supper club menu - 30th March

The meal for the next supper club has been inspired by two cookbooks, Moro and Pizzaro. I've still never managed to go to Moro but I'm utterly inspired by their cookbooks and their style of food. On my last trip to London I happened upon another Spanish gem Pizarro. Again I didn't actually go to the restaurant (it's on my incredibly long list) but instead opted to recreate from their cookbook in my sister's flat (which is only up the road from the restaurant, so it's kind of like I was there). Their recipes are fantastic and well worth a try. Anyway, both of these books have inspired me to put together the menu for this club. As always, if you're interested in attending, send an email to thearbutusclub@gmail.com.

aperitif

dukkah

marinated olives

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pork empanadillas

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mutumma (slow cooked lamb with beans + coriander)

chopped salad

bread

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chocolate, hazelnut and almond cake

tea/coffee

baklava

donations for the evening are 20 euro payable on arrival

please let me know if there are any allergies and I will try to accommodate you

New supper club dates

I have some new supper club dates to announce. I've been seriously unorganised of late and am delighted to say I finally seem to be doing something about it so here they are. 

30th March

28th April

Put them in the diary! If you would like to attend please email me at thearbutusclub@gmail.com with details of how many seats you'd like to book. There's only eight places at each evening so book early. The donation for the dinner as usual will be 20 euro per person. Details of menus to follow shortly.

Sculptor's supper club

It's been a while since I last blogged about my supper club and I've been a little naughty in neglecting to write about the last one I had. So here it is. Better late than never.

The last club I hosted was an age ago on the 15th December. It was slightly different to normal in that I was hosting a Christmas get together for a lovely bunch of people who are in a sculpture group together. This was the first night I'd hosted where everyone at the table knew each other and also the first where I didn't really know any of them. It was interesting to see the different effect this had on the whole dynamic of the evening. It was a slightly older group than I was used to and I was unsure how they would be with the whole 'paying to eat dinner in a stranger's house' scenario. Turns out they were totally great about it. They all arrived together and as they were all so comfortable with each other they settled right into my living room as if it was their own. I served them a nice warm glass of mulled wine and some canapes of crackers with olive tapenade, beetroot hummous  and goat's cheese to whet their appetites. This all seemed to go down well and I was able to leave them get on with their Christmas good cheer while I got the starters ready. 

For starter they had a beetroot and goat's cheese salad with honey and walnuts. Yes, more beetroot. I do like continuity. The main was a Nigel Slater recipe for braised lamb with leeks and haricot beans, which was very hearty and very tasty and I was delighted to dole out seconds. To finish off they had an apple and plum crumble followed by tea, coffee and biscotti.

I don't know if it was because the group were so at ease with each other and seemed instantly at ease with the whole evening, or if the menu lended itself to a laid back atmosphere but the evening was very relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable. I was pretty much able to leave them to it and sit back and enjoy the nice atmosphere they created. For their part I think they enjoyed the intimacy of the evening, the relaxed environment and hopefully some nice food.

I would definitely host a group in the future. So if anyone out there's interested please get in touch!