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I'm really excited by our new cooking venture! We've met three times and every time has been full of laughter, great ambiance, and delicious food. I'm inspired by my supper club members, the cooks who create the recipes, learning new skills and ingredient education. I'm really enjoying taking photos of everything - even the plates we serve our food on! I've decided my first post will showcase some photos: Churros, Peruvian Chicken, Tiny Taco, Creme Anglaise Art, and beautiful dishes. Enjoy...Andrea

Mexican food

Anne:  I get so homesick for great Mexican flavours, particularly the Tex-Mex version I grew up with. I was home in Dallas in February and managed to eat Tex-Mex out 3 times in a week.  El Fenix, for old-school nostalgia and the best individually-crafted nachos (no lazy-man's pile-up here - each nacho is topped by hand) and a new favorite, Urban Taco (choice of 3 different tacos on one platter - great for a person who can never settle on just one type).  And I found a new salsa at Whole Foods, Salpica brand Texas Tequila picante with roased tomato and key lime, and brought home a jar (never leave home without bubble wrap in your suitcase...).  I'm still mourning the stack of 100 corn tortillas that I went off and left in my parent's fridge - oh well, they would have been harder to explain to Customs, anyway. 

The jar of salsa made its first Canadian appearance at the March SALA Supper Club - it was my turn to host and guest what theme/cuisine I picked? I started with margaritas (of course) on the rocks (also of course), rimmed with lime and salt.  Chips and salsa, and small meatballs in a tomato-cumin sauce, from the cookbook Mexican Bar (by Silverback Press, ISBN 1-930603-46-0).  Andrea made the world's most appealing tiny chicken tacos, each one the size of a toonie.  Sheri roasted a chicken with Peruvian flavours - incredible. Intrepid Leigh deep-fried churros - puffy hollows of fried dough rolled alternately in cinnamon and grated Mexican chocolate.

Pretty good for northerners!  Heck, it was pretty good for anyone.  Esta muy bien. 

The Journey Begins....with Jamie!

Anne:  Four friends with a common interest in great food decided to formalize:  instead of just talking about our favourite dishes and new recipes that caught our eye, we would meet once a month and cook together.  Each month, we would each contribute a dish and rotate through our houses for hosting.  The person hosting got dibs on calling the theme for their evening.  We needed to take into account not only who would contribute which dish (apps, main, dessert?), but also the external factors; busy day jobs, businesses to run, limited budgets, etc.  And adding to the challenge, is the fact that while we are all enthusiastic cooks, it turns out that we all have tiny kitchens, which makes it a quite a juggling act for all 4 of us to cook at one time. 

In January 2011, Leigh started off, and channeled one of our favourite chefs.  We each had to find a recipe from one of Jamie Oliver's cookbooks.  Easy peasy, you say?  Well, of course, since Jamie is prolific as well as adorable. Andrea heated Minted Pea Soup and Sheri staked out the kitchen island to create an on-the-spot chopped salad.  Anne baked Sticky Chicken Thighs with Smashed Potatoes.  And Leigh brought us home with Baked Apples in a pool of Creme Anglais.  We were off to a smashing start.