Finding the Right People

Getting people who mesh well together is always a challenge. One benefit of supper clubs is coming across all kinds of people. The good news is that you get to meet people. The bad news is that the chances of them being a great fit are pretty slim. One of the beauties of my supper club experience is that my wife and I have used the more formal supper club, where there are a lot of people, to find the smaller group that we really wanted to be friends with. In the end, dealing with a few jerks can be worth it if you get to know some very interesting people.

The solutions on how to find people to participate in a Supper Club are broad ranging:

Neighborhood groups
- One of the easiest ways to find people and conveniently located.
- The Classic Supper Club model is based on our neighborhood. We have a neighborhood association that publishes a newsletter. There is a section that advertises participation in the supper club. I have actually heard of people that bought a house in our neighborhood because they knew about the supper club.
Facebook and Instagram Friends
- Social media is a great way to stay connected as well as getting the message out about a supper club.
Work Colleagues
- We all spend quite a bit of time with the people we work with. The subject of socializing over a meal is very easy to interject. When I lived in Delaware, I traveled with a guy I worked with. We would dine together on a Wednesday night and the subject of my supper club would come up. It didn’t take long for him to want to be part of the Saturday night supper club, where I would try to replicate the dishes we shared at a restaurant the previous Wednesday.
Church groups
School groups

The supper clubs I have been involved with have led to real friendships. We have formed clubs from the wide array of sources listed above and have learned there is no one right way to find the right people. Trial and error is the only way. Going through a few bad experiences makes you appreciate the good ones.

Finding the right people has some real benefits. While most of us know a thing or two about wine, it is great to have a wine and beer experts in the group.

My friend, Scott, is the perfect example. He is excellent at paring the right wine with the menu. Scott, like many wine “experts,” has an excellent wine collection and is great at offering up a few (or 10) delicious bottles from his cellar. Scott was such a good customer of the local wine store affectionately named “Germantown Baptist Wine and Liquor” by Scott’s wife Kathy that when he moved, the wine store flew their flag at half-mast for weeks.

In my neighborhood, we are also blessed to have a “beer guy” as well. Tom Schoelkopf worked for few different beer companies and is a great guy to have at a party. You can count on him to bring a good selection of classic and craft product. For many of our supper club events, people are asked to bring an appetizer. Tom is famous for asking, “Do you want me to cook or should I just bring beer?” Somehow, the answers are pretty consistent

It can be difficult to find the right people for a supper club. A good thing about being part of a larger group is that you get to meet a lot of people. Some you like and some, not so much.

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. The book is coming out via Morgan James Publishing on January 30, 2018. I will also be having a book signing at Novel Bookstore at 387 Perkins Extd., Memphis TN 38117 at 6 pm on Thursday February 1, 2018

Leftovers Can Be Fun

After the holidays the chances are you have a refrigerator full of leftovers. In my case the leftovers are usually because I overbought and overcooked . Whatever the reason, my bet is that you can come up with a really good meal with a little creative thinking and inventive substitutions. My daughter said it looked like I was playing “Chopped” with myself.

Tapas or Piattini (small plates) meals are always a lot of fun and a really good fit with odds and ends of leftovers. The original menu for the weekend consisted of:

What I was left with included:

Sea Scallops – Our Italian feast of the Seven Fishes got overplayed. We ran out of steam after the shrimp and clams and were left with some great scallops
Cauliflower Risotto – The original dish was great and I had over a cup sitting in refrigerator that worked great as a base.
Zucchini – My plans to make a faux pasta with the zucchini changed and we had 3 small zucchini to work with.
Prime Rib. I always over order on the beef. The good news is that the Paula Dean Recipe produces a perfect medium rare. The result is that we had beef that could be recooked and still not be over cooked
Sauces and dips. I had made a horseradish cream sauce for the prime rib and a Caramelized Onion and Blue Cheese dip
My son in law can eat shrimp. It is rare that there are leftovers when he is around, but we had 5 jumbo shrimp needing to be used.
Sautéed Cauliflower. I had blanched cauliflower and marinated it in olive oil and sautéed garlic and served it as both a side dish and an appetizer
Other stuff. We had a few red peppers and a bunch of peeled garlic. I found a package of frozen peas in the freezer and we had a waning supply of fresh herbs

Yes this is a lot of stuff and turning it into an interesting meal was a bit of a challenge.

What I came up with included:

Pan Roasted Scallops Served with Caramelized Onion & Blue Cheese Sauce with Dill

I Pan seared the scallops in butter and then finished them in the oven. The fact that they had been in the frig for 2 days wrapped in paper towels enabled me to get a good sear/crust.

Pan Seared Beef and Sautéed Pimentos Served with a Horseradish Cream Sauce.

I sautéed the red peppers with garlic in olive oil and then quickly seared the beef in the same pan just to warm it and keep the center of the beef pink.

Turned Zucchini Boats Sautéed In Butter

There is something about the French. Say what you will, but they can cook. The classic preparation of turned vegetables is just cool. And, by the way you can turn something ordinary like leftover zucchini into something impressive is fun. Check out this video. https://youtu.be/DfV6HTvQ1Cc

Cauliflower Risotto with Peas, Mushrooms and Sautéed Shrimp

This dish was a great “catch-all” and a big hit. The cauliflower risotto was a great base. I added more cauliflower, peas, chopped shrimp and a little milk and warmed it up in a sauce pan.

We had some really nice wine and wound up with a really good meal, full stomachs and an empty refrigerator. It really was a lot of fun.

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. Morgan James Publishing published the Kindle-Version on September 5, 2017 and the hard copy coming out January 30, 2018.

Sometimes a Low Carb Dish Is Better Than The Classic

It is hard to believe that a low carb risotto could be better than a classic risotto. As we get through the holidays we all want to start eating healthier. This dish tastes great and has an amazing texture. By replacing rice with chopped cauliflower you are significantly reducing the carbs. The addition of a cornstarch slurry versus the traditional cream really gives dish a wonderful rich texture. This one of those dishes that you have to taste to believe.

Cauliflower Risotto works amazingly well as an accompanying dish with a pan roasted cod, seabass or even grilled salmon. Try it!

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. Morgan James Publishing published the Kindle-Version on September 5, 2017 and the hard copy coming out January 30, 2018.