Peggy
05-30-2003, 12:53 AM
This month our Supper Club theme was Cinco de Mayo (yes, I am a bit late in posting this review!:o ). The menu strayed a bit from our usual practice of cooking mostly from Cooking Light because there were some recipes in the May issue of Bon Appetit that some members wanted to try. (NOTE: Two of the Cooking Light recipes are missing the issue date. The dates given to me by the hostess were not correct. She will check on this and post the correct dates tomorrow). Here is our menu and reviews:
Brie and Walnut Quesidillas with Tropical Fruit (BA - 5/03) - Overall, most people liked this appetizer. It consisted of flour torillas filled with brie, cilantro and candied maple walnuts. The fruits in the salsa were pineapple, mango and papaya. A few commented that this recipe was good, but not "authentic". They felt it would be better if the cheese used was queso fresco. Our 5 year old food connoisseur said that she "only liked the nuts"!:D
Tostaditas with Scallop and Crab Ceviche (BA - 5/03) - This was our second appetizer. Instead of serving the ceviche with tostado shells we used tortilla chips from Costco. (I'm not sure what the brand was, but they were terrific! There went the diet...:o) The serrano chile gave it quite a "kick". If I recall correctly, almost everyone was quite pleased ith this dish. One person chose it as their favorite and another chose it as #2.
Chicken Mole Enchiladas (CL - ??)- Unfortunately, these did not get a positive rating. Comments applied to the dish were "so-so", "blah", "don't like the sauce", "don't like the cumin"... Overall, not a repeater for anyone.
Jicama Salad (CL - ??) - WE had planned on this salad being the "safe place on the plate". The place to go when our palates had been assaulted by all of the chiles and assertive seasonings. The funny thing was that this turned out to be one of the spiciest and hottest menu items!:eek: We couldn't understand this and there was a lot of discussion about it around the dinner table. After consulting the recipe, the preparer noticed that it called for chili powder and she had added the same amount of cayenne pepper!!! OMG!! No wonder our mouths were on fire!:eek: :eek:
Chiles Rellenos Gratin (CL - 5/03) - This was, without a doubt, the favorite recipe of the evening. Everyone thought it was wonderful! One DH commented that "my mouth is very much alive right now". One interesting thing was that we found that some of the chiles were hotter than others, even though they were bought at the same place.
Margarita Angel Cake (CL - 4/03) - This was one of the dishes that I was responsible for and I was so excited because it was my first angel food cake from scratch. The cake itself came out wonderfully, but there were divided opinions on the glaze. Some people liked it while others thought it was too sweet. I was just thrilled that the cake was a success!!:D
Pineapple Sorbet (CL - 4/03) - This was good but we all agreed it was too sweet. We started with a very ripe pineapple so it probably didn't need all of the excess sugar.
Mexican Hot Chocolate (BA - 5/03) - We served this with the dessert. Tasty but very rich and intense flavored. Thought it would be better watered down.
Peggy
Brie and Walnut Quesidillas with Tropical Fruit (BA - 5/03) - Overall, most people liked this appetizer. It consisted of flour torillas filled with brie, cilantro and candied maple walnuts. The fruits in the salsa were pineapple, mango and papaya. A few commented that this recipe was good, but not "authentic". They felt it would be better if the cheese used was queso fresco. Our 5 year old food connoisseur said that she "only liked the nuts"!:D
Tostaditas with Scallop and Crab Ceviche (BA - 5/03) - This was our second appetizer. Instead of serving the ceviche with tostado shells we used tortilla chips from Costco. (I'm not sure what the brand was, but they were terrific! There went the diet...:o) The serrano chile gave it quite a "kick". If I recall correctly, almost everyone was quite pleased ith this dish. One person chose it as their favorite and another chose it as #2.
Chicken Mole Enchiladas (CL - ??)- Unfortunately, these did not get a positive rating. Comments applied to the dish were "so-so", "blah", "don't like the sauce", "don't like the cumin"... Overall, not a repeater for anyone.
Jicama Salad (CL - ??) - WE had planned on this salad being the "safe place on the plate". The place to go when our palates had been assaulted by all of the chiles and assertive seasonings. The funny thing was that this turned out to be one of the spiciest and hottest menu items!:eek: We couldn't understand this and there was a lot of discussion about it around the dinner table. After consulting the recipe, the preparer noticed that it called for chili powder and she had added the same amount of cayenne pepper!!! OMG!! No wonder our mouths were on fire!:eek: :eek:
Chiles Rellenos Gratin (CL - 5/03) - This was, without a doubt, the favorite recipe of the evening. Everyone thought it was wonderful! One DH commented that "my mouth is very much alive right now". One interesting thing was that we found that some of the chiles were hotter than others, even though they were bought at the same place.
Margarita Angel Cake (CL - 4/03) - This was one of the dishes that I was responsible for and I was so excited because it was my first angel food cake from scratch. The cake itself came out wonderfully, but there were divided opinions on the glaze. Some people liked it while others thought it was too sweet. I was just thrilled that the cake was a success!!:D
Pineapple Sorbet (CL - 4/03) - This was good but we all agreed it was too sweet. We started with a very ripe pineapple so it probably didn't need all of the excess sugar.
Mexican Hot Chocolate (BA - 5/03) - We served this with the dessert. Tasty but very rich and intense flavored. Thought it would be better watered down.
Peggy