Layering In Flavor Is A Good Thing

Great chefs will layer in flavor to deliver amazing dishes. One of the ways to really impress your guests at a dinner party is to serve dishes with multiple flavors that are complementary and have been ‘layered’ into a dish. When you add dimension with texture you hit the culinary daily double.

A great example of this is a Romaine Wedge dish that I make. It combines:

• Fresh crisp lettuce
• A gorgonzola vinaigrette
• Crisp bacon
• Homemade garlic croutons
• Tomato, olive, onion, herb topping

Check out the recipe

There is a lot going on with this dish but it all comes to come together so well.

Not everyone can pick up the flavor nuances of the specific dimensions. I certainly cannot. But I know it taste great and I have feedback from dinner guests that reconfirm it. You know you have something special when people come to a party that you are hosting and ask for a specific dish. I have gotten numerous requests for the romaine wedge. Conversely, you will can get complaints that you didn’t make a certain dish.

I make a grilled/roasted shrimp that is stuffed with Gorgonzola and wrapped with bacon. It has all the basic food groups…layered together. It is the kind of item that you bring to a party and people line up to get their share. We have a good friend from England who is very proper in a British way who has let me know that she is disappointed that I didn’t make my shrimp appetizer.

Check out the recipe at: https://impromptufridaynights.com/gorgonzola-stuffed-shrimp-wrapped-in-bacon/

Think of the flavor difference between the standard boiled (overcooked) shrimp with jarred cocktail sauce versus a grill-roasted shrimp stuffed with Gorgonzola wrapped in bacon. Layering in flavor is a good thing.

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.

Should You Avoid A ‘Polarizing’ Flavor?

One of the challenges you can face developing a menu for a dinner party is if you should avoid an item that you know some people will like and some people will not like such as: Seafood, Lamb, Spicy, Coconut etc.

A classic story involved an impromptu dinner party that my buddy Lucien and I cooked for. One Friday afternoon we decided to have a dinner party the next day and to feature rack of lamb. With short notice we started inviting people to our “rack of lamb” dinner. Pretty quickly the number of guests got to over 20 and at least a third said on the front end: “I don’t like lamb but…”

My favorite memory of the evening was four or five of the “haters” fighting over the lasts lamb chops. There is something about a rack of lamb cooked to perfection. Lamb can be gamey. If it is overcooked it can be tough and flavorless. The lesson I learned that night is that if you sear it on the front end at high heat and cook it to medium rare, your guests are in for a treat.

It is amazing to me how many people don’t like seafood. Fish can be a strong flavor. Seafood that is a little off is really bad. Again, fresh seafood prepared correctly is phenomenal. I would guess that over 20% of consumers simply don’t like fish.

My parents own a house on Long Island New York. When we were in our twenties my wife Susan and I would throw what we called our annual “Hamptoons” party. Our friends from college and work would gather at the house in Westhampton and the highlight was a lobster and clam feast. And yes, there was alcohol involved. Invariably there would be several newcomers that had never had lobster and to whom the thought of eating raw clams was unpalatable. Susan would show the newbies how to eat her favorite crustaceans and we had many a convert. We would also give out the “Poison lobster” award to someone who got over served alcohol. Trust me, the lobster was never the problem.

You are never going to make everyone happy. When it comes to polarizing flavors like lamb, seafood and coconut, I say go for it. While you won’t please everyone, the chances are pretty good that you will have a few converts.

The Foods You Grew Up With

There is something special about the foods you grew up with. They are special to you, not necessarily “special” to everyone. When writing menus for supper clubs it is only natural for most people to gravitate to their comfort zone. You do need to be careful not to assume everyone will like what you like.

A great example of this hit me when my buddy John from New York visited me in Memphis. John and I grew up going to a great Italian restaurant and pizzeria. Cassarella’s became our “Gold Standard” for the best pizza. John came to visit and my wife and daughter were away for the weekend. John was thinking about opening a pizzeria in Memphis so John, my son Brian (age 10) and I went on a survey of pizzerias in Memphis. We went to at least 10 over 3 days.

The pizza was mostly bad by our standards. Memphians like their pizza half cooked. It is usually doughy and soft. They even put BBQ pork on it. But, that is what the market likes. Being New Yorker’s we just assumed everyone would like what we like. To this day my son talks about our pizza research fondly. He got to eat pizza for 9 straight meals. It was heaven for him, but his mother is still mad at me.

I was once was waiting on line on a Friday night at a chain pizza place in Memphis. Out of the blue the guy in front of me who I didn’t know, turned and asked me: “Can you believe we are waiting on line for this crap?” I agreed and said “East Coast?” he responded “Boston”.

I believe that people like the pizza (and most foods) that they grew with. People from New York like New York pizza. People from Chicago like Chicago pizza. And, people from Memphis like their pizza half cooked. I once was talking to the owner of a pizzeria in Memphis. He was from Italy, had lived in New Jersey and been in business in Memphis for 10 years. He told me Memphians like their pizza “white”. If I made pizza the way I like it, I would be out of business in a month.

The lesson I have learned is try to match your supper club menu to your audience and don’t let your wife know that your son ate nothing but pizza for three days.