What Is New And Exciting

A great thing about supper clubs is that they can be a venue for you to try things you have never had before. With someone else writing the menu there is a good chance you get to taste something’s that are completely new.

I can remember the first time I really had truffles. While I had eaten dishes that said they had truffles in them I had never experienced real truffles until we visited Tuscany. Our first night in Montepulciano we ate at Ristorante La Grotta. As we were looking at our menus as a waiter came by with a plate of Tagliderini al Tartufo. The aroma was amazing, but also hard to describe. It certainly was not like anything we had ever smelled or eaten before.

The next day we went on a truffle hunt with an old man in his 80’s and his two dogs. After a few hours our guide had found us a large handful of white truffles that we took back to the kitchens of Il Podere Casale where the chef made up a 4 course meal with each course featuring the wonderful truffles we found that day.

I once saw an old friend at a corporate event and in passing asked “What is new and exciting”. To which he replied: “Like my wife says, it may not be new, but it is still exciting”. Truffles like we had in Tuscany will always be exciting. Given the cost of truffles in the U.S. I doubt I will be writing supper club recipes for them. The great thing about supper clubs is that they are a great venue for that “first time” experience.

We are developing a menu for our next supper club and we wanted something new for a first course to fit our Italian theme that was a the light side. I came up with a Melon Citrus Napolean that combines watermelon and grapefruit slices with prosciutto, olive oil and balsamic. Check out the recipe.

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

The Best Way To Eat Mussels

The best way to eat mussels is to use a mussel as a tweezer. Try this method once and you will be hooked for life. It just works. Mussels also make a great supper club starter.

My son Brian and his family arrived yesterday in Westhampton. He spent 6 weeks every summer growing up coming to visit his grandmother at the beach. He has a sizable list of food favorites that he wants to have while he is here. At the top of the list is mussels. Out tradition during summers in Westhampton was that we would take the boat out to an island in the bay that has a healthy bed of mussels. There we would collect a pail full of perfectly sized mussels. There is something about free fresh seafood.

After scrubbing and soaking in water with corn meal to get rid of the grit, I like to prepare mussels two ways with:

Red sauce (olive oil, garlic, onion, canned tomatoes)
White sauce (butter, white wine, olive oil, garlic, onion)

Add fresh herbs and a hearty baguette to soak up the sauce and you are in for a treat.

Using one mussel as a tweezer to eat mussels is not something we grew up with. My buddy Lucien who grew up in the south of France is the one that taught us this one. If you ever go to Paris you have try moules frites. Chez Leon along the Champs -Elysees is a great experience. While moules frites is originally from Brussels, the French do a great job. You can get your moules 10 to 20 different ways. No choice is bad.

I like mussels for supper clubs because it adds the dimension of sharing. While mussels are increasingly popular at restaurants, they are not everyone’s favorite. Chances are you will have a guest or two that is not a fan, but my bet is that you can get a few converts to the “tweezer” method and have lots of fun with it.

Brian at the Westhampton Beer store, another favorite. Talk about a kid in the candy shop

The Perfect Corkscrew

We have all struggled to get a cork out of a bottle of wine. There is something intimidating and scary about a task that should be so simple. There are also a myriad of corkscrew options. I have been a fan of many of those options from time to time over the last 40 years. My current corkscrew of choice, is the classic Waiter’s Corkscrew. It is one of the cheapest, easy to use and most efficient options. With a little training and practice, you start to enjoy the task and will never be afraid to open a bottle of wine ever again.

Before I go into the benefits of my current choice let me take you through some of the options:

The Wing Style Corkscrew

How to use a Wing Style Corkscrew

This has always been my mother’s tool of choice. She likes it because it is easy. It doesn’t require strength. Mom is 97 and she has been enjoying one or two glasses of wine a day for 70 years. About 7 years ago she got in a car accident 1000 yards from her house. That was the end of her driving career. A few months after the accidents she told me: “Don’t tell your sisters, but I probably should not have had that second glass of wine before driving home from dinner. But the local police officer was so nice. He took the case of wine out of my car and carried it into the house for me.” So maybe the wing style corkscrew is too easy to use.

The Ah So Style Corkscrew

How to use an Ah So

This was my tool of choice when we first started drinking wine in California back in the 1980’s. For me, this isn’t the easiest tool to use. If you aren’t proficient in it’s use, there is a risk that you will push the cork into the bottle. Where the Ah So really works well is with older bottles of wine and the cork starts to fall apart. I use an Ah So when I see that the cork is weak.

The Rabbit Style Corkscrew

How to use a Rabbit Style Corkscrew

This had been my tool of choice for over twenty years. I liked it because it opens a bottle quickly and is pretty much idiot proof. With that said, I have screwed up with it more that I want to admit. I had one for years that I bought at Costco. Funny thing, Costco stopped selling it. That was an early indicator that there are better options out there. While I was in the Rabbit phase, I bought a very expensive Rabbit corkscrew for my son in law. E is definitely a wine guy, but he isn’t a tool guy. His line is that there is no such thing as “Jews and screws”. He just could never get the hang of the rabbit style. I guess this blog is another example of where E was right and I was wrong.

Electric or Cordless Corkscrew

How to use a cordless wine cork puller

These were all the rage a few years ago. I actually got two for Christmas one year. I never could get it right. It took too long. I was never really sure how to use it. And, I broke a few too many corks. Just don’t tell my nephew about this blog, but I don’t use cordless wine cork puller.

Air Pump/Pressure Cork Puller

How to use an air pump cork puller

I have been given an air pump puller a few times to use. They make me nervous. It is probably irrational, but I worry the bottle will explode. I certainly am uncomfortable with how they work. On the surface there are lots of benefits (easy, good for weak corks…), but I don’t get it.

The Perfect Corkscrew

How to use the Waiters corkscrew.

In my book, the old Waiter’s corkscrew is the perfect corkscrew. It has been around for centuries. It is cheap, usually around $5. Some are better than others. The one I buy at my local wine store has a two-step function that works perfectly. The key is setting the screw to a maximum depth without going through the cork. This reduces the risk of breakage. A good Waiters corkscrew has a good “catch” on the first step. Some of the lesser versions will slip on the first step. Once you get the cork halfway out you move to the second step and you are done. I also like the knife blade to cut off the foil.

My suggestion is get a Waiters corkscrew. Use it a few times. A little practice goes a long way to elimination of the fears. There is also a joy in the process. I look forward to opening a bottle with one of my favorite corkscrews. At $5 apiece, I buy them to leave behind in several places. It is simply: The Perfect Corkscrew.