America the Delicious: SSC Pays Tribute to Our National Summer Classics!

While the 4th of July celebrates our country's independence from Great Briton bossing us around and telling us what to do, Supper Sanity Club celebrates our independence from the conventions of cooking, respectable table conversation, the every day dinner party, and what's considered casual drinking.

For our pre-4th SSC, Laura put together a sparking and explosive Independence Day pre-game. Meat, potatoes, avocado and corn salad, and fresh berry angel food cake ? Damn girl, you have me feeling all patriotic just writing about it!






Chipolte Meatloaf Cheeseburgers

1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
6-8 teaspoons minced chipotle in adobo plus 3-5 teaspoon adobo sauce (depending on taste) plus additional 3 teaspoons adobo sauce for chipolte mayo
5 garlic cloves, forced through a garlic press
8 slices Muenster cheese
8 hamburger buns, toasted
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup greek yogurt
2 large tomatillo (1/4 pound), husked and rinsed, then sliced
1 avocado, sliced
1 cup cilantro sprigs


Gently mix pork,beef chipotle/adobo, garlic, and little salt until just combined. Form into 48(1/2-inch-thick) patties. Oil grill rack or grill pan, then grill patties, covered, 4 minutes over medium heat.

Flip patties and top with a slice of cheese. Grill until just cooked through,
2-3 minutes more.

Mix additional adobo sauce, mayonnaise and greek yogurt, spread on toasted buns. Assemble burgers with tomatillo, avocado and cilantro




Roasted Potato Wedges with Chipolte Mayo

For potatoes:
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds baking potatoes (about 5 medium), each cut into 8 wedges each

For chipolte mayonnaise:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1 1/2 tablespoons adobo sauce or chipolte salsa (flavor to taste)

Roast potatoes:

Preheat oven to 450°F with pan in. Stir cumin, oregano, and 3/4 teaspoon salt into oil in a large bowl. Add potatoes and toss. Arrange potatoes, cut sides down, in 1 layer in hot pan and roast, turning once, until golden, about 40 minutes.

Mayonnaise: 

Stir together mayonnaise, greek yogurt, chipolte and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small serving bowl.
Serve potatoes with mayonnaise.



Fresh Avocado Summer Salad
Mixed greens
2 Avocados
1 bag roasted corn defrosted (Laura prefers Trader Joes brand)
1 lime squeezed
1/2 cup Cilantro
Olive Oil to taste
Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together in bowl just before serving. That's it!





Angel Food Cake with Berries & Whipped Cream
We have a more complex version of this that we'll post next week, but if you want to make something quick & delicious, this is perfect!

Use boxed angel food cake, just add water and bake. Top with homemade whip cream. Laura flavored her's with vanilla and cinnamon. Hell yeah!

Add your choice of fresh berries like strawberries, blueberries or raspberries.




Booze Pairing! (FOR AMERICA!)



Whiskey Smash
What does a whiskey cocktail say about its drinker? 'Hey, I want a real drink, and I’m not fucking around!'

The strong, flavorful, and refreshing the Whiskey Smash has become
this booze blogger's favorite drink of summer 2011.





2 pieces lemon
2 - 3 mint leaves
3/4 oz simple syrup (sugar)
1 1/2 oz Old Overholt rye whiskey
1 oz soda water
ice

Mix. Get tanked (for AMERICA)!














Whiskey smash modeling; The spread (for AMERICA!)...also half of Arlan; Whiskey even more smashed!


Cheers!
Christa, Phoebe & Laura




About Laura
Laura manages consumer marketing for Sonos, a wireless music system. Her great loves are travel, music, eating and drinking – a nice pairing, don’t you think? Since she’s managed to find a job that has to do with music, all her spare time is spent traveling the world tasting local libations and looking for her next great meal. Born and raised in organic Oregon, Laura has always had a taste for fresh and local food and recently has been getting pretty good at making it on her own,thanks to her weekly vegetable delivery from Boston Organics!

SSC's Homegrown Edition: Healthy, Delicious & Drunk!

Classy. Sophisticated. Member of an awesome fresh produce delivery service. While none of these things actually apply to me, they definitely describe our friend Jen! Armed with some amazing fresh veggies from Boston Organics, purveyor of fine, mostly local, fresh foods, (So fresh she didn't even know what she would be cooking until right before she got it,) Jen once again wowed us with some delicious healthy food!

Salmon Fillets
salmon fillets
lemon juice
parsley

Place each fillet on a separate piece of aluminum foil. Make into
a little package that opens at the top and place onto a baking pan.
Add lemon juice and parsley to each package. Seal package and
cook for 10 minutes at 375.

Cubed Sweet Potatoes and Kale
Kale
Sweet potatoes
garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
1/2 c white wine



Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add cubed sweet potato and white wine so that it halfway covers the sweet potatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add kale and stir until wilted, about 5 min.



Zesty Pepperoncini & Feta Salad
romaine lettuce
jarred pepperoncini peppers
feta
grape tomatoes
lemon juice
olive oil

Squeeze lemon over lettuce. Add pepperoncinis,
tomatoes and feta. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on top.




Christa's Berry Tropical Fruit Salad
1 pint blueberries
8 oz raspberries
8oz blackberries
1 mango chopped*
1 tbsp sugar




Wash all fruit and dump into a bowl. Add sugar. That's it!
* Okay, the mango wasn't local. Obviously.



Brownies!
Admittedly, we used brownies from a box, but they were Trader Joe's brand and it was organic, so I feel like we get some leeway.

Everything you need to make box brownies. Then make them.
Fruit salad that you intended on being a healthy dessert but just ended up using it as a topping
Vanilla ice cream!

Umm...assemble? Yeah!




Booze Pairings!

Quattro Leoni White, Italy, $17

This is a fresh and vibrant blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Cortese that really hits the spot with its and pristine aromas of citrus, stone fruit and honey. The wine is crisp and slightly sweet with an attractively creamy texture. It is perfect for fish, as well as salads. The touch of chardonnay takes off the acidic bite of the sauve blanc. This bottle is especially handy when having guests that are not huge fans of dry, citrus heavy wines, while you yourself don't want to have a crappy pairing.


Harpoon Bohemian Pilsner growler, $15

One of my favorite, and in my opinion frequently overlooked booze options for a
dinner party is the beer growler. Fellow SSC member Laura brought us a Bohemian Pilsner by Harpoon. Referred to as the Sauvignon Blanc of beers, this malty fruity brew, with a crisp finish went perfectly with what Jen served up! You can only find this beer in the summer varity packs from Harpoon, or take the tour and snag yourself a growler straight from the brewery. Do your homework Sanity Supper Club fans! Take the tour, buy some booze and make it a point to take the bus home. Get on it!

Fun Fact:a growler is British slang for a ladies crotch ;)















Jen has the classiest dinner table ever; The only way to make brownies
more awesome than they already are is to add booze and ice cream













Appetizers!; Attractively arranged food is known to increase deliciousness




Cheers!
Christa, Phoebe & Jen




About Jen

Jen has only recently learned how to use a stove to cook healthier
meals using fresh ingredients, mostly as a way to avoid having to go
outside to obtain meals during Boston winters. She still much prefers
great food cooked by others and especially enjoys traveling to more
exotic places and sampling the local cuisine.

Supper Club 3: Polenta Pizza Party! (2/1/11)

Welcome to Supper Club #3! This time Jamie's taking the wheel with some amazing polenta pizzas and a beautiful salad bar.

I will be the first to admit, I was a little worried when Jamie said she would host. She is in school to become a registered dietician and personally, I don’t look forward to supper club every week for the healthy fare. I am excited about stuffing my face, drinking three bottles of wine (to myself), and telling my friends all the dirty details about whoever that week’s flavor is… But in the end, her delicious polenta pizza won me over and I promise, that is not just the booze talking.

Polenta pizzas are an awesome healthy alternative to regular pizza and are also gluten free. It can be made in two different ways, making mini pizzas by slicing the polenta in circles or making one large pizza by smashing up the polenta onto a cookie sheet. Jamie did both. And I ate both. A lot of both. Apparently, healthy can be tasty and maybe equally important, it takes everyone a lot less alcohol to start sharing the raunchy details of their week…

Large Polenta Pizza
Ingredients:
tube of pre-made polenta
sauteed red onion
portobello onion
spinach
fresh roasted red peppers
Marinara sauce, jazzed up with some yellow onion and pizza seasoning
Mozzarella Cheese
Goat Cheese


(polenta mashed)










(full crust)








Cut polenta into circles and place on cookie sheet. Mash them up using the heal of your hand to press them together. Top with toppings. Bake for 20 min at 350.


Mini Polenta Pizzas
tube of pre-made polenta
fresh tomato
basil leaves
mozzarella
pesto sauce










Cut the loaf of polenta into circles. Place on cookie sheet. Top with toppings. Bake at 350 for 20 min.



Salad Bar Smorgasbord

romaine
baby spinach
red peppers
green peppers
mushrooms
tomatoes
carrots
peas
corn
salsa
hummus
raisins
dried cranberries
walnuts
cage free hard boiled eggs
goat cheese


Booze Pairing

Cocktail: Pitcher of Sangria Cocktail

1 bottle of inexpensive fruity wine (like a CA Zin)
1 cup Rum
1/2 cup Grand Marnier
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 orange thinly sliced
1 lemon thinly sliced

Mix all ingredients in pitcher. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Add ice.

BeerDogfish Head Festina Peche
This beer, which is actually brewed with peaches, is a perfect light beer to go with salad and polenta pizzas. It is a light bodied wheat beer that manages to combine both beer and cider flavors. It is also fairly low in alcohol so while telling telling first date horror stories to the ladies, feel free to indulge in this liquid therapy.

Wine: White
Feudi di San Gregorio Falanghina $15

Aromas of green apple, almonds, minerality, grapefruit and lemon. Medium acidity and body so it accentuates the acidity of the tomato sauce without overpowering the subtle flavors of the polenta. Crisp and refreshing so it also pairs perfectly with salad bar.

Wine: Red
Antinori Santa Cristina Sangiovese $10

Medium bodied wine with aromas of cherry, leather, plums, and herbs. The tannins on this wine are mild so that they balance perfectly with the subtle corn of the polenta. The soft fruit on the palate is a perfect match with the creaminess of both mozzarella and goat cheese.


About Jamie

Jamie is on her way to becoming a registered dietitian (RD). She is currently doing her combined Masters degree/ dietetic internship. As for now she's just a struggling college student trying to eat healthy on a budget, and live as abundantly as she can!Check out Live(and Eat) Abundantly, a blog dedicated to her great love of food!



Cheers!
Christa, Rachel, Phoebe & Jamie