AMBER ALERT - Jacob's Story

MISSING

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT JACOB ALEXANDER YOUNG
PLEASE CALL 317-709-2594

Jacob Alexander Young

Missing From: Indianapolis, IN

Date of Birth: (5/1/10)

Age:  8 Months

Sex:  Male

Height:  (25 Inches)

Weight:  (25 lbs)

Eyes:  (Blue)

Complexion:  (Fair)

Hair:  (Short, light brown, curly)

Race:  (Multi-racial)            

MAURICE ANTWONE YOUNG  

Parental Abduction on 12/23/10 by father

Date of Birth:  (2/15/68)

Age:  (42)

Sex:  (Male)

Height:  (6 Ft 4 Inches)

Weight:  (330 lbs)

Build:  (Big)

Eyes:  (Brown)

Hair:  (Black, long, dreadlocks)

Race:   (African American)

Jacob was taken by his father and may be in great danger.  Please call with ANY information that may lead to Jacob's safe return. 

Summer Was REALLY Rough On Me!

You know how you can wake up one day and realize you remember you had forgotten something?

Blogging is a lot like that for me.  It's something that I hadn't really gotten in the habit of, and then summer hit here in New Orleans.  Hot, sticky, sweaty summer with heat indexes well over 105 degrees...for days and days on end.

Now, I enjoy being outside as much as the next person - however, with my fibromyalgia - the high heat index just puts me flat on my back if I try to do too much of anything at all.  So, hang it up!  I pretty much became a cave dweller and stayed indoors.

Well, the weather now is GLORIOUS and I am so active now that I am needing to baby my right knee as I've "twinged" it a bit from the increase in activity.  I can deal.

Erik and I are also getting ready to move to another part of the city.  Currently we live in a section called the Marigny Triangle and we are about to move into the Lower Garden District.  And, I am in the middle of all the insanity and chaos that moving entails.  Packing, transferring utilities, cleaning the new apartment (it's never clean enough), getting the Goodwill bags together (because there are always things to let go of when you move), etc.

What I have also noticed is that I am back to Twittering on my @GlutenFreeNOLA account.  I had stopped because of some oral surgery I had to have (don't ask), and just never picked it back up again.  Now I have a great reason to start up - we are moving to a whole new, unexplored area of town.  I've already eaten at a couple of really great diners/cafes...I'm just not sure they qualify as restaurants.  They are too full of personality and friendly staff willing to work within a gluten-free lifestyle.

Three to whet your appetite - Corner Muse, Surrey's Cafe & Juice Bar, and Blue Plate Cafe.  More information will show up in future posts about all three establishments.

Tonight Erik and I had dinner at Magnolia Grill. We had never been there before and I wasn't really sure what to expect. Although, a good friend of ours did say that they had great Root Beer Floats.

Well, I love hand dipped shakes and floats, so off we went.

Erik almost always walks home from work and I'm always looking for an excuse to get out of the apartment - especially if it includes not having to cook dinner. Especially today since I went to our storage unit and did the old sort and purge.

The diner is in the French Quarter in a great old building that spans between two streets. You can enter from one street and exit onto another. The soda fountain counter runs the length of the building and the bar stools are chrome appointed, well padded and of course they swivel a full 360 degrees.

The staff is very friendly. As with most gluten free dining I recommend going at an "off-peak" time of day. We were there on a Tuesday night. True, it was dinner time. Around 6 pm. But, Tuesday it not a jumping night of the week in this particular section of the quarter. I was the only customer in the place when I first walked in.

I ordered my Root Beer Float. They use Barq's Root Beer. Now, I know there is debate about Barq's. I'm going to just wait it out and see how I feel tomorrow. Especially since I just didn't think about it ahead of time and didn't look up the gluten free properties of Barq's until I was half-way through my float. I'm traditionally a tea drinker.

I asked if they could make me a "breadless" Ruben. They have a wonderful Ruben sandwich on the menu. The waitress and I talked about my "wheat allergy." I have found that easier to talk about than gluten intolerance or celiac disease. Allergies are well understood in our society.

They didn't have a problem cleaning off a portion of the grill for me. They grilled the corned beef. Added the cheese and sauerkraut on top of a bed of lettuce (which I could have done without and will next time thank you very much). I got my dressing on the side and then a surprise of a second plate of French fries. I just never eat them anymore so I didn't even think to look for them on the menu.

Well, the really surprising thing about them is they WERE NOT coated. With anything. That's really an issue in this city. For some reason potatoes can't just be fried in the buff. Oh, no. They have to be coated with something first - and of course it is wheat based. But, these were gloriously crisp and plain. So, I took a plunge and asked what else was fried in the oil they cooked their fries...and found out the orgasmically, body shuddering news of the night: nothing!

They have a dedicated fryer for their fries!!!

Let me say that again....nothing else gets fried in that oil but potatoes.

At that point who cared what the corned beef tasted like, I was ready to gorge on fried potatoes. And, I did.

But, I have to say the breadless ruben was good.

Well, I'm done for the evening. More culinary adventures in the Crescent City later.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I needed a dish to take to a pot-luck dinner. This was one of those affairs where people would be eating with their plates on thier laps - so, I didn't want people to have to deal with chopping away at enchiladas. It is so difficult to cut things on paper plates when you are having to worry about spilling things all over you, or the person next to you.

I came up with this recipe, and it was totally gone by the end of the event. And, it received rave reviews.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Frozen chicken tenders
Sunflower oil
Tomatillas (remove the paper covering)
1 Onion, chopped fine
1 Poblano pepper, chopped fine
Garlic (I used about five cloves), minced
Garlic Powder
Cilantro, chopped (leaves only)
Mexican Seasoning
No-Chicken Broth (vegetarian chicken broth)
Gluten-Free tortilla chips, crushed (I used white corn)
Cheese (I used a really sharp, white cheddar)

I cook, a lot, by the seat of my pants. Meaning, much of what I do cannot be reproduced exactly. However, proportions are easily modified for the amount of people to be served.

If you have never worked with tomatillos before, you are in for a pleasant surprise. Although, once removing the paper covering, you will find the tomatillos are sticky, simply clean with a good vegetable cleaner spray and they are good to go.

I use 15 or so medium/large size tomatillos for six chicken tenders. After washing the tomatillos I rough chop them. They do not have to be minced fine as they will break down during cooking.

In a heavy Dutch Oven, with a lid, saute the onion and garlic, in sunflower oil, until the onion is translucent. I actually like to let the onion begin to carmalize. I think that adds a lovely nutty flavor to the dish, but be careful to not burn the garlic.

Once the onion/garlic mixture is ready, add the tomatillos and saute about three minutes. You aren't really looking for a change in the tomatillos but I like to let them start to break down by a quick saute. Then, add the No-Chicken broth. Let come to a gentle simmer.

At this point you want enough liquid in the pot to cover the chicken tenders you are going to add.

Add the chicken. (I used frozen chicken tenders and didn't bother to defrost them first.)

Bring back to a gentle simmer and cover the pot. Let the chicken cook until done.

Once the chicken is cooked all the way through, take out the chicken pieces and place them in a bowl. You can do this in stages. Shred the chicken with two forks. You want shreds, not chunks of chicken.

Return the shredded chicken to the pot.

Add garlic powder (can never have too much garlic - and this allows for layering of flavors). Add cilantro and Mexican Seasoning.

Add the crushed tortilla chips. Don't add too many or they will soak up all the liquid in your pot. If that happens, add more No-Chicken broth.

There is no salt added to this recipe as the tortilla chips add quite a bit of salt.

This is where your preferences come into play. I like a really thick mixture and as such add a lot of tortilla chips. If you like things more on the thin side, add the chips really slowly and see how much liquid is being soaked up by them.

Turn the mixture down to low, cover and let simmer about an hour. You want the flavors to have a chance to blend.

You can put the mixture in the refrigerator before you add the chips and let it sit overnight. That works really well too.

You can add the cheese in two ways - either shredded and melted into the mixture, or on top of the mixture after spooned into bowls.

Enjoy with sour cream or good yogurt if desired.

This recipe is really great over rice.