Supper Club

A few years ago we got a call from some friends inviting us to join their gourmet supper club. Old Buzzard laughed at me when I first told him about it. Apparently, it wasn't immediately obvious to him why we would be candidates for something "gourmet". We went to that first meeting and instantly decided that being part of this group was worth trying to get in touch with our fancy sides. They're just fun people, and while some of them can cook circles around me, it's as much about the fellowship as the food.



Every other month, someone hosts a meal in their home. The hosting couple plans the menu, chooses all the recipes, and prepares the main dish. Then, each couple is assigned a recipe to prepare and bring to the dinner. On the alternating months, we meet at a restaurant and enjoy a night on the town.


I love trying new recipes, and we have been assigned some fun ones over the years. There have also been a few memorable moments that proved security was sincerely lacking the year we somehow stumbled through this gourmet door. One Christmas I made a multi-layer jell-o salad. I baby-sat that salad all day long, carefully adding ingredients to each partially chilled layer until my gelatin showpiece was complete. It was a stunner, let me tell you. I slid it out of the mold and took considerable care to elaborately decorate the platter with parsley and sugared fruit. My Mother was here that night, and she strongly recommended not taking the jell-o out of the mold too soon. I distinctly remember being annoyed with her, and her utter lack of appreciation for my platter presentation. I immediately disregarded her advice. Didn't she know how gourmet I was? I had the club membership to prove it, after all. We drove clear across town that night to get to dinner, and that salad melted faster than Frosty at a spring thaw. The whole thing started to sink and puddle at the base of the platter, sending my parsley adrift, and rinsing the sugar off my cute little fruits. Soon it sloshed over the edges, oozed down my legs, and pooled in my shoe. We sat on our friends' driveway for quite some time, desperately digging through the glove box for old napkins to try to contain the mess and rescue my outfit. I'm not sure which was more distressing; my badly stained Christmas sweater, or the fact that my Mother is ALWAYS right! The host was a prince. He whisked my salad into the kitchen, quickly dispatched of the salad plates that graced his gorgeous table, and proceeded to ladle my jell-o salad into little bowls! The recipe was absolutely delicious, but it certainly was no feast for the eyes!


Anyway, last night was our turn to host. I had planned a particular menu for months, but when it came down to the wire, I didn't have time to pull it off right. Instead, I made a stew. It was a so-so stew; not bad at all, but certainly not supper club worthy. As usual, the company was outstanding, and I decided not to stew about the stew. I was too busy laughing, and enjoying our very fancy friends. :)


Here is a recipe for the salad we served last night. I have made this several times, and it always turns out great. For the record, this salad travels well too, just in case you ever need to drive it across town.


Apple & Goat Cheese Salad


4 T raspberry or red wine vinegar
1 t. Dijon
2 gloves garlic, minced
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
2/3 cup olive oil
2 T chopped parsley


Baby spinach
3 Belgian Endives, cored and separated into leaves
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and thinly sliced
8 ou. log of mild goat cheese
1/2 cup chopped walnuts


Combine dressing ingredients in a shaker. Arrange endives in spokes on salad plate and head spinach on top. Set aside. Arrange four thin apple slices into a circle, with slight overlap. Top with a slice of goat cheese. Place apple fans under broiler until barely browned, less than five minutes. Set one apple fan atop each plate of spinach. Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with walnuts.