The old carpenters rule to measure twice and cut once is great advice when writing a menu for a supper club. I am a firm believer in testing the recipes. In an earlier blog I outlined the top ten sources Check out “Where to get menu ideas”: No matter where you get them it is a really good idea to test them before trying them out on a supper club.
If you are reading this blog the chances are that you get a lot of your ideas from the internet. We all know that if it is published on the internet it has to be correct. NOT! Even when you get recipes from the best sources it is still a good idea to do some testing. It is amazing what you can learn from experience. Even the best chefs will make something better the second time they make it. It is really helpful to your supper club to that subtle advice or warnings that comes from testing
OK, most readers are thinking who has the time and resources to do this? Do most people writing menus for supper clubs have practice runs? No, but I always try to. Whether it was making a dish for the family dinner or having a small group of friends over to test something, it always helped. It did lend credence to a plaque one of my guinea pigs gave me saying: “Many people have eaten in this kitchen. Some have lived to tell about it”. The funny thing is that we never had trouble-finding volunteers for my practice runs. And yes, some of those trial runs were Impromptu Friday Nights.
A great recipe for any occasion is my Chicken Piccata I have tested it out on all kinds of victims. It is easy to make and very versatile. One of the great things about this recipe is that it can be made in advance and reheated just before serving. The sauce is a real winner and can be used with a variety of proteins.
If you enjoy this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and be on the look out for my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs due out from Morgan James Publishing on January 30, 2018.