Here's to another year.......

Hello Again! I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season. Ours was sweet, filled with snow, homemade sugar cookies, fun evenings chatting with friends and family and plenty of celebrating. I had the opportunity to cook a lot and traveled into this New Year with some cool ideas. Some, like the Holiday Veg Mix and the Creamy Tomato Soup, made this week’s menu. We are happy to get the VCSC going again. We are going to experiment with organizing our offerings, unless we deviate of course, which we can do. Every week we will offer three snax, three soups, three sides, and one salad. Lets see how it works.
(Joanna’s quick notes) It’s been a long time and we’ve enjoyed the break but missed the fun Thursdays seeing all of you come and go. I think Jake really missed his little VCSC parties. With the New Year a more interested Jake has offered to help and showed interest in what we do as the VCSC. He’s currently watching TV and peeling carrots. Can’t beat that….and now, on with the show…….

SNAX
The Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad and the Mom’s Insulted Tuna Salad will be offered. These are all familiar to you old timers and if you are new to the VCSC we will happily offer a tasting when you get here. The veggie cream cheese my mom used to make for our Sunday Brunches growing up served as inspiration for the Goat Cheese and Roasted Chili Dip. I have great memories of watching football games with my dad and brothers while snacking on cold cuts, smoked salmon, bagels with the cream cheese and sliced tomato and onion. There was also a green chile pie which was almost the same as quiche but called something different because back then, “Real men didn’t eat Quiche.” I loved the way the green chiles tasted with the cream cheese. Sub in goat cheese for the cream cheese and I think this dip should turn out great.

SIDES
I have my friend Brady to thank for the inspiration for our Holiday Veg Mix because he brought over some brussel sprouts in Dijon for a potluck one day. I used to hate brussel sprouts growing up, but I have discovered a way to cook them so they become delicious. I toss them with olive oil, salt and roast them at a high heat (420 degrees) until they are soft and starting to caramelize. This has become my standard cooking method for many vegetables and it works great. Cauliflower, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots all come out great when cooked this way. We had Christmas dinner at my brother’s house and my job was to cook the veg. Since he hates brussel sprouts and it was his house, I added butternut squash to the mix (because they are his favorite veg), red bells (for color), and turnips (because it sounded cool). To finish, I added a soy Dijon sauce. It was very good and I am happy to be serving it this week.
The Carrot Cakes with Thai Chile Sauce is also on the menu as requested by Joanna. They have been a popular item both with the supper club and catering events we have done. Again, I am going to sell them uncooked for maximum freshness. Just fry them up in a pan in a good amount of oil on medium high heat until golden on both sides and warm in the middle. Just like cooking a crab cake.
We are also going to do a Whole Wheat Orzo with basil walnut pesto, sun dried tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. This dish can be served as a cold pasta salad or warmed like a traditional pasta dish.

SOUPS
One thing I have learned about being in a relationship with Joanna for 12 years is that I know how to piss her off. I don’t even have to try, it just happens by accident sometimes. But if I make her the Mom’s Creamy Tomato Soup, I also know she won’t stay mad at me for long. I made this on the fly over the New Year’s weekend and it really touched her soul. We had guests over, it was cold, and we needed to eat fast. The stores were closed and I went foraging through the cabinets for something to cook using what I had on hand. It is really nothing more than a roasted garlic béchamel with tomato sauce. It brought back childhood memories of cold panhandle winter days, grill cheeses, and her mom’s tomato soup. I just remember my mom bringing her smooth, creamy tomato soup from a Campbell’s can. In fact, I think a lot of us have similar memories. Even though I was replicating Campbell’s, there are no chemicals, no emulsifiers, and the tomatoes are organic. (Joanna’s notes: My mom made an amazing tomato soup. I’ve asked her for the recipe many times but in classic fashion, I immediately tune her out and just wish she would make it for me….I’m like that. This soup tastes just like hers, so I was so happy that day when I came back from shopping at Macy’s, that’s right, Macy’s, and there was this beautiful bowl of tomato soup, just like mom’s.)
We are also serving a Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder. I had been reading about Sopa de Elote for work and wanted to try a refined, elegant and smooth soup. It has been so cold lately that I felt like cooking something heartier. The base will be a creamy corn soup spiked with whole kernels sautéed in garlic, chunks of sweet potatoes, and roasted red and green chiles.
The Carrot Ginger Soup is back by request as well. The carrots are organic, the veg stock is homemade, and the flavor is delicious. I hope you like it.

SALADS
The new section is salads. The Asian salad I sold last time out fared pretty well. This time we are going to debut the Mediterranean Salad, kind of a take on the Greek Salad. Chopped romaine, garbanzo beans, feta cheese, calamata, roasted peppers, sweet onions with red wine vinaigrette. It is a salad that my Dad would have loved and I hope doesn’t offend my hardcore Greek friends. They hate it when white guys try to cook Greek food.

Thanks again for everything and I will see you guys on Thursday. I know I promised a redo of the white beans and greens because I screwed them up last time. Next time around I promise to rectify that.

O.K. guys…..it’s Joanna, just sign up at violetcrownsupperclub@gmail.com if you are reading this blog and you are not in the club. We look forward to seeing all of you.