Last month we had our second curated REEL TASTY. First it was bachelorettes this time is was teachers. Nine teachers and their husbands joined us on the deck for Kindergarten Cop and our take on some cafeteria favorites. As you can see by the home made Whoopie Pie above, we really pushed the gastro-limit with this menu.
For those who are unfamiliar with the dinners, Reel Tasty is our summer supper club where Aimee, my co-chef/host, and I screen a movie on a 2 story building while our guests sample some of our latest and tastiest gourmet dishes. The inspiration was intense this time. Who doesn’t love Kindergarten? The crowd was a bit more mature than usual so we had our work cut out for us to impress. We started the evening off with a few sure fire snacks.
photo credit: Kun Kim
Rosemary focaccia and slow roasted tomatoes greeted our guests at the bar along with some hand picked wines by Lily at Dandelion Wines. Besides the wines taste she also made sure that the labels were playful and “kid” like. You gotta love Lily for keeping with the theme.
photo credit: Kun Kim
The appetizers started rolling out soon after the teachers got to gabbing. First we tackled the granddaddy of all school cafeteria food with truffled mushroom tater tots.
photo credit: Kun Kim
That was followed by a fun and way more gourmet taco we liked to call a carnitas tortilla cup with pickled onion, queso fresco and delfino cilantro. And, what first round would be complete without corn chowder. Aimee does it a bit different than the Sloppy Joe lady in high school. Try jalapeno-corn soup with bacon & scallops. Booyah!!!
photo credit: Kun Kim
Guests chatted and tasted as the kitchen went full tilt prepping the entrees. Racing against the quickly dipping sun at this late summer evening always takes us by surprise. What was a final sunset at 8:30 last month turned into 7:30 this month.
photo credit: Kun Kim
Faster than we thought the entrees started lining up on the kitchen table ready for final garnish and one last check. The grilled short ribs with fresh cherries and a cherry reduction sauce was on deck along with a Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm tomato and apple salad with red onion and basil. How could we have a table of teachers and not use apples? The last thing to hit the line up were Tuna fish sticks with specialty aioli and a massive bacon floored mac and cheese.
photo credit: Kun Kim
After presentation of the dishes and several Kindergarten stories about how we crafted the dishes after our own 4 year old memories guests got to serving each other and deepening those already strong bonds. We came around scooping the aged gruyere and gouda, bacon bottomed mac and cheese and checking on each guest.
photo credit: Kun Kim
As dinner was scarfed down in between classroom stories and summer vacation reports we quietly turned on the big screen and let Mr. Schwarzenegger take over.
photo credit: Kun Kim
Just as Arnold saves the day we had one last trick up our sleeve. Some home made favorites to seal off the evening and any good cafeteria meal.
photo credit: Kun Kim
Chocolate whoopie pies with salted caramel filling and twinkies all homemade by Aimee made for ohhs and ahhhs from the overstuffed table. But, we couldn’t stop there. It was necessary to make a nod to those of us who mostly bagged our lunch through our grammer school days. The below home made peanut butter and Jelly ice cream did just that. Although not served in a brown paper bag the mix of PB and J was nostalgic for everyone.
photo credit: Kun Kim
Of course no recap is complete with out recipes and a shout out to the crew. Without them these evenings would not be possible. Thanks as always to everyone who attended. You guys are the best. Our next dinner is September 18th and it’s British classics reinvented….yeah baby!!! Hope to see you all soon.
Recipes:
Mac and Cheese
ingredients
Mezzi rigatoni
smoked paprika
polish smoked bacon
aged greyere
aged gouda
flour
butter
milk
directions
1. in a skillet melt butter
2. add flour and mix
3. add milk and stir to form roux
4. shred cheese
5. add cheese into roux
6. seperately boil pasta water and cook pasta until al dente
7. slice bacon thick and cook on grill
8. line the bottom of a deep baking pan with the bacon
9. drain pasta and mix in cheese roux. Reserve some for top of mac and cheese
10. mix pasta and cheese roux well then pour pasta into pan on top of bacon
11. pour cheese roux over top of pasta in pan creating an even layer
12. sprinkle with paprika
13. bake in oven for 30-40 minutes on 350
Apple and Tomato Salad
ingredients
tomatoes
gala apples
red onion
cider vinegar
olive oil
salt, pepper
directions
1. cut tomatoes and apples into wedges
2. slice red onion thin ribbons
3. mix all ingredients and serve
