“I Don’t Cook, but I Know Where to Buy – Montauk”

When talking about Supper Clubs with people one of the first things I hear is: “I don’t cook but I love to socialize over a meal”. There is a chapter in the book outlining a type of club that is a perfect solution. This type of club is for people that either don’t like to cook, can’t cook, don’t have the time or are simply not good cooks. In today’s “foodie” world, there are all kinds of options to bring people together over a great meal without cooking.

This club is patterned after my daughter’s mother in law. Helene is a foodie and a great hostess, but she doesn’t cook. She and her husband, Rick, bring together great meals by shopping from local markets and restaurants. One of the best things about this type of club is the research. Think of all the fun you can have trying different foods from all kinds of markets and restaurants with the objective of hosting a supper club meal.

Helene and Rick spend summers in Montauk NY and there are some great restaurants there. My wife’s cousin’s family owns the restaurant East by Northeast, but even with family connections getting reservations and fighting crowds during the summer peak season can be quite a challenge. The perfect answer is a supper club.

Whether you live in Montauk, have a lake house in Iuka Mississippi, or live just about anywhere, this type of supper club is a perfect solution;

The makeup of the club is based on who is available. You can send out an email early in the week, text a few friends around noon the day of, or simply run into people on the train. Just about anybody loves an impromptu opportunity to socialize over a meal.

The organization of the event is pretty simple. The host (or anybody) can write a menu like the following example. You just outline what to buy, where to buy and delegate responsibility.

Sharing the cost and the workload makes it even easier. It is true that a big piece of the work falls on the host couple in that they have to clean up and make the house presentable, The key concept is to keep it simple and encourage the next host to sign up for the next event.

Spontaneity and flexibility makes this type of club a lot of fun. A little direction from the organizer with a menu sets a tone and and the fun can take off from there.

Here is an example menu:

Supper clubs don’t need to be formal or overly structured. You don’t even have to know how to cook. You just need people that like to socialize over a meal (who doesn’t) and some organization.

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.

What Time Do You Want To Be Knocked Up In The Morning?

The quote: “The Americans and English are two peoples separated by a common language” has been attributed to George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill. Having friends from Great Britain in your supper club certainly makes for interesting conversation.

The title question was posed to a very proper American business associate of mine as she checked into the London Marriott at Grosvenor’s Square years ago. The poor lady was probably exhausted with jet lag and trying to arrange a wake up call with the front desk. The look on her face and crimson color that came to it was priceless. The crusty old concierge (pictured) at the Marriott had a chuckle at her expense.

We have good friends Mike and Arlene in Dallas who had a couple from Britain move into the house next door. The first time they met Arlene was explaining to her new neighbor that Mike played golf on weekend mornings. The poor lady was explaining her routine and my friend heard her say “My husband and I get up, have sex and then have a large breakfast every Sunday”.

The next time the two couples got together Arlene asked the proper English lady to tell her husband Mike about her weekend routine. Mike heard: “My husband and I get up, have sex and then have a large breakfast every Sunday”. What she said in English was “My husband and I get up, half six and then have a large breakfast every Sunday”. When the English lady realized what was heard she was mortally embarrassed. Her very British husband said: “For the record what you think she said never happens”.

The one thing that the Americans and English have in common is a love for Indian food. Whenever I go to London I make sure to have a meal or two at an Indian restaurant. It has been said that chicken tikka masala is the national dish of England. We have Indian friends that lived in London for years and he always preferred to get his Indian food from “Take away” (English for takeout) because he didn’t want his house smelling like curry for weeks.

For a great supper club meal try Indian takeaway. Whether you live in London or Memphis you are in for a fun evening just be careful that you don’t get knocked up too early the next morning.

Better Than McDonald’s

On my first trip to France when I was in high school I had my first pommes frites (a.k.a. French fries) and I was amazed that they were better than McDonald’s. To this day there is probably nothing more popular at a supper club meal than homemade French fries.

Growing up my mother made French fries and to honest they were not great. She could never get them consistently crispy. Mom used an old stove top fry pot that was small and probably dangerous. I can never remember her having a problem with a grease fire but I do remember soggy fries and never having enough to keep her family of five happy.

The key to making a perfect fry is to do what the French and McDonalds do. You have to cook them twice. McDonald’s pre-cooks their fries and then flash freezes them. Then they pop the frozen fries into hot oil at the store to finish them up. Served hot they are the gold standard for fries. The classic French preparation is pretty much the same. You pre-cook them, let them cool and then cook them a second time to get the targeted crispness. While not everyone is a Francophile, just about everyone loves good French fries.

French Fry Recipe

The second solution to my mother’s quandary was quantity. I have built a fry station on my back patio using a propane fryer with an 11 quart pot (12″ X 5″). Combining a mandolin to cut the fries with the fryer has allowed me to keep a crowd of 30 well fed.

My neighbor Howard Johnson (His wife Jan still calls him HoJo) and I host an annual neighborhood Oktoberfest. Howard used to work for a company that made sausage casings. He had a ready source of bratwurst and I did the grilling. One year I added homemade French fries at the last minute. The next year I skipped the fries and almost had a neighborhood revolt. While folks liked the brats, they love the French fries.

Serve homemade French fries at your next supper club and you will make everyone happy.