The dinner club was a success — we started off with a mulled wine and a pear-walnut wonton appetizer, followed by a creamy leek and potato soup with fresh-baked bread.  The main course was ham, accompanied by Alton Brown’s creamed corn, and we had a tofu-based chocolate pie for dessert.

The ham turned out really well; I definitely recommend this method of preparing ham to anyone who is interested.  It involves layering the outside of the ham with mustard, brown sugar, bourbon, and crushed ginger snaps, and produces a glaze/crust that is very, very tasty.  We actually have a large amount of ham left over; I’m very glad I went for the 10 lb half ham rather than the full ham.  If I’d have gotten the full-sized one, we’d have filled the freezer with leftover ham.

I was particularly impressed by the tofu-based pie — unless you knew there was tofu in it you would never guess.  For dairy-sensitive people who still love chocolate, the “Moo-less Chocolate Pie” is a great alternative.  It’s very rich, creamy, and filling despite there being no cream in it.

Tags: Dinner Club, Weekend

One of the things Robin and I do as a couple is a monthly dinner club with our friends.  The club got started by a couple — the husband, Garrett, worked with me, and his wife Ginny is a developmental pediatrician.  The club started with kind of an equal distribution of computer geeks and doctors — a surprisingly compatible mix — with a sprinkling of other professions for flavor, and it’s pretty much held steady since then.

We were not original members of the club, but joined up as replacements a couple of years in.  Since then there’s been some turnover, but for the most part people stick with it if they can.

The way it works is that the person or couple who is hosting comes up with a theme and picks recipes for a menu based on that theme.  They take the entrée and everyone else picks the other recipes on a first-come, first-served basis.  Usually the menu selections are pretty advanced — since everyone only prepares one item, we can get fairly elaborate without overwhelming everyone.

Whatever can be done ahead of time is, and the remaining items are prepared or finished at the host’s.  Most of the time, guests bring a bottle of wine to go with the meal, and the combination of good food, good wine, and good friends that you may not have seen in a month does the rest.

This month was slightly different; the theme was appetizer-wine pairings, and so there was no need to bring extra wine, as the hosts had already selected the appropriate ones (we have some true wine experts in dinner club — one of the fringe benefits of membership).  Also, my brother and his family were down for a visit and so he and his wife were able to attend as well.

WARNING!  Pretentious-sounding foodie talk ahead!  WARNING!

It ended up as a complete success!  The appetizer-only format has worked in the past, but this, I think, was the high point.  We started off with sesame shrimp with an Asian-inspired dipping sauce, paired with a very light white wine (Ribeiro).  Next was a Southwest quesadilla with a cumin-lime sour cream topping, paired with a Reisling.  This was excellent!

Next up was my offering, butter-fried sea scallops with truffle oil and chives on parmesan crisps.  A drier white went with this (Zaca Mesa Roussanne).  Following this was a delicious mushroom crostini paired with a Napa Valley red, and some delicious beef skewers with a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

For dessert there was some incredibly rich flourless chocolate torte with Madagascar vanilla ice cream, and a nice port.

As I said above, I’m not a wine expert, so having Steve, Michael, and Matt on hand to explain and stage the wine was not only pretty essential, but a great learning experience as well.  My brother Nate and his wife Julie hit it off very quickly with the dinner club crowd, and aside from some regrettable post-meal shenanigans with a digital camera, I think the night was a complete success!  It certainly vindicates the “all appetizer” format as a perfectly viable alternative to a standard multi-course dinner.

Next month:  Tapas at Matt’s?  It’s up to him!

Tags: Dinner Club, Weekend