PAMMELA
08-02-2004, 12:40 PM
We had our very first Supper Club Dinner on Saturday, July 31, 2004. We have 10 members in our group, but two couples couldn’t make it and one SO of one member had to work. So we had 5 members (plus one outside friend who called and we invited him over!) Robin and Dennis (RMG_CA) and Theresa (she responded to my supper club post, but I don’t think she frequents the boards) and DH and me. It took me months to finally get some responses from my posting, so if you’re trying to get a club together, don’t give up. This was also our first meeting IRL.
Everything was terrific, all winners and our outside guest declared that it was better than a meal in a restaurant! The only things not from July CL is the panfried onion dip and garlic bread. I served my favorite garlic bread from allrecipes.com.
Well here we go: DH and I hosted our first dinner at our house and we entertained in our newly renovated party backyard! The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cool and just a little breeze. We started the evening with:
Hyptinis
These are martinis with Hypnotiq/vodka/white cranberry juice/lime juice. They were YUMMY! They have been my “new” martini for at least 4 months now. Dennis declared this to be his new martini too!
Eric Ross Old Vine Zinfandel 1998
Theresa brought this wine and we opened it up after having martinis. YUM!!! We are all red wine drinkers, and this was definitely a hit all around. I’ve never been one to describe the nuances of wine as well as some, so all I can say is YUM.
BC Panfried Onion Dip
I was in charge of appetizers and made this. I have served it once before to great reviews and nothing different this time out! This dip is fast and easy and delicious. I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese and lite sour cream. I did use full-fat mayo because I can’t get past the taste of the low calorie one. I served with some Cape Cod potato chips. This was declared a favorite.
Yogurt Marinated Beef Kabobs with Wasabi Aioli
Excellent! My DH was a little leery of beef marinated in yogurt (well, yogurt in any form!) but wow, what a taste sensation. The ginger was prevalent, so you need to like ginger. When I brought the meat kabobs outside for DH to grill, our guest said wow, that looks like chicken. The kabobs are very light colored after marinating. I ended up marinating for about 6 hours. This was declared a favorite and I would definitely make again. Very easy to put together. The Wasabi on the side was tasty, but it made quite a bit. I would recommend cutting it in half. It’s quite hot, so you can’t use very much! With our without it, it was excellent.
Callaway Coastal Cabernet Sauvignon 2000
Robin and Dennis brought this and we served it with dinner. Excellent choice. Again, YUM.
Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms
This was one of two dishes brought by Robin and Dennis. Excellent! They prepared them in the small mushrooms. They were very tasty, easy to make, warmed up perfectly and were declared the other favorite of the evening! They couldn’t find the exact soy crumbles called for, but made it with something similar, I can’t remember the name. They were moist and flavorful and the cream cheese gave the filling a nice texture. DH liked the filling (he doesn’t like mushrooms, but he did try a bite, so I was proud!)
Green Bean, Chickpea and Tomato Salad
Theresa brought this. This salad had a beautiful presentation, very colorful. It traveled well and stayed nice and crisp. I also realized that I actually like garbanzo beans! Definitely a good dish to bring for a potluck or get together. A repeater.
Chipotle Macaroni and Cheese
Theresa also brought this. Definitely YUM but definitely SPICY! I like spicy, but not everyone may. Good thing for us, we all did! This dish was made with full fat cheddar, since Theresa could not find FF that day. So of course it was tasty!! It heated up well, and was a nice change from the regular dish. I told DH afterwards - haha - you ate cottage cheese! He won’t go near the stuff.
And finally - Plum Crumble
This was again, excellent! The plums were juicy, but firm and the crumble on top went perfectly with it. Robin didn’t use Santa Rosa Plums, but apparently that isn’t a must! We served this warm with a nice port. I had some leftovers last night heated in the microwave with some vanilla bean ice cream on top. WOW. I would make this again. Very impressive dessert dish. We served it with this port:
Clos Pegase Home Ranch Reserve Port 1999
This wine is from my wine club in Napa. The only port I have found that I liked (so far). Went great with dessert!. Another YUM.
Well I hope a did a good job reviewing as this is my first time. It may seem that we had a lot of food, but we actually did quite a number on it! Didn’t have a lot of leftovers at all (but what we did, I got to keep).
We all had a good time and I think we hit it off. We should be able to have a successful supper club; after all, good food, good times, and hopefully good friends, what more could you ask for???
:D
Everything was terrific, all winners and our outside guest declared that it was better than a meal in a restaurant! The only things not from July CL is the panfried onion dip and garlic bread. I served my favorite garlic bread from allrecipes.com.
Well here we go: DH and I hosted our first dinner at our house and we entertained in our newly renovated party backyard! The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cool and just a little breeze. We started the evening with:
Hyptinis
These are martinis with Hypnotiq/vodka/white cranberry juice/lime juice. They were YUMMY! They have been my “new” martini for at least 4 months now. Dennis declared this to be his new martini too!
Eric Ross Old Vine Zinfandel 1998
Theresa brought this wine and we opened it up after having martinis. YUM!!! We are all red wine drinkers, and this was definitely a hit all around. I’ve never been one to describe the nuances of wine as well as some, so all I can say is YUM.
BC Panfried Onion Dip
I was in charge of appetizers and made this. I have served it once before to great reviews and nothing different this time out! This dip is fast and easy and delicious. I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese and lite sour cream. I did use full-fat mayo because I can’t get past the taste of the low calorie one. I served with some Cape Cod potato chips. This was declared a favorite.
Yogurt Marinated Beef Kabobs with Wasabi Aioli
Excellent! My DH was a little leery of beef marinated in yogurt (well, yogurt in any form!) but wow, what a taste sensation. The ginger was prevalent, so you need to like ginger. When I brought the meat kabobs outside for DH to grill, our guest said wow, that looks like chicken. The kabobs are very light colored after marinating. I ended up marinating for about 6 hours. This was declared a favorite and I would definitely make again. Very easy to put together. The Wasabi on the side was tasty, but it made quite a bit. I would recommend cutting it in half. It’s quite hot, so you can’t use very much! With our without it, it was excellent.
Callaway Coastal Cabernet Sauvignon 2000
Robin and Dennis brought this and we served it with dinner. Excellent choice. Again, YUM.
Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms
This was one of two dishes brought by Robin and Dennis. Excellent! They prepared them in the small mushrooms. They were very tasty, easy to make, warmed up perfectly and were declared the other favorite of the evening! They couldn’t find the exact soy crumbles called for, but made it with something similar, I can’t remember the name. They were moist and flavorful and the cream cheese gave the filling a nice texture. DH liked the filling (he doesn’t like mushrooms, but he did try a bite, so I was proud!)
Green Bean, Chickpea and Tomato Salad
Theresa brought this. This salad had a beautiful presentation, very colorful. It traveled well and stayed nice and crisp. I also realized that I actually like garbanzo beans! Definitely a good dish to bring for a potluck or get together. A repeater.
Chipotle Macaroni and Cheese
Theresa also brought this. Definitely YUM but definitely SPICY! I like spicy, but not everyone may. Good thing for us, we all did! This dish was made with full fat cheddar, since Theresa could not find FF that day. So of course it was tasty!! It heated up well, and was a nice change from the regular dish. I told DH afterwards - haha - you ate cottage cheese! He won’t go near the stuff.
And finally - Plum Crumble
This was again, excellent! The plums were juicy, but firm and the crumble on top went perfectly with it. Robin didn’t use Santa Rosa Plums, but apparently that isn’t a must! We served this warm with a nice port. I had some leftovers last night heated in the microwave with some vanilla bean ice cream on top. WOW. I would make this again. Very impressive dessert dish. We served it with this port:
Clos Pegase Home Ranch Reserve Port 1999
This wine is from my wine club in Napa. The only port I have found that I liked (so far). Went great with dessert!. Another YUM.
Well I hope a did a good job reviewing as this is my first time. It may seem that we had a lot of food, but we actually did quite a number on it! Didn’t have a lot of leftovers at all (but what we did, I got to keep).
We all had a good time and I think we hit it off. We should be able to have a successful supper club; after all, good food, good times, and hopefully good friends, what more could you ask for???
:D