Grilled Salad? Why, Yes!

We’re back at the table again this month for our November Dinner Club. This time we’ll be enjoying a sit-down meal of “All Things Grilled!” The premise for this Dinner Club is that each course must be prepared on an outdoor grill of some type (see our full menu below).

Our host has several options to work with and surely some of the cooking will be done in advance from the comfort zone of our own grills at home, but as we always do with Dinner Club, we’ll finish our preparations when we arrive (and with a beverage in hand)!

 For our part, my husband and I are making a Grilled Hearts of Romaine Salad. We’ve actually done this before at home and there are many, many variations on the recipe. We made a lovely one once that included “crusting” the cut side of the romaine lettuce with a coating of parmesan cheese! We’re trying a new recipe this time, as we always like to conquer new recipe territory for Dinner Club. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Some other highlights of our planned menu that I’m very much looking forward to are the Grilled Nutella Pizza for dessert and the Feta Cheese appetizer; which we also have done our own version of previously, but I’m looking forward to seeing how someone else prepares it.

Watch my upcoming blog entries for more on grill types and techniques. The men in our group really do love to get out on the patio and see what they can come up with. Some of them spend hours in the summer smoking various cuts of meat and I know my own hubby simply devours his grill cookbooks full of interesting ideas! For my part, I enjoy a bit of a break from being the “Head Chef” at our house!

Thanks for reading. Here’s the menu:

 

 

 

A Casual "Kickoff" to a Great Dinner Club Season!

We took it easy on ourselves with theme for this first Dinner Club of the season; Jeans, sneakers and team jerseys were the look, and a casual “serve yourself” style that is rarely the case for our typically more formal get-togethers. We went “all out” on one thing, however. We always do; it’s the food!

Our first Dinner Club was a tailgating theme, and as I mentioned in my last blog, it’s a theme we’ve hit upon before. This time we really stretched in new directions and managed to come up with some seriously interesting (and delicious) offerings as well as some “keeper” recipes that could be served for so many other occasions.

We did it as you would any actual tailgate. Rather than “serving” courses at the table for a sit-down meal, we prepared everything and set it out as a buffet to choose from – and return to repeatedly! There were the things you would find at any “football focused” feeding: 

Jon's version of
"Oklahoma Joe's Ribs"

Ribs; but they were special – one gentleman’s successful attempt at replicating those of his favorite Kansas City Barbecue eatery, “Oklahoma Joe’s”.

Potato Skins; but kicked up a notch! These were Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins with Blue Cheese and Cheddar. The sauce was spicy-hot and tangy and the blue cheese added the perfect “cut-the-heat” saltiness. Awesome!

Fried Macaroni and
Cheese Balls

Macaroni and Cheese; a typical side that was edged over the top! These were the Deep Fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls that I provided a link to in my last blog entry. Try them! They were simple, make ahead and super-cheesy delicious!

Sliders; but not your basic ground-beef hum drum. Our host offered a buffet of options including his terrific pulled pork and two types of sausage that he smoked himself.



Salad; however no boring prepackaged pasta salad here. This was a homemade Grilled Bread Salad with garden fresh tomatoes, olive oil and balsamic vinegar! Many in our group had never tasted a bread salad before and they were in for a treat. One of my summer-into-fall favorite uses of garden tomatoes is panzanella! What made this one super-special was that the bread was grilled. That lightly charred flavor added so very much to an already flavorful offering. I’ll incorporate that element into my own future bread salad preparations.

Grilled Tomato and
Bread Salad!

Finally, the one thing no tailgate could go without – dessert; Move over cookies and brownies and bars! We enjoyed Chocolate Covered Bacon – which also happens to be my “Best Dish of the Night” for this Dinner Club!



Chocolate Covered Bacon for Dessert!

This is what it’s all about folks. Trying new things and new flavor combinations. Sounds weird, right? And to some, maybe not even appetizing… Well, for me it did, but the taste was surprisingly amazing! Salty-sweet in every way that makes it the best! Try it out for yourself. I’ve provided a link below to a recipe. Seriously; don’t knock it until you’ve tried. Bacon really is delicious in every application!

I’ll see you next time to announce our menu for November. We’ll be back at the table in our more usual sit-down format, but the menu is anything but ordinary! Thanks again for reading.

Here’s that link to one Chocolate Covered Bacon Recipe:

http://www.yumsugar.com/Homemade-Chocolate-Covered-Bacon-1813878

You could also try a Chocolate Bacon Bark (a little different, but same flavors):

http://candy.about.com/od/otherchocolaterecipes/r/choc_bacon_bark.htm

 

 

Welcome back to another year of Gretna Dinner Club!

I apologize that I’m getting started quite late this year, as our first Dinner Club of the season is tomorrow night, October 6, 2012.  

This is our seventh year of dining together and some of us would have found it hard to believe back then that we would still be planning new, entertaining and creative evenings together so many years later, but alas; we are! 

Our first get-together this year is a simple one (and actually a theme we’ve hit upon previously) but we’ve come up with some new delicious sounding recipes to try out! We’re all so very busy this time of year with kids’ sports involvements, college and high school football, etc. that a tailgating theme is right on par with what we need. 

However…. NO hot dogs or burgers at this tailgate! One thing about Dinner Club that we try to stick to is that the food may or may not be “fancy” but we will always strive to push our own envelope on new tastes, cooking techniques and the like. 

My dish for this casual get-together is “Fried Mac & Cheese Balls” (see the recipe below). I rarely deep fry anything – I’m not kidding – like twice in the last 18 years, but this seems like the perfect occasion to pour a gallon of peanut oil in the fryer and get to work! 

A few more things on the menu (full menu is also shown below) that I’m especially looking forward to are the “Grilled Bread and Tomato Salad” and the “Chocolate Bacon Bark” for dessert! Casual and fun, but different… Mmmm…!

As always, stay tuned and I’ll let you know how it goes. We have some REALLY great theme dinners coming up this Dinner Club season as well as a costume party that should be a laugh! 

Thanks again for reading. Here’s that recipe I’m preparing:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/fried-mac-and-cheese-balls/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=fried%20mac%20and%20cheese%20balls&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page