TRAVEL TUESDAY - COUNTRY HAM BISCUITS WITH FRIED GREEN TOMATOES - NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Over a long weekend at the beginning of the year, the kids and I drove to Gaylord Opryland to meet a dear friend and her kids, who were traveling across from North Carolina.
Nashville was a natural half way point, and the perfect place to gather, although we didn't venture far from the resort, we discovered there was no need to - it was such a quick visit, and the weekend was more about us getting together and catching up than seeing the sights of Nashville. I was quite impressed by the resort - having no prior expectations. The inside was lush with vegetation and various water features gave it a charming and picturesque appearance, had a soothing effect, and provided ample space and places for the kids to run and play while the adults joyfully reconnected.
There were many restaurants to choose from, offering a great variety of fare. We ate every meal within the resort, with the most memorable being my cornmeal biscuits with country ham and fried green tomatoes.
It was one of my favorite trips ever - the kids were truly a pleasure to travel with and to be with. The drive was fun and it was wonderful having those precious moments with my children, and spending time with a cherished friend and her kids.

Me, Amy and our sweet kids at the Gaylord Opryland Resort

The cornmeal biscuit with country ham and fried green tomato at the Gaylord Opryland Resort

COUNTRY HAM BISCUITS WITH FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

My version of the cornmeal biscuit with country ham and fried green tomato

1 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold butter, cut up
1 cup cream
1 package of cooked country ham
fried green tomatoes (recipe to follow)

Heat oven to 425F.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cornmeal, sugar and pepper in a bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Add whipping cream, stirring with a fork just until dry ingredients are moistened.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, knead 3 or 4 times. Pat the dough flat, cut out circles with a round cookie cutter. Transfer to lightly greased baking sheet.
Bake for 24 to 26 minutes, or until biscuits are golden. Let cool slightly, separate circles, serve warm stuffed with country ham and fried green tomatoes.
Enjoy!

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

2 firm green tomatoes
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup milk
2 beaten eggs
2/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs or cornmeal
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cut unpeeled tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle slices with salt and pepper. Let tomato slices stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, place flour, milk, eggs and bread crumbs in separate shallow dishes.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Dip tomato slices in milk, then flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs. In the skillet, fry half of the coated tomato slices at a time, for 4 to 6 minutes on each side or until brown. As you cook the rest of the tomatoes, add olive oil as needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

TENNESSEE TEA CAKES - MURFREESBORO, TENNESSEE

Our nephew just moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee for graduate school, and my kids were so excited when we planned to visit over a long weekend.
We ran into difficulty while booking our hotel room - apparently we were in town the same time as a Tennessee Walking Horse event and a huge soccer tournament, so our accommodations were not as luxurious as the Five Star hotel we had discovered in Memphis on Priceline the night before.
Although we got the most pleasure out of spending time with Evan, with his passion for History, lovely personality, musical ability, interesting, intelligent conversation and a kitten that my kids remembered from a summer visit to his hometown of Slidell, we also enjoyed several local restaurants. The Blue Cactus Cantina, an interesting combination of Cajun and Mexican cuisine, The Boulevard Bar and Grill, a typical sports bar, and the most fascinating for us, Demos Restaurant. The parking lot was full to overflowing, and we were intrigued to see what was drawing such a crowd. Established in 1989, by Doris and Jim Demos, following early experience in the family restaurant business - it was good Italian food, obviously made with love.
We also visited Stones River, where a decisive battle was fought in the Civil War, attended an interesting presentation from the ranger and drove around the battlefield filling in an activity book the kids had been given.
We love to spend time with family, and there were a few attractions we weren't able to see, so we would definitely re-visit this college town, right in the geographical center of Tennessee.
On the way home we spent a night in Nashville, and after visiting with the Concierge of our hotel, walked to Amerigo West End for dinner. We had relished fun, family Italian for lunch in Murfreesboro, and savored sultry, contemporary Italian for dinner, and I always appreciate when an elegant restaurant features a menu for the children, which Amerigo had. There was a gorgeous, extensive list of food to choose from, but we couldn't resist starting with the cheese fritters, which had been featured in Bon Appetit magazine.
I didn't the the fritter recipe, but made these Tennessee Tea Cakes in honor of our visit.

TENNESSEE TEA CAKES

1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350F.
Line mini muffin tins with paper liners.
Measure butter and sugars into a heavy saucepan and set over medium heat. As the butter melts, whisk in the sugars. Cook, whisking constantly until sugars are completely dissolved.
Remove from heat and cool 10 minutes.
Beat in eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour and salt until just combined. Do not overbeat. The batter will be thick and sticky.
Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full with batter. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until cakes are glossy and crisp on the outer edges but not completely dry in the center. While still warm, sift confectioners' on top if desired.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Arkansas Democrat Gazette, August 2013
www.arkansasonline.com/news/features/food/‎