Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Taco Spot...A great Little Eatery in Charleston, SC offering gluten-free options

Yesterday, a couple of the kiddos and I had the opportunity to check out The Taco Spot (http://www.thetacospot.com/westashley.html).  I had read online that they offered gluten-free fare and their prices weren't too exorbitant, we had a field trip, then a haircut and were leaving at 7:30am in the morning and I wasn't up to packing a lunch, so we went.  We were NOT disappointed.  The kids just got your run of the mill, seasoned ground beef in a cruchy corn shell.  They enjoyed it but it wasn't anything special.  My son actually missed having a little grease drip out (yuck!).  I, on the other hand, got the grouper fish taco with soy aioli.  I have never gotten a fish taco at a restaurant before (I have made them at home with fried fish) so this was me going out on a limb!  I'm not usually adventurous.  The fish was baked and so tender and succulent, I could have eaten a whole pan of that fish by myself!  No fishy taste whatsoever.  I made the kids try a bite and they couldn't believe it was fish.  Scrumptious!  The individuals who worked there were very helpful as far as my gluten concerns and there doesn't really seem to be much margin for cross contamination since they do not fry any wheat products in their oil and each taco is prepared on a fresh sheet of paper. We really enjoyed our experience at The Taco Spot and will definitely be returning.  They have a couple tacos I'm dying to try!  They also use local produce from a farm I happen to know does not use chemicals, all a plus, and a good reason why you should go grab a taco from the The Taco Spot right now!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Flourless Chocolate Cake

About a month ago, some friends were fixing us dinner and I wanted to take a dessert (mostly so I could make sure my kids would have a dessert they could eat).  I turned to my 1000 Gluten Free Recipes by Carol Fenster (1000 Gluten Free Recipes) and found a recipe for a Flourless Chocolate Cake.  I followed the recipe, increasing it by 1/4 since I was using a 9-inch springform pan instead of 8-inch.  I made up a batch of fresh whipped cream and assembled by squeezing out a pretty dollop of whipped cream from the corner of a ziplock bag onto the top of each slice and placing a fresh raspberry in the middle of the whipped cream.  As you can imagine, it was a huge success.  My dad, who is about as far from gluten-free as you can get, loved it.  So did my hubby, who is not completely on board.  This is a decadent, delicious and beautiful dessert but actually pretty easy to make. 

You can find the recipe here: Fenster Chocolate Cake or in the book, which is definitely worth buying.

Here's a picture though by the time I got the shot, this was the last lone piece and all the delicious accessories were eaten up.  I couldn't keep my kids out of the whipped cream.  It may not look pretty, but trust me, this is one you want to try!

Don't forget to check out Carol Fenster's website at: http://carolfenstercooks.com/