Supper Club – January 29, 2011

The theme for this gathering was Hawaiian.  Seeing as it was the middle of winter, we couldn’t exactly roast a pig on a spit….but “the Leo” (aka host this time around) came up with a pretty good subsitute.

APPETIZERS

Sake and Gingerale Cocktail

Poke Poke Tuna and Spam Nageri

Jeff and I were in charge of the first course.  Jeff is the creative genius on this one.  I threw together the cocktail with the ingredients he picked out:  Asian Pear Sake, Gingerale, and Lime juice.  Add a little cocktail umbrella, a slice of lime, and wallaaa.

Jeff prepared a Poke Poke Tuna using sushi-grade Ahi Tuna from the Sushi counter at Wegmans as well as a Spam Nageri.  Sprinkle pink sea salt and black sesame seeds along with a splash of a Wasabi sauce and there you have it. 

SOUP

Sally's Soup

Sally and Brian were in charge of the Soup/Salad course.  They served a phenomenal soup and I can’t for the life of me remember it’s name or it’s ingredients.  Either way, it was delicious.  Even Alex, the world’s pickiest 3 year old, was chowing down.  The beverage pairing for this was a scrumptious prosecco and ginger liquer cocktail. 

MAIN COURSE

Roast pork et al.

The Leo and the lovely Michelle were in charge of the main course.  The pork was slow roasted with a number of ingredients that I can’t remember.  On the side were grilled pineapple, jicama, macadamia nut and coconut sweet rice, and purple potato chips.  The edible flowers were pretty but taste about as you would expect a flower to taste.

Their beverage pairing was a red wine straight from Hawaii.  How fitting!  And delicious as well.

DESSERT

Pineapple with ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, macadamia nuts and coconut

Aaron and Katie were in charge of my favorite course….dessert.  This was a sundae lovers’ dream (and might I add, that I am a sundae lover….especially banana split sundaes).  This was a slice of pineapple heaven covered in toppings.  Along side it was a cup of coffee smothered in amaretto and cream.  Divine.

Next meeting of Supper Club is scheduled for mid-March.  Jeff and I will be hosting and the theme is BACON.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Carrot Cake Cupcake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these cupcakes for our weekly cheat day (the one day each week that Jeff and I get to go off diet and eat whatever the hell we want!).  They were phenomenal.  This recipe comes from a cookbook I received as a Christmas gift called Baking Illustrated. 

I opted for NO nuts and NO raisins, but if you feel like it, throw them in!

INGREDIENTS

Carrot Cake:

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 pound (about 6 or 7 medium) carrots, peeled

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (or safflower or canola oil)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened but still cool

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool

1 tablespoon orange juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon orange zest

1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar

TO BAKE THE CAKE:

Put your oven rack in the middle position and preheat to 350.  You can either use a muffin pan or you can use foil liners on a cookie sheet (the foil ones will hold the weight of the batter, but the regular paper ones will not). 

Whisk together the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

In a food processer fitted with a shredding disk, shred the carrots.  Add the shredded carrots to the dry ingredients and set aside.  Wipe out the food processer and fit it with a blade.

In the food processor, process the eggs and both types of sugars until it is fully combined and frothy.  With the machine running, add the oil through the feed tube.  Process until well emulsified, about 20 seconds.  Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and stir the carrots/dry ingredients into the mixture until well combined with no streaks of flour remaining.  Pour into the pan or liners and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  I rotated the  cupcakes about halfway through and I think my cooking time was close to 25-30 minutes total. 

Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack.

MAKING THE FROSTING:

In a mixer or food processor, combine the cream cheese, butter, orange juice, vanilla, and orange zest and blend/beat until combined.  Add the confectioners sugar and beat/blend until smooth.

ENJOY!