Tales from the Hill's Country

Quips, stories and observations from our adventures in marriage and parenting (as told by Katie).

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

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!

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