Whenever our dinner group hosts pick the theme for the evening’s meal, I look forward to what will be prepared in my kitchen as well as the host’s kitchen.  Since our dinner group is pot-luck style, the host chooses the meal, prepares the entrée, and the other members bring appetizers, salad, and dessert.

At our recent gathering, the hosts had just received Bon Appetit’s October 2011 issue in the mail.  The magazine featured a section called “Ultimate Dinner Parties” with  menus and recipes.  Our hosts chose the magazine’s cover meal for our group to prepare for the evening meal.  Here’s what we had:

Dinner Group Does Bon Appetit Menu

• Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork Loin with Roasted Apples
• Smoked Trout (substituted for the Arctic Char)
• Deviled Quail Eggs
• Cauliflower Soup with Chive Oil and Rye Crostini
• Brussels Sprouts with Walnut Vinaigrette
• Roasted Domino Potatoes
• Ginger-Yogurt Mousse with Pistachio Meringue
• Orange-Blossom-Honey Madeleines

Look at those little quail eggs!  Aren’t they cute??!!

Please tell me what to make.

I love trying new recipes but I usually make the same dishes over and over.  Having a recipe handed to me and being told what to make doesn’t happen often enough.  It’s doubtful I’ll ever again prepare Ginger-Yogurt Mousse with Pistachio Meringue and Orange-Blossom-Honey Madeleines without being asked to, but they were delicious and in the end worth the effort.  I don’t have a Madeleine pan (nor do any of my friends who I checked with to see if I could borrow one!) so I used a mini-muffin pan instead.  It worked out well.

The potatoes were a work of art.  Those spikes are fresh bay leaves.  We all agreed the fresh bay leaves were too strong and next time using dried bay leaves was the way to go.  The potatoes were cut using a mandolin.

Dinner group is a fun way to try new recipes, catch up with friends, and enjoy time away from our regular routines.  It’s our turn next to host next – I’d better get planning!

Have you started a dinner group?  Do you have a favorite menu for me to try?

Go Gingham related links:

How to organize a dinner group – why not start one? It’s frugal, fancy & fun!
Last summer’s dinner group gather is here and the appetizer we brought is here
Our dinner group followed Bon Appetit’s menu last fall
The last time we hosted diner group – in between decorating seasons
Dinner group in spring – well, it felt like winter
The appetizer – white bean dip – brought for dinner group