MAY DINNER CLUB W.I.T.

 Upcoming Dinner:  May

Hostess:  Paprika

Theme:  Merry Berry Month of May

April Dinner Club Recap

So, there was an explosion at the French cheese factory...all that was left was de Brie!

Like Couscous' jokes, we cheesed it up good for our April Dinner Club!

This was our last dinner at Grapes' abode and fortunately it was warm enough to sit on the porch (wouldn't have thought that possible since it snowed just last week!!!!)  Looking forward to seeing her new place when she hosts again in August!

Paprika presented us with an addictive beer cheese dip, made with her cheese of choice: cheddar plus cream cheese, ranch dip mix and BEER! This was accompanied by pretzels and cheese straws, also made with cheddar cheese.  They tasted much like those cheddar biscuits at a certain seafood restaurant chain.

Beer Cheese Dip

Cheese Straws and Pretzels

 Grapes glammed up a Pittsburgh favorite -  gnocchis  - with ricotta cheese.  They were finished off with a browned butter sauce and parmesan cheese and broiled until crispy on the outside but still light and fluffy on the inside!!

 She shared her wine, a Chambourcin, courtesy of her sister.  Enjoy it we did!!  Here's a toast to you CH!!

Saucy shared a side dish of roasted cauliflower and garlic topped with Parmesan cheese (Hey! No one said cheese had to be the MAIN ingredient!).  

This was tasty enough that even cauliflower-hating Paprika liked it!!

 Saucy also brought back the Pinot Evil that made it's first appearance at French night!  Glad this devious bottle made a repeat appearance!

Couscous completed the evening with a NY style cheesecake with vanilla wafer crust and strawberry sauce! Scrumptous!!!

Everyone even got an appropriate "to-go" gift to take home!!!

April Dinner Club W.I.T.

Upcoming Dinner:  April

Hostess:  Grapes

Ingredient:  Cheese

Lately, we've all felt like we've been Livin La Vida Loca (Living the Crazy Life)!

But this was a month of good news!

From Papa T's release from the hospital!

To a long awaited sale of a home!

To an engagement!

Some much deserved good news all the way around!!!  So now onto our Caribbean dinner!  Puerto Rican presented a bit of a challenge for our vegetarian friendly, seafood allergy group, BUT, as always we prevailed!!   Wepa!!!

Couscous started us off with a Puerto Rican appetizer of Plantain chips with Black Bean, Coconut and Sweet Potato Salsa.  She didn't wuss out and included a whole jalapeno! (She donned a Hazmet suit to chop the little sucker, but it was worth it!)

Since PR isn't known for it's wines, Couscous and Grapes looked high and low for Puerto Rican beer; sacrificing many a night at the local beer establishments searching for Medalla Light or Silver Key, but alas they could not find one without traveling to the island itself - and don't think they didn't think about it!!!

But,instead they collaborated to bring a dangerously tasty Puerto Rican Rum Punch!

Extra Rum Punch Soaked Pineapple!!!

Puerto Rican Rum Punch

But be careful Saucy (how do you think she got her name???), too much rum punch leads to funny Puerto Rican hat wearing!

Before too much punch was poured, Saucy presented her entree of Mofongo (fried mashed plantains and garlic crushed in a pilón [wooden mortar and pestle]) .  She made a spicy tomato sauce with two different toppings for our finicky crowd to top the mofongo:  Shredded pork and shrimp!  Complete with fried plantains on the side!

With Pork

Or Shrimp

Grapes' gastronomic gift was Puerto-Rican style Green rice which was rice combined with green tomatillos, green jalapenos, and green cilantro.  Makes plain rice green with envy!!

Paprika completed our Caribbean travels with Arroz con Dulce (Candied Coconut Rice), a time-intensive dessert, similar to rice pudding made with coconut milk, raisins, cloves, ginger and cinnamon.  Glad she took the time to make it, as it was deliciosa!!

Catch us next month to see what "gouda" dishes we create for dinner club!

March Dinner Club W.I.T.

Upcoming Dinner:  March

Hostess:  Saucy

Whatever You Want: Puerto Rican

Bonjour!!

So, for our French soiree did we have French Fries?  NO! French Toast? NO!  Mes Amis channeled their inner Julia Child and....Voila!

Grapes started us off with the ultimate French hors d'ouevre.....Escargot!!!  She searched high and low (not as low as her frozen pond, thank goodness), and finally found some in Pittsburgh's Strip District (not exactly the French capital of the East Coast, but it works for us!)
Heck if you put garlic and butter on anything and it tastes good, right?  Seriously, the snails surprised us all and were actually pretty tasty!! Bon appetit!

She brought a Naked Merlot to accompany those risque mollusks!!

Paprika also brought an hors d'ouevre to sample: tapenade.  Wait, is that French?  Why, yes it is!  It is a Provencal olive spread on a french baguette.  Even the olive haters liked it!!

 Grapes other hors d'ouevre was a French onion and gruyere tart!  Zut Alors!!!

Think french onion soup without the broth. We all had to stop ourselves from eating seconds, thirds and fourths...

Couscous' reason for proposing the French theme was to take on the challenge of making crepes from scratch and found they weren't nearly as complicated as they seemed!  Her entree was a savory mushroom, spinach and goat cheese crepe.  She also had extra crepes available to go for fruit filled breakfast the next morning!

Paprika's side dish was a delectable white-wine-smashed potatoes which consists of yukon gold potatoes and leeks cooked in white wine - C'est delicieux! These will be making a repeat appearance at many of our holiday feasts!!

Her vin selection was a smooth French blend - Beaujolais-Villages by DuBeuf

Saucy brought some additional French wines which we didn't get to (we will soon though!), but wanted to highlight!  Pinot Evil (note the Speak, See and Hear no Evil label LOL!) and Les Abilles Blanc; which part of the proceeds go to Bee Helpful which raises money to help with research to fight colony collapse disorder!

Her dessert was profiterole - french cream puffs!  Filled with chocolate and plain whip cream rather than ice cream (yeah, you try filling them suckers with ice cream!), topped with drizzled chocolate or honey!

It was je ne sais quoi!

Merci, mes amis!! The evening was C'est Magnifique!

Au Revoir!!! 

 

February Dinner Club W.I.T.

 Upcoming Dinner: February 5

Hostess: Couscous

Theme: French