible dishes, Chicken with Mushrooms and Cream.
Photo by Celeste Ward

Chicken Breasts with Mushrooms and Cream
(Supremes de Volaille aux Champignons)
(from “Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I” [aff. link],
by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck)

• Preparation time: 15 minutes
• Cooking time: 30 minutes
• Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 supremes (boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Big pinch white pepper
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• 1/4 lb. diced or sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

For the sauce:

• 1/4 cup white or brown stock or canned beef bouillon
• 1/4 cup port, Madeira or dry white vermouth
• 1 cup whipping cream
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Rub chicken breasts with drops of lemon juice (save some for the sauce), and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

Heat butter in a heavy, 10-inch oven-proof casserole, until foaming. Stir in minced shallots, and sauté a moment without browning. Stir in the mushrooms, and sauté lightly for a minute or two without browning. Sprinkle with salt.

Quickly roll chicken breasts in butter mixture, and lay a sheet of buttered wax paper over them, then cover casserole and place in hot oven. After 6 minutes, touch top of chicken. If still soft, return to oven for a moment. The meat is done when springy to the touch.

(Note: Although Child suggests to check the chicken after only 6 minutes, I cooked it for 30 to 40 minutes to ensure safety. Use a meat thermometer to check for correct temperature before serving.)

Remove the chicken to a warm platter (leave mushrooms in the pot), and cover while making the sauce (2 to 3 minutes).

Sauce: Pour the stock and wine in the casserole with the cooking butter and mushrooms. Boil down quickly over high heat until liquid is syrupy. Stir in the cream, and boil down again over high heat until cream has thickened slightly. Off heat, taste for seasoning, and add drops of lemon juice to taste. Pour the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

• • •

Also:

• Profile of Julia Child by Vanity Fair contributing editor and Birmingham native Laura Jacobs.
• Birmingham’s Plain Chicken tries Julia Child’s quiche recipe.
• Playing host to Julia Child in 1973 in Birmingham.
• Cooking Channel celebrates Child’s birthday all week, with a featured photo from Celeste Ward.

• • •

Celeste Ward is a Birmingham blogger passionate about food and photography. Her food blog Sugar and Spice by Celeste, founded in 2007, has been featured on the Cooking Channel website and AL.com.

• • •

Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!

Racks and racks of ribs at the ready at Golden Rule Bar-B-Q.
Photos by Eat Birmingham.

By Eat Birmingham

It was fun to watch someone experience Golden Rule Bar-B-Q for the first time.

We went to the original Irondale location for dinner with a first-timer in tow. This restaurant is the real deal, serving barbecue from the heart.

Our guest ordered pork ribs ($9.99), and I ordered the chopped pork sandwich ($3.39 for regular size). We both ordered fries as our side dish. Our companion confessed that she had never ordered ribs in a restaurant.

“Why now?” I said.

“Are you smelling what I’m smelling?” she said. “How can I not?”

She had never been wiling to commit to that amount of messiness in one meal … but on this day, her resistance was gone.

Pork ribs.

Chopped pork sandwich, with fries.

Our food arrived quickly. The ribs were perfectly prepared by first smoking, then moved to front of house where they were roasted over a hickory pit. The sandwich began as roasted pork butt then sliced and chopped after our order was yelled to the pit crew.

Fries are whole, skin-on potatoes sliced on the spot and cooked. We like dipping them in the white sauce, and we taught our guest the art of flavor layering by dipping the ribs in it as well.

Golden Rule’s current location of some 30 years,
after several moves in its 119-year history.

• • •

Golden Rule Bar-B-Q

• 2506 Crestwood Blvd., Irondale
• (205) 956-2678
• Goldenrulebbq.com
• Hours: 10:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday

• • •

Also:

• Southern Barbecue Trail: Oral history of Golden Rule from Michael Matsos, owner from 1969 to 2009
• Birmingham News: “Golden Rule owners sell name, most of their restaurants”

• • •

Eat Birmingham (@EatBHM) writes about eating in Birmingham and the relationships people have with food, because of food and around food on her site, Eat Birmingham.

• • •

Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!

Preparing the sunny side portion of
Eggs Birmingham. Photo by John-Bryan Hopkins.

By John-Bryan Hopkins

The pantheon of civic foods includes Buffalo wings and Chicago deep-dish pizza. But what of Eggs Birmingham?

Watching the 1956 Tennessee Williams movie, “Baby Doll” [aff. link], a friend had heard “Birmingham egg” mentioned several times. He asked me for the recipe.

I had never heard of such a dish, but discovering lost recipes and food histories is my specialty.

A Google search turned up vague references to an Australian dish: boiled eggs battered, deep fried, then covered in a curry sauce. One site featured a version of Toad in the Hole, toast with a hole cut out, then cooked in a pan with an egg fried sunny side up in the center.

I then turned to my secret weapon, my grandmother. I asked about the mysterious breakfast dish. “You mean Eggs Birmingham?” she replied.

“I guess so, sure,” I said.

It was indeed a winter version of Toad in the Hole.

Eggs Birmingham is a plate of greens stewed with cured ham, topped with a thick piece of potato bread, fried egg and red-eye gravy. Sounds good to me.

Let’s see which local restaurant will be first to put it on the menu. Birmingham deserves a dish named after it.

• • •

Also:

• BirminghamMenus.com list of breakfast restaurants.

• • •

Birmingham’s John-Bryan Hopkins loves talking about food facts, their origins and, most of all, what food means to us.

His site/blog is Foodimentary (@Foodimentary).

• • •

Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!

Taqueria Guzman serves corn tortilla tacos in the
Texaco parking lot on West Valley Avenue. Photos by Brad Daly.

By Glenny Brock and Brad Daly

There are tacos, and then there are tacos.

For instance, along Alabama 79 in Tarrant stands a chain restaurant serving the same combination of greasy ground beef, shredded iceberg lettuce and processed orange cheese in crunchy corn shells found in thousands of locations across the nation.

But across the street, Taqueria Pineda, a taqueria on wheels, serves the real deal: asada (beef), carnitas (pork), chorizo (sausage) or pollo (chicken), plus diced onions, fresh cilantro and hot sauce, all piled on to two warm corn tortillas. And those are just the standard offerings: Adventurous eaters can select cabeza (head), sesos (brains) or lengua (tongue) for their tacos.

The menu at Taqueria Pineda in Tarrant.

It’s one of two taco trucks in the Birmingham area. Like Taqueria Guzman on West Valley Avenue in Homewood, it’s still a best-kept secret, even after 2 years in business.

In addition to tacos, both places serve burritos, ceviche and tortas, the massive Mexican sandwiches with meat, cheese and peppers.

Neither has much in the way of seating, so eating on your feet is just part of the off-the-chain experience.

Tacos at Taqueria Guzman include
shredded pork, left, beef and chicken.

The ice-cold drinks at Taqueria Guzman.

Mural on the side of Taqueria Guzman’s truck.

• • •

Taqueria Pineda

• In the Marathon station parking lot, 1818 Pinson Valley Pkwy., Tarrant [map]
• Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday

Taqueria Guzman

• In the Texaco station parking lot, 215 West Valley Ave., Homewood [map]
• Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday

• • •

Also:

• Birmingham Magazine feature on Taqueria Guzman
• Alabama Eats photo essay on Taqueria Guzman
• Birmingham News: “Where to find a good taco in the Birmingham area”

• • •

Writer Glenny Brock (@glennybrock) and photographer Brad Daly (@bwdaly) launched the Birmingham food blog Stay Hungry (@stayhungrybham) in June. He cooks, she writes, and they both eat, thoughtfully.

• • •

Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!

Café Dupont started in Springville in 1994,
before moving to its downtown home in 2003.
Photo by Virginia Jones, Birmingham Daily Photo.

By Deborah Lockridge

Like other — and perhaps more famous — Birmingham chefs/owners, Chris Dupont combines classic cooking techniques with local and regional ingredients. But you’ll find a couple of things you’ll find at his timeless downtown restaurant, Café Dupont, not found elsewhere.

One is the tasting menu. You can choose a five- or seven-course tasting menu ($75 and $90), or a tasting of the entire menu ($110). If you opt for chef’s choice, you’ll receive smaller versions of appetizers (such as smoked rainbow trout Napoleon, or fried oysters and okra with cayenne butter sauce) or entrees (such as butter-braised scallops and shrimp with goat cheese flan, or grilled Georgia quail and seared duck breast).

Because we often order a meal just of appetizers to try more flavors, this is a dream come true. And unlike tasting menus we’ve seen in New York, this menu doesn’t commit the whole table to it.

We were also delighted to see coffee and espresso from our favorite local roaster, Primavera, on the menu. A wonderful ending to a classy meal.

For more, see the extended post on Bhamdining.com.

• • •

Café Dupont

• 113 20th St. N., downtown [map]
• (205) 322-1282
• Cafedupont.net
• Hours: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 5-10:30 p.m. Friday and and 5:30-10:30 p.m. Saturday

• • •

Also:

• Bhamdining.com guide to Café Dupont
• Recipes from Chris Dupont: oysters and okra | beignets

• • •

Deborah Lockridge (@DLinBham) is a freelance writer and editor who founded Bhamdining.com (with husband Evan) to offer an independent source of information on local restaurants, back before anyone had heard of blogs or social networking.

• • •

Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!

Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale is not only a soda,
but also believed to be a cure for motion sickness.
Photo by Andrew Brasfield, OkraCola.com.

By Glenny Brock and Brad Daly

Birmingham’s original local soda has its detractors; some people just can’t handle the powerful “Southern spice” of Buffalo Rock. The bubbly beverage is based on a ginger elixir developed in Selma in 1865, when pharmacist Ashby Coleman used the hot, fragrant spice to treat gastrointestinal complaints of Confederate soldiers.

In 1889, Coleman’s daughter Minnie married a Birmingham man named Sidney Word Lee. He helped create a soft drink dynasty in 1901 by adding carbonation to the recipe from his father-in-law. After 110 years, Buffalo Rock is still some of the most ginger-y ginger ale available anywhere.

At home, we drink it straight, or mixed with bourbon in a Sneezing Vulcan. We gave it that name because of the histaminic effects of the soda on some people. But after a few drinks and more than a few slurred tributes to the cocktail’s coppery color, we changed it to the Rusty Vulcan, a descriptive nod to the Magic City’s metallurgical history.

Soon we bragged to other Birminghamians about our clever combination of mixology and nomenclature. Our friend Nancy shook her head at our boasts.

“Bourbon and Buffalo Rock?” she asked. “That’s called a Burbalo.”

• • •

Rusty Vulcan

• Servings: 1

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 oz. bourbon
• 4 oz. Buffalo Rock

Stir bourbon and Buffalo Rock together, then pour into a highball glass filled with ice. Serve immediately.

P.S. Mountain Brook’s Dram Whiskey Bar serves an excellent version of this cocktail called the Alabama Gentleman, which includes Buffalo Rock and Gentleman Jack!

• • •

Also:

• Bhamwiki: Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale
• Okra Cola: Regional Tastes – Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale
• Product page at Buffalo Rock Company

• • •

Writer Glenny Brock (@glennybrock) and photographer Brad Daly (@bwdaly) launched the Birmingham food blog Stay Hungry (@stayhungrybham) in June. He cooks, she writes, and they both eat, thoughtfully.

• • •

Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!

Roy Wood Jr., right, says his farewell after
host Craig Robinson announced his third-place finish.

So very close.

In tonight’s season finale of “Last Comic Standing,” Birmingham native Roy Wood Jr. finished third. Felipe Esparza beat Tommy Johnagin to win the title and the $250,000 grand prize.

“My journey is for every road comic (who) started in the South and the Midwest (who’s) doing this the hard way,” Wood said. “I just want to say thank you to America, my mom, the city of Birmingham, Florida A&M University.”

Wood will head out on tour with them and runners-up Myq Kaplan and Mike DeStefano. While the tour won’t come to Birmingham, it will play two other stops in Alabama — Montgomery on Feb. 19 and Mobile on Feb. 20 — as well as a New Year’s Eve show in Atlanta. Tickets go on sale in early September.

Landing a spot on the show, and then in the Top 10, was a small victory in itself, as Wood had tried out unsuccessfully for two previous seasons.

Each week, viewers votes by phone and website determined eliminations. The show concluded its seventh season tonight.

Video to be added.

Video: The moment of truth for Roy Wood Jr.

Video: The “Last Comic Standing” is announced.

“Last Comic Standing aired at 8 p.m. Mondays on NBC 13.

Previous: Episode 9 — Five to go
Next: A 60-city tour across America starting Sept. 8 in Chico, Calif.

Also:

• Birmingham News recap and reaction from Wood
• Roy Wood Jr. official site | Twitter @roywoodjr | Facebook page | YouTube | MySpace | MP3 downloads on Amazon.com [affiliate link]

Are you planning to see Wood on the “Last Comic Standing” tour?

Cupcake varieties from Dreamcakes Bakery include
(clockwise from left) Curious George, Chocolate High (twice),
Curious George, Old Fashioned Caramel and Dreamsicle.
Photo by Jen Barnett.

By Jen Barnett

Cupcakes are yesterday’s news.

Despite still being the sweet, moist, single servings of frosted deliciousness you remember from 2005, or maybe 1975, fickle foodies have kicked them to the curb in favor of up-and-comers like macarons or milkshakes.

Screw ’em.

They can’t help it if they live in epicurean hot spots like New York, L.A. or San Francisco, far from the most divine cupcakes to ever spring from heaven’s hearth, found inside Dreamcakes Bakery.

Jan Moon opened the shop in 2009 in the Edgewood area of Homewood. She tested and developed recipes in the Southern Living and Cooking Light test kitchens on Lakeshore Drive. The display cases are stocked with trays of colorful cupcakes, but Dreamcakes makes wedding cakes and other delicacies, too.

Cupcake flavors include Chocolate High (tastes like a Hershey bar), Creamsicle (a dead ringer for the frozen treat), Curious George (peanut butter and banana) and Old Fashioned Caramel (a personal favorite). The clever flavors are only part of the allure; the cakes themselves are moister and denser, the icing creamier and more flavorful, than any we’ve ever tasted.

Nonetheless, if you can’t bear the faux pas of noshing on a passé pastry, Dreamcakes also sells macarons.

• • •

Dreamcakes Bakery

• 960 Oxmoor Road, Homewood [map]
• 205-871-9377
• Dreamcakes-Bakery.com
• 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday

• • •

Also:

• Eat Birmingham review of Dreamcakes
• Samford Crimson review
• Coverage in Birmingham Weekly | Black and White | B-Metro Magazine

• • •

Jen Barnett is the managing editor of VisitSouth.com, a travel hub with tips on where to stay, what to do and where to eat in the South. Her favorite dish in Birmingham is her mom’s fresh veggie plate, but she didn’t bring enough for everyone, so she won’t mention it again.

• • •

Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!

Make summer last all year by canning fruits
in season. Photos by Amanda Storey.

By Amanda Storey

With all the work I do in food justice and recipes, you’d think I’d know how to “put something up.” In the South, it’s just another way of saying “canning and preserving.”

Younger generations are often far removed from growing their own food, much less canning and preserving or knowing the harvest calendar. As I began to discover how to eat locally, seasonally and sustainably, I needed to make the most of my bounty through canning.

Enter Angela Treadaway, who covers food safety, preservation and preparation as a regional extension agent for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System in six counties around Birmingham. Her 2-hour class at East Lake United Methodist Church was only $5! And I walked away with a better understanding of techniques and equipment, plus two jars of peach preserves.

It’s imperative for folks to attend at least one class just to for hands-on practice. These regional resources can guide your preservation journey.

• Alabama Cooperative Extension System
• National Center for Home Food Preservation
• Be Food Safe

Learn how to make peach jam from Angela Treadaway. The class will be 10 a.m. till noon on Aug. 21 at the University Baptist Church in Montevallo. $5. To register, call Treadaway at (205) 410-3696.

• • •

Peach preserves
(recipe from Angela Treadaway, Alabama Cooperative Extension System)

• Preparation time: 5 minutes
• Cooking time: 45 minutes
• Makes five 1-pint jars

Ingredients

• 6 cups fresh peaches (about 7 to 9 peaches, depending upon size), pitted and cut into chunks
• Ascorbic acid (powdered vitamin C)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 package dry pectin, any brand of low- or no-sugar type
• 1 tablespoon butter

Also:

• Five 1-pint jars
• Water bath canner [affiliate link]

Clean out jars and fill them with scalding hot water. (Hot jars are needed for the final step.)

Wash your peaches in cold water. Remove the large pit and discard. Cut up the peach halves (skin on) into 3/4-inch chunks. Don’t cut them too small, because some of those nice hearty chunks should remain intact in your jam. Place peaches in water with ascorbic acid to prevent darkening.

Place the 6 cups of chunks (water drained) and lemon juice into a large saucepan on medium-high. Add sugar and stir slowly and steadily. (Trust me: Being consistent in your stirring is one of the secrets to amazing jam.) It will seem a bit dry at first, but as you keep steadily stirring, the heavy chunks and the sugar will break down into a beautiful golden-orange colored mixture. Keep stirring!

Once the mixture starts to bubble, add butter and keep stirring. Once the mixture gets to the rolling boil, where the mixture keeps bubbling regardless of stirring, quickly add pectin. Keep stirring for 1 minute after pectin has dissolved. Turn off heat.

Get one hot jar and pour out water. Ladle the hot liquid jam into the jar, and repeat for remaining jars. You may get five full jars or less depending on how the peaches panned out in the mixture. Place lids and screw bands on jars. Place them in a hot water bath canner, and process for 5 minutes.

• • •

Amanda Storey is project coordinator of Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities, a 4-year grant aimed at fighting childhood obesity in Jefferson County. In her spare time, she writes about her true passion: food as a connector to communities on her blog, Food Revival (@foodrevival).

• • •

Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!

Yum Brownies offers a dark chocolate sensation
that’s fudgier when cold. Photo by Shaun Chavis.

By Shaun Chavis

When you need chocolate that delivers — and I mean that in a liberating sense, as in, you need chocolate that makes torments vanish and brings bliss to your soul — these are Birmingham’s best fixes.

(My standard: Most candy-aisle fare and cocoas made from packets of powder rate as non-chocolate.)

• • •

Yum Brownies Dark Chocolate Chocolate

Studded with chunks of extra-bittersweet Callebaut chocolate. Find these treats at Pepper Place Saturday Market on select weekends, or e-mail eatyumbrownies@gmail.com.

• $3 for one, $15 for six
• Where to find: Pepper Place Saturday Market, 2829 Second Ave. S., Lakeview, 35233 [map], 7 a.m.-noon Saturdays.

• • •

Edgewood Creamery Extreme Chocolate milkshake

The ice cream is a blend of dark and white chocolates, and it makes a shake with an old-fashioned, rich taste.

• $4.50 regular, $5.50 large
• Where to find: Edgewood Creamery, 936 Oxmoor Road, Homewood, 35209 [map], (205) 874-1999, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Also available at Mountain Brook Creamery, 2715 Cahaba Road, Mountain Brook, 35223 [map], (205) 870-0092. 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday and noon-9:30 p.m. Sunday.

• • •

Avo & Dram Derby Sundae

What sends you is the warm ganache made with Callebaut chocolate over boozy bourbon ice cream. Heady stuff, this!

• $8
• Where to find: Avo & Dram, 2721 Cahaba Road, Mountain Brook, 35233 [map], (205) 871-8212, 4-11 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, 4 p.m.-midnight Wednesday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-10 p.m. Sunday.

• • •

Askinosie Davao Dark Milk Chocolate Bar + Fleur de Sel

This splurge is meant for stashing: It’s a 62-percent cacao single-origin milk chocolate bar from Askinosie.

• $7.99
• Where to find: V. Richards, 3916 Clairmont Ave., Forest Park, 35222 [map], (205) 591-7000, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. seven days a week

• • •

Iz Café Chocolate Mousse Bomb

A mound of ethereal espresso chocolate mousse on top of devil’s food cake, dipped in ganache.

• $4 for large, $10.80 for a dozen minis
• Where to find: Iz Café, 2518 Rocky Ridge Road, Vestavia Hills, 35243, (205) 979-7570; Iz Cafe Too Bakery and Market (Iz Cafe Altadena), 4700 Cahaba River Road, Birmingham, 35243, (205) 262-9733; hours for both locations: 7 a.m.-8 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday.

• • •

Also:

• Stay Hungry: “Market Share: Yum Brownies”

• • •

Shaun Chavis (@shaunchavis) is the co-founder of Birmingham’s Foodie Book Club, and a food journalist whose work has appeared in “Cornbread Nation 4: The Best of Southern Food Writing,” eGullet and Friends Journal. In the fall, she will teach a course on food and literature at Samford University’s Samford After Sundown.

• • •

Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!

A kosher hot dog at Chicago Mike’s in Homewood.
Photos by Jason Horn.

By Jason Horn

I grew up in Chicago, land of magnificent hot dogs. Yes, Birmingham is known for its hot dog joints too, but the sausages (mostly pork) we smother in chili at places like Pete’s Famous downtown, while good, are just not the same as a giant all-beef kosher dog.

So I almost caused an accident in downtown Homewood the first time I noticed the words “Chicago” and “kosher hot dog” on the white-and-red restaurant known as Chicago Mike’s. (OK, it’s really a shack, but never let plastic tables and chairs scare you away from anywhere.)

Before I go any further, a Windy City caveat: Chicago Mike’s is a bit of a misnomer. Mike isn’t from Chicago (though he lived there for a while), and the place doesn’t serve Chicago-style dogs (mustard, onion, relish, tomato, sport peppers, pickle spear and celery salt on a steamed poppy seed bun).

But Chicago Mike’s makes the best, and definitely cheapest, lunch in town. A huge all-beef dog that snaps when you bite into it like a hot dog should is $2.50.

Mike’s burgers are fantastic as well: $3.25 gets you a messy cheeseburger with all the trimmings, including sweet-spicy homemade sauce.

• • •

Chicago Mike’s

• 2701 18th St. S, Homewood, 35209 [map]
• (205) 868-4728
• Hours: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays

• • •

Also:

• Birmingham Magazine: Birmingham’s Best Burgers
• Birmingham News review of Chicago Mike’s

• • •

Jason Horn (@messyepicure) is a Birmingham writer, sometime culinary student and big fan of zombie movies who blogs at The Messy Epicure.

• • •

Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!

By Elisa Muñoz

Pie! Is there anything more Southern and summery?

Add some in-season produce, a couple of friends and a delicious cocktail, and you have a summer evening to remember.

This summer, I have been pie crazy, so I decided to have eight friends over for a “pie night.” I used tomatoes and basil from my garden as well as Jones Valley Urban Farm for a tomato tart. I also made a delightful blueberry pie with berries from Jones Valley.

As we talked and ate, our bellies were filled, and our souls were enriched, a beautiful night, indeed. As Ned, the protagonist from the TV show “Pushing Daisies,” said, “Pie is coming home; people always come home.”

Yes they do, Ned.

• • •

This tomato tart features a homemade crust.
Photos by Elisa Muñoz.

Tomato Tart

(adapted from Epicurious)

• Preparation time: 35 min.
• Cooking time: 25 min.
• Servings: 4

Ingredients

For black pepper Parmesan pastry:

• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

For filling:

• 3/4 lb. fresh mozzarella, sliced 1/8 inch thick
• 1/2 cup pesto (I made fresh pesto with homegrown basil!)
• 2 lbs. mixed heirloom tomatoes, sliced 3/4 inch thick

Also:

• pie weights or uncooked rice/beans

Pastry: Blend together flour, butter, shortening, Parmesan, pepper and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size lumps. Drizzle 2 tablespoons ice water over and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in food processor) until incorporated.

Gently squeeze a small handful. If it doesn’t hold together without falling apart, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) after each addition until incorporated, continuing to test. (Do not overwork dough, or it will become tough.)

Turn out dough onto a work surface, and divide into two portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather both portions of dough into one ball, then pat into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch round and fit into a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable rim. Roll rolling pin over top of pan to trim dough flush with rim. Lightly prick tart shell all over with a fork.

Fill shell with pie weights or uncooked rice/beans. Bake in middle of oven 20 minutes. Carefully remove weights and bake until golden, about 15 minutes more.

Filling: Remove side of pan and slide shell onto a platter. Arrange a third of mozzarella in bottom of shell and drizzle with a third of pesto. Arrange a third of tomato slices, overlapping, on top of cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Repeat layering twice.

Bake additional 5 to 10 minutes until cheese is melted. Remove from oven, let cool, and serve.

• • •

Blueberry pie made with fresh berries
can cap a perfect summer evening.

Blueberry Pie

(adapted from Martha Stewart)

• Preparation time: 90 min. (30 min. active time)
• Cooking time: 40-50 min.
• Servings: 8

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour, for dusting
• 2 ready-made refrigerated pie crusts
• 8 cups (about 4 pints) blueberries, picked over
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon whipping cream or heavy cream

On a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, roll out one disk of dough to a 12-inch round. With a dry pastry brush, sweep off excess flour; fit dough into a 9-inch glass pie plate, pressing it into edges.

Trim dough to a 1/2-inch overhang all around. Fold edge of dough over or under, and crimp as desired. Roll out remaining dough in the same manner; transfer dough (on parchment) to a baking sheet. Chill pie shell and dough until firm, about 30 minutes.

Place blueberries in a large bowl; with your hands, crush about 1/2 cup of berries, letting them fall into the bowl as you work. Add sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice; stir to combine. Spoon mixture into chilled pie shell, mounding berries slightly in the center. Dot with butter.

Remove dough from refrigerator, and place over blueberry filling. Tuck edge of top dough between edge of bottom dough and rim of pan. Using your fingers, gently press both layers of dough along the edge to seal, and crimp using a fork or fingers.

Use a paring knife to cut several steam vents in top of dough. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and cream. Brush surface with egg wash; don’t let it pool up. Freeze or refrigerate pie until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bake pie until crust begins to turn golden, about 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. (You can cover the edges in foil to prevent them from overbaking.) Continue baking, rotating sheet halfway through, until crust is deep golden brown and juices are bubbling and have thickened, 40 to 50 minutes more.

Elisa Muñoz is an avid cyclist and a food activist. In addition to founding and helping run the Bici Bicycle Cooperative, she is the program coordinator for Greater Birmingham Community Food Partners. Her thoughts on cycling and life in Birmingham can be found on Bike Skirt (@bikeskirt), a blog she co-writes.

• • •

Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!

Tomato aspic at the Gilchrist Drug Co. Photo by Wade Kwon.

By John-Bryan Hopkins

“Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother
wouldn’t recognize as food.” — Michael Pollan

Where do great-great-grandmothers eat? I remembered this charming corner soda shop/café in Mountain Brook, Gilchrist Drug Co. Very old-fashioned, old South and “grandmother-y.”

The place is usually teeming with children, mothers and, most importantly, older elegant Southern ladies. After reviewing the limited counter menu, I saw it: a phrase completely foreign to my culinary vernacular, tomato aspic. I had to order it.

These grande dames talked among themselves with perfectly coiffed hair, slow drawl and manners which made paper napkins appear to be fine linens. Every plate at their table was interesting. For example: a half-grapefruit-size scoop of deep red gelatin atop a piece of butter lettuce, served with a side of mayonnaise and several packs of saltines.

My plate arrived, and it was love at first bite. The aspic, served at room temperature, has a rich roasted tomato flavor with a hint of celery and anise spice. The mayo’s buttery texture and the saltine’s crunch made each bite even better.

Aspic, once a common side dish and main lunch item in the South, is now rare. Too bad. If good eating is about flavor, aspic is indeed a taste of times not forgotten.

Gilchrist Drug Co. is Mountain Brook’s oldest business,
in its original location since 1928.
Photo by John-Bryan Hopkins.

• • •

Gilchrist Drug Co.

• 2805 Cahaba Road, Mountain Brook [map]
• (205) 871-2181
• Hours: 8 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Monday-Saturday

• • •

Also:

• Mini-review of Gilchrist Drug Co. from Bhamdining.com.

• • •

Birmingham’s John-Bryan Hopkins loves talking about food facts, their origins and, most of all, what food means to us. His site/blog is Foodimentary (@Foodimentary).

• • •

Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!

Shrimp bánh mì, Saigon Noodle House, $4.50.
Photo by Brad Daly.

By Glenny Brock and Brad Daly

As the only Vietnamese restaurant in town for a decade, Phở Quê Hương in Green Springs once had a monopoly on bánh mì in Birmingham. But the 2009 opening of Saigon Noodle House on U.S. 280 meant serious competition. Suddenly, Phở Quê Hương wasn’t the only place in town to get the scrumptious sandwich sometimes known as the Vietnamese po’boy.

The bánh mì may be the best thing to come out of colonialism: It’s essentially a French salad sandwich (vegetables on a baguette slathered with butter and mayo), enlivened with Vietnamese ingredients (soy sauce, fish sauce, daikon radish root or pickled carrots).

A good crusty French bread elevates any sandwich, but the combination of crisp vegetables and succulent meats puts the bánh mì in a different league.

Phở Quê Hương offers Vietnamese ham, grilled pork and roasted pork (or a combination of all three) as fillings. Saigon Noodle House has a bigger selection: påte, Vietnamese meatballs, roasted pork, charbroiled pork patties and Vietnamese ham, served in six possible combinations.

At just $4.50, the price is deliciously shocking in both places. And since the sandwich is a model of comfort food worldwide, the bánh mì makes a great introduction to Vietnamese cuisine.

For more, see the extended post on Stay Hungry.

• • •

Phở Quê Hương

• 430 Green Springs Highway, Homewood, 35209 [map]
• (205) 942-5400
• Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Saigon Noodle House

• Best Buy shopping center, 4606 U.S. 280, Birmingham, 35242 [map]
• (205) 408-1800
• Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday

• • •

Also:

• Chowhound: “Banh Mi mania”
• Cynical Cook: review of Phở Quê Hương
• Gastronomy: review of Phở Quê Hương
• Eat Birmingham: review of Saigon Noodle House

• • •

Writer Glenny Brock (@glennybrock) and photographer Brad Daly (@bwdaly) launched the Birmingham food blog Stay Hungry (@stayhungrybham) in June. He cooks, she writes, and they both eat, thoughtfully.

• • •

Hungry for more? Check out the menu of Birmingham’s Best Eats!