Supper Club: Small Plates

This past weekend we had our second Supper Club!  We're still trying out different methods/ideas to see what works best for organizing it - but the food was definitely a success!  This time around we split up who was in charge of various courses/dishes and they prepped most of it ahead of time.  I naturally forgot the camera, so these are from Mike and Isaac's iphones (and we're missing a bunch of plates.)
Katie made this amazing deconstructed salad: whipped brie with tellicherry pepper and baby water cress.

Katie also made these braised short ribs with garlic confit mashed potatoes.  (In the car on the way home Mike was ready for a whole plateful of this!)

Poached salmon with olive and basil butters.

lemon chill with strawberry coulis 

We also had Wasabi Gougeres, Pumpkin Filled Tacos, Pear and Brie Crisps, Asapargus Soup with Goat Cheese and some fantastic wine.

Green Smoothie

I've been wanting to see if Asa would like the green smoothie for awhile.  This recipe sounds pretty good to me - we'll see if he gives it the approval!
Recipe and pics from One Charming Party.

Food Blog Discovery: Baked Bree

 I love coming across food blogs with gorgeous pictures made by real people!  Of course, when I do discover them, I always wish I had known about them sooner!  I hate to be missing out on all the foodie goodness.
These recipes seem particularly appropriate to try out with my husband - his kind of food.

Enjoy!  Any other favorite food blogs out there that you'd recommend??!

Italian Drip Beef Sandwiches

Buffalo Chicken Sliders

(photos from Baked Bree)

Heart-Shaped Pancakes

So this morning we tested out the new silicone pancake molds I got! And after a couple tries and flops (like the picture below) we figured out the technique and they work great!! Way way better than the metal mold which I gave up on last year and just used a cookie cutter on the round ones after they were done. The silicone even handled these nut and oatmeal filled pancakes no problem!

flop - The trick is to cook one side, slide your spatula under and then rotate the arm (it moves 360 degrees) and flip it over while keeping it still in the silicone mold. Only remove the mold once the second side has cooked pretty well. (We also sprayed the silicone with cooking spray as an added protection)

Success!

Of course for Valentine's Day - you could sprinkle pwd sugar over them, add a flag that says "love" or anything else! Enjoy!

Kale and Kielbasa Soup

This is one of our favorite fall soups!  And it only takes 30min to make!  We don't exactly do the same thing each time, and I've never officially measured so here's our guesstimate.

Ingredients:

16 oz kielbasa sausage sliced 1/4in- 1/2in thick(we typically use the smoked turkey - leaner but still really good)

1 c. sliced carrot

1-2 leeks sliced

1/2 sweet onion chopped

2lbs russet potatoes (~8 med.) again add as many or as few as you like 

3 c. chopped kale

6 c. chicken stock low sodium

1-2 t. herbs de provence (or try sage, thyme, and tarragon) mix up the seasonings to your tastes

thyme

freshly ground pepper

salt

Saute the onions in a little butter.  Add the leeks, carrots, and sausage.  Add the potatoes.  Add the stock and bring to a boil.  Add herbs to taste (fresh if possible!), pepper and salt.  Bring to a boil and then let simmer 15-20min (or until potatoes are tender).  Add kale and cook for an additional 3-5min.  Grind a little pepper over each bowl and you're set! 

(And if you're local -the Meyer's Salted American Bread is FANTASTIC with this.)

Don't forget to enter the Giveaway!

Shredded Chicken Cabbage Salad

Sorry about the picture- I took it a day later of the leftovers so it was a lot more vibrant when it was fresh! I love using cabbage for salads - it holds up well and you get a lot for your buck. (Cabbage salads make great reception/shower etc.. food.) I didn't write the measurements down when I was making it so these are VERY rough estimates. And since I was so pressed for time I used a rotisserie chicken which worked great! (I also didn't have to heat the grill or the oven.)

Salad:

1 small rotisserie chicken shredded (chicken breasts would work for this too)

1/2 head red cabbage -sliced in the food processor

1/2 head green cabbage -sliced in the food processor

1 bunch of green onions - chopped

1/2 red pepper - chopped

1 c. (more or less) shredded carrots

Dressing: (these are major approximations! just do it to taste.)

3 T.-4T.  seasoned rice vinegar

pinch of chinese 5 spice

2 T. - 3T. fresh ginger - peeled and finely chopped

3 cloves garlic - peeled and diced

2 t. sesame oil

salt

pepper

pinch of sugar

Toppings:

salted peanuts

chow mein noodles

Mix everything but the toppings together and chill for an hour or two.  Then add more dressing/spices/etc.. to taste.