Supper Club VII: Cold Appetizers & Cocktails
The first course of supper club started off with some cold appetizers and the obligatory booze. As best as I can recall, all of these were made or at least started on Friday night.
Salted Almonds
Silvana Franco's Tapas Cookbook, page 12
Serves 2-4
1 cup whole almonds
1 tablespoon egg white, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes, or until cracked and golden.
3. Mix the egg white and salt in a bowl.
4. Add the almonds to the bowl, shake well to coat.
5. Put the almonds back on the baking sheet, make sure they are separated, and roast another 5 minutes.
6. Store in an airtight container until they are ready to serve.
I made a double batch of these on Friday night using the same cookbook that supported my very first supper club. I knew they would be good because I'd already made these in January before we had to cancel. They got a little darker than I expected, but they weren't actually burnt and tasted good.
Marinated Manchego
darlox Original
Quantity Uncertain
Olive Oil
Tarragon
Chili Peppers
Peppercorns
Machego
White Vinegar
1. Warm olive oil with herbs (tarragon, chili peppers, peppercorns) and then let the oil cool completely 2. Put oil and herbs in a jar with cubed Manchego and new fresh herbs and a splash of white vinegar.
3. This can be made a few days in advance.
I chopped the cheese and gieves did all the rest of the work. We marinated everything in a fancy mason jar, but once we took pictures it was transferred to a casserole dish for ease of serving.
Apple Cider Sangria
The Smitten Kitchen Blog
Makes one quart.
1 cup apple cider (the fresh kind, not the fizzy alcoholic kind)
1 bottle dry white wine
1/4 cup calvados or another apple brandy
1/4 cup Triple sec or another orange liqueur
Mixed colors of apples, diced and tossed with lemon juice to prevent browning
Seltzer, sparkling water or sparkling apple cider to finish
1. Place the apple cider in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce about 3/4 of the way, until you have approximately 1/4 cup apple cider left; this will take 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Pour into small bowl set over a bowl of ice water and stir; it will cool very quickly this way.
3. Pour reduced, cooled cider into pitcher.
4. Add wine, apple brandy and triple sec.
5. Add fruit and let sit in the fridge until needed.
6. Add some fizz right before serving; a slotted spoon will help guests hold back the fruit while pouring their glasses, and spoon some on top, if desired.
gieves did all the work on this one. Fun fact: the apples came from katspaw156's tree. I seem to recall that we made two batches, but it has been eight months, and only seven attendees drink, and I can only find photographic evidence of one batch, so make of that what you will. In any case, it was perfectly serviceable sangria. I'd say it was better than the sangria we made at that first Supper Club back in 2008.
While everyone was drinking and noshing, we were in the kitchen preparing the warm appetizers.
Salted Almonds
Silvana Franco's Tapas Cookbook, page 12
Serves 2-4
1 cup whole almonds
1 tablespoon egg white, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes, or until cracked and golden.
3. Mix the egg white and salt in a bowl.
4. Add the almonds to the bowl, shake well to coat.
5. Put the almonds back on the baking sheet, make sure they are separated, and roast another 5 minutes.
6. Store in an airtight container until they are ready to serve.
I made a double batch of these on Friday night using the same cookbook that supported my very first supper club. I knew they would be good because I'd already made these in January before we had to cancel. They got a little darker than I expected, but they weren't actually burnt and tasted good.
Marinated Manchego
darlox Original
Quantity Uncertain
Olive Oil
Tarragon
Chili Peppers
Peppercorns
Machego
White Vinegar
1. Warm olive oil with herbs (tarragon, chili peppers, peppercorns) and then let the oil cool completely 2. Put oil and herbs in a jar with cubed Manchego and new fresh herbs and a splash of white vinegar.
3. This can be made a few days in advance.
I chopped the cheese and gieves did all the rest of the work. We marinated everything in a fancy mason jar, but once we took pictures it was transferred to a casserole dish for ease of serving.
Apple Cider Sangria
The Smitten Kitchen Blog
Makes one quart.
1 cup apple cider (the fresh kind, not the fizzy alcoholic kind)
1 bottle dry white wine
1/4 cup calvados or another apple brandy
1/4 cup Triple sec or another orange liqueur
Mixed colors of apples, diced and tossed with lemon juice to prevent browning
Seltzer, sparkling water or sparkling apple cider to finish
1. Place the apple cider in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce about 3/4 of the way, until you have approximately 1/4 cup apple cider left; this will take 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Pour into small bowl set over a bowl of ice water and stir; it will cool very quickly this way.
3. Pour reduced, cooled cider into pitcher.
4. Add wine, apple brandy and triple sec.
5. Add fruit and let sit in the fridge until needed.
6. Add some fizz right before serving; a slotted spoon will help guests hold back the fruit while pouring their glasses, and spoon some on top, if desired.
gieves did all the work on this one. Fun fact: the apples came from katspaw156's tree. I seem to recall that we made two batches, but it has been eight months, and only seven attendees drink, and I can only find photographic evidence of one batch, so make of that what you will. In any case, it was perfectly serviceable sangria. I'd say it was better than the sangria we made at that first Supper Club back in 2008.
While everyone was drinking and noshing, we were in the kitchen preparing the warm appetizers.