DINNER CLUB RECAP

I tried for a light and healthy dinner club this week. As an optional start, I offered elixirs of "sweet garlic juice" (garlic, mango, avocado, kale, cucumber, lemon) -- and everyone partook! For the app, I served French bread with a dual dip: grape seed oil and a mixture of ground coriander, cumin and sea salt. The entrée was fresh snapper with a balsamic reduction. On the side was wild rice and a shredded raw beet and apple salad with a chipotle dressing. Although I liked the beet salad, I was disappointed -- it wasn't fabulous and it took forever to make. For dessert, I served a trio of goodies in a bowl: date balls, chocolate ice cream and vanilla ice cream. (I always forget how good plain ol' chocolate ice cream is!). The date balls were a mixture of dates, walnuts, mesquite flour and maca powder rolled in unsweetened coconut. I topped the vanilla ice cream with a dusting of mesquite and the chocolate ice cream with some of the coconut to combine all the flavors.

DINNER CLUB RECAP: Cinco de Mayo: Tilapia Tortas

I really was hoping to get rid of our extra gin on you guys when I realized that, crud, british pub theme for cinco de mayo just wasn't going to cut it!! But, what type of mexican dishes have we not done lately? I decided to go the torta route: instead of meat, however, I used tilapia that I lightly dredged in flour (no egg) and a bit of cumin and red pepper, just to create a thin crust. I pan fried and then threw in the oven to finish under the broiler. Layered in our tortas were vegetarian refried beans, crumbly white mexican cheese, a guacamole salsa that I made, and cilantro. Turned out ok, but I think the favorite was the fresh corn salad- to make, cook your corn in boiling water for 3 minutes, drain, and immerse in a cold water bath. Cut kernels off and mix with 1 cup of red onions, 5 tbsp. cider vinegar, 5 tbsp. of olive oil, 3/4 tsp. salt, black pepper, and tons of cilantro. I also put a couple of sliced pieces of nopales (cactus) on the top of mine for decoration. Dessert was also an easy layered tiramisu that I made with marbled pound cake. Recipe available upon demand. Drinks were served in martini glasses: lime juice, chambord, margarita mix, and silver tequila. Salud!

DINNER CLUB RECAP: Wet Burritos and Apple Pie Enchiladas

I made burritos and poured sauce on top. People got to pick their toppings. That is all. Lisa here- Ray's burritos were awesome. Everyone loved them- we all got forms to fill out with what we wanted inside, choice of tortillas, including spinach, and yummy enchilada sauce, sour cream, and cheese on top. I'm getting hungry just thinking about them! The dessert was easy for all you looking for another easy dessert recipe- use smaller tortillas, fill them with canned apple pie filling, melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon, roll like a tortilla, and bake for 15 minutes or so. Serve with ice cream on top and an apple chip. Ole'!

Dinner Club Recap: The Gang is all Here

So it was the first dinner club in a while with the gang all back together. This time of year is always tricky – 70s during the day but back down to the 40s at night still means you might be in the mood for some warm comfort food. Well, in trying to balance the Spring tastes I turned to my friend’s blog www.everythingrachaelray.com for some inspiration, which is where I found the main course. You should check it out! I started with just a simple Spinach dip served with sliced baby cucumbers and assorted colored pepper strips. Dinner was cheese tortellini with roasted tomatoes and green beans with fresh mozzarella and basil. Next time I would definitely add more roasted tomatoes (they were SO good) and less cheese tortellini. I forget how filling tortellini can be, a few really go a long way. But, I always get worried that I never serve enough food at DC, hence the hearty portion. I liked the veggie combo - you throw in the green beans during the last two minutes that the tortellini is cooking - just enough to cook but still leave the crunch. Plus, this dish can be accomplished in one pot! Always a plus. I served this with garlic bread and a mixed green salad with dried cherries, crumbled blue cheese and almond slices. Dessert was fresh cantaloupe with raspberry/pineapple sherbet - I couldn’t contain my excitement for the warmer weather in the months to come!

DINNER CLUB RECAP: All Things Green

At first, I was thrilled to find out I was hosting Dinner Club on St. Patrick's Day. Then -- after lots of searching -- I found only two Irish recipes that were vegetarian. And they were kinda boring. So, I went green instead. Apps: salsa verde and spinach dip with green crudite. Entrees: asparagus soup, roasted broccoli with cheese, and cod with a cilantro and macadamia nut pesto -- and lime wedges as garnish. Dessert: cupcakes with green sprinkles and mint chocolate chip ice cream. You'll have to take my word for all of this since I didn't have a chance to take photos ... Hope everyone had a fabulous St. Patrick's Day!

DINNER CLUB RECAP: Chili and Corn Bread

My last dinner club, in February, needed to be quick and painless, since February is a very busy month at work. I decided to scour the crock pot recipes and get everything ready the night before to decrease dinner club stress. Usually, just pouring lots of wine helps, too. So, in the crockpot went lots of different types of beans, onion, cumin, garlic, crushed tomatoes with jalapenos, etc... For appetizers, we started with deviled eggs, cut carrots, and celery with peanut butter. Very comfort food-esque. Then we had our vegetarian chili with cilantro, cheese, and sour cream on top and yummy cornbread on the side. For dessert, we had port and sliced cheeses and pear. Overall a pretty healthy dinner club!

DINNER CLUB RECAP: Pho

It's been a while since I blogged, but wanted to do a quick update on my past dinner clubs. This one, I think from January, was all about comfort food and pho. The entire theme was mostly asian, with egg rolls to start, and then pho, which wasn't really authentic pho, since I did use udon noodles to make the dish a little heavier entree. I used veggie broth, added udon noodles, onions, garlic, mushrooms, and then for the meat eaters, some precarved deli roast beef. That added some great texture. To me, the best part of pho is the condiments. We had bowls of whatever we wanted to add: bean sprouts, limes, jalapenos, cilantro, mint, basil, rooster sauce, etc... I love pho.

DINNER CLUB REVIEW: New Year's Eve lasagna

I went out on an experimental limb with my roasted vegetable lasagna. The reviews on Epicurious.com encouraged deviation from the original recipe, so I came up with a lasagna layered with roasted portabello, eggplant, red peppers and zucchini. I sparingly used the bechamel sauce which the recipe called for and substituted some pesto and red sauce to make up for it. I also threw in some traditional ricotta and mozzarella cheeses in addition to the fontina that the recipe advocated. During the prep, I was worried about concocting a big mess of too many flavors, but it turned out to be a hit. For starters, I made a cranberry-apple-yogurt salad that I served spooned into individual endive leaves -- that recipe is also on Epicurious and is already a part of my repeat repertoire (I even liked it better than the lasagna). What a crazy night that was for me since John (who was supposed to come home at 3pm to help prep) got caught at work and didn't make it home until a few minutes before midnight! He missed our annual re-giftathon, but we ended up with the best loot so it all worked out.

DINNER CLUB RECAP: Autumn Vegetables

Fall is hands down my favorite season. In California it comes and goes in the blink of an eye so I was so happy to host dinner club when it looked and felt like fall outside. I decided to have a meal of autumn vegetables and I planned my meal to take advantage of the fact that Trader Joe's is selling bagged, cubed sweet potatoes and butternut squash. For our dinner I made roasted fall vegetables, lentils and mashed sweet potatoes with a hint of banana. Dessert was eggnog pumpkin raisin bread pudding. Our beverage of the evening was hot spiced mulled wine. The vegetables were easy, very colorful and really delicious! I combined a peeled and cubed butternut squash with a peeled and cubed sweet potato and three cubed Yukon gold potatoes in a lightly oiled baking dish. I set aside two seeded and diced red bell peppers and one quartered red onion. I dressed all of the vegetables with a quarter cup of olive oil mixed with 2-3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 3 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary, 1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme and salt and pepper to taste. I placed the baking dish of root vegetables in a 450 degree oven for about 35 minutes stirring occasionally, then I added the onion and bell pepper in and baked another 10-15 minutes stirring frequently. The mashed sweet potatoes were Rachel Ray's recipe that you can find online. I modified it by substituting stock for milk and reducing the amount of liquid. It was very good but if I make it again I will cut the amount of butter and banana in half. The mulled wine was made by adding 1 cup of sugar to 3 cups boiling water, add a sliced lemon and or a sliced orange, 6 cinnamon sticks, 6 whole cloves, half a gallon of Carlo Rossi Burgundy wine and nutmeg. Reduce to a simmer once you add the wine and let it simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes before serving. Happy Autumn!

DINNER CLUB RECAP: Pulled Pork Sandwiches

This DC was inspired from our recent trip to Hawaii (pronounced, as any 1 week tourist will tell you, Hawaii-E). Yes, it did start with a few Mai-Tais, and no, it was not really based on any Hawaiian recipees. We started with bacon wrapped water chestnuts in a sweet soy glaze, fresh fruit and cheese appitizers. For dinner we had a pulled pork sandwich made with a pork roast slow roasted overnight in a slow cooker then shreadded with onions and BBQ sauce. Topped with chedar cheese and fresh coleslaw (a squeeze of tangerine juice mixed in with the cole slaw dressing made it taste, well, fruity, like I put a squeeze of tangerine juice in it). The side salad was a chopped salad with papaya & cucumber. Dessert was a pineapple upside down cake with whole macadamia nuts. I forgot the ice cream, so we each got a thimble full. "Less is more". That's what I told everyone.

DINNER CLUB RECAP: Miscellaneous Meal

For this one, I whipped up a random array of dishes I thought would be Dinner Club-worthy -- no theme, just stuff I thought folks might like. App number one was a fontina and roasted red pepper pizza on a cornbread crust. The other app was black-eyed peas croquettes with a barley malt dipping sauce. The entree plate had a scoop of barley casserole and a slice of a sweet potato and goat cheese frittata --separated diagonally on the plate by a baby bok choy with an umeboshi and gomasio vinaigrette.For dessert I made peanut butter and chocolate cups, served in ramekins. I was pretty happy with how everything turned out considering I didn't have any real inspiration for it.

DINNER CLUB RECAP: Fall is Finally Here

After what seemed like the longest summer ever, the leaves are finally on the ground and it's time to break out the sweaters and hot cider. My dinner club was inspired by fall flavors. I started with a caramelized apple and onion bruschetta with melted brie as my appetizer. The bite of white wine vinegar really brought out a unique taste in the apples, but there still was a hint of sweetness. For dinner it was squash, sage, and ricotta cannelloni served with an arugula salad with sweet potatoes and feta. I grilled the butternut squash the night before and I think that helped the smokey flavor settle in a bit. One thing that I really liked about this dinner was that it was made with all fresh ingredients and relatively low fat. No oil, butter, or cream. Always a plus, especially when heading into the holiday cocktailing season. For dessert, I made my first-ever pineapple upside down bundt cake. I think I might have over cooked the cake just a tad, but having the extra juices from the pineapple seemed to have saved the day. All these recipes were certainly keepers for this fall season!

DINNER CLUB RECAP: Vermouth and Cream of Onion Soup with Scallops and Caviar

I have to say, I'm not sure what inspired me to make soup for our last dinner club... Ha ha ha. Just kidding. I love soup. Our menu was inspired by the Soup Bible and also by Taylor's, in a sense. I started out with a simple brie appetizer that our friend Laura makes. I'm not sure if it was exactly the same recipe, but for mine I poured brown sugar on top of the round brie, stuck in the microwave for a couple of minutes, and then poured split almonds on top. Always yummy. Then for the main course, I made a vermouth and cream of onion soup topped with seared scallops, black caviar, and chives. On the side was a gruyere and pear panini on rye. The drink of choice was a caper berry martini that I made up after eating caper berries for the first time at Taylor's restaurant. Dessert was easy no mess moose chocolate ice cream with strawberry sauce and chocolate covered oreos. I have to say that I really enjoyed the soup but it was a LOT of work and stress. I'm going low maintenance for my next DC!! So look out guinea pigs!

DINNER CLUB RECAP: Healthy Fare

I can't control myself at Dinner Club. I always eat too much. And I feel super stuffed (guilty and fat) afterwards. So, I decided host a healthy dinner club: nutritious and low-fat (which means no cheese! a big deal on a vegetarian menu!). We started off with baked sweet potato chips and raw broccoli with a non-fat yogurt and fresh herb dip. The salad course was a watermelon-tomato-mint-red onion dish dressed very lightly in olive oil. The main course was 100% buckwheat soba noodles and green onions with an Asian-style dressing. I also served Pumpkin-Chia seed muffins at the table. For dessert I brought out more muffins; this time my Banana-Nut muffins and some fresh berries. (Yep, lots of muffins but I'm very proud of my whole grain, sugar-free muffins). The meal wasn't totally guilt-free though, I did serve alcohol ... this IS Dinner Club, after all.

DINNER CLUB RECAP: Sandra's September 2009

I am late in posting this but better late than never. I did a Central American/seafood theme this time. For appetizers I served shrimp cocktail and crackers topped with a dollop of either sour cream or El Salvadorian crema, smoked salmon and capers. For our starter I served chilled avocado soup topped with chopped shrimp and cucumber. The main dish was home made (literally with my mother in LA and brought up to Sacramento) pupusas served with salsa and Cacique crema Salvadorena. I served two types of pupusas, queso con loroco and shredded pork. Our drink was a little random for the theme but I tried it over Rosh Hashanah when I was in LA and loved it. It was Jewish Rosh Hashanah pomegranate honey cooler that I made with 1 cup POM juice, honey and one bottle of white wine. Dessert was the Princess cake from Ettore's bakery to celebrate Wray's birthday. Since I have been asked about the soup recipe here is how I made it. I sautéed a minced white onion and 2 seeded and minced Serrano chilies for about 15 minutes, added 3 or 4 minced garlic cloves and salt and sautéed another 2 minutes. I let those cool overnight. The next day I made the rest by placing 4 ripe avocados in a food processor along with 4 cups of veggie broth, 4 Tbsp lemon juice and the now cooled onion/Serrano chili mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. I also added a little sour cream but I don't really think it needed the cream. I let it chill for about 3 hours but longer would have been better. If I had to make it again I might use half broth and half water. There are lots of ways you can play with this recipe. The topping/garnish was 8 oz. medium chopped cooked shrimp, 1 peeled, seeded and diced cucumber, 3 Tbsp chopped cilantro and lime juice mixed together. If you make this ahead I would chill the soup with the avocado pits in it and lay plastic wrap in direct contact with the soup to avoid air getting into it and turning the soup brown. The pupusa recipe is top secret. ;)

DINNER CLUB RECAP: Seafood Boil!

When the hubby and I were trying to decide on last week’s feast, we kept coming up with “been there, done that” ideas. Then, out of no where, we were hit with the idea of a good ole fashioned crab boil: complete with plastic table clothes and eatin’ only with our fingers. The Mr. took the laboring oar on this dinner, but I did help out by baking the corn bread muffins. We started with lump crab cakes over a bed of mixed greens and a warm toasted fennel seed dressing. The crab cakes were pan fried then warmed in the oven. They turned out perfectly. Then the boil began: we patterned our meal from a recipe that we had recently caught on food tv. Corn, potatoes and artichokes when in first, along with dozens of lemons and spices for seasoning. Next went in shrimps, tiger prawns, and Alaskan king crab legs. We did have some clams from whole foods but they didn’t seem quiet right so we decided against serving them. Sticking with our theme –after covering our dinning room table with several plastic table clothes, we poured the food on to our dinner room table. Then it was time to dig in! Home-made mojito’s and wine washed the meal down. I think my fav had to have been the crab legs. They were steamed perfectly, with just the right amount of lemon and spice. I also really digged the corn on the cob. To round out the evening, we served a home-made banana cream pie. It had the traditional graham cracker pie crust and topped with whipped cream. It was made with whole wheat flour and I’d say the nuttiness of the flour added to the dessert!! A bonus to this wonderful meal – we just peeled off the table cloth and viola! the dishes were done!

DINNER CLUB RECAP: Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Work has/had been really stressful, so I was looking for an easy yet yummy dinner club recipe. My mom served us a comfort food enchilada casserole at the beach/Pajaro one weekend, and I knew I had a winner. Enchilada casserole is essentially fresh bean and cheese burritos (you can make your own or use frozen- I made my own), layered with a can of mushroom soup, cheddar cheese, olives, milk, and canned jalapenos, and then baked (chicken was layered on the nonvegetarian side of the casserole dish). I served mine with a ton of cilantro on top, fresh chopped tomatoes from the garden, sour cream, and salsa. Kind of like having mac and cheese as a comfort food but more spicy and, obviously, a bean-inspired dish. My side dish was a mexican fruit cart-inspired mixture of mango, cucumber, jicama, and pineapple, with lime juice and tajin fruit seasoning (spicy mexican/lime salt). My dessert was not mexican themed, but more an idea I had gotten from being easy (in my mind). I bought Eggo French toast (the kind that they precut in 4's for the toaster), and toasted that. On top, I spread Nutella and chopped peanuts. After, I gave everyone the option of maple syrup or chocolate sauce. Most chose the chocolate sauce. I sprinkled that on top, as well as organic blackberries from the Wed. farmers market. I thought the maple syrup was fantastic! You guys missed out! It was like breakfast for dessert! I would recommend trying down the road.

DINNER: Hot Italian, Wray's Take

Overall, a fun place with good food, if you order the right pizza. I thought the place was a modern spin on a traditional pizzeria that leaves a good impression. I liked the open air feel, large tables, unique menu choices and gelato counter within reach for a cool & creamy dessert. The collection of black plastic forks on the wall was intriguing, but has left me with a secret desire to tape up KFC sporks on my next visit. Overall the pizza was good; thin crust that focused on the toppings. My favorite of the DC selections within reach was the balsamic fig and prosciutto pie. With that said, I definitely thought some pizzas we had were much better than others, and I don't think I would plan a night out revolving around this place. Better than Zeldas? Uh, that's questionable. The fact that I remember the wall-forks more than the pie probably answers that question.

DINNER CLUB RECAP: Wray's Tofu Pad Thai and Green Curry Shrimp

Thai iced tea was a nice accompaniment to the hot and spicy tofu pad thai and green curry shrimp. Everything I served this week was based off recipes found at http://www.importfood.com/. Spicy Pad Thai: Fish sauce, sugar, tamarind concentrate, tofu and sriracha sauce (rooster sauce) gave this pad thai a nice authentic taste. Fresh ginger, been sprouts, cilantro, and lime juice really added a fresh kick to this relatively easy and spicy side dish to the main green curry shrimp entree. Green Curry Shrimp: Large shrimp and fresh shallots lemongrass, garlic, ginger, lime, and cilantro really gave this a great flavor. Mixed with the green curry paste, turmeric powder and coconut milk over sticky rice gave a rich and flavorful dish. Thai Iced Tea: think green tea flavored sugar sludge drizzled with condensed milk. All over ice. What's not to love about that? I thought this went well to counter the spicy pad thai and green curry. To keep with the lime theme we had key lime pie for dessert. Claire loved the shrimp! (Sorry no cheese this week).

DINNER: Hot Italian, Sandra's take

Hot Italian's Web site

Here is my take on Hot Italian. I think the idea of a motorcycle and scooter shop attached to a pizza and calzone restaurant is very weird but who am I to judge? What is even more weird is that when the restaurant is busy, the overflow crowd gets seated at little tables inside the shop. I personally would not want to eat in a motorcycle showroom with a motorcycle on one side of me and the restrooms on the other side but lucky for me we got a table in the main restaurant. The whole space is open and minimalist. The restaurant is all white with black communal tables and black accents. And by accents I really mean black forks stuck onto the whitewashed cement block walls. The menu is mostly pizzas that can be made into calzones with a few salad options as well. The appetizer is a single option of cheese and sliced cured Italian meats. Instead of serving bread they serve cooked pizza dough. I find this slightly strange when I'm guessing most people follow up their pizza dough starter with an actual pizza. Speaking of pizza, mine was actually pretty good. It was a sweet and savory thin crust pizza topped with figs, arugula, gorgonzola and balsamic vinegar that appeared to be reduced. The melted gorgonzola served as the "sauce" for the pizza. Bernadette mentioned the Super Umbria wine we had. The menu shows a map of Italy's regions. The wine by the bottle list is separated into two categories, $38 and $48 category! Once again, I find this somewhat strange but I can go with the flow. Under each "category" is a list of wines each with a symbol to help you locate the region that the wine came from on the map. It's kind of fun in a cutesy way. I should mention they do have a decent selection of wines by the glass and a couple of beer options as well. I chose a bottle of the dolcetto for our second bottle of the evening. I have to say it was a very nice bottle. I would order it again. For dessert I was looking forward to trying a gelato sandwich but they got rid of the sandwich option. Now you get the standard cup or cone options. My caramel salato (salted caramel) gelato was so good that I had to stop by Friday after work for a cone. The gelato is slightly on the icy side instead of creamy but I still really enjoyed the flavor. They got bonus points for playing one of my favorite Italian songs while I enjoyed my cone, Jovanotti's Mi Fido di Te. The service was a bit erratic but we didn't have any problems with our service. About the worst that happened was the late dessert pizza which was taken off our bill and the server not wanting to give each of us a pizza box for our leftovers but he gave us foil. By the way, skip the dessert pizza. It just tasted like soggy pears on soggy pizza dough with some gorgonzola cheese. That's just my opinion though. Overall, I can see they don't take themselves too seriously here, which is good. I was just left feeling like I didn't get the joke.