Cinco de Mayo Euphoria style

 The folks at Euphoria are throwing a Cinco de Mayo party on Sunday, May 5 that’s not to be missed.  To kick off Euphoria 2013 ticket sales they have invited the Blue Dogs and country music’s rising start Rachel Farley for a one night only concert at Greenville’s Little Theatre. 

Described as a young girl with an old soul vibe, Farley has toured with Brantley Gilbert and recently signed to Jason Aldean’s record label. You can check her out here:

Before the concert there is an exclusive VIP party on the lawn featuring tasty bites by the hottest chefs on Greenville’s culinary scene.

Roost, Devereaux’s, The Lazy Goat, The Green Room, Performance Foodservice, and two new restaurants, Bacon Bros. Public House and Passerelle will be serving up crowd pleasing fare.  Liquid Catering will be on hand whipping up custom margaritas with Camarena tequila or guests can grab a Stella Artois or glass of vino at the open bar.  

Event goers will be the first to see the much anticipated event schedule for Euphoria 2013 which includes the popular Guest Chef Dinners, Sunday Supper, and Taste of the South, but also a few new surprises.  Word is, there will be big things happening at Noma Square and food trucks are getting involved in Euphoria this year.  Popular events always sell out quickly, so this is a great chance to get a jump on ticket sales.  Tickets to this one day only event are on sale now at www.euphoriagreenville.com/events/one-night-only. VIP tickets are $100 and general admission concert tickets are $25.  

Peanut Butter and Sriracha Cupcakes

Peanut Butter and Sriracha Cupcakes

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

¾ tablespoons baking powder

¼  teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ sticks salted butter, softened

1 1/3 cups sugar

2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

3 large eggs

½ cup vanilla yogurt  

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 335 degrees. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy (approx. 5 minutes). Slowly add in flour mixture.  Continue to blend on low. Add peanut butter and eggs, one at a time until blended.  Add yogurt and vanilla and mix well.  Fill cupcake liners ¾ full. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean.

For the icing:

1 stick salted butter

½ cup peanut butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 ½ tablespoon Sriracha

Beat butter until smooth. Add peanut butter.  Slowly add powdered sugar, milk and Sriracha and mix until well blended.

Diggin' Diggity Doughnuts and Upstate food truck news

I finally made it to Diggity Doughnuts while I was in the low country last weekend. (That's one thing off my bucket list!)  On a very rainy Charleston day, I ventured out to hunt down the truck at Whole Foods on Mount Pleasant.  I loaded up with their tasty treats, ordering the Strawberry, Blueberry Lemonade, Nutty Rooster, Chocolate and Mango.  Don't worry, I shared, and the family was over the moon happy. 

The spicy and sweet Nutty Rooster was by far the coolest.  It inspired a tasty treat of my own when I got back to the mountain. I whipped up some Peanut Butter and Sriracha cupcakes. 

Speaking of food trucks. Unconfirmed rumor in internet land is that the owner of Trappe Door in Greenville has a food truck in the works.  They didn't get back to me with details, but if it's anything like the restaurant, it's going to be a hit on the Greenville food scene.  There's are also Cajun and Crepe food trucks getting ready to hit the streets.

In other food truck news, Travelers Rest is hosting their own Food Truck Rodeo along the Swamp Rabbit Trail at the corner of Main and Church Street on May 3 from 5-9 p.m. and May 4 from 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Chocolate Moose, Pies R Squared, Neue Southern and Asada will all be on hand serving up their tasty fare. Mark your calendars. 

Lazy Goat, Palmetto Olive Oil Co and other Tuesday Mish Mash

Hello world.  So last Thursday, I met my buddy, Taryn, for lunch at The Lazy Goat.  I was in Chef Vicky Moore's restaurant and did not even ask to see her, speak to her, hug her, take her picture or otherwise be a weird stalker-like blogger person.  What is wrong with me? I did eat her food and it was delicious. (We started with hummus and I had the salmon with kale and tomatoes on couscous and garbanzo beans.)

Afterward I popped into Palmetto Olive Oil Company on Augusta Road.  It was magnificent. When you walk in the door they hand you a little bowl of bread cubes that you use to walk around sampling the plain and flavor infused olive oils and white balsamic vinegars.  Then they hand you a little cup of vanilla ice cream and a spoon which you use to sample the dark balsamic vinegars in flavors like Fig and Chocolate and Raspberry.  I walked out with a Mushroom and Sage Olive Oil, a Peach White Balsamic and a Strawberry Balsamic and I've used them almost every single day since. The vinegars are awesome on spinach salads, the strawberry is amazing on vanilla ice cream and I've used the Mushroom Sage to cook green beans and it was heaven.

What's up with the healthy food? I joined Weight Watchers.  (What?! I know, right?) At my doctor's suggestion. So apparently my love of food is packing on the pounds and I need to get it under control.  The thing is, that it hasn't been so bad thus far, though I did cry for like three straight hours when I got home from my appointment.  (Who, in their right mind, would want to give up really good, bad for you food? Not I.)  The doc sent me on my way with this website Skinnytaste.com marked on my phone and I swear it has saved me.  I've been cooking up things like Chicken and Mushrooms with Garlic White Wine Sauce and Cuban Crock Pot Picadillo. I'd die if I couldn't cook real food.

On that front, my rice cooker is a POC.  I am so sick of cooking rice and it sticking to the bottom of the thing.  Does anyone else have this problem. Even adding oil and spraying the inside does not help. The thing spends more time soaking in the sink than it does actually cooking.  If you have a stupendous cooker, I'd love to know what kind it is so I can purchase one like it.  Why do I need a rice cooker, you ask? Because I can cook darn near anything BUT rice.  I know, I'm a freak.

Did anyone else run outside and immediately plant stuff in the garden when the time changed?  I got my parsley and cilantro in the ground, but past experience with Easter time freezes kept me from planting more.  Now, if the little mole will stay out of my garden, I might have something growing by late spring.

Yesterday, I sat glued to the James Beard Award Nominations.  You'd think it was the Oscars. Well, it kind of is in the food world. One of my favorite mags, The Lucky Peach, got several nods in the Journalism category, The Ordinary in Charleston is nominated for Best New Restaurant and Charleston Chef, Sean Brock, got a nomination for Outstanding Chef.  I was cheering. More evidence of my weirdness. My bff says I am such a fan-girl.  (She's so right.) You can see the winners on May 3 at #jbfa  on Twitter.

I'm playing around with Twitter again.  I still don't feel the love like I do on Facebook, but I'm starting to get there.  Follow me @gapcreekgourmet. Being a little OCD, it's hard to walk away from the conversation, though.  There are always new tweets to read! Did you hear Facebook is going to be incorporating hash tags in the near future?  This should be interesting.

On the pop culture front, the season finales of Girls and Banshee just rolled through and Walking Dead is winding up. I am so bummed that I have to wait until 2014 for new episodes!  Game of Thrones (March 31st), The Newsroom (hopefully), and Strike Back start up soon.  That's some relief for the summer entertainment drought. Any shows on your must see list?

On the must do list, there are several Greenville things that need to be on your calendar. Euphoria Greenville has a concert event coming up on May 5 at The Greenville Little Theatre with musician Rachel Farley and the Blue Dogs.  Event attendees will get a first look at Euphoria's 2013 schedule of events. VIP tickets (food/wine/beer/concert) and General Admission tickets are available.  Bovinova is happening May 10-11. Artisphere is that same weekend. Greenville's Downtown Alive starts back up March 21. And it should be time for Taste of the Nation Greenville, too, but I can't find any info online.  If you have the scoop, please comment.

That's all for today!  Have a good one.

Lunch at Rick's Deli and Market

Yesterday I had lunch at Rick's Deli and Market (101 W. Camperdown Way, Greenville) and I must say that it was a beautiful (yes, I said it, beautiful) way to spend a lunch hour. Greenville's newest deli opened in February and has been getting rave reviews for their good price points, fresh, beautiful sandwiches and lovely selection of pastries, baked goods, deli items, and high end grocery supplies.

I ordered the West End Triple Play (a choice of three salads), took my table number and found a seat at the bar/counter facing out onto the street.  I love that most of the restaurant is encased in high windows.  The sun was shining through the place and it felt marvelous. My plate arrived in a few short minutes (even though the place was rather crowded). It was filled with a lemony chicken salad, pasta salad with an oil and pesto like sauce with olives and sun dried tomatoes and a fruit salad with pineapple, melons and blueberries, all on a bed of greens.  A light and crispy croissant was balanced on the side of the pile.

Lunch was awesome.  After I finished, I perused the case containing quite a selection of macarons in flavors like Basil Lemon, Blueberry, Strawberry, Chocolate and Orange.  Chef Emmanuel Hodencq's bubbly wife, Viviane, who is the general manager, talked me into taking some home with me. Most of which never made it out of Greenville. I also ordered a chocolate croissant for my daughter's after school snack.  I put it in the back seat so it wouldn't tempt me on the drive home.

You are also able to buy salads by the cup, whole cakes from the case and deli-sliced meats by the pound at the deli.

With a grocery selection including pastas, sauces, wines, oils, vinegars, mustards, and crackers, it would be a nice stop before your next Falls Park picnic. And you simply must go there for lunch.  I recommend a seat by the window.