What Makes A Great Weekend?

How about: Great Supper Club Friends, Great Food, A Great Setting and Great Wine.

There is something special about getting together with old friends. Living the lives of corporate nomads makes it tough. We have a core of friends that lived in Memphis 15 years ago and live around the country today. It is hard to get together, but when we do, boy is it fun.

Five years ago three couples got together at Kathy and Scot’s house in Guilford Connecticut. Susan and I flew in from Memphis. Joe and Amy flew in from all over.

We stopped at Arthur Avenue in the Bronx to pick up provisions for the weekend. There is a bakery there that makes special breads. The crusts on these breads are the best I have had in North America. Cold cuts in New York are an art form. The man cutting our salami and mortadella was 80 years old and layered the thinly cut meats with expertise and panache. The cheeses we bought had a depth of flavor that I haven’t had since. The seafood was as fresh and shiny as you will find on the docks of New Orleans or Montauk.

Fully stocked, we started our drive up to Connecticut. Susan and I did make once quick stop along the way for lunch. We made some quick sandwiches with salami and a sesame bread. The crust was amazingly crisp. That rental car has crumbs in it today five years later as every bite exploded with fresh baked crispiness.

The weekend unfolded with one amazing meal after another and, one amazing bottle of wine after another. It was like the dueling guitars on the Eagles Hotel California record where Joe Walsh and Don Felder get in a contest of “Can you top this”, it just got better and better. My buddy Scott has a great wine collection. When he moved from Memphis the local Germantown Baptist liquor store flew their flag at half-mast in mourning. Having the gathering at his house gave new meaning to the expression; “there is nothing like a good excuse”.

The key to supper clubs is socializing over a meal with friends. There is something about real friends that are special. The message behind this story is that supper club friends an be become lifelong friends and that is really cool.

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.

It Sounds Good To Say You Are An Author

One of the origins around writing my book goes back to my father. In an early life he was an actor. He said actors have it made. They are never out of work. They are never unemployed. Rather “they are between engagements”. It sounds good

When I first retired I decided to say I was writing a book instead of saying I was retired or that I play golf every day that ends in “y”. It sounded good.

To be honest it was all bullshit till I hired an editor who actually liked what I wrote and convinced me to try to get a publisher interested. Now the book has been accepted by Morgan James Publishing and gets launched January 30, 2018.

The book is about supper clubs. My wife Susan and I have been in them for years. I am targeting millennials because they are coming of age where socializing over a meal is a priority. Supper clubs are a perfect enabler for millenials (and any other demographic) to have a good time over a meal. The book tells you how to organize, entertain etc. And yes there is quite a bit of tacky humor written into it.

There are lots of great menus and recipes from our supper club adventures. One of my favorites is rack of lamb. It has become one of my signature dishes. We made it for a family gathering back in April.

Check out the recipe

I have made a rack of lamb hundreds of times. That meal back in April was really special. We were celebrating the birth of my grandson Dylan and had the whole clan together. I did the cooking. My son Brian did the plating. My son in law Ethan set up the dinner al fresco.

The meal more than sounded good. IT WAS REALLY GOOD! Hopefully, the concept of supper clubs and the book “Impromptu Friday Nights- A Guide to Supper Clubs” can help people to have fun socializing over a meal

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.