Thursday, May 28, 2009

Welcome Back!

Thanks Meredith, for the awesome pic of a past meal from the VCSC.

Thanks for the patience while allowing us some time off. We really appreciate your support. A few quick notes before we talk about the food. This is the last week we are using the crappy to-go containers. We will be switching to a higher grade container that is dishwasher friendly and reusable. If anyone has any suggestions let us know. We hope to someday go to mason jars but currently have storage issues.

LAST WEEK

Annie came by with some parsley from the garden. I made some parsley almond pesto and a chimichurri sauce. It sparked an idea. I use lots of basil, parsley, cilantro, dill and some mint. If anyone’s garden is overflowing with these, I could buy them from you instead of the store. Just an idea, let me know what you think.

Now for the food.

My prep got cut short due to an electrical emergency at work. Some things are still in progress like the salad dressings and carrot cakes.

SNAX

The granola is back this time with blueberries joining the cranberries, almonds, and honey. The tuna fish salad is back as well. I still have not been able to provide Joanna with any because it keeps selling out. I made extra this time and she has her fix. (Joanna smiles at this as she is expecting there won’t be any left.)
The chipotle black bean dip was also requested and is for sale. It came out a little spicier than normal, but very good. Finally, I tried some baba ganouj, hummus’s roasted eggplant cousin. I was disappointed about how expensive the eggplants were and how little they yielded, but it does taste good.

SIDES

These are all new offerings. Hopefully, I will finish the carrot cakes and serve them with thai chile sauce. It was created as an alternative to crab cakes when I was attempting to be a vegetarian. The red curry with lentils and potatoes is very good, but obviously made by a honky. I am not too familiar with Indian cooking, but this is not a shabby start. I will study up on it a bit more and improve my technique. (Joanna says we may have to visit some Indian restaurants for research, can you say tax write-off). Succotash is not just a fun word to say but also a delicious buttery combination of white lima beans, green lima beans, corn, peppers, and onion. I was enchanted by the huge broad beans at Sun Harvest and wanted to use them some how. Just heat this dish up in either butter or oil. It’s a perfect side dish. The three-potato salad has the same color combination as the succotash, but quite a different flavor. It is a combination of gold, white and sweet potatoes bound together with whole grain mustard, olive oil, and mayo. Cilantro, corn, peppers, and onions round out the flavors. This side dish can be served warm or cold. It would be a great friend to some grilled chicken or fish.

SOUPS

I made a summer vegetable soup that came out really nice. It is packed with tomatoes, lima beans, edamame, yellow squash, zucchini, garlic, onions, parsley, and on and on. A vegetarians dream. Good fresh flavors. I also did a cold soup because it was so hot last week. I tried a cucumber dill. It has a good lemony aftertaste that goes well now that it is 90 degrees outside.

SALAD DRESSINGS

I am going to do a white miso vin, a sundried tomato balsamic vin, and a cilantro lime vin if time permits. Like I mentioned earlier, I got the emergency call at 5:30am.
Thanks for everything.

The VCSC welcomes back Luscious, check out the link for what they will be offering this week here at the Supper Club.

JOANNA'S NOTES
FYI, I have been adding comments all along in parenthesis. Guys, the black bean dip is yum and it’s a bit hotter than normal so tie-down those summer straw hats. The potato salad and succotash are ever so tasty. Joel had me taste test them as I was falling asleep with Jake and an hour later I was scrounging in the kitchen for more. We never eat on production night so I’m starving the whole time. The cucumber soup is so light and delish. . .perfect for coming home from a hot afternoon at the park. The tuna fish, well, I think we all know how I feel about that. . scourge all you tuna fish lovers. I will get mine! The red curry will serve wonderfully on a bowl of rice and easily be more than a meal. . . . Joel, you did good! O.K. guys, Friday at Northwest Pool, be there or be square.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

The Electric Company


Again, thank you for the great support last week. I hope you guys aren’t burned out on the food. We will be taking next week off so we don’t get burned out. I had an idea that each week we produce food, we could feature a vegetable, a grain, and a bean. Kind of like the Electric Company. This week’s show was brought to you by the vegetable asparagus, the grain quinoa, and great northern white beans. Here is the complete rundown.

SNAX

The white beans show up here in the form of a roasted garlic white bean dip. This was advertised a few weeks ago, but I messed up the dip and it was horrible. I want you guys to think I know how to cook and part of this is hiding my mistakes. I couldn’t even salvage that one. This week should be better.
I made a sun-dried tomato feta dip last Friday on the fly and it was delicious. I am going to try and do it again on purpose. Most dips have a base of mayo and sour cream and are simply not good for you. The base here is pureed garbanzo beans, which is a much better alternative on the health front. I could call this a sun-dried tomato hummus, but that is just so honky. Hummus comes in one flavor. HUMMUS!
We ran out of the honey almond cranberry granola so it has once again made a return to the VCSC. This batch did not get burned. I am finally getting used to having a fancy convection oven.

SIDES
I again apologize for no casseroles. There just has not been time to develop these. But I do have some cool sides this week. The featured Red Quinoa can be served hot or cold as a salad. It is accompanied by grilled peppers, roasted corn, sweet onion, and cilantro. This is some healthy stuff. Quinoa was dubbed the Mother Grain by the Incas for its health properties and it does contain all 9 of the essential amino acids. A STUDLY protein source for a seed that can be cooked like a grain.
Asparagus saute with a lemon-garlic sauce is the second side. I have high hopes for this one. I thought I would gently toast thinly sliced garlic in Olive Oil then add fresh parsley and lemon to create a good friend for the grilled spears.
The Veggie Charros Beans are spiced up with tomatoes, garlic, sweet peppers, onion and cilantro. These are good and also pretty. They would be great topped with cheese or in a quesadilla.

SOUPS
The White Bean with Parmesan is an excellent soup. So rich and creamy it is hard to believe that there is no dairy in it except for the parmesan tossed in at the end for sharpness. (And the cool title of course.) The featured Veg makes an appearance here in the form of Asparagus Soup. I liked the idea of seeing a vibrant green soup next to a white one inside of Flash (the silver fridge, soon to be accompanied by a new silver fridge/freezer combo, name will be assigned upon arrival in the VCSC). Finally, because it was so hot this weekend, I was inspired to make Gazpacho, one of my favorite soups of all time.

SALAD DRESSINGS
There is a great article in this month's Saveur about iceberg lettuce. This week’s dressing was supposed to be a creamy blue cheese but I got inspired by a blue cheese vinaigrette in the article. Let’s see how it goes. The other dressing will be the chipotle vinaigrette I am still trying to develop for work.
I really hope you guys enjoy the food. If you don’t, please let me know and I will try to fix it. I rely on your feed back to help perfect the craft. Thanks for everything.

JOANNA NOTE'S
FYI, the white bean soup is good enough to suck, through a straw, or your nose, whatever, it’s yummalicious. And the granola has hit some new heights in the way of crunchy loveliness. The asparagus soup is otherworldly and I just tasted the lemon-garlic sauce, wwwwwowww!

WE WELCOME LUSCIOUS PASTRIES. . . Jennifer and Anne-Charlotte will be bringing their sweet lovelies to the VCSC so be prepared to have some desert as well. Peace out friends!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

The GoGo's Visit the Supper Club. . ..


It's late on a Saturday night and I wanted to let you guys know that Joel is busy building his menu for next week AND he has bought us some new music to listen to while he cooks away and I wash dishes. The key to a compatable work relationship is good tunes and an understanding of what we're both good at doing. You all know that Joel and I work together everyday at our day job, so this lovely side thing we are doing only brings us together on a more intense note. With that said, our love of music just keeps things movin' and groovin'. We've been coveting some GoGo's but haven't had the time to look for a good cd. Joel had some time on his hands tonite and went to Waterloo. He picked up Go-Gos. . "Return To The Valley Of The Go-Go's". I'm smitten and have fallen in love with Joel again like it was the first night. Wow, what a cool guy to groove on some cool chick rock with me. This stuff is better than you can imagine. What we didn't know about the Go-Go's is that they were so punk in the beginning. . I'm dying and as you listen to each track you see them grow.
There are all kinds of rumors going around about another co-op biz joining the supper club to bring sweets to the offerings, Luscious are you out there??? We love the idea of being a part of a food village. . so, anything is possible. Stay tunes for a menu!