Our club met again last night. We cooked from the April issue. Here was our menu:
Warm Potato and Shrimp Salad - I made this, and when I first put it together and took a taste, I thought - man is this boring! I schlepped it over to the host's house and served it, and it was wonderful. A few minutes to meld was all it needed. The warm potatoes over the cold greens was just delicious. And it was REALLY easy to make. A definite repeater. We all rated it a 9.
Panzanella Crab Salad - This got ratings of 7-8. Some people thought it didn't have enough dressing, but most of us thought it was very good. The bread cubes weren't hard and they weren't mushy. Just right. If you like panzanella, you'll like this salad.
Pasta with Leeks, Pepper and Chive Sauce - This was the surprise hit of the evening! Everyone rated this a solid 9. The name doesn't sound that mouth watering, but the dish is really great. It was cheesey and had just a bit of a bite to it from the black pepper. The chef said it was really, really easy to boot. 20 minutes to make. We all would make this one again for sure. It would make a great weeknight supper with a salad, and could easily be used as a side (a la mac and cheese) for those who need meat with their meal. Yum.
Mushroom Crepes - These weren't as good as we all expected. They were very "earthy" or whatever that sort of gamey taste from porcinis and shiitakes is. It overpowered the whole dish. This got ratings from the group of 6-7, and the chef (LGBurns) also said they were really time consuming, so probably not worth all of the effort.
Strawberry Almond Tart - A big 10. Outstanding. The chef made these in a muffin tin, so we had individual little tarts, eliminating the need to cut up the big tart (which falls apart so easily). Made for a beautiful presentation as well. DEFINITE repeater - and they're pretty easy to boot. Everyone should make this recipe.
Margarita Angel Food Cake - Another big winner. Rated 9-10. Everyone loved it. The chef made it exactly as written, except she used a bundt pan instead of an angel food cake pan. She had a tiny bit of trouble getting it out of the pan, but she patched up the broken part, and really, you couldn't tell. It was definitely NOT too soggy from the glaze, and everyone just raved. Again a definite repeat.
As usual, a GREAT evening of food, fun and laughter.
