Ella’s Soul Food Sundays – Tampa, FL

 

I ate at Ella’s Americana Folk Art Café for the first time last month (see this post) and was blown away by the food.  Even before that, I’d heard high praise for their Soul Food Sundays.  Unfortunately Lance and I rarely have Sundays off together (downside of working retail…) so we hadn’t gotten the chance to try it out.

 

He’s been scheduled to work Thanksgiving night next week, so as compensation they gave him this Sunday off.  First time we’ve had a weekend day off together since Easter! 

Since I’ve heard that Ella’s gets packed on Sundays, we got there a half hour before they opened just to be safe.  There were already about a dozen people in line before us, and by opening time at 11am, nearly 50 people were in line!

 

 

We sat out on the patio to enjoy the nice weather and started with breakfast cocktails – I had their famous Bloody Ella, and Lance had a Mango Mimosa.  Lance’s drink was very sweet – there were so many mimosa flavors to pick from, but he seemed happy with the choice of mango. 

 

 

 

Their version of a Bloody Mary is garnished with an olive, lime, and a whole hickory smoked rib!   The drink itself was a bit spicier than I’m used to, but it was worth it just for the rib – I should have ordered a whole rack of them. 

For my meal I ordered the Funky Monkey Waffle – topped with Nutella, banana, and toasted peanuts.  I of course loved it, but Lance’s meal was really the one that stood out.  He had the Smoked & Fried Chicken and Waffles with a side of collard greens.  The chicken is marinated in buttermilk and tarragon, hickory smoked, then Corn Flake fried.  The two drumsticks and thigh were served with a Belgian waffle and bourbon maple gravy. 

 

It was the best fried chicken either of us had had in our lives.  The meat was juicy and bursting with flavor, and while most fried chicken has greasy skin, the corn flake exterior was perfectly crispy. 

 

The huge meal held us over until dinnertime.  After brunch, we stopped by Treasure Island Beach to check out their Sanding Ovations sand sculpting competition.  They’ll still be up for 3 more weeks if you have the chance to see them yourselves!

 

Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe is located at 5119 N Nebraska Ave, Tampa, FL 33603 and is open 5pm – 11pm Tuesday through Thursday, 5pm – 12am Fridays and Saturdays, and 11am – 8pm on Sundays.

Breakfast for Dinner Potluck

Last night we had a bunch of friends over for a Breakfast for Dinner potluck.  I love throwing themed parties (check out my posts about the Tropical Luau party and 4^th of July party), and this one turned out amazing because everyone brought a different breakfast food! 

We had egg casserole, monkey bread, bacon, various waffle flavors (including cookies & cream!), donuts, fruit, hash browns, gluten-free french toast, pumpkin bread, mini quiches, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and mimosas (I may even be missing some things on the list…there was that much food). 

My contribution to the potluck was a Bloody Mary bar.  When I was at the UF Homecoming game last year, a family friend had really elaborate Bloody Marys at his tailgate (see below).  I saw an article recently about insane Bloody Mary recipes (most of them were way too ridiculous for me to try...with garnishes like whole cheeseburgers and pizzas).  I also read about a pub in Milwaukee that serves theirs with a whole fried chicken.

Mine wasn’t anything that crazy, but I did make beer-candied bacon as a garnish.  Here’s the recipe:

Beer Candied Bacon (adapted from Tide and Thyme)

Ingredients:

·        1 pound quality bacon

·        ½ cup brown sugar

·        ¼ cup + 2 tbsp beer (I used Sam Adam’s Octoberfest)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire cooling rack on top of it. 

3. Place pieces of bacon on top – it’s best if they don’t overlap much.

    

4. Cook bacon in the oven for 10 minutes. 

5. While bacon is cooking, whisk together the brown sugar and beer in a small bowl to make a syrup.  When the bacon has cooked 10 minutes, remove from oven and brush with the syrup.  Flip and coat the other side as well.  You can enjoy the remaining beer while your bacon cooks!

6.  Cook 10 more minutes and repeat process until the glaze is used up.  It may take several rounds for the bacon to get crispy (mine took about 35 minutes). 

7. Cool on a wire rack before serving. 

Bloody Mary Bar

Ingredients:

·        1 T basil

·        1 T celery salt

·        ½ tsp sea salt

·        ½ tsp garlic powder

·        ½ tsp smoked paprika

·        Dash of salt and pepper

·        Olives

·        Pepperjack cheese, cubed

·        Pepperoni, sliced

·        Lemons and limes, sliced

·        Celery (leafy)

·        Various hot sauces

·        Worcestershire sauce

·        Beer candied bacon (see above recipe)

·        Zing-Zang brand Bloody Mary mix

·        Mr. & Mrs. T’s Bold & Spicy Bloody Mary Mix

·        Vodka

·        Wooden skewers

Directions:

1. Combine the first 6 ingredients (spices) on a plate to rim the glasses.  Dip your glasses in water (or rub the rim with lime juice) then dip in the spice mixture.

2. Mix your Bloody Mary in a pitcher – combine 2 parts Zing Zang mix, 2 Parts Mr. & Mrs. T’s mix, and 1 part vodka.  Stir well. (You can use just one of the mixes and do 4 parts mix to 1 part vodka if you'd like, but this combination was recommended by the guy who does them at tailgates).

3.  Line your various garnishes up so people can create their own!