July 18, 2008 Barbeque

Crowing Coq Cookbook Club
• • Barbeque Dinner • •
Friday, July 18, 2008
6:00 p.m.

The July 18th Barbeque was a different dinner for us. We did not use a cookbook and members did not have to try a new recipe. People brought dishes that they enjoy preparing and eating at barbeques. As always, there were delightful surprises from even the most common of dishes and more food than we could eat.

Although we generally plate each course and serve a separate wine with each course, we decided to make this dinner a buffet, served in three flights.

The first course was a cocktail that Sharon created: Watermelon Mojito served with Asian Avocado Salsa and Pita & Bagel Chips that Sandi U. adapted from a recipe given to her by Emile Smith, a close friend of Henry Miller. The mojito put everyone into a party mood and ready for our main course and sides. It is always difficult to restrain ourselves and not eat too much of beginning courses because we know that we need to save space for delicious dishes that are waiting for us.

We had two main courses: Willie's BBQ Pork Spareribs, a recipe created by Willie and prepared by his spouse, Sandi, with great coaching from Willie who was recovering from walking pneumonia (who was nice enough to send the dish without partaking!); and Spice-coated Grilled Salmon that George prepared from an old Bon Appetit recipe). Both spice rubbed dishes complimented each other. Bill found two nice wines for these spicy dishes. A 2006 Zinfandel, Seghesio, from Sonoma and a 2006 Bonarda “Patriota” Tikal, from Mendoza, Argentina. After the yummy mojitos, the zinfandel and Tikals were nice companions to the ribs and salmon.

The many sides were great surprises, some from cookbooks and magazines and others created by cooks themselves. Sandy's Chopped Salad was a vegetarian surprise salad based on a Wolfgang Puck recipe. Sandi's Sapponack Corn Pudding was a served warm and had both fresh corn kernels as well as corn meal in the pudding. While they initially appeared to be common dishes we all find at BBQ’s, upon tasting, each dish had a unique twist or surprise. Even Sandi W's potato salad was different, using fresh basil leaves with red potatos. Sandi U's garlic bread was made using Extra Virgin Olive with just a touch of butter and lots of garlic to make a healthier version of this BBQ Staple. Annie created her spinach layer salad from years of experimenting... great research Annie! I have included the recipes for each of the dishes from this dinner’s menu. They are posted under July 18th Barbeque Recipes. Recipes have a photo of each dish...not that you'd forget this memorable meal!

Dessert was a fresh cherry pie and homemade ice creams. Sandi U. used a recipe from Deborah Olsen of the famed Olsen's Cherry Orchard stand in Sunnyvale. The luscious lime ice cream was prepared using the unique limes that grow in Janis’s backyard. By this time we had all had enough alcohol and most people opted for coffee. Although Bill did serve the sherry that we had at our last dinner to show that fortified wines hold up for months and months, once opened.

We all retired from this dinner fully sated and ready to try our next cookbook: Jean-Georges Cooking with a Four-Star Chef.