The General Muir

Deviled Eggs

Have you ever been sitting around on a Saturday night, trying to decide where to go for dinner, knowing that you can't get a table anywhere because everyone else had the same idea? You can go ahead and thank me now, because I have the solution. Go to General Muir! And not just Saturday night, you can go Friday night, or any night, because, for some reason, almost no one in Atlanta has discovered the fabulousness that is their dinner menu.

Roasted carrots

 I think it's because most people have it in their mind that it's just a deli, when in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. If you were a fan of Chef Todd Ginsberg's small plates at Bocado, you will love the way they have evolved here. You could easily come in and just order several small plates and be very happy, like the roasted carrot salad that has just been put on the menu, with its tahini yogurt, gingered raisins, pea shoots and pine nuts, it's such a lovely contrast of flavors, textures and temperatures.

Poutine with Pastrami

 You can't leave without trying some of Atlanta's best poutine, but don't attempt it without a table full of friends - perfect fries, really nice curds, gravy that is flavorful without being too salty and lardons of fried pastrami, because, really a dish like this needs more fat.

Dinosaur kale salad, radish, avocado, grapefruit, green goddess dressing

I have always loved Todd's salads, from my all-time favorite with roasted carrots, avocado, citrus, arugula and cumin vinaigrette, to this new kale creation, it's always perfectly balanced and you leave feeling smug at having eaten something so healthy and yet so delicious.

Fried avocado

This is another of my favorite dishes, but tweaked slightly to make it even more divine, I love how the grated lime zest somehow transforms the flavor of the strawberries into something more fruity, they are such a perfect compliment to the avocado, a combination I never would have dreamed of.

Sea Legs

I think another reason that people don't think of General Muir for dinner is that they want to have a drink with dinner and cocktails and delis are two things that usually don't go together. This is where you have to again look past your ideas of what a deli are and see that this is something much better. The Sea Legs was a rum and milk drink that tasted quite like eggnog without all that slimy egginess.

Czech Mate 

 I ordered the Czech Mate, a gin based cocktail with Becherovka and blood orange, don't let the pink scare you, this is a serious cocktail. The herbal notes from the gin and Becherovka play off of the bitterness from the blood orange. If you like gin, you need to try this.

Fried chicken

My friend ordered the fried chicken and I kind of gave her a hard time for not ordering the pastrami, but when I saw her having a When Harry Met Sally moment, I had to try it. She was kind enough to give me a drum, and let me tell you, Atlanta has a new best fried chicken in town. It was incredibly moist and flavorful with a great crust, i don't know how they make it, but it is genius.

The Burger

This is the newest version of the burger, and I'm hoping it will last, because griddled pastrami on top. Do I even need to say anything else?

14 oz. Pastrami

I don't even like pastrami, it is not something I would ever order at a restaurant, but on my first visit, Todd said I had to try it. I try to keep an open mind, so I ordered it and, oh my, it blew my mind. Imagine if you will smoky, peppery meat butter that just melts on your tongue. It's like that, only better. The housemade rye bread is the perfect vehicle to convey the silky shreds of beef to your mouth and the mustard they use is intensely flavorful, a perfect foil to the richness of the fatty meat without clearing your sinuses like some inferior mustards can do.

Lemon-pistachio icebox cake

 While it may seem impossible to save room for dessert after you've eaten one of everything on the menu, pace yourself, because it is worth doing. My personal favorite was the icebox cake. While I originally scoffed at the "cheaters cake" I was enchanted by the housemade graham cookies, lighter than air lemon mousse and smattering of chopped pistachios.

Rice pudding brûlée

 I'm pretty sure their rice pudding base must be pretty similar to a creme brûlée because this is way creamier and richer than any other rice pudding I've ever had. The addition of the burnt sugar on top is just a bonus.

Tarragon marshmallow ice cream sandwich

The housemade ice cream sandwiches are also a lot of fun. I wouldn't have ordered them if I had known they had mini marshmallows in them, that's not a texture I enjoy. I was thinking more marshmallow swirl, but the flavors were nice. Others at the table that ordered the cardamom spiced ones really seemed to love them.


The General Muir
Emory Point
1540 Avenue Pl B-230
Atlanta, GA
30329
(678) 927-9131

Breakfast
Monday-Friday
7:00AM-10:30AM

Lunch
Monday-Friday
11:30AM-2:30PM

Dinner
Sunday-Thursday
5:30PM-9:00PM
Friday-Saturday
5:30PM-10:00PM

Brunch
Saturday-Sunday
8:00AM-3:00PM

Saturday Blooms

 I never thought I'd be one of those bloggers that just posts pictures, it always seemed like a cop out, but I don't know that any words are really needed here and I couldn't not share my garden today, so enjoy!

 Looks like these little guys find the aroma of chocolate cosmos as intoxicating as I do

Arachnid photobomb

Not So Secret Garden - Olmsted

When I was invited to attend a special preview of Olmsted's new brunch menu, I had to google them. The funny thing was, once I looked at a map, I realized I've driven by there dozens of times without even knowing it and I'm guessing you have too. Named after Frederick Law Olmsted, the "father of landscape design", whose work inspired a number of Atlanta neighbors, this restaurant is all about outdoor spaces. When you climb the stairs, you feel like you are leaving Atlanta behind, and even the traffic noise of 14th Street seems to disappear.
 

Because it was a preview event, they had an excellent DJ spinning tunes and greeted us all with a Bloody Mary or Mimosa as we arrived. They brought each table the Breakfast Meat Sampler - I prefer my bacon to be really crispy, but I thought the cider-brined ham was good, meaty without being too salty and my dad really loved the Berkshire pork sausage.

The servers were just learning the brunch menu, so I didn't ask what the texture was in the zucchini bread, there was a bit of grittiness, possibly wheat germ, but the flavor was nice.

My dad ordered the Wild Mushroom Omelette with gruyere and tarragon. I was a little concerned about the browned edges, but it turned out to be very tender and light with plenty of cheese and mushrooms. The potatoes could have been a little crispier, but that didn't stop me from sneaking 1 or 7 from his plate.

The Yet Another Shrimp and Grits had beautifully cooked Georgia shrimp in a tasso and scallion gravy with shellfish reduction over my favorite taste of the day - sweet corn and white cheddar grits. I have no idea where they found such good corn this early in the year, but it was sweet, tender and fresh and i could quite happily eat a huge bowl of these just on their own.

I can not imagine a lovelier place to sit and enjoy brunch in town, so be sure to give them a try next time you are in the mood.

Olmsted
1180 Peachtree St
Atlanta, GA
30309
(404) 443-8431
Hours: Monday-Sunday 11:00A-3:00P


I was a guest of Olmsted, but all opinions are my own.

Gourmet Garden #Giveaway

This past January, I attended this year's Food Blog South in Birmingham, an amazing food blogging conference first organized in 2011 by Jason Horn and Shaun Chavis, that just keeps getting better and better each year. One of the neatest things this time, was the presence of a number of companies that wanted to work with the food blogging community. I had the opportunity to chat with several of them and was really excited when Gourmet Garden offered to send me some of their products to try. Now, for those of you who know me, I am particular about what I will and won't eat. I was pretty dubious about what tubes of herbs would taste like, so I was happily surprised to find that they had tons of fresh herb flavor and didn't leave a weird aftertaste. I also love that you only use as much as you need at one time and then refrigerate or freeze the rest, no more bunches and bunches of cilantro in the compost pile, big $$ savings for me.  

Since I had so many fun flavors to work with, I decided to have a little dinner party and put everyone to the test to get creative and come up with their own delicious creation. I didn't want anyone starving, so I baked some potato chips (side note, Ellie Krieger's recipe does NOT work, at least not in my oven) and made the first task of the night to create a tasty dip for them. When you combine 1 c of sour cream, 1/2 tsp Gourmet Garden Garlic Paste, 1 tsp Gourmet Garden Italian Herbs Paste, 1/4 c freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and freshly cracked pepper to taste, you get the easiest dip imaginable, good not only on potato chips, but also bell peppers, cucumber sticks, pretty much anything you might like to dip in it. You could also be healthy and use Greek yogurt instead of the sour cream, but I had sour cream on hand, so that's what we used. 

Next, we worked on our main course, chicken, 4 ways. I gave everyone a chicken breast and they each got to create their own quick marinade using whatever flavors they liked. We had Italian style chicken, Asian style chicken, whatever sounded good. Mine had cilantro, chunky garlic, lemon grass, ginger and chili pepper, with just a bit of fish sauce and dark soy. I put them on the stove and had them cooking as we started our side dishes. I had roasted broccoflower and kabocha squash, cooked some penne, and whipped up some mashed potatoes earlier in the day, so they were a blank canvas for the herbs. My penne was sauced with essentially the same herbs as my marinade, in a little chicken broth and topped with kabocha squash. I think Todd's salad dressing of 3 Tbs rice wine vinegar, 3 Tbs olive oil, 1/2 tsp lemon grass, 1/2 tsp cilantro, salt & pepper to taste, was the hit of the night - I know that it is going to be added to my recipe collection!

Of course, what's a dinner party without dessert? I went with one of my favorites, cobbler adapted from Virginia Willis' recipe. Knowing that strawberries and basil make a pretty good combo, I added basil to the berries and also whipped it into the cream at the very end. While I got some odd looks over the green flecked whipped cream, everyone agreed that it really made the cobbler that much more flavorful.

If you would like to try Gourmet Garden herbs, you can find them at most grocery stores, or you can win your very own Gourmet Garden cooler full and have a party to see what delectable delights you can create!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

While Gourmet Garden did send me their products to try and are providing a giveaway for my readers, I was not otherwise compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.

It's Spring, That Means It's Plant Sale Time!

 Picture from the Norcross Garden Club Plant Sale

I absolutely love buying new plants for my yard, I'm constantly on the look out for new shapes, new colors and plants with different bloom times so I can make my yard a riot of color all year round. Even though I am slightly less enthusiastic about the actual chore of planting said plants, that doesn't stop me from buying them in abundance. Sometimes that means they languish in their pots until they eventually succumb to the brutal Georgia heat, but for the most part, I do get them in and they seem to be pretty happy in their new homes.

Hamamelis x intermedia 'Diane' 

I always feel like I need more early color, so I have two witch hazels, poor 'Jelena' is still in her pot in my back yard, and after looking through old photos, looks like she has been there since at least 2011, but she still seems to be hanging in there. 'Diane' joined us last Spring and is planted in my front yard, she was absolutely gorgeous in February and March, maybe 'Jelena' will join her there sometime soon.

My camellias were just stunning this year, they have been blooming and blooming for months now. While I don't actually have space for anything so big as another camellia, I am coveting 'Black Magic' since I saw it at the Flower show last month. I may need to find a home for it somewhere in my yard.

While you may be thinking that I probably spend a fortune on plants, you would be wrong. I actually have scored some incredible deals by shopping all of the local plant sales, especially the pass-along-plants sections. These are really great because you know that they did well enough in our climate to be divided, so they are pretty much guaranteed to survive and thrive.

Gomphocarpus physocarpus Hairy Balls

I also love that you can find some really interesting plants, things that you don't find at your local big box store, like Hairy Balls, above. This is one of my favorite plants ever, even though it spreads like crazy, it still makes me smile. It grows to be about 6 feet tall with long narrow leaves, then it puts out the blooms that look like some kind of miniature amusement park ride, that then turn into hairy balls. They are full of silky puffs of cottony fiber that the seeds are disbursed on after they dry out. Even though they do self seed, they are very manageable because you can easily pull them up.

I always stock up on daylilies anywhere I can find them, because they are one of my favorite flowers and because the deer eat them faster than I can plant them. I keep saying I am going to join the Daylily Society of Greater Atlanta  because they invite me to join every time I see them at various plant sales, but my Saturdays are so busy with BBQ and Chef and the Fatman, it's hard to make the commitment. They are such incredibly nice people though, and always have the most jaw-dropping daylilies you have ever seen. Plus if you go at the end of the sale, they will usually toss in a few bonus plants for their best repeat customers. Below are some of my best bets for plant sales, but this is only a tiny fraction. For more great gardening events and sales, check out Walter Reeves Garden Events page.

April 5-6 Hall County Master Gardeners Spring Garden Expo

Fri 8:30A-5:00P

Sat 8:30A-4:00P

April 19-20 Norcross Garden Club Spring Plant Sale

33 College Street, Norcross, 30071

Fri 12:00P-6:00P

Sat 9:00A-6:00P

I am a member of the Norcross Garden Club, so I have to say that our sale is the best. Not only will we have nursery plants and tons of pass-along-plants dug from our very own yards for sale, but we are also going to have a number of workshops where you can learn how to make recycled plastic flower art for your yard, glass jar terrariums, or other fun garden projects. Don't forget a few extra $$ for raffle tickets, as our brown bag raffle will have plenty of great prizes to pick from! 

April 20

10:00A-11:00A Recycled Plastic Flower Demo

11:00A-12:00P Terrarium Demo

2:00P-3:00P Veggie & Herb Gardening 101 presented by Rebecca Caley of Caley's Kitchen Garden

April 27 N Fulton Master Gardeners Spring Plant Faire

Sat 9:00A-3:00P