Dinner Club

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Homestyle January

Our monthly dinners kicked off this weekend at D&V’s place. 2011 marks year 2 for this ongoing event and we continue to have a great time.

Vanessa and Lisa

Vanessa and Me

This time, I made the mistake of not taking any pictures of the food! Rookie mistake of a newbie blogger. What was I thinking? Well, I was thinking about (and eating) the rosemary and olive oil bread they served from Bread & Cie, along with Brie and Irish Cheddar. True to form, I got my bread and cheese on (sorry Paleo)… but the good news is that I indulged LIGHTLY, a skill I am learning. And still lost weight the next day on my weigh-in. That’s how it’s done!

Here was the menu for the night, which was so good!

  • Baked Salmon
  • Au Gratin Potatoes
  • Jalapeño Cornbread
  • Asparagus
  • Prosciutto wrapped Shrimp with Pesto
  • Coleslaw
  • Cheesecake

I don’t remember the red wine we had… I know I picked up a few bottles from Cost Plus World Market, but I guess neither were memorable.

We ended the night by learning a new game called Sequence! Next month we are planning to make French food at our place… so excited! Please send French wine recommendations!

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Nepalese November

Food from Nepal

Nepalese November

The first time we had Nepalese food, we were in Boulder, Colorado, one of my favorite places to visit. We were staying in Denver and drove up to Boulder to dine at a little two story restaurant called Nepal Cuisine. We were in a state of euphoria when we left. The food and service was something to remember.

When November rolled around for our monthly dinner night, it was our turn to cook. Nepalese food proved to be one of the most difficult dinners for us to carry out so we did just that – ordered carry out! Recipes online were hard to find so we broke the rules for November and ordered Nepalese food from a restaurant in La Mesa, CA. To find the place, I did what I always do and searched Yelp. That’s where I found a lovely little restaurant called Himalayan Cuisine, and my fellow Yelpers gave the restaurant 4.5 stars.

We ordered food that can be found on their menu and also added a few items of our own.

LIBATIONS

APPETIZERS

Alu Bhanta – Eggplant & potatoes cooked in Himalayan style curry sauce.

Vegetables Momo – Steamed dumplings filled with minced cabbage, spinach, mushroom, cashew nuts, paneer, onion, cilantro, green onion & spices, served with special Himalayan sauce.

Samosas – Crispy pastries stuffed with jalapeños, cheese, and potatoes. (I actually bought and made these from an Indian supermarket in San Diego called Ker Fresh.)

ENTRÉES

Chicken Makhani – Premium chicken cooked in the tandoor and then cooked in a butter sauce.

Mixed Tandoori – Tandoor chicken, Boti Kabab (lamb), shrimp tandoor and chicken tikka. Served with sautéed onions, carrots, bell pepper and cabbage.

DESSERT

Gulab Jamun – Juicy sweet milk balls. (I didn’t care for these and was glad I decided to serve the mango sorbet and fresh mint!)

Mango Sorbet topped with fresh mint. (I added this and was glad I did, it was a wonderful ending!)

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Spanish September

Spanish Food

Spanish September

September marked a lovely cooking experience! It was our month to make dinner and we chose Spain as the country from which we made recipes. These are the recipes we used, and of them, the Patatas Bravas and Berenjena con Vinagreta (eggplant topped with tomato vinaigrette) were our favorites.

LIBATIONS
Sangria

APPETIZERS
Patatas Bravas
Berenjena con Vinagreta

SALAD
Ensalada de Melon Chorizo y Alcachofa

ENTRÉE
Simple Seafood Paella

SIDES
Yellow Tomato Gazpacho

DESSERT
Bizcochos Borrachos

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Monthly Dinners

Beginning in January 2010, my husband and I began a monthly dinner night with another couple we’ve known for years. The rules for 2010 are:

  1. Each month had to have theme beginning with the first letter of the month corresponding to a country, e.g. Jamaican January.
  2. The couple who is hosting must do all the cooking from scratch.

It is almost December 2010 and I wish I had started this blog earlier because I would have liked to keep track of all the recipes we made! I may just go back and add them, as I think most of them are in my husbands bookmarks folder. Here’s what we did for 2010:

  • Jamaican January
  • French February
  • Moroccan March
  • Armenian April
  • Mexican May
  • Japanese June
  • Jordanian July
  • Argentinian August
  • Spanish September
  • Italian October (Oman is the only country beginning with “O” and all of us decided it was time to break a rule.)
  • Nepalese November (We broke another rule here and ordered take out. It was amazing!)
  • December – because the holidays are so busy, we took this month off.