The Supper Club is a group of friends who love to cook, eat, drink and laugh together – plenty of each occur at our periodic themed dinner parties. Our friends and family sometimes like to live vicariously through our feasts so we’ll share the stories, pictures and recipes here from time to time. Click here for the group’s origin story and past themes.
Keeping things close to home for our most recent gathering, the Supper Club was hosted by Kathleen and Karen who selected the theme – Local.
The rules of the game were to prepare our dishes using only ingredients found within a 250 mile radius of Chicago. We’re fortunate to live near farm country – plenty of livestock, dairy and produce farms within the range – and the area abounds with artisanal makers of many tasty treats, so while this required a little forethought it was not overly difficult to do. Some exceptions were made – salt, pepper, olive oil, and most importantly wine. While there is wine made within that 250 mile area, it’s not all as quaffable as we’re accustomed to. Life’s too short to drink lesser wine. Or something like that.
The Menu:
Drinks (Ellyn):
Appetizers (Dan & Greg): A trio of cold soups served on vintage mid-century china
Main course (Karen & Kathleen):
Dessert (Ilise & Ann):
Yes, it’s a real shame we ran out of food. J/k, that’s never going to happen at a Supper Club gathering. Abundance is our middle name. (Looks odd on a business card, but what can I say.)
Today’s post will shine a spotlight on the Drinks and Appetizers. Click Read More below for photos and recipes and a playlist featuring local musicians. A future post will detail the Main Course and Dessert.
Keeping things close to home for our most recent gathering, the Supper Club was hosted by Kathleen and Karen who selected the theme – Local.
The rules of the game were to prepare our dishes using only ingredients found within a 250 mile radius of Chicago. We’re fortunate to live near farm country – plenty of livestock, dairy and produce farms within the range – and the area abounds with artisanal makers of many tasty treats, so while this required a little forethought it was not overly difficult to do. Some exceptions were made – salt, pepper, olive oil, and most importantly wine. While there is wine made within that 250 mile area, it’s not all as quaffable as we’re accustomed to. Life’s too short to drink lesser wine. Or something like that.
The Menu:
Drinks (Ellyn):
- Cocktail – A delightful fruity-herbal concoction using beautiful produce from her own garden
- Various wines (not local – yay!)
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Plum dessert wine from Lynfred Wineries (Roselle, IL)
Appetizers (Dan & Greg): A trio of cold soups served on vintage mid-century china
- Chilled Corn Soup with Pickled Corn
- Peach-Muskmelon Gazpacho
- Roasted Red Pepper/Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho
Main course (Karen & Kathleen):
- Composed Salad with Pork Belly and a Medium-Boiled Egg
- Rack of Pork Arista with Potato Pave
- Sautéed Corn with Red Pepper and Ramp Butter
- Tomato Marmalade
Dessert (Ilise & Ann):
- Cheese board: 5 local cheeses, homemade wheat crackers & locally sourced beer bread, Blueberry Chutney, Tomato Jam & local honey
- Dark Chocolate Bourbon Caramel Brownies (local to our freezer for the past couple months)
Yes, it’s a real shame we ran out of food. J/k, that’s never going to happen at a Supper Club gathering. Abundance is our middle name. (Looks odd on a business card, but what can I say.)
Today’s post will shine a spotlight on the Drinks and Appetizers. Click Read More below for photos and recipes and a playlist featuring local musicians. A future post will detail the Main Course and Dessert.
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In addition to a bounty of luscious fruits and vegetables, the country’s heartland also offers a bumper crop of talented musicians. Let’s listen to a few of them now, shall we?
(A few of these tunes merely name check great Midwestern locales but we'll let them into the playlist anyway.) |
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Ellyn started the evening off right with a fruity concoction made from black raspberries and lemon thyme from her own garden. Can’t get much more local than that! She didn’t name it, so I will and now present to you …
Ellyn’s Garden of Earthly Delights
Ellyn was vague about the quantities used, so I think it’s up to you and your taste buds. A typical ratio is 2:1:1, liquor to tart to sweet, but feel free to adjust as you see fit. You might be tempted to skip the thyme but I urge you to reconsider. The herbal notes tame the sweetness and ensure that this pretty pink drink is most definitely crafted for grown-up palates.
Click to enlarge the photos and read the captions.
Ellyn’s Garden of Earthly Delights
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Start by making a black raspberry simple syrup. Here are a couple of easy recipe links for doing so.
- Muddle a generous handful of lemon thyme, then add the black raspberry simple syrup, vodka and lime juice. Note: Ellyn used Koval Chicago-made rye vodka in honor of our theme.
- Shake with ice and pour.
- Garnish each cocktail with a few fresh lemon thyme leaves.
Ellyn was vague about the quantities used, so I think it’s up to you and your taste buds. A typical ratio is 2:1:1, liquor to tart to sweet, but feel free to adjust as you see fit. You might be tempted to skip the thyme but I urge you to reconsider. The herbal notes tame the sweetness and ensure that this pretty pink drink is most definitely crafted for grown-up palates.
Click to enlarge the photos and read the captions.
The appetizer course was picture perfect – those vintage coffee cups made the perfect delivery system for the to-die-for cold soups – and perfectly satisfying on a hot summer’s evening. Although Greg and Dan’s kitchen wizardry elevated the food to sublime levels, the treatments were simple enough so that the crisp, fresh taste of just-picked vegetables and fruit really shone through. Recipe links appear below, along with notes from the cooks.
Chilled Corn Soup with Pickled Corn
Our only modification to the recipe was to cook the corn for the pickle for a few minutes so it wouldn’t have a raw taste. We also used Wisconsin butter in place of olive oil for sautéing the onions. Garnished with parsley from our friend Najwa’s garden.
Peach-Muskmelon Gazpacho
Dan doctored this recipe up with additional muskmelon, a bit of balsamic vinegar and salt to taste to balance out the predominant almond-peachiness of the initial mixture. Garnished with slivered blanched almonds.
Roasted Red Pepper/Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho
We pretty much followed the recipe except we used more roasted pepper than called for and a mixture of sherry vinegar and local herb-infused vinegar. Garnished with a drizzle of basil olive oil and garlic croutons.
Click to enlarge the photos and read the captions.
Chilled Corn Soup with Pickled Corn
Our only modification to the recipe was to cook the corn for the pickle for a few minutes so it wouldn’t have a raw taste. We also used Wisconsin butter in place of olive oil for sautéing the onions. Garnished with parsley from our friend Najwa’s garden.
Peach-Muskmelon Gazpacho
Dan doctored this recipe up with additional muskmelon, a bit of balsamic vinegar and salt to taste to balance out the predominant almond-peachiness of the initial mixture. Garnished with slivered blanched almonds.
Roasted Red Pepper/Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho
We pretty much followed the recipe except we used more roasted pepper than called for and a mixture of sherry vinegar and local herb-infused vinegar. Garnished with a drizzle of basil olive oil and garlic croutons.
Click to enlarge the photos and read the captions.
That’s it for Part 1 of The Supper Club Sources Locally and Dines Deliciously. Kudos to the Ks for selecting a challenging and entirely worthwhile theme. Stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon, sharing juicy details about the main course and dessert, including recipes and of course more photos. And I mean literally juicy – that pork roast was ah-may-zing!
A Year Ago in Supper Club: In August 2014, Ellyn hosted and picked the theme: Boardwalk.
Drinks (Karen and Kathleen): Inspired by the TV show Boardwalk Empire, they made Mob-inspired labels for the wine bottles and prohibition-style camouflage – Nothin’ But Soda Pop proclaimed one such label. Alas, the starter cocktail was so refreshing that we got lost in the moment and forgot to write it down.
Appetizers (Ilise and Ann): Corndogs and Corn-Shrimp-Dogs with mustard and Bang-Bang Shrimp Sauce
Main Course (Ellyn): Lobster rolls, Philly cheese chicken sandwiches, Pepper & sausage rolls with Marinara sauce. Also cole slaw and tomatoes from her garden.
Dessert (Greg and Dan): Always pushing the envelope, the guys built a boardwalk and beach scene using cheesecake (with yummy brownie chunks inside), graham crackers and twine to create the actual boardwalk, graham cracker crumbs for the sand, and fudge covered with special colored sugar for the water. There were also chocolate-covered coffee beans portraying rocks on the beach. These two are real overachievers, wouldn’t you say? And we are ALL thankful for that!
Drinks (Karen and Kathleen): Inspired by the TV show Boardwalk Empire, they made Mob-inspired labels for the wine bottles and prohibition-style camouflage – Nothin’ But Soda Pop proclaimed one such label. Alas, the starter cocktail was so refreshing that we got lost in the moment and forgot to write it down.
Appetizers (Ilise and Ann): Corndogs and Corn-Shrimp-Dogs with mustard and Bang-Bang Shrimp Sauce
Main Course (Ellyn): Lobster rolls, Philly cheese chicken sandwiches, Pepper & sausage rolls with Marinara sauce. Also cole slaw and tomatoes from her garden.
Dessert (Greg and Dan): Always pushing the envelope, the guys built a boardwalk and beach scene using cheesecake (with yummy brownie chunks inside), graham crackers and twine to create the actual boardwalk, graham cracker crumbs for the sand, and fudge covered with special colored sugar for the water. There were also chocolate-covered coffee beans portraying rocks on the beach. These two are real overachievers, wouldn’t you say? And we are ALL thankful for that!
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