And, we’re back🤘

Hey there Florida Foodie friends,

It’s the eldrich horror that haunts the darkest corners of your soul, Thomas Mates.

I’m finally back from vacation and ready to fill your inbox with all sorts of nonsense.

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Like I said the last time we talked, I had some friends come in from out of town. We had a blast.

I took them to get some mead at Zymarium. We grabbed some sushi at WAVE in Mount Dora. We also went to Rockville out in Daytona Beach. Queens of the Stone Age and the Foo Fighters were definitely highlights.

I enjoyed my time off, but I am happy to be back here with all of you fine, lovely people.

We’ve got a new episode of Florida Foodie and it is a good one, but I have one more thing to mention before we get into the meat of the newsletter.

We have a new place for you to talk all things food. The Florida Foodie Forum is here so you can share recipes, get restaurant recommendations or just ask any foodie questions.

Just click here to join.

Ok, let’s dive in.

Small town, big flavor🍖

Let me start out by saying that Willie Fulmore and his daughter, Tomeka Fulmore-Smith, are the nicest people I have ever met. They are generous and humble. They really just want to feed people and make them happy.

Willie’s Bar-B-Que is a staple of the Montverde community. The restaurant is only open two days a week, but it brings people from all across the state. Willie is known for his ribs and I can personally attest that they are fantastic.

The father-daughter duo had a great conversation with Candace Campos and Lisa Bell on the latest episode of Florida Foodie.

>You can check out the whole episode here<

Don’t forget you can also find every episode of Florida Foodie on YouTube.

Small bites🥔

Making a comeback♠️: The Ace Cafe closed its Orlando location last year, but the bar and diner is set to come back to Central Florida. This time, it is opening up in Sanford. You can find all the details here.

First-ever🌽: Mount Dora is about to pop off with its first-ever Corn Festival. Do I have your attention? Are you all ears? Well, you can get every kernel of information right here.

Hip-hop and cookies🎤🍪: A West Coast cookie chain is getting ready to open up its first Central Florida location. Cookie Plug is coming to Daytona Beach. I’m editorializing here, but Cookie Plug is not an appetizing name for anything. If you want to learn more, click here.

Closing up shop🌮: Tijuana Flats is closing some of its stores as the chain is dealing with some struggles. You find all the Florida locations closing here.

Something to try at home 🍽️

I have been enjoying making bread recently, so I figured I would include a recipe from a baker best known for his bread, Paul Hollywood.

This is a recipe for a Mediterranean bread called Maneesh.

Ingredients:

Bread

• 500 grams strong white flour
• 10 grams salt
• 25 grams caster sugar (You can run regular sugar through a food processor. Caster sugar is just a finer grain of sugar)
• 10 grams dried yeast
• 20 milliliters olive oil
• 360 milliliters tepid water

Za’atar Toping

• 6 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 4 tablespoons dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons dried marjoram
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

1. Mix together the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a bowl until homogenous. Add the olive oil and 270 milliliters of the water. Using your fingers, mix the ingredients together. Gradually add the remaining water (you might not use all of it) until all the flour has come away from the sides of the bowl and you have a soft dough. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
2. Pour a little oil onto your worktop. Place the dough on top and knead for 5-10 minutes. The dough will be wet in the beginning but will form a smooth dough once kneaded.
3. Place into a clean oiled bowl, cover it with cling film or a wet tea towel, and leave to double in size, about 1 hour.
4. Line three baking trays with parchment paper.
5. Tip the dough onto an oiled worktop. Knock the dough back by folding it on itself until it is smooth. Split the dough into three and roll it into large, rough circles.
6. Place onto the lined baking trays and cover each tray, either with a wet towel or another, inverted baking tray. Leave to rest for 20 minutes.
7. Mix the topping ingredients into a thick paste. Preheat the oven to 446 degrees.
8. Just before baking, brush the surface of the bread with olive oil. Spread the topping over each and bake for approximately 15 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

That’s it for today.

Also, please take the time to rate and review the Florida Foodie podcast.

Send me your recipes so I can share them with everyone. My email is tmates@wkmg.com.

Don’t forget to send in your foodie pictures as well through our PinIt! program.

- Thomas