Let's Do Dinner Club!

2013-01-15T14:08:00.000-06:00

I’m finally back after a long, and rather unintended, break from blogging! The holidays really got away from me this year and now, after that and getting over a New Year illness, I finally feel as though I’m putting my feet back on the ground! Last week, I landed a world away from the bitter cold of Nebraska. Dinner Club traveled to Australia! The high temperatures in Sydney have been in the 80’s and low 90’s. Not so here in Nebraska, yet I bundled up and made my way to our host house to enjoy some delicious Australian cooking, if not their gorgeous weather!
This month’s menu is shown below, but here are a few highlights of the evening:

My recipe this month was for Lamington’s. This is an Australian dessert that, at least according to our research and reading, is quite common. It was actually fairly difficult to find true “Australian” recipes and dishes for our menu this month. We took to the internet, as is usually the case, and did our best, but what we found was that Australia is quite a “melting pot” of cuisines, very much like our home in the U.S.

Lamingtons were, however, one thing that came up over and over again. According to my reading on wikipedia.org, “The earliest known published recipe for the lamington appeared in 1902 in the cookery section of The Queenslander newspaper credited to ‘a subscriber’. The lamington’s subsequent popularity, particularly at fundraising drives and school fetes and, of course, its darn good eating, earned it a spot on the National Trust of Queensland’s 2006 list of Heritage Icons. But its fame extends beyond that state’s borders – every 21 July Australians celebrate National Lamington Day, and even New Zealanders lay claim to its invention.”

Other information at the same site suggests,” It might have surprised Lady Lamington, the wife of a Victorian governor in Queensland, Australia, to learn that her name would be immortalized ‘down under’ as a petit four. She probably wouldn’t have minded though, invented legend has it, in the governor’s kitchen as a way to use leftover cake, these squares of sponge cake, dipped in chocolate and then rolled in coconut are perennial best sellers at Australian bake sales and are the preferred accompaniment to afternoon tea.”

Despite how they came about, they were quite easy to make and, although I worried they would be difficult to dip in the chocolate without destroying the cake, I found this not to be so. The cake recipe was quite dense and firm; simple, but tasty. Dipped in chocolate and rolled in very fine, unsweetened coconut, they were quite cute little hunks of after-dinner tastiness!

Our “Shrimp on the Barbie” was our host’s own interpretation, and they were simple and perfectly cooked. Here’s a little history on that so-called Australian food, that leads me to believe how very not-Australian anything really is! Again, melting pot of flavors, cultures and cuisines…..!
“Shrimp on the barbie" is an often-quoted phrase that originated in a series of television advertisements by the Australian Tourism Commission starring Paul Hogan from 1984 through to 1990. The actual quote spoken by Hogan is "I'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for you", and the actual slogan of the ad was "Come and say G'day". It has since been used, along with some variations, to make reference to Australia in popular culture.”

I found this interesting and not the least bit of a deterrent to my enjoyment of the dish! Besides the menu we enjoyed, I’ve posted the link to the lamington’s recipe. They’d be great for after any meal, Australian-inspired or not!

I intend to refresh my “blogging spirit” now that I’m feeling above the weather and refreshed in the New Year! Keep reading! We have some truly exciting and unusual themes on the schedule in the month’s to come, as well as a SPECIAL OFFER and information for my readers from a company I’ve been asked to write about!

Sausage Rolls Appetizer

My next post will detail what I’m up to! See you soon!

Here’s that link to the Lamington recipe:

http://australianfood.about.com/od/bakingdesserts/r/Lamingtons.htm

Here’s the menu we had this month:

Can You Grill It? I Knew That You Could!

2012-11-16T17:05:00.001-06:00

We’ve grilled some interesting things here at home before. Pineapple, Peaches, Pizza, Corn on the Cob, Whole Lobsters, Paella and many, many variations on grilled meats. Marinated, stuffed, steamed and smoked on the grill; we’ve hit on quite a bit. We’ve even grilled salad before, as we are doing for this weekend’s “All Things Grilled” Dinner Club!

I feel confident going in, even though (as it most usually is) it is a recipe we’ve never specifically prepared before; Grilled Hearts of Romaine with Roasted Garlic Dressing. I’m also quite anxious to try the array of grilled foods we’ll be sampling this Saturday!

The Neely's Eggs Benedict
For Recipe, follow the
link below!

I thought I would use this post to search the web for some more interesting grilling recipes to share with you. The first is a recipe we’ve actually done for morning breakfast tailgates before; Neely’s Egg’s Benedict on a Pork Croquette.

This recipe calls for you to pan sear the croquettes. However, our tailgating grill is a solid surface and lent itself perfectly to this upscale breakfast tailgate option. The sauce is heavenly. The croquettes, made of breakfast sausage, potato and perfect savory seasoning breaded in Panko crumb is a simply divine interpretation. If you don’t have a solid surface grill, you can certainly prepare them in a skillet set on the grill. The “grill flavor” of cooking outside really up’s the ante in this recipe! Try it: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patrick-and-gina-neely/neelys-egg-benedict-on-a-pork-croquette-recipe/index.html

Below are some other links to recipes I found interesting and intend to try. My husband has his eye on the “Big Green Egg” as his next grill purchase, to join the family of outdoor cooking apparatus we already host. Namely, charcoal grill, gas grill and smoker.

For more breakfast on the grill -

Stuffed Brioche French Toast:

http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/stuffed-brioche-french-toast-recipe-del0711

Yes, Lasagna on the grill! -

Your Grandmother’s Lasagna Alfresco:

http://www.oprah.com/food/Grilling-Recipes-Unusual-Foods-to-Grill/2

Dessert to try (besides our Grilled Nutella Pizza on the menu this weekend – I’ll let you know, of course, how it is!) -

Peach Pie the Easy Way:

http://www.oprah.com/food/Grilling-Recipes-Unusual-Foods-to-Grill/7

For an interesting flavor element on the side or stirred into a salad or on a sandwich -

Grilled Avocado:

http://cookbook-recipe-software-review.toptenreviews.com/top-ten-unique-foods-and-recipes-for-the-grill.html

And a fantastic and beautiful plate element side dish -

Grilled Butternut Squash Skewers:

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/grilled-butternut-squash-skewers.aspx

“Why grill something outside when I can more easily throw it in the oven or cook on the stovetop,” you may ask? For many reasons, the first of which is FLAVOR. Grilling lends that certain something to any meat, fruit, vegetable item or dish that you can’t achieve any other way. That little bit of “char” is gorgeous, besides being delicious. Grill marks make for a perfect presentation, and why not grab a cocktail and take your cooking outside in the fresh air? We intend to this weekend!

Watch for upcoming posts on the outcome as well as highlights of what types of grilling methods and equipment we all utilized to arrive at our “All Things Grilled” evening!

Thanks for reading!

Grilled Salad? Why, Yes!

2012-10-24T13:26:00.000-05:00

We’re back at the table again this month for our November Dinner Club. This time we’ll be enjoying a sit-down meal of “All Things Grilled!” The premise for this Dinner Club is that each course must be prepared on an outdoor grill of some type (see our full menu below).

Our host has several options to work with and surely some of the cooking will be done in advance from the comfort zone of our own grills at home, but as we always do with Dinner Club, we’ll finish our preparations when we arrive (and with a beverage in hand)!

For our part, my husband and I are making a Grilled Hearts of Romaine Salad. We’ve actually done this before at home and there are many, many variations on the recipe. We made a lovely one once that included “crusting” the cut side of the romaine lettuce with a coating of parmesan cheese! We’re trying a new recipe this time, as we always like to conquer new recipe territory for Dinner Club. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Some other highlights of our planned menu that I’m very much looking forward to are the Grilled Nutella Pizza for dessert and the Feta Cheese appetizer; which we also have done our own version of previously, but I’m looking forward to seeing how someone else prepares it.

Watch my upcoming blog entries for more on grill types and techniques. The men in our group really do love to get out on the patio and see what they can come up with. Some of them spend hours in the summer smoking various cuts of meat and I know my own hubby simply devours his grill cookbooks full of interesting ideas! For my part, I enjoy a bit of a break from being the “Head Chef” at our house!

Thanks for reading. Here’s the menu:

A Casual "Kickoff" to a Great Dinner Club Season!

2012-10-16T13:54:00.001-05:00

We took it easy on ourselves with theme for this first Dinner Club of the season; Jeans, sneakers and team jerseys were the look, and a casual “serve yourself” style that is rarely the case for our typically more formal get-togethers. We went “all out” on one thing, however. We always do; it’s the food!

Our first Dinner Club was a tailgating theme, and as I mentioned in my last blog, it’s a theme we’ve hit upon before. This time we really stretched in new directions and managed to come up with some seriously interesting (and delicious) offerings as well as some “keeper” recipes that could be served for so many other occasions.

We did it as you would any actual tailgate. Rather than “serving” courses at the table for a sit-down meal, we prepared everything and set it out as a buffet to choose from – and return to repeatedly! There were the things you would find at any “football focused” feeding:

Jon's version of
"Oklahoma Joe's Ribs"

Ribs; but they were special – one gentleman’s successful attempt at replicating those of his favorite Kansas City Barbecue eatery, “Oklahoma Joe’s”.

Potato Skins; but kicked up a notch! These were Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins with Blue Cheese and Cheddar. The sauce was spicy-hot and tangy and the blue cheese added the perfect “cut-the-heat” saltiness. Awesome!

Fried Macaroni and
Cheese Balls

Macaroni and Cheese; a typical side that was edged over the top! These were the Deep Fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls that I provided a link to in my last blog entry. Try them! They were simple, make ahead and super-cheesy delicious!

Sliders; but not your basic ground-beef hum drum. Our host offered a buffet of options including his terrific pulled pork and two types of sausage that he smoked himself.

Salad; however no boring prepackaged pasta salad here. This was a homemade Grilled Bread Salad with garden fresh tomatoes, olive oil and balsamic vinegar! Many in our group had never tasted a bread salad before and they were in for a treat. One of my summer-into-fall favorite uses of garden tomatoes is panzanella! What made this one super-special was that the bread was grilled. That lightly charred flavor added so very much to an already flavorful offering. I’ll incorporate that element into my own future bread salad preparations.

Grilled Tomato and
Bread Salad!

Finally, the one thing no tailgate could go without – dessert; Move over cookies and brownies and bars! We enjoyed Chocolate Covered Bacon – which also happens to be my “Best Dish of the Night” for this Dinner Club!

Chocolate Covered Bacon for Dessert!

This is what it’s all about folks. Trying new things and new flavor combinations. Sounds weird, right? And to some, maybe not even appetizing… Well, for me it did, but the taste was surprisingly amazing! Salty-sweet in every way that makes it the best! Try it out for yourself. I’ve provided a link below to a recipe. Seriously; don’t knock it until you’ve tried. Bacon really is delicious in every application!

I’ll see you next time to announce our menu for November. We’ll be back at the table in our more usual sit-down format, but the menu is anything but ordinary! Thanks again for reading.

Here’s that link to one Chocolate Covered Bacon Recipe:

http://www.yumsugar.com/Homemade-Chocolate-Covered-Bacon-1813878

You could also try a Chocolate Bacon Bark (a little different, but same flavors):

http://candy.about.com/od/otherchocolaterecipes/r/choc_bacon_bark.htm

Welcome back to another year of Gretna Dinner Club!

2012-10-05T14:59:00.000-05:00

I apologize that I’m getting started quite late this year, as our first Dinner Club of the season is tomorrow night, October 6, 2012.

This is our seventh year of dining together and some of us would have found it hard to believe back then that we would still be planning new, entertaining and creative evenings together so many years later, but alas; we are!

Our first get-together this year is a simple one (and actually a theme we’ve hit upon previously) but we’ve come up with some new delicious sounding recipes to try out! We’re all so very busy this time of year with kids’ sports involvements, college and high school football, etc. that a tailgating theme is right on par with what we need.

However…. NO hot dogs or burgers at this tailgate! One thing about Dinner Club that we try to stick to is that the food may or may not be “fancy” but we will always strive to push our own envelope on new tastes, cooking techniques and the like.

My dish for this casual get-together is “Fried Mac & Cheese Balls” (see the recipe below). I rarely deep fry anything – I’m not kidding – like twice in the last 18 years, but this seems like the perfect occasion to pour a gallon of peanut oil in the fryer and get to work!

A few more things on the menu (full menu is also shown below) that I’m especially looking forward to are the “Grilled Bread and Tomato Salad” and the “Chocolate Bacon Bark” for dessert! Casual and fun, but different… Mmmm…!

As always, stay tuned and I’ll let you know how it goes. We have some REALLY great theme dinners coming up this Dinner Club season as well as a costume party that should be a laugh!

Thanks again for reading. Here’s that recipe I’m preparing:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/fried-mac-and-cheese-balls/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=fried%20mac%20and%20cheese%20balls&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

Every Dish was a Winner at Our Derby Day Dinner Club!

2012-05-16T13:35:00.000-05:00

There was no clear front runner in this years’ “Run for the Roses” celebration. Although Bodemeister was the favorite in the ACTUAL Derby, we don’t play favorites in Dinner Club! Bodemeister, of course, did NOT win this year’s running of the Kentucky Derby; it was “I’ll Have Another” who took home the prize. As for our Dinner Club meal, we all took home full bellies and some great memories with friends!

This was our last Dinner Club gathering of the season, and we left in high-style with the ladies fashioning lovely hats of all shapes and sizes. The gentlemen dressed the part as well and we all sipped mint juleps while watching the race! Our “pool” wager for the race was won by our very own Eric, who also managed to win our Iron Chef competition this year; one win for luck, one on talent… Congratulations, Eric for taking home our hard-earned cash!

Fried Green Tomato
Finger Sandwiches

We were all winners at dinner where we began with a delightful treat I’ve never before had; Fried Green Tomato Finger Sandwiches. One of the couples was assigned the appetizer, and they really out-did themselves by going above and beyond the basic. They breaded and pan-fried the tangy sliced tomatoes and assembled sandwiches of the tomatoes with mayonnaise on white bread. Sounds simplistic, right? (and for the record, I’m normally a whole-wheat-bread-girl) However, these were savory and delicious puckery mouthfuls; and so amazing! This particular couple loves Savannah and have spent quite a bit of time there and elsewhere in the South, so we trusted them and were rewarded!

The strawberry spinach salad was so gorgeous on the plate with the bright pink and green colors of spring. Our soup was savory and delicious and not too heavy before an entrée of Mint Julep Glazed Pork Chop – my “best dish” of the night – along with a couple of vegetable options and over-the-top rich and yummy Garlic Baked Cheese Grits (link to the recipe is below). The grits were a perfect Southern accompaniment to the juicy and perfectly seasoned chops.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

We hail from the Midwest, of course, and my husband says that every so often an expertly grilled pork chop (bone-in, of course) is the only way to satisfy. Sometimes it even overrides a steak on the grill! These chops were very simply prepared with salt and pepper and grilled (expertly) by said husband. The glaze (see the recipe link below) was brushed on at the very end of grilling and a small drizzle of additional glaze was served over the top. The dark brown sugar and bourbon combination was terrific on the juicy chop and there was only a hint of mint; just enough to perfect the dish.

If you follow the link to the recipe you’ll notice that we did not use it as originally printed. (That’s me sometimes… sorry!) It called for pan searing the chops inside on the stove top. I’m sure that’s excellent too, but like I said; we’re from the Midwest and it is spring…. All hail the grill!

Both of the vegetable side dishes were “spring-y” and green. Give them a try (see my last blog entry for more). I even made them both again for Mother’s Day, as I knew my mom would truly appreciate them.

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

We finished with the rich and heavenly Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie. It was even still barely warm from the oven. Wow! Delicious, rich and gooey… I loved it, but could not finish my slice.

Again, this one was our last Dinner Club of the season. I’ll be back with you in August when we plan out another six months of good times!

Here’s those recipes, see you in the fall!

Pork Chops with Mint Julep Glaze:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pork-Chops-and-Sugar-Snap-Peas-with-Mint-Julep-Glaze-351532

Baked Garlic Cheese Grits:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/baked-garlic-cheese-grits-recipe/index.html

And We’re Off! (For the Summer… After One Last Dinner Club!)

2012-05-01T13:35:00.000-05:00

Our Final Dinner Club of the season is this Saturday. We’ll be celebrating the “run for the roses” in true Kentucky Derby fashion! Ladies will be sporting their best derby day hats and we’ll have a friendly “wager” on the winning horse!

Mint Juleps come first to mind when thinking about derby day food planning. We have several bourbon and whisky drinkers in the group (which I am not). They’ll likely love this Southern-hospitality drink. My mother (who grew up in Louisiana) always says that people in the South drink things like mint juleps to be able to stand the heat and humidity!

The drink is highly alcoholic, but refreshing and crisp from the mint simple syrup it’s mixed with. Even non-whisky folk tend to like them. We’ll see… They can definitely sneak up on you! The traditional mint julep of the Kentucky Derby is the “Early Times” mint julep. Here’s the recipe, straight from the Kentucky Derby website for you to give a try: http://www.kentuckyderby.com/party/food-and-entertainment/libations/early-times-mint-julep.

Another recipe I found for mint juleps doesn’t even call for preparing simple syrup ahead of time. It’s from the Food Network website. Here’s the link for you to check out: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/mint-julep-recipe/index.html .

Our group will likely prepare ours from the simple syrup. There are many variations on the recipe out there to choose from. Having mint syrup already made will make it easier to mix drinks as we like. Having to mash mint leaves for each cocktail would prove difficult for a group of our size. I’ll save that for fresh mojitos on the patio this summer! Incidentally, whichever recipe you choose, here’s another hint from my Southern mamma: she swears that Makers Mark is the absolute only bourbon to use in a mint julep! Try for yourself and see what you like!

Besides the juleps, we have a stunning menu of fresh, springtime foods to please our palates for our final group meeting of the year. You can see our full menu shown below. We left the green vegetables open for the cook’s choice. I plan to prepare shredded Brussels sprouts similar to those that I sampled at a restaurant and absolutely adored, along with an asparagus and parmesan tart for those that don’t care for Brussels sprouts (although even if you THINK you don’t like them, you should give these a try!)

Here’s the link to the Brussels sprouts recipe I use: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/shredded-parmesan-brussels-sprouts . The only thing I do differently is to add a drizzle of truffle oil to them before serving. This is the way I had them at Café di Scala in DesMoines, Iowa (www.cafediscala.com). They were divine and I’ve tried to replicate them with this addition to the recipe I found online!

Baked garlic cheese grits are the perfect side accompaniment to our freshly grilled pork chops with mint julep glaze! I may not be a whisky drinker, but I’m sure to love this light and fresh take on the traditional flavor combination. I’m really looking forward to the appetizer element of our meal as well; fried green tomatoes! I’ve never had them before (even with a Southern mother) and I’m definitely ready to give it a try.

From the salad to the dessert it should be a fresh, light and spring-timey array of foods with gorgeous color on the plate! I can’t wait to see what the gals come up with for hats to wear! I borrowed from my sister, who attends a Kentucky derby party every year – she’s got much more to choose from in the hat department than I!

We’re also having a fun take on “betting” for the race. We agreed no one wanted to deal with gathering or tracking complicated betting or payouts (after all the point of Dinner Club is to RELAX and enjoy the FOOD). Therefore, we decided on a pool where each person will contribute five dollars. We will all draw a horse randomly and root for our horse to win. It should be quite funny to see who gets what!

Some of our guys are obviously more into betting that most of the ladies. If they draw a nag (not that they’re omnipresent in the Derby!) and have to root for it to win it will be a laugh! Either way, it makes the contest for the pool of money completely equal to everyone involved. No one wins because they actually know more about horse racing. It’s all experimental, as Dinner Club often needs to be. We’ll see how it goes!

And so…. “We’re Off!” At least until I let you know next week how the fun and games turns out! Here's the menu:

It’s a Tie for “Best Dish” at this Month's Hungarian Night!

2012-04-26T15:09:00.000-05:00

I simply couldn’t decide… both were superb! I have to give it to the home chefs who pulled off the recipes for homemade Hungarian sausage and Stefánia Szelet (Hungarian meatloaf). Both meat dishes were really delicious, perfectly cooked, savory and delightful!

Hungarian meatloaf - two ways

Our host house for the evening (as is always the case) was in charge of the main entrée and although meatloaf sounds mundane, trust me; this was anything but! He made two separate loaves; one with a sausage link in the middle and one with a whole hard-boiled egg in the center. When sliced it presented really well on the plate and the flavor was juicy and delicately tasty. I’d like to give this a try sometime for my family. I know they’d love it!

The homemade sausage starter was also juicy, tender and perfectly seasoned and it looked as good as (better than) anything you could buy at the store. This process was pretty involved, and therefore, probably not something just anyone would want to give a try, however, the gentleman that prepared it was interested in the process and I can’t image it could turn out more superior.

Sausage during the drying process

He’s provided me with the web link he used to obtain his information on how to make the sausage if you’re daring enough to give it a try. (I think I’ll just invite myself over to their house whenever I need to have it again!) He also took a picture for me to include of the drying process. He had to rinse and then lay out the filled sausage link and dry it with a fan in his kitchen! Do your own research and see what you can come up with...

Here’s that link: http://www.lets-make-sausage.com/how-to-make-sausage.html

Two best dishes this month! Can we out-do ourselves for our last Dinner Club of the season in May? Stay tuned to the blog to see… I’ll let you know soon what we’re planning for our final affair before summer arrives!

Finished sausage after smoking and grilling

On a Dark and Stormy Night….

2012-04-18T10:46:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time (OK – last Saturday night), on a dark and stormy evening, twelve good friends packed their precious items and braved the fierce Midwestern forecast to gather for a top secret, yet supremely important meeting we like to call the Gretna Dinner Club…

Alright, it wasn’t that dramatic and it’s soooo not a secret; although we have overcome some similarly adverse weather conditions in the past to keep our regular Dinner Club functioning. And let me say, it was well worth it! “Jó a kaja és jó barát” means “good food and good friends” in Hungarian; and we have some really good friends!!

For example, they are fantastic cooks. They are risk takers. No, I don’t mean because they showed up in inclement weather! I mean in their cooking! However, it was amazing and appreciated that every single couple showed up with their part of our fantastic Hungarian meal on Saturday. We didn’t have to miss the delicate and crunchy chocolate-walnut torte for dessert… We didn’t go without the squash with dill side dish that half of us loved and applauded and half of us could do without (I’m in the “loved it” column). But, love-the-dish or hate-the-dish, we do love getting together and we LOVE trying new foods and new recipes!

This was a cuisine most of us haven’t really delved into. Sure, I’ve made chicken paprikash and we’ve all turned out a meatloaf or two in our time, but this was special. We didn’t all adore every single element, and there are things we’d do differently next time (I cooked my dish the way the recipe stated, but it was too dry), but overall this is why we do Dinner Club at all: trying new things and BEING TOGETHER.

Our group gathers around six-thirty and we typically begin dinner at eight. The weather, despite the threat of tornado and thunderstorm warnings all day, cooperated with us at the very last. The clouds cleared a bit and the rain slowed to just a drizzle in time for us to gather; in fact, the gentlemen who prepared the most amazing (and homemade!) Hungarian sausage was even able to step outside and grill it for us before serving. Thanks mother nature!

Sour Cherry Soup!

The recipe for my side dish, Sonkás kocka, is below. I’m including it because, although it turned out too dry, the flavor was really amazing. You could tell the potential for the dish even if the first effort simply didn’t work out as well as I had liked. Cut the cooking time down a bit and/or stick a knife in when you bake it (which I did not) and make sure that the egg and sour cream mixture is remaining gooey. I’ll try it again at home for sure and keep a closer eye on it. My kids will love it!

I’ll blog next week more specifically on the process followed to make that sausage and report on our “best dish” for the night, but for now it’s enough to say it again:

Jó a kaja és jó barát!!

Dessert!

Sonkás kocka

From the cookbook, “Hungarian Cuisine” – Media Nova, 2001

By György Hargitai

1 cup of flat, square pasta

Salt
2 tablespoons oil
4 eggs
1 ½ cups sour cream
7 oz. grated ham or cooked, smoked meat
½ teaspoon ground black pepper

To bake:

1 oz. butter
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

In a large pot bring 3 quarts of water to a boil, add 1 level teaspoon of salt and the pasta. Cook over medium heat for 6-7 minutes. Remove one piece with a wooden spoon: if it is smooth and almost transparent, it is done. Taste it to be sure. If it is done, strain and cool with cold water. Drain well and mix with the oil. In a bowl mix the egg yolks with the sour cream until smooth, add the grated ham as well. Mix in the pasta. Add salt and ground black pepper to taste. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and very carefully fold into the ham mixture. Coat the inside of a medium size (8”x10”) casserole with butter and breadcrumbs. Pour the pasta mixture into the casserole. Bake in a preheated oven over medium heat (355 degrees F, 330 degrees F in air-convector ovens) for about 50 minutes. Let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting it into large square portions.

Savor New Flavors Before Summer Arrives… Try a Hungarian Dish or Two!

2012-04-11T12:42:00.000-05:00

Paprika

In researching for this blog, I’ve been finding it difficult to locate many websites with recipes for authentic Hungarian dishes. For example, the side dish I’m preparing for this weekend’s Dinner Club, Sonkás Kocka, when “Googled” only brings up websites actually written in Hungarian. The recipe I am using is one directly from a cookbook our friends purchased while on their trip to Hungary – glad they did or we’d be finding it much more difficult to prepare a meal this Saturday! I’ll reprint this recipe for you next week.

Other parts of our menu were located on the internet, and I’ve shown recipe links for you below, but I’ve also included some delicious-looking recipes we’re not preparing (they simply sounded worth trying) if you’re inspired to give some Hungarian cooking a go before summer arrives! Here in Nebraska, we’ve enjoyed unseasonably warm temperatures all through our winter and spring, but we’ve gotten a chilly blast again the last few days that actually jives perfectly with our Dinner Club theme for the month.

Caraway Seed

Most of the Hungarian recipes I’ve come across say “warm and comforting” more than they scream “refreshing” or “outdoorsy”. So, before we move on with our final Dinner Club in May and then into a summer full of activities and grilling-out, let’s celebrate the food of Hungary with savory, rich, somewhat heavier fare!

One of our adventurous and dedicated cooks is preparing, for the first time, his own homemade sausage. He’s a grilling connoisseur, like many of the men in our group, but he’s actually grinding and filling his own Hungarian-style sausage and smoking it for us! He’s a great cook and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Squeeze in a few last warm and filling meals, like we are, before the fun of summer arrives. And, if you’ve never cooked with ingredients like paprika or caraway (one of my FAVORITE flavors) try out one or two of these recipes. You’ll be glad you did!

Next week, I’ll let you know how our Hungarian night turns out and fill you in on “best dish”! Thanks for reading!

(On our menu) Cold Sour Cherry Soup:

http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/hungariansoups/r/tartcherry.htm

(On our menu) Hungarian Style Squash with Dill:

http://www.mygourmetconnection.com/recipes/side-dishes/vegetables/hungarian-style-summer-squash-dill.php

(On our menu) Hungarian Chocolate Walnut Torte:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Hungarian-Chocolate-Walnut-Torte-351691

(On our menu) Homemade Hungarian Sausage:

http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/hungariansausages/r/hazi-kolbasz.htm

(Sounds amazing) Hungarian Style Beef with Bell Peppers and Caraway:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Hungarian-Style-Beef-with-Bell-Peppers-and-Caraway-233145

(Sounds amazing) Chicken Paprikas with Noodles:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Paprikas-with-Noodles-108880

What the Sonkás Kocka?

2012-04-04T11:51:00.000-05:00

What the heck is Sonkás Kocka, anyway? Start your own Dinner Club, like we did, and maybe you’ll find out! I’m kidding. Of course I’m going to share with you!

Sonkás Kocka happens to be the dish I’m preparing for our next Dinner Club (see our full menu posted below). We’re also dining on Stefánia Szelet – wait for it – and cold sour cherry soup. Sounds like a whole lot of weird to you? Well, it may be weird, but we’ve found over the years that weird sure can be delicious!

We’ll be enjoying Hungarian food for our Dinner Club gathering this month! A couple in our group was inspired to host this ethnic exploration while on a trip overseas with family. They visited Budapest while on their trip and truly enjoyed the food they experienced there. They wanted to share a small sampling with those of us who haven’t been to Hungary (namely, everyone else in our group!).

My dish, Sonkás Kocka, is a side dish that is basically a baked pasta dish with smoked ham. It is held together with a rich combination of egg yolk and sour cream and includes the beaten egg whites that are folded in just before baking to make it lighter and airier.

My portion of the meal accompanies our entrée, the Stefánia Szelet, which sounds strange and mysterious until you discover that it is Hungarian meatloaf. Not so weird after all, huh? Meatloaf, pasta, ham, sour cream…. Certainly not “out there” ingredients, yet new to our taste buds when paired together.

Here’s a little tidbit of the information quoted directly from www.wikipedia.org on Hungarian cooking preferences:

“Hungarians are especially passionate about their soups, desserts and pastries and stuffed pancakes (palacsinta), with fierce rivalries between regional variations of the same dish, (like the Hungarian hot fish soup called Fisherman's Soup or halászlé, cooked differently on the banks of Hungary's two main rivers: the Danube and the Tisza).

Other famous Hungarian dishes would be Paprikás (paprika stew, meat simmered in thick creamy paprika gravy) served with nokedli (small dumplings), gulyás (goulash), palacsinta (pancakes served flambéed in dark chocolate sauce filled with ground walnuts) and Dobos Cake (layered sponge cake, with chocolate buttercream filling and topped with a thin caramel slice).

Two remarkable elements of Hungarian cuisine that are hardly noticed by locals, but usually conjure up much enthusiasm amongst foreigners, are different forms of vegetable stews called főzelék [1] as well as cold fruit soups, like cold sour cherry soup (Hungarian: hideg meggyleves).

Meat stews, casseroles, steaks, roasted pork, beef, poultry, lamb or game and the Hungarian sausages (kolbász [1]) and winter salami are a major part of Hungarian cuisine. Various kinds of noodles and dumplings, potatoes and rice are commonly served as a side dish.

Hungarian food is often spicy, due to the common use of hot paprika. Sweet (mild) paprika is also common. Additionally, the combination of paprika, lard and yellow onions is typical of Hungarian cuisine,[3] and the use of the thick sour cream called tejföl.”

Possibly the most unusual dish in our menu is the cold sour cherry soup, but according to my research on the internet, including the passage quoted above, this is, in fact, a very traditional dish in Hungary. I am perfectly fine with cold soups. Last year we had a cold champagne strawberry soup for one of our Dinner Clubs that was divine, and even those who typically don’t prefer cold soup (my husband, for example) enjoyed it very much. We’ll see this time. I can’t wait to give it a try! New taste combinations and new ways of pairing foods are part of the Dinner Club experience!

Again, our full menu is below. You’ll find we’ve tried to be quite true to the traditional dishes and flavor combinations that we discovered in our research and what I quoted above. Many of the aforementioned food preferences are represented. It’s sure to whisk us away to a new (and weird?) land!

Amp Up Your Steak With This Winning Combination!

2012-03-28T11:35:00.000-05:00

Here in the Midwest, we can get a little high-and-mighty on the subject of steak. I’m just saying, it’s true; most real beef lovers in the Midwest wouldn’t any more dare to smother a perfectly gorgeous and marbled piece of meat with steak sauce than we would cook it until it’s brown and chewy all the way through.

We have high-quality beef in our area of the country (lucky us) and for those of us who adore this very thing, we tend to grill our steak with very little adornment. Salt. Pepper… Sometimes we’ll get “crazy” by substituting seasoned salt or garlic salt for the salt. But, most true steak lovers agree; let the flavor of the meat come through.

On rare occasion there is cause to dress beef with other flavors. Beef tenderloin is one such cut that (as I’ve covered in this blog before / see the recipe from my March 21, 2011 posting) pairs well with a sauce or filling. The flavor of beef tenderloin is delicate and less “meaty”. It’s also more of an “occasion” cut in terms of when you would serve it. For another great coffee and beef recipe combination see this link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/filet-of-beef-roasted-with-coffee-beans-in-pasilla-chile-broth-recipe/index.html . It’s a recipe my family has enjoyed for years. But steak; think ribeye or strip cuts, is VERY meaty and satisfying in that one complete-on-its-own flavor.

I’m not sure my husband and I have ever marinated or rubbed a strip or ribeye steak before grilling it. However, the last Dinner Club, our coffee-focused meal, changed my mind on our firm “nothing but salt” stance on steak. The gent that prepared our entrée did rub the ribeye steaks for each of us in a delicate, yet delicious seasoning blend that enhanced and complimented the “beefiness” of a well-marbled ribeye steak.

I could taste the meat through and through. I could detect the smokiness of the paprika and a barely-there hint of sweet from the brown sugar, but none of it turned me off. All of the flavors in their combined effort made me appreciate the effort and made me willing to give it a try myself in the future. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it here again: Dinner Club is a great way to expose yourself to new foods and new experiences in dining! Try it out!

Our steak entrée was accompanied by a delightful potato side and I’ve included it below with the steak rub, straight from the man who prepared it for us. Barbecue this weekend and give this new-and-improved steak and potatoes a whirl!

Jon’s Ribeye Rub (enough for two ribeye steaks)

2 T very finely ground Kona-blend coffee

1 T dark brown sugar

2 t. pink salt

1 t. smoked paprika

1/8 t. cayenne pepper

Lightly oil the steaks with olive oil. Dust the steaks with freshly ground black pepper and the rub mixture about 4 hours before grilling to desired doneness.

Here’s the potato recipe as well. Enjoy!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/102498

Scalloped Potatoes with Three Cheeses
3/4 cup (packed) grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)
3/4 cup crumbled Danish blue cheese (about 4 ounces)
1/3 cup (packed) freshly grated Parmesan (about 1 1/4 ounces)

4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter

3 cups whole milk

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Mix cheddar cheese, blue cheese and Parmesan in small bowl.

Arrange half of potatoes in prepared baking dish, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle with teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Sprinkle onion over, then flour. Dot with 2 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle half of cheese mixture over. Top with remaining potatoes, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 2 tablespoons butter. Reserve remaining cheese.

Bring milk to simmer in medium saucepan. Pour milk over potatoes (milk will not cover potatoes completely). Cover baking dish tightly with foil. Bake 45 minutes. Uncover dish (liquids in dish may look curdled); sprinkle potatoes with reserved cheese mixture. Bake uncovered until potatoes are tender and cheese is deep golden brown, about 45 minutes longer. (Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Cover and rewarm in 375°F oven about 20 minutes.) Remove from oven; let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Bon Appétit
November 1999
by Rick Rodgers

Our Coffee-Focused Meal was Rich, Savory and Delicious!

2012-03-15T16:07:00.000-05:00

For Dinner Club this month we explored coffee as an ingredient. Sometimes it’s great center in on a specific flavor and see how many ways it can be enjoyed. And I was actually able to sleep afterward! (Full stomach / wine with my meal! J )

Our appetizer course was a coffee-pecan brie. It was ooey-gooey delicious and, according to the couple who made it, very simple to prepare. They baked it in the oven and served along with crusty baguette to spoon it over. Fantastic! The coffee element in this dish was slightly sweet and included Kahlua coffee liqueur, but it wasn’t overly “dessert” sweet. Just the right combination with brie and the pecans. Here’s a link to the recipe for you to try if you’d like:

http://www.recipegoldmine.com/appbrie/coffee-pecan-brie.html

We then had a cream of porcini mushroom soup with coffee. Even the mushroom “haters” in the group really enjoyed this creamy, rich and savory soup. This was my portion of the meal to prepare and, being me, I did not follow a recipe. I did use one for inspiration and I’ve included the link for you. I’m sure it’s amazing just “as is”, but the original didn’t call for coffee. I substituted out beef stock for the chicken broth and added in one tablespoon of instant espresso powder for the delicate coffee-beef combination that suits one another so perfectly just as it did in our entrée for the night.

Don’t hesitate to play with recipes now and then yourself to achieve the results you desire. When we were searching for soup elements for this particular meal there simply weren’t many to be had that included coffee as an ingredient. Knowing that beef and coffee flavors pair so well with one another and that mushrooms and beef do as well, I made the connection and found a way to pair mushroom, beef and coffee together in the same dish. Here’s the link to the original recipe. Try it on its own or with my adjustments and see what you think:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/cream-of-porcini-soup-with-quail-eggs-recipe/index.html

Our salad course was a contender for “best dish” for the evening. The fresh greens with coffee vinaigrette sounds strange, but the coffee was a delicate, yet noticeable element and presented in the dish as a smoky aroma to the nose more than on the tongue. It was a gorgeous, colorful plate and just a drizzle of the dressing was perfect. Overdone would be too much. Here’s a link to a coffee vinaigrette for you to try:

http://gildedfork.com/coffee-vinaigrette/

Our entrée included my “best dish” for the night and I’ll expand on that next week, but on to more important items for now… Dessert!

They say homemade cakes can be difficult to get right. I, myself, am not a baker and possess neither the patience nor skill to pull off something like our coffee-chocolate layer cake with mocha mascarpone frosting! That’s a mouthful to say and it was a mouthful of sweet, moist perfectly-“coffee-eye” deliciousness! I couldn’t finish my piece after the meal, but I wanted to. The gal who made it really did an amazing job, and who doesn’t want to finish with chocolate cake?! Here’s a link. Try it if you bake!http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2009/04/coffee_chocolate_layer_cake_with_mocha_mascarpone_frosting

I’ll expand next week on our “best dish”. You should definitely tune in for it if you’re looking for something new in your world of basic steak! Keep reading and thanks!

Some History on Cinnamon and Then Our Next Menu!

2012-03-07T16:50:00.000-06:00

Our last Dinner Club focused on the “secret ingredient” of Cinnamon. (See my last blog entry for a fantastic recipe) Having declared our friend, Eric, the supreme chef among us (at least for the night J ) we’re ready to move on to our next Dinner Club this weekend. Before I tell you what our next meeting is all about, I wanted to share with you some basics on the age-old ingredient of cinnamon.

First, there’s not just one kind of cinnamon. According to the Penzeys Spices website, www.penzeys.com:

“There are two main types of cinnamon. Cassia cinnamon is native to Southeast Asia, especially southern China and northern

Vietnam

, and has the strong, spicy-sweet flavor most Americans are familiar with. Vietnamese and

China

cinnamon are the sweetest and strongest varieties, with Korintje cinnamon having a smooth flavor with less bite. Our cinnamon sticks and Korintje cinnamon both come from the southwest coast of Sumatra in

Indonesia

. It grows wild on the government protected slopes of Mount Kerinci, where the cinnamon gets its name. We stock the top Korintje A grade, although there are also the lower B and C grades, which are the types of cinnamon usually sold in supermarkets in the

U.S.

”

“The second type of cinnamon, Ceylon, or "true" cinnamon, has a much different flavor. It is less sweet, with a more complex, citrus flavor. The special flavor of English and Mexican sweets comes from Ceylon cinnamon. We like to recommend Ceylon Cinnamon for baking with fruit—especially in apple pie.” – quoted directly from: www.penzeys.com

There is much about the historical significance of cinnamon on the internet. For example, www.wikipedia.org offers this:

“Cinnamon has been known from remote antiquity. It was imported to Egypt as early as 2000 BC, but those who report that it had come from China confuse it with cassia. The Hebrew bible makes specific mention of the spice many times: first when Moses is commanded to use both sweet cinnamon (Hebrew: קִנָּמוֹן, qinnāmôn) and cassia in the holy annointing oil, in Proverbs, where the lover's bed is perfumed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon; and in Song of Solomon a song describing the beauty of his beloved, cinnamon scents her garments like the smell of Lebanon.”

There’s so much interesting reading on this spice and its uses that I can’t possibly keep going here, but if you’re interested in exploring the different types of this special spice and its uses in your cooking, I encourage you to do some reading online and visit your local spice store. We have a Penzeys store here in Omaha and it’s always a fantastic resource when your cooking requires – or you desire – something more unique than what your local grocery has to offer.

So, now it’s on to our next Dinner Club, and our next special focus ingredient. Not a spice this time, but another element that has been significant in history and in cuisines and cultures worldwide: coffee.

Our meal this weekend is centered on coffee, from the appetizer all the way through soup and dessert. We may be a bit wired afterward, but I know we’ll enjoy! This time we’re back to our usual planned menu; no surprises; although we are continually surprised by how delicious and enjoyable our meals together continue to be! Here’s our menu for this weekend:

Only His Cuisine Reigned Supreme!

2012-02-27T18:57:00.000-06:00

Meet our Gretna Dinner Club Iron Chef 2012…. Eric!

We came, we saw, we cooked our hearts out… but only one could prevail. Our friend Eric nearly swept the vote for our first ever Iron Chef Gretna competition with his “Cinnamon Dusted Bacon, Honey Crisp Apple and Gouda Pizza”. It was amazingly delicious and, among many other fantastic dishes we sampled, best highlighted our secret ingredient for the night’s festivity – cinnamon!

Most of our Dinner Clubs are arranged so that we know well in advance what we, and others, are preparing; however this one was different. We did know what portion of the meal we were to prepare. For example, I was assigned the soup. What we didn’t know was what our highlight ingredient was to be; at least until a couple of days before. Once we knew it was cinnamon the planning began!

Everyone hustled to research a recipe for their course. We planned, we shopped, we prepared, and here’s what we ended up dining on for the night:

Appetizer – Cinnamon dusted bacon, honey crisp apple and gouda pizza

Soup – Cinnamon, ginger and chicken soup with cinnamon-garlic crouton

Salad – Arugula, apple and grape salad with cinnamon dressing

Entrée – Cinnamon roasted pork tenderloin with honey, soy and garlic

Side – Smashed, roasted root vegetables with cinnamon cheese

Dessert – Apple turnovers with rich cinnamon-caramel sauce and black walnut cinnamon ice cream

Eric's winning dish! Cinnamon-dusted Bacon, Honeycrisp
Apple and Gouda Pizza!

It may sound like too much of one thing, but I just can’t say enough how well everyone did incorporating the ingredient without overpowering or exhausting the palate. In the savory dishes, such as my soup, cinnamon was more of an aroma than the focus of your taste buds. Dessert, of course, was deliciously “cinnamon-ey” and the homemade black walnut ice cream was definitely a crowd pleaser.

I loved the interesting application of cinnamon in the salad dressing that included more common dressing elements like mayonnaise and lemon juice. This was a great example of incorporating the spice in a detectable, but not overwhelming way. Cinnamon can be an excellent part of so many savory recipes; it’s not just for sweets. Watch later this week for more on cinnamon and its uses.

Everyone did a fantastic job, but the use of cinnamon dusted over the warm, melty deliciousness of gouda cheese and perfectly crisped bacon was absolutely inspired. After you sunk your teeth in, you could detect the delicately sweet flavor of apple that paired so beautifully with the cinnamon and cheese. Heavenly! And nearly every vote after dinner reflected my sentiments. So congratulations Iron Chef Eric on your victory! If we meet again in battle…. Beware!

I don’t know for sure what recipe Chef Eric used, other than he mentioned that he began with a recipe, but added the cinnamon on his own and took liberties with his preparation. Here’s a link to one bacon, apple and gouda pizza to get you started… hint – add your own magic – dust the finished and still-warm pizza with a little cinnamon!

http://www.mylifeasamrs.com/2011/11/apple-bacon-and-gouda-pizza.html

Apple Dumpling with Black Walnut
Cinnamon Ice Cream

And The Secret Ingredient Is…… “Cinnamon”!!!

2012-02-22T20:26:00.000-06:00

You’ve got it! Our next Dinner Club features a serious, albeit friendly competition amongst fun-loving home chefs. Iron Chef Gretna has arrived!

Although I’m sure we won’t be invited to host our own Food Network spinoff as a result, we will have a fantastic and uproariously good time together. How do I know this? Years of experience, my fellow foodies… Our group has graduated beyond the basics with our Dinner Club events. We are now in our sixth year together and are steadily exploring new ways to enjoy cooking and eating together.

Yes, when you first begin a group such as ours, you cling to basic types of cuisines and keep the themes cultural for the most part. Although I still THOROUGHLY enjoy exploring the foods of different cultures – we have one coming up in February that should be amazing – I do love exploring other stimuli for the Dinner Club experience.

We’ve got a running list of ideas that we work from and add to every year to form our six meetings a season. Among those ideas are offbeat themes such as this “Iron Chef” takeoff. We’ve had Dinner Clubs that focus on historical time periods (such as our roaring 20’s dinner), major events in history (our “last night on the Titanic meal), and other ones developed from pop-culture trends (such as our Mad Men dinner last year).

Iron Chef is a foodie-culture phenomenon as well as an opportunity for us to “compete” against one another for top honors (Ok, there actually are none other than a pat on the back and a congratulatory handshake)! We simply thought this would be a new and interesting take on our monthly meetings throughout the fall and winter months here in Nebraska.

For this particular Dinner Club we’ve obviously had to break from our typical planning format. We’ve still assigned a particular portion of the meal to each of our six couples; however, we did not discover the “secret ingredient” until this week when the host house drew from a list of ten possible ones. We now have two days to decide what we will be making for our course and how we will best represent the said ingredient: Cinnamon.

You can refer to our menu book page below for our format for this unusual meeting. I, of course, will keep you informed next week of what was produced and who reigned supreme in the Gretna Dinner Club Iron Chef competition… Let the cooking begin!

Revisiting our “Best Dish” from the Chinese New Year Dinner!

2012-02-20T14:49:00.001-06:00

I like to highlight what I believe was our “best dish” from each Dinner Club gathering. This doesn’t mean that practically everything we cook isn’t satisfying. Everyone is our group does a great job of considering the care and preparation of presenting their own best effort each time (which will be the main focus of our next, unusual Dinner Club theme – more on that later this week). However, there’s always one thing that can be elevated to the top of the list.

Sometimes this thing is a new and unexpected flavor combination that really makes our meal memorable, as it was with our Chinese New Year dinner recently. No, duck is certainly not a new thing to Chinese cuisine, but this representation of it was. It featured some ingredients that, although, are not typically frequent in Chinese cooking, complimented the other flavors on the plate beautifully.

We could have gone with something more typically Chinese, such as Peking duck (which I happen to love), but this was one of those opportunities to “mix it up” a little and have something new; something that blended excellently with our meal and really was beautiful on the plate. Plus, it’s our group. We can combine in any way we want to!

So, congrats to the gentleman in our group who selected and prepared our “Hazelnut Crusted Duck Breast with Sundried Cherry Sauce”. He did a really great job. It was the highlight of an amazing meal from top to bottom. I’ve included a link below to where he found the recipe on the internet.

Do some searching of your own for a new and unexpected flavor combination or prepare this one. This entrée could be the centerpiece of so many different culturally-focused meals; simply highlight it with the beginning, sides and end you desire!

Here’s that link: http://www.mapleleaffarms.com/28?recipe=38&reccat=1

Watch later this week for posting of our next menu… This one will be fun and unforgettable! Thanks for reading!

The year of the dragon is off to a great start!

2012-01-31T11:20:00.001-06:00

What a memorable meal we had on Saturday night! Our Dinner Club finally got together after having the month of December off for other holiday commitments and it sure seems like everyone was more than ready to get back!

First off, our hostess went all-out on the decorating for our evening. Most of our Dinner Club’s are themed meals, but not all of them require “decorating”. Usually some thoughtful attention to the table setting is all that is required, but for this, a Chinese New Year celebration (2012 is the year of the dragon), some over-the-top color and flair was required for evoking the right festive mood.

Mission accomplished. There were brightly colored paper lanterns, bamboo place mats, chopsticks and my favorite touch…each person’s place card with their name in Chinese! It really was perfect for a festive celebration of friends and good food.

Hot and Sour Soup

For food, we began by mingling and having cocktails alongside our appetizer, the Jiaozi (Chinese pork dumplings). The friend who prepared them took the time and care on her dough for the dumpling and sealed each one just perfectly. They sliced open to a steaming and savory pork filling with just the right tang of flavor. A drizzle of sesame oil and soy sauce over the top made them just right.

After a bowl of steaming and tangy hot and sour soup, we were presented with a gorgeous plated entrée that included our featured item for the night, a hazelnut-crusted duck breast with sundried cherry sauce. (More on this, my “best dish of the night”, next week, including the recipe for you to try out!)

Alongside the duck were two sides that perfectly complemented the entrée. We had a stir fry noodle with a delicate seasoning and sautéed green beans featuring ginger, shallot and garlic. Both were well prepared and seasoned just right to complement, rather than overpower, our entrée. The green beans were bright green and perfectly crisp-cooked!

Warm Egg Custard Tart with
Mandarin Orange Syrup

For dessert (my portion of the evening’s meal) we had warm egg custard tarts. Although we haven’t much adored Asian desserts in the past, this one was a definite winner and it exceeded my expectations in every way. I’m not much of a “custard person” in general and I was concerned that although this is a traditional Hong Kong specialty, it would feel boring and underwhelming.

It was not! I added a drizzle of Mandarin orange syrup to the top of each tart which I felt brightened the flavor without overpowering. I also decorated the plate with chocolate syrup drizzle in the form of the Chinese symbol for “dragon”. The presentation upped the ante – remember, you eat first with your eyes – and all of the flavors (each in limited quantity) complemented one another and the dish. See below for links to the tart and orange syrup recipes and give it a try. This dessert would NOT have to be with an Asian meal. It would be a delicious finale to anything you prepare; plus it can be made ahead.

I made a few adjustments to how I prepared both of the recipes as printed. I’ve put the links below to the original recipes. For the tarts, I simply skipped the pastry recipe that was printed with it. I tried it a couple of times and found it to be too heavy and greasy for me. Your own homemade pie crust recipe or a store bought crust will work just fine. For the orange sauce, I followed the recipe other than instead of incorporating the whole pieces of orange at the end, I pureed them in my food processor and simmered them with the other ingredients. After simmering, I strained out all of the pulp before refrigerating to make a smooth, orange syrup.

This weekend offered a delicious meal and it was fantastic to reconnect with friends in this way. The continuity of meeting for our Dinner Club returns finally and we’re all looking forward already to next months unusual and offbeat theme! Keep reading and I’ll share, of course!

Warm Golden Custard Tarts

From the February/March 2004 issue of Cooking Pleasures magazine, an official publication of the Cooking Club of America; http://www.cookingclub.com/Recipes/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/5503/categoryId/4018/Warm-Golden-Custard-Tarts

Mandarin Orange Sauce

http://homecooking.about.com/od/dessertrecipes/r/blsauce37.htm

We’re ringing in the New Year again! The Chinese New Year…

2012-01-27T21:44:00.000-06:00

The Chinese New Year began this week on January 23^rd. We’ve chosen to include this celebration in our Dinner Club for 2012 because we all just happen to be dragons; Gretna Dragons, that is! (Our home town and school mascot here in Gretna, Nebraska). In addition, the year of the dragon happens to be considered the luckiest year in the Chinese zodiac (according to www.wikipedia.org). It had to be on this year’s foods-to-explore list, don’t you agree?

From www.apples4theteacher.com: The Chinese New Year begins according to the Chinese calendar which consists of both Gregorian and lunar-solar calendar systems. Because the track of the new moon changes from year to year, the Chinese New Year can begin anytime between late January and mid-February.

Our Dinner Club has had Japanese and Thai meals before, but we’ve never done Chinese, so this weekend is it! I apologize that I took a bit of a “vacation” on my blogging for awhile, but we do skip Dinner Club the month of December, so we only had one month under our belt this season before a long (and somewhat unwelcome) break from our monthly festivities!

No matter. We’re back in cooking-action and I’m back to writing about it (belatedly)! Thanks for reading! I’ve always said that, audience or not, I enjoy cooking, eating and writing; I would do this whether anyone read or not. However, I’m happy to say that, including my friends and usual subscribers, I’ve had along the lines of 6,000 hits to my blog now. Not much in terms of cyberspace, but certainly enough to keep me writing for my own sake!

The Dragon, (simplified Chinese: 龙; traditional Chinese: 龍), again according to Wikipedia, is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac and Mongolian zodiac related to the Chinese calendar and Mongolian calendar, and the only animal that is legendary. Our group spent some time researching the foods of China and the New Year specifically. I’ve posted our menu below for your review.

We’re having some traditional favorites, such as hot and sour soup and Jiaozi (Chinese pork dumplings) blended with highlight items like the Hazelnut Crusted Duck Breast with Sundried Cherry Sauce that is to be our entrée. My assigned portion of the meal this time is dessert. Asian themes tend to be tricky when it comes to dessert, however.

For our Japanese meal a few years ago we had a delicately flavorful green tea ice cream that was quite the hit. We also sampled the less popular “anmitsu”, made from agar jelly (somehow it includes seaweed, I don’t actually remember now) and bean paste (OK, pretty nasty, but fun to attempt and to try). The gent who prepared it was gracious enough to prepare the aforementioned ice cream in addition to this more experimental and more traditional Japanese dessert. We all still agree, we may not love everything we make, yet we’d rather live openly and try new things!

For our Thai night back in October of 2008, we had another dessert with uncommon flavors here in the Midwest; a lemongrass sorbet with mango. We all really enjoyed that one… Maybe we should stick to ice creams or frozen treats, but this time we’re trying out a traditional Chinese item that I’ve added my own “kick” to! (Let’s hope it works out, or we may never have Asian dessert again! My dessert is individual warm egg custard tarts.

According to the magazine I drew the recipe from, “These jewel-like tarts are edible treasures in Hong Kong, whether ordered in a bustling dim sum restaurant or at the counter of a tiny bakery. The glistening bright-yellow custard looks like a quivering fresh egg, neatly enveloped in a rich, flaky pastry.” (Cooking Pleasures February/March 2004)

I’m making the recipe as printed, but adding my own twist with a fresh Mandarin orange sauce. I thought it seemed like it could use a little something extra for our American taste buds. Although I’m sure the tarts are good on their own, we rarely eat as simply here as they do some other places in the world. I prefer flair and flavor, and it’s my dish so I can sauce if I want to!

I’ll let you know next week how it all works out and what my “Best Dish” is for the night! Maybe you could hang a paper lantern and haul out the chopsticks? It’s the New Year all over again…!

Here's our menu for the night:

Our Best Dish of the Seafood Night - Linguine with Clam Sauce!

2011-11-22T09:27:00.001-06:00

Wow! Popping with garlic and just the right blend of spices and olive oil, our linguine with clam sauce was mouth-wateringly delicious! We enjoyed our pasta course before the entrée in a moderate-sized portion so we’d have room for the rest, but let me say that I could’ve had two more helpings and stopped in my tracks right there!

I’ve had plenty of clam sauce concoctions before and this was no mass prepared, bland-for-the-masses spaghetti works style offering. I’ve eaten clams in some very nice restaurants and they had nothing on the flavor of this dish.

We enjoyed our pasta with the clams already shelled and in the sauce, and although I do love the presentation (and the flavor) of whole, still in the shell clams, for our purposes this style of serving fit the occasion well. If you’re digging into a bowl of clams or clam-sauce pasta as your main meal, it seems more fitting to work your way through, shelling as you go; however, as a light serving for a pre-entrée course, this was best (especially to serve twelve people).

I’ve included here for you a couple of recipes to give a try. There are so many variations on clam sauce for pasta… the possibilities are nearly endless. Some are simply olive oil, garlic and spices as we enjoyed. Some include cream or cheese as well.

Experiment and see what you like the best. And if you’re not a huge seafood eater, don’t be afraid! We have people in our group who are not and they LOVED this dish! Come on! Give it a go!

1) Linguine With Clam Sauce

Found at: www.allrecipes.com

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/linguine-with-clam-sauce/detail.aspx

Submitted By: Dorothy Rinaldi

Servings: 8

"For a quick and easy clam sauce, toss canned clams in a pan with butter, oil, garlic, parsley, basil and pepper. Serve hot over linguini."

Ingredients:

5 ounce) cans minced clams, with juice

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon dried parsley

ground black pepper to taste

1/4 tablespoon dried basil

1 (16 ounce) package linguini pasta

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile prepare the sauce. Combine clams with juice, butter or margarine, vegetable oil, minced garlic, parsley, basil, and pepper in a large saucepan. Place over medium heat until boiling. Serve warm over pasta.

2) Linguine with Clam Sauce Bon Appétit

Found at: www.epicurious.com

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Linguine-with-Clam-Sauce-131

Usually clam sauce is loaded with cream and butter. Here, only a touch is needed in a lighter version of an old favorite.

Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 6 1/2-ounce can chopped clams, drained, juices reserved
3 tablespoons dry white wine
3 tablespoons light sour cream
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

6 ounces linguine

Preparation:

Melt butter in heavy medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until translucent, about 8 minutes. Mix in clams and stir 1 minute. Add wine and bring to boil. Stir in reserved juices from clams, sour cream and parsley and simmer 2 minutes to mellow flavors. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook linguine in large pot of rapidly boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Add pasta to clam mixture in skillet. Bring to simmer, stirring constantly. Transfer to bowls and serve immediately.

3) Linguine with White Clam Sauce

Found at: www.foodnetwork.com

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/linguine-with-white-clam-sauce-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

1 pound dry linguine or spaghetti

Kosher salt
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup water
36 little neck clams, scrubbed
3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground pepper

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season generously with salt. Boil the pasta until al dente, tender but still firm.

While the pasta cooks make the clam sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook until softened but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add the pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds more. Add the wine and water and increase the heat to high. Add the clams, cover, and cook, shaking the pan periodically, until all the clams are opened, about 6 minutes.

Drain the pasta and add to the clam sauce. Add the parsley and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide among heated bowls and serve immediately.

Buona mangia! That’s Italian for “good eats”!

2011-11-15T12:56:00.001-06:00

We definitely “feasted” on Saturday night. First with our eyes, and then we dug in to a sumptuous seafood inspired meal! I say we feasted with our eyes, partially because the food and drink of the evening was lovely - very holiday-festive - and because the care taken for small details pushed this Dinner Club into the realm of fantastic!

Details count. The pre-dinner Campari cocktail we enjoyed was one example (see below for a recipe). This meal was supposed to be representative of an Italian Christmas Eve. Holidays call for that extra sparkly-something and this cocktail filled the bill! Campari, blood orange juice and prosecco or moscato di asti (depending on how sweet you prefer things) made a delicious and gorgeous combination in the champagne flutes!

Crab Crostini appetizer

While we sipped cocktails and greeted everyone we chose to dine on our appetizers while mingling rather than seated at the table. The gamberini in sfoglia (shrimp with puff pastry) was buttery-delicious with just the right amount of dill to add a tang. Our lump crab crostini were so simplistic and tasty. They really let the flavor of the high-quality jumbo-lump crabmeat shine through while still managing to be attractive with hints of roasted red bell peppers, fresh chive, basil and olive oil.

Split Entree Plate

After our pasta course (which, by the way, wins for my “best dish of the night”, we had a split entrée of salt cod with tomatoes and capers on one side of the plate (a small “sample size” portion for each of us) along with broccoli with wine and garlic sauce and a shrimp marsala “housewife style”.

The cod, as we expected, probably ranked last on everyone’s “thrill list” for the night, but I’m glad I tried it. That’s part of the deal with Dinner Club. Having a setting and an opportunity to introduce yourself to new dishes without the restaurant setting where you’ve paid $30 for an entrée you simply don’t adore! The sauce on the cod, a rich blend of tomato, garlic and crushed red pepper was quite tasty. I’d give it a try on any number of other seafood options or on chicken.

Our finale for the night (and I want you to know it’s a tough choice to make between this dessert and the linguine for “best dish”) was a homemade chocolate chip cannoli! One of our “guy chefs” really went the extra mile here! He made his own cannoli tubes and filled them with a delectable sweet ricotta blend including miniature chocolate chips. His presentation of the dessert wins by a landslide with the care he took to dip each end of the cannoli in a separate garnish!

Fresh fruits, nuts and clementine
tea light holders on the table.

The table-décor really filled the bill this time in evoking the spirit of a Mediterranean Christmas! Rather than the Santa and reindeer route, it was a bountiful harvest of fresh nuts, persimmons, pears, lemon leaves and fresh rosemary sprigs scattered around the nativity (or crèche) – a absolute must of the traditional Italian “la viglia”!

Plating (and garnishing) our
cannoli dessert!

It was a memorable meal and a perfect night to dine together, to catch up on one another’s lives, and simply enjoy spending time chatting, stirring, sipping and smiling! You can’t do that for five or six hours at restaurant! I’ll see you next week for more on our “best dish” for this one and then we’re off into full-force holiday mode around here! Keep reading!

Our pre-dinner cocktails!

Here's one recipe online for a cocktail like the one we enjoyed. Give it a try during the holiday season for a festive (and deliscious) touch to your special meal!

I found this one at: http://laylita.com/recipes/2009/02/14/bubbly-blood-orange-campari-cocktail/

Ingredients:

2-3 large blood oranges, juiced, about 1/3 cup juice

1 oz campari

Chilled sparkling wine – choose from prosecco, champagne, cava, brut, etc

Optional garnish – blood orange peel or blood orange slice

Preparation:

Pour 1 ½ oz of blood orange juice in each champagne flute.

Add ½ oz of campari.

Top off each drink with sparkling wine, garnish with a slice of blood orange and enjoy.

And Feast, We Will! – A Little History on the Southern Italian Tradition of “The Feast of the Seven Fishes”.

2011-11-10T08:47:00.000-06:00

One of the things I appreciate about our Dinner Club is the willingness among its members to try dishes and themes that we’ve not been exposed to previously. I love that our group comes with ideas each year that we choose to pursue doggedly, regardless of our own typical eating preferences and “safe” familiar foods.

This week’s Dinner Club is just such an occasion. We will explore a menu based on a Southern Italian Christmas Eve tradition of honoring religious heritage by dining on a meal consisting solely of seafood.

According to www.wikipedia.org, “The Feast of the Seven Fishes (festa dei sette pesci), celebrated on Christmas Eve, also known as The Vigil (La Vigilia), is believed to have originated in Southern Italy and is not a known tradition in many parts of Italy. This celebration is a commemoration of the wait, Vigilia di Natale, for the midnight birth of the baby Jesus.”

Regional gastronomical traditions are a thing we can relate to right here in the United States. For example, most of the Midwestern-rooted families here in Nebraska eat some sort of bread “stuffing” with their upcoming Thanksgiving turkey dinner. My family tradition is different, having emerged from my mother’s southern heritage. We dine on “dressing” from a base of cornbread and biscuits rather than bread.

Again, according to www.wikipedia.org, “The long tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates from the Roman Catholic tradition of abstinence—in this case, refraining from the consumption of meat or milk products—on Fridays and specific holy days. As no meat or butter could be used on such days, observant Catholics would instead eat fish, typically fried in oil. There are many hypotheses for what the number "7" relates to, one being the number of Sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church. Another theory is that seven is a number representing perfection: the traditional Biblical number for divinity is three, and for Earth is four, and the combination of these numbers, seven, represents God on Earth, or Jesus Christ.”

The Southern roots of “the feast” are not only in homage to their religious beliefs, but an opportunity to showcase the fruits of the sea so readily available in this region from areas such as Puglia, Calabria and Campania (where Naples is located).

According to an article at www.saveur.com, “The dishes and the types of fish served for La Vigilia are ultimately dictated by geography. In Naples, for instance, the devout leave certain treats on the table overnight for the angel who heralds Christ's birth; for this reason, many dishes are vinegar-based to preserve them. Around Lake Como in the north, large trout, which are only fished during the holiday season, are common.” For the complete article, visit: http://www.saveur.com/article/Kitchen/Feast-Of-The-Seven-Fishes .

For our feast, we’re combining these traditional dishes such as salt cod with tomatoes and capers, with elements that are less experimental, but completely “pesci” (and assuredly palatable to our Midwestern taste buds), such as “gamberini in sfoglia” (puff pastry shrimp) and crostini with lump crab salad. For dessert; homemade cannoli! The meal is sure to satisfy everyone, even those who aren’t “typical” seafood consumers!

Here’s another fun link to a video commentary by well-known chef Mario Batali on his own family history with the “feast”: http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/christmas/batalisevenfishesvideos?currentvideo=5295883001 .

Finally, a recipe to share with you: This is what I’ve been assigned to make for the night. It’s super-simple and sounds amazing! Sometimes the most basic flavor combinations tend to produce the most delicious results; even absent of rich sauces and a lengthy list of ingredients. Here’s hoping it’s as good as it sounds. And if not, there will be plenty else to eat on our menu this Saturday! I’ll let you know how it goes, of course.

We found this recipe online at: http://www.epicurious.com/ :

Crostini with Lump Crab Salad and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Epicurious | November 2007
Rick Tramonto
Reprinted with permission from Fantastico!
Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Rick Tramonto's book Fantastico!

Don't look any further for a succulent crab salad open-face sandwich. The little garlic toasts piled high with rich, moist crab can be polished off in one or two bites. I can't think of a better way to start a meal! Don't skimp on the crabmeat. You need only a pound, so buy the best you can find. Bon appétit!

Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh lump crabmeat
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 roasted red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
1 tablespoon torn fresh basil
Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper

8 to 12 slices Rick's Basic Crostini

Preparation:

1. Pick through the crabmeat to remove any bits of shell. Transfer to a nonreactive bowl.

2. Add the 1/2 cup of olive oil, bell pepper, chives, basil, lemon juice and zest and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Top each crostini with about 1 tablespoon of the crab mixture. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

A Recap of Last Season’s Best and Then on to This Year!

2011-11-06T14:08:00.000-06:00

Our "Mad Men" dressed in
their 60's best for dinner!

Before jumping off into the culinary delights and good times with friends for this year, I thought I’d recap the highlights of last year’s Dinner Club season. We had six memorable meals, but there are always a few trips down memory lane that I find most entertaining, appetizing, etc.

Tomato and Gouda Soup

Among them were some dishes I’d never had before, but plan to prepare again because they were simply delish! The purpose of this blog is always to encourage others to cook and entertain themselves, but it also is to remind our group of some of the yummy things we’ve accomplished!

We had volcanoes, mai tai's and more
at our Luau Night!

The food at our Brazilian Churrascaria (see my blog entries from February 2011) was so interesting and some of it was new to me. I’ve eaten Churrasco-style food previously, but we really dug deep and tried to stay true to the authentic foods of this country, although we may have slightly “overdone it” when it came to portion size! Ouch!

I was not able to attend our Cheese Focused menu last season, but my dear friends took pictures and provided me with commentary on the food of that Dinner Club. Thanks everyone! The Brie with Caramelized Onions sounded divine! I intend to prepare it as part of my holiday cooking this year.

Some of our Disco-era attire!

Last season our group did two costumed events... One “all out” for our Night at the Disco; a fondue focused-feast (blog entries from January 2011) and one for our Mad Men dinner party where we toned it down a bit, but still had fun digging into the attire of the 1960’s as well as the foods (April 2011)!

Yes, last year was a good one, but we get better and better as the years fly by. Like fine wine, I think we’re aging with style! With that… on to this year’s Gretna Dinner Club Season. Our first menu is posted below for you to take a look at. I’ll begin later this week with more on the “Feast of the Seven Fishes”, a traditional Italian Christmas Eve meal and begin sharing some recipes with you as well. Thanks for reading!

The ladies at our Mad Men dinner party!

Here's the next menu:

I’m Baa-aack! Yes, it’s that time of year again. Dinner Club is about to begin!

2011-10-18T14:53:00.000-05:00

Have you missed me? I know I’ve missed the food, the fun, and certainly some of my friends that I rarely get time with outside of our Dinner Club! Our first gathering is November 12^th this year and it seems like FOREVER since we’ve done this thing!

Our group typically plans to start in October, but life being what it is…. We simply could not find an October Saturday that worked for everyone this year. So, since I’m always preaching flexibility; this time I had to practice what I preach! We all did. Therefore, we’re having Dinner Club November through May this year. Whatever. Let’s get this party started!

With my computer, my calendar
and a few other materials I'm
ready to plan!

The first step on our way to a fantastic dinner club year is already behind us; our planning session. I know what you’re thinking – cue the Darth Vader music – “Planning session? That doesn’t sound like fun to me!” Yeah, yeah… I’ve been in this place before; defending our yearly evening of planning for what it is. And it is definitely not torture!

Here’s the short version. If you want to start a Dinner Club of your own, I’m thrilled for you and proud of you and wish you the best of times. If you want it to last, you want people to show up, you want it to be less stressful, more fun and less last-minute work… Have a planning session! Our group thought I was nuts the first year too.

I lay out cookbooks, food magazines,
etc.. along with our computers
for help if we need it.

That was SIX YEARS AGO! We just do it. We hammer it out. It’s a labor of love. Plus, (hello!) we make it fun! We bring our calendars, our computers, our drink of choice and we plan out our gatherings for the next six months. It takes us three to four hours to plan SIX MONTHS of good times together. We live through it every year and it’s WORTH IT!

This year I prepared a plate of my girlfriends’ favorite little nibbles; BLT stuffed tomatoes. I made some dip, put out chips and set it all up at my big dining room table where we could spread out and do our planning. Our group sat down together (they’ve all been fully on-board with the planning thing for forever now) and we came up with some really great stuff for this year!

They’re getting really good, by the way. These folks come with theme ideas, specific recipes they want to try, cuisines they’re interested in, television shows that inspire them… They really had their “@#$%” together this year, if you know what I mean? J

Don't plan without food! I made my BLT stuffed tomatoes
and some dip. Simple, but it makes it more fun!

I absolutely can’t wait to share with you! Thanks, by the way, for continuing to read. Next week, I’m recapping the highlights of last season and then it’s onward and upward. I will post our first menu for the year the first week of November! Stay tuned and thanks again!

Our Final Dinner Club of the Season Is in The Books!

2011-04-19T15:58:00.002-05:00

Hors d'oeuvres table centerpiece!

Our “Mad Men Dinner” last Saturday marks the final meeting of this, our fifth year, of Dinner Club. We agreed with one another over our delicious meal that we’ve indeed gotten better as the years have gone by… Better at cooking, better at presenting, better at planning; we’re much better friends than we were five years ago. We’ve grown close as a group and comfortable with one another. Comfortable enough to make mistakes in our cooking or to wear a beehive hair-do to the dinner table without feeling self-conscious in the least!

This Dinner Club was terrific in so many ways; first, our host and hostess really put some thought into what their home would have looked like for a dinner party in the 1960’s. No, they didn’t go out and buy new furniture. However they did find a few thrift store buys, hand-me-down’s from their parents and borrowed items that set the scene perfectly.

Ash trays aplenty; check! Boxes of cigarettes (candy cigarettes); check! A fully stocked bar with all the trimmings; check! A centerpiece that screamed sixties, a beautifully set table… place cards; check, check and check! The centerpiece of the hors d’oeuvre table, was in fact, an enjoyably ridiculous 60’s spectacle that our hostess came across while doing some research online. (I LOVE that she did research online – and she’s not the only one – keep reading!)

The centerpiece consisted of an enormous pineapple with wooden picks protruding from it. On each pick was a series of pineapple chunks and maraschino cherries, ending with a cocktail weenie and finally a candle. After dinner, we all gathered for cocktails again near the bar and hors d’ oeuvres table where our hostess ceremoniously lit the candles for us all to admire! Hilarious!

We had some very traditional 60’s dishes that we had never before prepared, like the baked Alaska dessert, which was quite tasty indeed. The beef wellington entrée was served in a new, updated format - as individually pastry wrapped portions – that maintained the classic vibe of the dish, while making it new, different, and easier to serve to a large group. Watch for more later this week on our hostess’ “Individual Beef Wellingtons”! It's a terrific company-worthy recipe to have onhand.

The star attraction of the meal was definitely our Caesar salad; prepared tableside for each of us just as restaurants more commonly did in times-gone-by. Our friend who prepared it had definitely done his “You Tube” research, as well, and knew his stuff! He explained, as he was preparing, just what he was incorporating and let me just say that this freshly-made preparation of a very traditional salad is the way to go. It is so delicious. You simply can’t have a pre-prepared salad or a bottled dressing that will “wow” you the way this does. I’ve done this at home for my family and it’s really not difficult. Do some research and give it a try yourself.

Well, folks... this is it for our Dinner Club season. I'll be taking a "blogging break" for a few months until it's time to gear up again for planning. Call it a summer vacation, if you will! When we're ready to plan for our 2011-2012 season, I'll be sure to pick up where I left off with the fun details for you on how and what we have in store for our 6th year of Gretna's Dinner Club!

Thanks for reading during the season. I hope you'll stay with me and use some of our ideas in the future!
Andrea

This bar setup was well thought-out and
included all the little details... even drink
recipes of the times for us to try out!

The dining room table was beautifully set for
a proper dinner party of the time.