September Supper Club

In September, we moved the Supper Club meeting back to it's original house... ours! I insist on hosting each month (it makes me keep the house clean!) but I acquiesced over the summer because Ashley was house-sitting a fabulous home and our A/C was having a hard time keeping up with the Houston heat (thank goodness Big Case got that fixed!).

Ashley's dish was an appetizer turned salad, Endive with Caramelized Apples and Pears (p. 60):

 The endive was supposed to be a hearty leaf-type vegetable that was able to be rolled up. And the ingredients were to be rolled in it, for an appetizer. But Ashley had a hard time finding the right kind of endive, so we had it "deconstructed" instead!

I took the main dish, Autumn Braised Brisket (p. 199) and Michelle did the side Balsamic Glazed Carrots (p. 213):

Doesn't it look beautiful? Everyone (including Shannon) wanted to snap a photo of it!

It was very, very delicious. The carrots were perfect-- not mushy, but cooked enough to not be crunchy-raw. It was my favorite part of the meal. 

The brisket was quite tasty too. I did make a few changes. The recipe called for a three-pound brisket cooked for 3-3.5 hours. I could only find a five-pound brisket which I cooked for 6 hours. The recipe said it was done when it was "tender and falling apart". I took that to mean falling apart like pulled-pork... so I might have over-cooked it a little. After 6 hours I conferred with everyone else and we all agreed it wasn't supposed to pull apart... just be tender. 

It was a great brisket, and I'm sure I'll make it again. But I have to say, the ready-made (and pre-cut) brisket at HEB kind of wins on this one. I feel like a fake getting my food ready-made... but it tastes SO good and is SO easy! Still, the smells produced from my kitchen for the 6 hours of baking were amazing... so I guess it's a toss-up. 

Last up were Bite-size Bourbon Cakes (p. 246) made by me. 

Easy to make, easy to eat. I only recommend that you not have as heavy as a hand as I did when pouring in the Bourbon. Especially if you're driving home! Oopsie! Also, normally I wouldn't make these as a dessert for a dinner party. Maybe on the dessert table at an appetizer party. Or even packaged as a Christmas hostess gift. 

Again, get these great recipes and more at our official Super Supper Club 2011 cookbook: Peace Meals, by the Houston Junior League. It's my go-to cookbook for fabulous, entertaining meals!