“T” March 22, 2020
Posted by andrewescott in Dinners.Tags: dinner, Jacinta, pam, t
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On Monday 2nd March, our dinner theme was “T”, or foods/ingredients that began with that letter. Jacinta and Pam cooked the food, and Pam also hosted.
Drink
Our cocktail of the evening was a chai tea dirty martini.
Entre
For entre we had roast tomato with feta and thyme, served with tiger nut and tapioca flat bread.
Mains
Main course consisted of tea-smoked chicken, tequila pork tenderloin, tarragon and tater salad, and tea-poached turtle bean and quinoa salad.
Dessert
For dessert, we had tequila cheesecakes, and tea-infused creme caramel.
Kaffir Lime March 22, 2020
Posted by andrewescott in Dinners.Tags: andrew, dinner, franca, kaffir lime, makrut lime
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On Monday 3rd February, the theme of our dinner was Kaffir Lime. Andrew and Franca cooked the dishes, and Franca also hosted.
Entre
For entre, Andrew made Mark Wiens’ tom kha gai (chicken tom kha soup).
Main
The main course was made by Franca, and consisted of sticky pork with kaffir lime leaves, and lime leaf chicken with rice noodles and cucumber.
Palate Cleanser
Franca then gave us a ginger and kaffir lime granita.
Dessert
For dessert, Andrew made a lime and coconut tart in a macaroon crust.
Mystery Box March 22, 2020
Posted by andrewescott in Dinners.Tags: black beans, cherries, dinner, kerri, laura, mint, mystery box, pecans
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The TV cooking show MasterChef has a Mystery Box challenge, where the contestants need to make a dish featuring surprise ingredients they all get in boxes. We chose this as the theme for the dinner on 6th January, where the non-cooking members suggested an ingredient each to go in the Mystery Box: black beans (suggested by Pam), pecans (Andrew), cherries (Jacinta & Franca), and mint (reserve option from Jacinta).
Entre
To start the meal, we had balsamic cherry, feta and prosciutto pizza.
Mains
The main course was cherry and pecan pesto chicken, with black bean salad.
Palate Cleanser
To cleanse out palates after mains, we had a mint sorbet.
Dessert
To finish, the dessert was black bean, pecan and cherry brownies, and cherry and pecan pound cake.
Mexican Christmas March 22, 2020
Posted by andrewescott in Dinners.Tags: Christmas, dinner, Jacinta, mexican, mexican christmas, pam
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On Monday 2nd December, we took our usual Christmas theme and turned it Mexican! Pam and Jacinta cooked the dishes, and Jacinta also hosted.
Drink
Entre
Mains
Dessert
Chickpeas March 22, 2020
Posted by andrewescott in Dinners.Tags: andrew, chickpea, chickpeas, dinner, franca
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On Monday 11th November, we had a dinner on the theme of Chickpeas – the versatile legume. Andrew and Franca cooked the food, and Andrew also hosted.
Entre
To start the dinner, Franca made chickpea chips with a dipping sauce.
Mains
Andrew served the main course of Nigella’s mughlai chicken with papadums and raita, Not Quite Nigella’s chickpea spinach and red lentil curry, and North Indian onion and cucumber salad.
Dessert
To finish the meal, Franca made aquafaba pavlova with balsamic strawberries and vanilla cream, and chickpea lemon slice.
Herbs March 22, 2020
Posted by andrewescott in Dinners.Tags: dinner, herbs, kerri, pam
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On Monday 7th October, our recipe club dinner was inspired by Herbs. Kerri and Pam both cooked, with Pam also hosting.
Drink
The feature drink for the evening was raspberry cocktails inflused with sage, tarragon and mint.
Entre
The entre was Ottolenghi mushroom and herb omlette (meant to be polenta).
Mains
Main course was kangaroo fillets rolled in finely chopped parsley, tarragon, rosemary and mint, with herbed roast vegetables.
Dessert
To finish, dessert was Swiss hazelnut & rosemary cake with chocolate frosting.
Crunchy March 22, 2020
Posted by andrewescott in Dinners.Tags: crunchy, dinner, franca, laura
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I’ve let a bit of a back-log build up of older posts, but hopefully I can catch up to the present shortly. Back on Monday 9th September (2019), we had a dinner themed around the Crunchy texture. Franca and Laura cooked the dishes, with Laura also hosting.
Entre
To start off the crunchy feast, Franca made her own corn tortilla chips with guacamole and sour cream.
Mains
Laura served up the main course, with crackling roast pork belly, crispy smashed potatoes, and apple, fennel and walnut salad.
Dessert
To finish, Franca gave us peanut brittle parfait ice-cream.
Flower/flour August 9, 2019
Posted by andrewescott in Dinners.Tags: andrew, dinner, flour, flower, Jacinta
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Two words that sound the same are called homophones, and the theme for our dinner on Monday 5th August was one, either flour or flower as appropriate to the recipe! Andrew was the host, and cooked the dessert dishes along with Jacinta who cooked the savoury ones.
Drink
Andrew started us with a flower-themed drink: champagne with hibiscus flower in syrup.
Entré
To begin the savoury courses, Jacinta served us Yotam Ottolengthi’s socca (chickpea flour pancakes).
Mains
For mains, Jacinta served a Yotam Ottolenghi cauliflower cake and a green salad.
Dessert
For dessert, Andrew firstly served a small “palate-cleanser” dessert of muhalabia (orange blossom water milk custard), followed by dark chocolate mud cake (using coconut flour) decorated with a sugar fondant rose.
Slow August 9, 2019
Posted by andrewescott in Dinners.Tags: dinner, kerri, laura, slow
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With winter upon us in Melbourne, it seemed appropriate to pick the theme of Slow food for our dinner. On Monday 15th July, we sat down to linger on delicious food from Laura and Kerri, with Kerri hosting.
Drink
Laura served us an infused cocktail spirit with lemonade to get us into the slow mood.
Entré
To start the dinner proper, we had Greek chicken and lemon soup.
Mains
For mains, we had lamb with onion and thyme, scalloped potatoes, and a warm winter salad.
Dessert
To finish the dinner, we had slow roasted quince with honey, cinnamon and cloves, with brandy butter ice-cream, a cake (which sadly I can’t remember much about now), and gluten-free almond biscotti with a hot drink.
Spanish August 9, 2019
Posted by andrewescott in Dinners.Tags: dinner, franca, Jacinta, spanish
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For Monday 3rd June, we went regional, and had a Spanish dinner. Franca and Jacinta were our cooks for the evening, with Jacinta hosting.
Mains
The mains were served tapas-style, with a range of smaller dishes for sharing. These included fried eggplant with herbs and honey, ricotta with grapes and olives, Frank Camorra’s ensalada de remolacha (beetroot salad with fennel and cumin), and Frank Camorra’s prueba de matanza con patatas panadera (fresh chorizo with baker’s potatoes).
Dessert
For dessert, we had individual serves of crema catalana.
Melbourne Recipe Club 