Chinese Food and a Cooking Throwdown

The Mableys hosted a Chinese themed gourmet club dinner this past Saturday.

I arrived in time to watch the Bruins finish off the Flyers. Which was sort of an appetizer in and of itself.

But the Mableys had something else planned for our appetizers. A cook off! We drew numbered knives to pair up with a partner.

Then they presented us with our key ingredients... goat cheese, strawberries, and potato chips. Yes, potato chips.

We could use anything else in the pantry, but our dish HAD to include those three ingredients. 45 minutes went ridiculously fast!

José and I prepared what we called a Royal Roulade (in honor of the recent royal wedding). We flattened some chicken tenders and stuffed them with goat cheese, crushed bacon, and scallions (?). Then we dredged the roulade in flour, then egg, then a breading of crushed potato chips and parmesan. We fried it, sliced it, and served in on a bed of arugula with a strawberry vinaigrette.

Now, I don't want to brag, but...

The other teams will have to weigh in about their dishes because I don't remember the specifics. I do remember Matt and Geoff used maple syrup and cayenne in their dish. And I remember that Rosie and Tricia's potato chips were marinated (OK, seasoned).

I hope you'll all chip in with the names of your dishes, because I don't remember them all. The menu looked something like this:

Fish soup

Stir fried bok choy and kale with tofu

Stir fried beef

Green beans with pork sausage

Lamb chops

Almond cookies and Fortune cookies

Oh, and yes, there were scorpion bowls.

Jambalaya and Ted Nugent

For those of you not on the Book Of Faces, what you saw me undergo turned out to be Cat Scratch Fever. I laughed for about two days after I found out. It's apparently not as funny as I first thought though. They have me on antibiotics, but they're actually making me come back to make sure it's gone. It's more common in kids, so those of you with young 'uns, keep it in mind.

I had a lot of fun for the first 24 hours of our trip. A couple of people asked about the jambalaya recipe. This is the one we made.

Summer camping trip in a yurt?

We haven't even gone skiing yet and I'm already thinking summer... and yurts. Is that sad? Anyone?

http://www.frostmountainyurts.com/index.htm

Things that make me think of our upcoming ski weekend

Some New Favorites

I don't have any photos to share at this time, but Eric and I have each tried new recipes lately that we consider to be worth repeating.

Eric made Cuban Crêpes, a recipe from some "Throwdown" winners who own and operate Flip Happy Crêpes out of Austin, Texas. The recipe involved roasting a boneless pork butt in the oven in a paper bag (!) for 4.5 hours and making some tasty crêpes. José, I have to say that Eric rivaled you in his crêpe-cooking skills! The only trouble with this recipe is that we made them for part of the fare offered while watching the hideous Pats v. Jets playoff game, so there's a chance that Eric can never make them again. Let us know if you want the recipe.

I recently made a Creamy Cauliflower Soup Sans Cream from the same cookbook where I got the Herbed Olives and the Goat-Cheese Mini Puffs that I made for our tapas night. This soup was very easy and quite delicious. It mainly involves Spanish onions, celery, cauliflower, and chicken broth, and I would say it is very low in fat. I may make it again tonight! Let me know if you are interested in that recipe as well.

What have you been cooking during all these snowstorms?

The fabulous menu from our crazy over the top tapas dinner.

José & Trish
Manchego Cheese and Quice Paste
Paella
Tarte

Mary
Gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp)
Potato Croquetas with Saffron Aioli

Mableys
Herbed Olives
Pork Tenderloin with Goat Portobello and Gorgonzola
Piquillo Peppers Stuffed with Salmon Tartar
Goat-Cheese Mini Puffs

Jeff & Rosie
Potato and Onion Frittata
Pork Sausage with Fig Sauce

Matt & Nancy
Spinach Balls
Meatballs (in some kind of delicious sauce)

Mmmmmm..... tapas

Happy New Year to all of you my friends.

I was looking for some theme we have not done yet but I am lacking creativity.

We may have done this already but I like the idea of a Tapas dinner where we all bring 2-3 dishes. Let me know if this works for you, if you'd rather stick to the usual format I'll be more than happy to make a main dish.

For main dish, I would actually like to make the dessert. At The Fossi's house, we have the tradition of celebrating the 3 kings day (next weekend) with 'La Galette des Rois'.

When cooking for Tapas, adjust your quantities or we will have an indecent amount of food, so adjust your servings and cook for 3.

Given the stronger likelihood for duplicates, please reply to all on your response.

Happy cooking.

Jose