Special Delivery at Tour de Hurley

When Patrick Hurley reluctantly signed up for Tour de Kitchens we knew that April 25th was going to be filled with fine cuisine as he aptly noted the main course next to his name on the roster - Healthy Choice. Ashley and I were taking bets on the menu in route as Patrick was setting the bar for the rest of the single men on TDK. Ashley predicted Brixx while I was holding out for 131 Main. After passing these infamous locales on East Blvd, we quickly reached our destination only to find that Mr. Hurley had mislead us by forgetting a digit in his address (the intentions behind which are still to be discovered). This kept us wandering through the parking lot working up an appetite for our meal. But lucky for us a kind stranger came to our rescue and agreed to accompany us on the rest of our journey as he too was looking for the Hurley residence.


In case you are still wondering who our new friend is, here's another shot:


As old friends met new friends, Patrick rescued us and the pizza from the delivery man and escorted us inside only to announce that he had a surprise for us. We wondered what would be delivered next, but as we rounded the kitchen much to our delight we were greeted by Brett and Anna McDonough!


Not to be outdone by Papa Johns, Patrick did prepare a homemade appetizer; an original creation he likes to call salad tacos, not to be confused with taco salads. (Note how the lettuce folds like a taco shell. Also not to be confused with lettuce wraps. Its so hard to come up with an original dish these days!)


The taco seasoning was complemented by chipotle pepper hummus and jalapeno hummus served with table water crackers.


To prove that he "cooked" something, Iron Chef Hurley displayed his finest chopping, warming, and plating skills.


Patrick didn't dare stop there as he channeled his inner restaurateur and created a unique ambiance complete with green and gold flung afar and a vintage vanilla candle waiting four years for its debut.


The large veggie and Hawaiian with jalapenos pizzas hit the spot as we settled into the dining room to enjoy the company and the bottles of La Crema Pinot Noir and Trader Joes Tempranillo. The McDonoughs were vying for any opportunity to add points to the Mexican Surf and Turf tally and suckered Patrick into letting them bring dessert. The Heath bar and Chocolate Chip cupcakes with salted caramel icing were delish with Patrick's addition of chocolate sorbet with strawberries and organic dark chocolate.


We're still deciding who gets points for the dessert, but Patrick gets extra points for being a good sport!

Say Cheese at Tour de Turnage

The first and only stop on Tour de Kitchens this week took us just due north of Charlotte to the culinary capital of Paris, France! The Turnages had to travel far to get and bring their "A" game. I vaguely remember hearing the famous last words of "Take that Cameo!"


The rest of the photos from our international travels were mysteriously misplaced, but luckily we had a professional photographer to document our tour!


Lisa greeted us in her official chef's apron thus proving that all the entrees were homemade! Did I say, "all?" Why yes, only the finest chefs can perfect the timing and presentation of simultaneous dishes. Those finishing touches look great Lisa!


We enjoyed a trio of rigatoni - vegetarian tomato basil; chicken, spinach and mushrooms with alfredo; and sausage with marinara. They were all complimented with a generous portion of mozzarella. The meal was complete with a side of freshly grilled asparagus and a bottle of Argentinian Malbec.


In case we didn't get enough cheese at dinner, the Turnages had a bonus activity planned for us. The mini stool, bed sheet and NC State gear made the perfect backdrop for our very own makeshift photo booth! Thank goodness for that glass of wine before the shoot!

Major points to Lisa for feeding us, in spite of cooking, in addition to showcasing her mad photog skills. Kevin get points for introducing us to a number of new and hilarious Youtube hits! Thanks Turnages for a great meal and a great night!

Everything's New at Tour de Guelzows

Tour de Kitchens week 3 started off with a special honor for me as I was the first dinner guest in the recently married Guelzow’s new home. Not sure many people on the tour can top that, but it even gets better. Not only did I get to see their great new house and HUGE backyard, the Guelzow’s christened many of their brand new wedding presents at this special event. It’s unfortunate that my roommate is out of town because this dinner was awesome. Chefs Danny and Katie prepared this delightful spinach salad with strawberries, sliced almonds and mandarin oranges. Yum!

It was the perfect complement to the homemade lasagna and Texas toast that was awesome!! Not that anyone had seconds, but someone had to enjoy this amazing dinner while my roommate was forced to “suffer through leftovers at {her} crappy hotel” in Durham. Ouch! Sorry Lauren. Maybe you should've prayed for a better meal.

Then to top it off, Danny served up the last of the Reece's peanut butter cup ice cream with my all-time favorite Girl Scout cookie. Needless to say, it was a great moment.

A very special thanks for the Guelzow's for making this a very special dinner!! Maybe Lauren can come next time...

A Night to Remember at Tour de Cameo

The Cameo is here to play! We knew Tour de Kitchens was off to a strong start, but we had no idea what was in store when we pulled up to the Cameo and were greeted by the red carpet extending from the front door, down the steps and into the front yard. (It was about 5 feet off-kilter from its normal hallway arrangement.) Imagine our surprise when we rang the door bell, the front door opened and we were greeted by this:

The Cameo ladies in their finest bridesmaids/prom dresses! Oh what a night... We of course were not prepared for such a momentous occasion being that we are having dinner on a Thursday night with our friends, but never fear there were enough boas and bling to go around. Notice the "prom arch" in the background (not to be confused with butcher paper and sharpies gone wrong).

The competition was just taken to another level...

"Much like the prom picture set the tone for the night", Specialty Chef CC was channeling her inner Rachael Ray with our tasty appetizer of marinated mushrooms and spinach bruschetta.

While we were sampling this tasty app, our Executive Chef Amy Holloway was busy manning the burners in her red ball gown/fave bridesmaid dress, pearls and all. She would not let a little polyester and heels slow her down. As an added bonus, the neckline of her dress served as a catchall for any savory morsels unable to be enjoyed before passing into "the swoop".

The main course "worthy of the Prom Queen title" was prepared with a "free side of love" and we were ready to enjoy. We were even joined on this momentous occasion by a celebrity of tchotchke proportions...the infamous Fairily (Lauren was removed for this photograph).

What prom night would be complete without a tasty dessert from our very own resident homeless woman and her idol, the Pioneer Woman. These raspberry delights (they're cupcakes Farrell) were a light and tasty treat to end this prom night. What a delight!

Wow! This night certainly capped off the best ever Tour de Kitchens week one. Many thanks to our gracious hosts at the Cameo. Wallet sized party pics will be available once the Tour ends.

Pairs Well at Tour de Howes

The (Almost) Howes: Our Neighborhood Restaurant...literally

After a .5 mile drive that was Easy Like Sunday Morning, we arrived to our soon to be married friends' home for an international feast! We knew the theme of the evening upon being greeted by twin silver Honda Civics...Pairs Well.

Upon arrival Executive Chef Allan Howe "a self-trained master of all things culinary," and Sous Chef Rebecca Dillingham, started us off with the first pair of the evening - prosciutto and cantaloupe, yes I said prosciutto and cantaloupe. This paired nicely with the white sangria complete with bites of peach, pineapple and melon. This was an international pairing not hailing from the Motherland or the Homeland, but from the lower class Euro trash - Italy and Spain.

As expected, Rebecca, the queen of competition, attempted to gain the upper hand in what has become the Tour de Kitchens cook off by serenading the bachelorettes with the tunes from the kings de soul.

This pair of 80s pop icons set the mood as we transitioned to the main course with Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough playing in the background. The seared tuna with homemade honey Dijon was "an epic entree that is sure to provide a taste bud explosion with each savory bite" and that it did.

Speaking of African-Americans...the best pair of the evening was our gracious host, Michael Buble, and hostess, some random, homeless woman we found by Dairy Queen. Amazingly, she resembled Sous Chef Rebecca Dillingham, known for being "excellent at following cooking instructions on any and all pre-packaged frozen entrees." Here's the happy couple now:

The final pairing of the evening was the NY classic dessert "from a nationally recognized dessert chain (that shall remain nameless) brought in especially for this momentous occasion," the Dulce de Leche and Key Lime cheesecakes. Ongelooflike! (Zimbawean for Incredible!)

2 for the Price of 7

ROUND ONE: Sweet A Flex signed up to host us for dinner on Monday not knowing what was ahead of her. After she was suckered into feeding us, Ashley and I had to divide and conquer to enjoy our Tour de Flexer on separate nights. Though the division of meals was completely our fault, the addition of guests was all Allison. In short, Allison graciously hosted Ashley and the Upton family (sans Mark) for a dinner of seared pork loin, fresh steamed broccoli and brown rice. The grand total of mouths fed is up to 4 and Allison gets extra points in Heaven for feeding the pastors wife and kids! Dessert was an indulgent 45 mins on YouTube hosted by Davis Upton.

ROUND TWO: Master Chef Allison was back in action the next night, by default. Allison agreed to have Eugenia and me over Tuesday evening for wine and/or coffee and of course this complex menu of red or white and/or cream or sugar was planned two weeks in advance. But Allison, ready to go on a moment's notice, agreed to host me for dinner 45 minutes before my scheduled arrival to save me from another night of Supersize Me on my return home from Raleigh. Instead of grease, sodium and cholesterol, I thankfully enjoyed a light appetizer of black and green olives and red pepper and olive hummus with whole wheat pita bread (my slacker contribution thanks to HT!). My heavy pour of Pinot Noir helped me to wind down just in time to savor the main entree of Orange-Glazed chicken and sauteed vegetables with fresh parmesean cheese. Eugenia got there just in time get a taste of the apps and crack open a new bottle of Pinot, thus bringing the total people fed up to 7 (yes, Allison did eat too). Unfortunately, no photos of this delish meal, but it didn't stay on the plate long! Allison's off the hook if we do Tour de Kitchens round 2!

Special blog note: guest contributor = roommate

Tour de Suttons

Tour de Kitchens enters its second week with a bang. I had high expectations for the Suttons but let’s just say they were blown out of the water and then some. The Suttons brought their “A” game, and it was an evening to remember. The competition may be over before it even began...so to start off, the Suttons printed off their Tour de Kitchen’s menu on stock paper to highlight the four course meal they were preparing (yes, I did say four course meal).

We started off the evening with an appetizer of goat cheese and blackberry balsamic crostinis and our first glass of wine. As you can imagine, they were perfectly toasted and easy to eat as Lori Ellen was putting the finishing touches on the salads.

Speaking of salads, our second course was a baby spinach salad with toasted walnuts, raspberries and goat cheese topped with homemade oil and vinegar (the blackberry ginger vinegar no less). It was incredible and we could have stopped there, but this was not the case. Our main course was salmon with grits and asparagus drizzled with a caper creme sauce. It was nicely paired with a bottle of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Sauvignon Blanc. Yes, it was as good as it sounds.

The piece de resistance was our final course, and something that only a blow torch could have produced. The Suttons especially purchased a mini-blow torch for the homemade Coffee-Caramel Creme Brulee that capped off the evening. I was in heaven momentarily!

Not only did the menu completely outshine any restaurant I've reviewed over the past five years but the best part is we were able to enjoy the great company in their lovely home. Now, I would have asked Lori Ellen for all of her recipes but let's be real, I'll never be able to recreate any of this (except maybe the salad) so I'll just keep this one as a very special memory! Thanks Suttons! We can't wait for you to have us over again! The kitchen may never be finished.

Sunflower Bakery - Elizabeth

Bakery/breakfast place $6 - egg and cheese sandwich and med coffee This place is a fun new local bakery in Elizabeth (across from Sbux on 7th) and it seems to be quite popular. My friends and I met for breakfast on Saturday, and I was not disappointed. I ordered the egg and cheese on whole grain and while it was quite yummy, I did have food envy of my friend's egg and cheese on the cheese biscuit. That looked (and supposedly tasted) much better than my whole grain toast. The bakery supports local farmers and has muffins, homemade pop tarts, regular lunch sandwiches and other baked goods. They also serve Counter Culture coffee which is really good. My only complaint is they don't have raw sugar, just regular and splenda (yuck!). It's no Amelie's but it's still pretty darn good. Anyway, since this place is less than 2 miles from my house, I'm pretty sure I'll be back. Check it out.

Lang Van - Midwood/Shamrock

Vietnamese So I don't have a ton of experience with Vietnamese food and I've always been a little intimidated to try this place. I came a long time ago but didn't order well so I usually stick with Thai when I'm craving asian food. However, a friend of mine loves this place and was willing to guide me to something I'd like so I gave it another go. It did not disappoint. I've always heard Lang Van is a fave among people in Charlotte who like Vietnamese food and now I understand why. My friend knows the owner/manager lady but it appears that she knows and remembers everyone who comes in and what they order. Rather than order off the menu, she asked what I liked (chicken, beef or seafood, rice or noodles, etc.) and she recommended the Vietnamese chicken burritos (they have an actual name but I can't remember it so just go with me here). The concept is pretty simple, they bring out the rice noodle tortilla with a steaming bowl of water and a plate filled with fragrant cilantro, mint leaves, skewered chicken, veggies and sprouts and you make your own burrito like dish. My friend and I split this and then he ordered the lemon grass chicken curry which we split as well. His was yummy, but definitely had a hidden kick to it. It seems that Vietnamese food is similar to Thai and just as good. However, the atmosphere at Lang Van is really the bonus. It's not so much the setting as the waitstaff and the owner. They treat you like family, they won't let your water glass get below the rim for more than 2 sips, and they remember you when you come. I ran into another friend there and she mentioned that they've remembered her order for years, even though the menu changed and she doesn't come very often. It's almost like a family vacation. :) If you're a fan of Vietnamese food or just an adventurous eater, I highly recommend trying this place. If you don't know what to order, ask for help and enjoy!