Monday, June 25, 2012

eaTABLE Supper Club: June 24, 2012

What a night! On Sunday, we cooked a 6-course dinner for 16 people under the stars in a beautiful outdoor kitchen. We couldn't have pulled it off without our wonderful hosts, the Fishes, and our friends Margot McNeely of Project Green Fork, who coordinated and decorated, and Jody Moyt, Executive Chef at Owen Brennan's, who kept things calm and moving forward in the kitchen.


This is the third eaTABLE supper club event presented by us here at The Chubby Vegetarian. (We did all-vegan comfort food last fall for comforTABLE. And our first one with a Latin theme back in 2010 was actually the first eaTABLE!) 


It's hard work to prepare and present so many dishes to so many people in an unfamiliar kitchen. It's usually an all-weekend event for us from menu planning to shopping at the farmers markets, to prepping the sauces and ingredients, and then packing, transporting, and unpacking. It's fun, but can be a little head-spinning. Why do we keep doing it? It's simple, really. This particular group of people are such an appreciative audience. They are there for the experience and to try something new, so that is what we wanted to give them.



We called the menu comporTABLE, which means 'appropriate and suitable'. Since we were eating poolside out in the heat, we wanted to keep the food fairly light. Here is what we came up with for the menu:



1. Banh Mi Spring Rolls
Local Shiitake Paté, Cucumber, Do Chao, Sriracha

2. Corn + Fennel Stuffed Squash Blossom 
Grilled Zucchini, Crookneck Sauce, Fennel Pollen


3. Grilled Watermelon Steak
Jewel Tomatoes, Goat Cheese, Honey-Lime Vinaigrette

4. Deconstructed Potato Salad
Truffled Grilled Potato, Five-Minute Egg, Pickled Mustard Seed, Greens


5. Chorizo Stuffed Pepper
Chipotle-Tomato Sauce, Corn Nuts


6. Buttered Baguette Ice Cream 
Peach Jam, Gianduja


We had a blast cooking and are so glad that we were asked to participate this time. In other news, we will have information for you this week about another upcoming TCV dinner at an East Memphis restaurant in late July; we would love it if some you would be able to attend!