Tomato Soup

Hibernation

Keeping with the tradition of great, seasonally appropriate themes, this week's Supper Club, compliments of the hosts C and L:

"In a nod to the coming of winter, an ode to the passing of autumn, a
sigh to the last lingering ray of light, the theme of this season's
Supper Club will be Hibernation.

That's right, it's getting cold and we all need to fatten up and to
help us along the way our dinner will be a veritable cornucopia of
delicious, wintery, fatty, goodness.

So please bring your wintery dish of choice--one that will warm our
hearts and our bodies."

To start our wintery feast, C and L made homemade eggnog with bourbon:

L and A brought veggies with cream cheese dip:

(and really adorable penguins made from olives, cream cheese, and carrots!)

And turkey linguica wrapped in a blanket:

The penguins were so adorable, and the linguica-in-a-blanket were so delicious- a great twist on pigs in a blanket!

Thrilled by the idea of hearty, warm dishes I decided to make sweet potato soup:

I have always wanted to serve soup in little pumpkins, and supper club seemed the perfect opportunity. I cut a large hole and then scooped out all of the goo and let them air dry for a couple of hours before the party. They really looked adorable and the soup was fantastic. Once again, it was a winner from the Simply Recipes recipe archive. The sweet potato flavor was the star, but the celery and leek helped add crispness to the dense flavors of potato and cream. The splash of nutmeg and maple syrup brought a festive taste to the soup that wasn't overpowering or too sweet. I served these pumpkins with sage and honey cornbread muffins, which brought another comforting winter flavor to the side dish.

C and L's take on wintry and fatty was eggplant parmigiana:

This was the perfect entree, because it was a nice contrast to the sweetness of my first course. This was salty and hearty. The eggplant was sliced perfectly thin and so every bite had many layers of eggplant, sauce, cheese, and fresh basil.

For dessert, H and R brought a dish that, at H's house, they call the "chocolate thing":

The chocolate thing was essentially a rich, no-bake, fudge pie, topped with perfect homemade whipping cream. It was quite an end to the feast- I certainly felt like curling up and hibernating for the rest of the winter after all of that food and a couple of glasses of wine!

Supper Club #3

I'm not entirely sure that this Saturday's Supper Club meeting was an official one- one couple realized they couldn't make it at the last minute, and the other were MIA (we were later to find out that MIA couple, C and L, were stuck in a 14 hour journey back from a vacation in France and had no way to contact us to tell us they wouldn't make it!). Therefore, it was just Andy and I, and L and A for our "Breakfast from Around the World". Since we didn't have enough couples to make up a whole meal, we had to change things up a bit.

I brought both the appetizer, side dish, and a drink to compliment my appetizer. To start, I made a tomato and ricotta galette- a completely improvised recipe based on my desire to make a galette and the things I found at that mornings farmer's market:

I used a pre-made sheet of puff pastry dough and layered it with all sorts of goodies. For the first layer, I spread a mixture of garlic, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, salt, some dried herbs (basil, oregano, etc) and olive oil- that had all been ground into a thick paste in the food processor. Then a layer of ricotta cheese (enough to cover the whole surface so a medium layer of thickness). Then a layer of red onions that I had caramelized before spreading them onto the dough. Then a layer of absolutely beautiful baby heirloom tomatoes, halved (used a whole pint of them). I baked this all in the oven at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. When it came out of the oven, I let it cool for about 10-15 minutes then added a generous sprinkling of fleur de sel and lots of fresh torn purple basil. The combination of fresh, summer flavors in this galette was perfect. I wish I had cooked it for about 10 minutes longer so that the bottom of the pastry was firmer (the ricotta prevented it from crisping enough in the 30 minutes I allotted). I also loved the purple basil in this dish because it has a milder flavor than sweet basil and it adds a unique punch of color.

For a drink to serve with my French breakfast item, I headed to Jamaica for inspiration- that is, I went to Tina's Caribbean and bought two bottles of her phenomenal homemade fruit punch and mixed it with some spiced rum:

Tina's punch gets all the credit for this drink. It wasn't too sweet and tasted nothing like those bright red "fruit" punches of childhood. It was smooth and creamy and packed with tropical fruit flavors. More like a smoothie than a punch, it was the perfect compliment to spiced rum.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any good pictures of either my side dish, which was just very simple turkey sausage patties, or L and A's creative and fun créme bruleé French toast (which they served with the appropriate mimosa). The French toast really acted like the dessert of the meal because it had a crispy sugared top and they served it with South Carolina pecans and pure maple syrup. Here is a picture of Andy's final bite of French toast:

It's too bad the rest of the Supper Club missed out on this meal because you don't get to have breakfast for dinner very often!

Latin America

Our next Supper Club party was hosted by H & R. H had a specific recipe she wanted to try, and the theme (with help from our secretary C) was born from that. In the words of C: "Latin American Countries with whom the US has/had strained, embarrassing, or downright despicable relations is the theme!  Think Cuban Embargo, think Hugo Chavez, think Iran-Contra (the Contra part), think Pinochet---There are just so many eras, countries, and shameful practices of foreign relations to choose from!"

There is no telling where she comes up with these things, but they are most definitely inspiring. I love Latin American food, and this was my first try at cooking some. Everyone really went with the theme and created some beautiful and delectable dishes.

I was in charge of the starter, and made black bean and banana empanadas, using this recipe from Epicurious:

I tweaked the recipe a little to make the empanada a little more unique. I used twice the amount of banana because I thought the sweetness was an integral part of the flavor, I omit the cheese which I thought would not add much flavor but instead change the smooth texture of the bean/banana mixture, and also did not cook any cilantro with the empanada stuffing. I didn't think that cooking the cilantro with the beans would allow the fresh and bright flavor of the herb to shine. Instead, I made a cilantro pesto with:
-2 tablespoons peanut oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- juice of one lime
- 2 large handfuls of fresh cilantro
and spooned the mixture on top. These empanadas were phenomenal, I must admit. I loved the saltiness of the black beans and onion mixed with the sweetness of the banana and smokiness of the cumin. The cilantro pesto did just what I hoped- brought a really fresh, tangy zest to the appetizer. The pesto would be great for a number of things- shrimp tacos, raw vegetable salad, pasta with chicken and fresh tomatoes.

I paired my appetizer with refreshing mojitos, which I made by the pitcher:

In the summer, you can't really go wrong with a mojito!

Now for the main meal. To compliment H and R's entreé, L and A made rice and beans:

They added to this simple, Latin American staple dish by throwing in red, yellow, and green bell peppers.  Not only did it take the visual appeal up a notch, the peppers added a nice crunch and sweetness.

My personal favorite part of the night was R's Cuban Corn. I intend on getting the exact recipe from him and posting it, because I think everyone should have a bite of this:

I have never had corn like this before, and I don't think I ever want to eat it any other way. The corn was boiled for several minutes then grilled right on an open flame, and rolled in a mixture of cheese, mayonnaise, and chili powder. Before eating it, you took a wedge of lime and squirted it liberally over the whole ear. Heaven. There is no other way to describe this.

And the corn paired perfectly with H's Skirt Steak with Red Onion Mojo:

I never cook steak at home, and also rarely order it out, so this was a great treat. The steak was marinated in a "very special marinade" so said H, overnight, and then topped with the cooked red onions and cilantro. I really loved how light this dish was. Steak can often be very heavy, but the skirt is such a lean cut and the marinade and onions both had a satisfying light flavor.

C and L were in charge of dessert, and they went with a classic:

C got the recipe for this Rose Petal Flan from one of my personal favorite food sites, Simply Recipes. I loved the addition of rose water to the traditional flan. With every bite, you get the fragrance of rose and it adds a very subtle taste that helps balance the sugar. It was a great end to the Latin American feast! (And this was, truly, a feast!)

Spring Fever!

My parents, no matter where they've lived (and we moved around a lot when I was growing up!) were part of a dinner group. They found a group of people who loved food, socializing, and meeting new friends, and gathered them together every 4-6 weeks for what they always called the "Gourmet Group." These groups ranged from 4-6 couples. Every dinner had a theme, and every person had to bring a dish and a bottle of wine that corresponded. The hosting couple was always in charge of the entree and the rest of the dishes were assigned to others.

When I was younger, these Gourmet Groups would fascinate me. Most of the time, children were not included- but I do remember one time being allowed to accompany my parents. At the end of the fancy meal, the kids were treated to TCBY. I remember being much more interested in the frozen yogurt and various toppings than the gourmet dishes being passed around the table during dinnertime. Now, however, while I still appreciate a good bowl of strawberry frozen yogurt and peanut butter cups (it is good, I promise) my interest in the finer dishes in life has grown.

And so, inspired by my parents, and their love for food and friends, I decided to start my own dinner group. Andy and I, unfortunately, only knew one other couple in Providence and we enlisted their help in gathering a roster of dinner group attendees. Soon, we had 4 couples willing to participate- and we had our own name. We wouldn't be a "Gourmet Group," no, we had to have a better name..."The Providence Supper Club"! It has a nice ring to it, yes? We also decided, from the start, our themes would be innovative and dynamic. We wouldn't just have a night of French food, or American food. For our first meeting of the Supper Club our theme would need to set the tone...so we decided on: Spring Fever! My friend C declared herself the secretary, and in a wonderful email she sent out to the group, she wrote (to explain the theme): "Being that we are in the midst of an eternal winter, our first theme will be a bacchanalian celebration to the fickle gods of spring and fertility in hopes that they will appease us feeble mortals and allow spring to befall us." You can see why she is the secretary. So clever! Now, on to the food...

C and L brought the appetizer of roasted artichokes with lemon and salt and pepper and roasted red peppers with basil and complimented their appetizer with pomegranate martinis:

Andy and I were in charge of the entree. I made chicken thighs that were seared then simmered in chicken broth, cilantro, dried calmiryna figs, and lemon. H and R made the side dish, an amazing asparagus gratin with pine nuts that we enjoyed with a Pinot Gris and a Chardonnay:

L and A were in charge of dessert. They brought fruit, sponge cake and marshmallow skewers with chocolate and caramel dipping sauces and adorable little toppings (sprinkles, coconut, and walnuts) in tinfoil stars which we enjoyed with some Framboise Lambic:

Everyone really rose to the occasion for our inaugural Supper Club meeting. The food was spring-like and is sure to appease whoever is in control of bringing us beautiful weather. And everyone enjoyed making new friends and staying late into the night playing a rousing game of Taboo and discussing the theme for next month's party. I highly suggest everyone start a dinner group. I would love to know what other people do to make their group different and fun!