Gourmet dinners on a Budget

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dragnlaw

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I don't suppose this is an enormous eye opener. I'm sure there are many "dinner clubs" out there that do this. Most times my friends come here as they know I love to do the cooking plus they have different lives to deal with than I.

So tonight was one of them. A friend came over and it was basically a plain meal - just mussels, fries and some wine.

Ok I did not calculate the price of the large onion, 2 cups of tomato (from the garden, frozen) and a thai red bird chili x 2. So perhaps... add $1.50 / by 2? makes it $.75 ea.

For a single serving:-
$5.00 Mussels (approx 1.5 lbs each)​
$1.50 Frozen McCains Fries (1/2 pkg ea.)​
$.75 onion, tomato, chili​

a grand total of $$7.25 oops forgot the wine - well, I make my own to a calculated cost of approx. $4.00 a bottle. Already opened was a young Pinot Blanc, some of which went into the mussels. So we had a glass while cooking then a bottle of Muller Thurgau for the table. (she's gone home and I'm finishing the rest of the bottle so that only counts as a 1/2 bottle for the meal... :D

You cannot eat a huge meal like that in a restaurant for $9.25... no tip necessary but you do your own dishes. :LOL::ROFLMAO:

I can honestly say we have never had a meal that has cost us over !0$ each. From Cornish Hens done in the clay cooker to Duck a l'orange, and many others. We could be just 2 or up 6 or rarely 8. Sometimes it is "assigned dishes" - bills are supposed to be kept to be totaled and divided. That was a bit of a failure as many of us didn't have the bills or "oh, don't worry about it - it wasn't much!" I sort of felt that defeated the purpose - so that idea hit the tubes. :LOL:

Anybody else do something like this?
 
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Back in college, my friends and I did "group cooks" on a weekly basis. They weren't gourmet, but they were very good, and included good meats, and fresh veggies.

I'd love to revive that tradition.

Interesting... that was in the early 80s, and those friends are still friends today. There is a lot of bonding that goes on over meals.

CD
 
"Bonding over meals". Gives the term "stick to your ribs" a whole new meaning, cd! Except in this case they stuck to your heart. :heart:

dragn, just last Sunday I posted my pork chop dinner photo on Facebook, along with the per-pound cost of each ingredient. Along with the comment of "this is why we never go out to dinner". :LOL: I wish Himself was more social. We were a substitute couple for the "Gourmet Club" that was active in my Welcome Wagon group back home. Every other month (except summers), something like six couples got together, each being assigned a course to prepare and bring. The hosts did the entree and provided wine for each course (which everyone else chipped in their share). We did it that one time, and he said he said that was enough. :(
 
My experience was similar to cd.

When I was young and broke a group of us would get together on a Sunday or a Monday holiday for a meal in someone's apartment.

The jug wine usually cost more than the meal and that wasn't much in those days!!!:ermm::ohmy::LOL:
 
I know the name "Gourmet" might be a bit of a misnomer but it is more for ''meals we wouldn't normally cook'' might be another name.

I've been part of one group or another for quite a while but there were always too many variables to keep any of them going.

I'll just see a recipe I really want to try and then invite! I'm slowly getting over the "I have to make everything from scratch" affliction. My next hurdle is to get over the 6 to 15 courses I always want to pack in. :rolleyes:
 
Hmm, "a bit of a misnomer", is certainly a misnomer.

Mussels and frozen fries is a pub dish, or (forgive me) a colloquially called peasant dish. You can scrape mussels from seaside rocks just about anywhere.

Nonetheless, I love mussels, and fries. Never had them together, though. Sounds like a plan.
 
Mussels and Fries are practically the national dish of Normandy! LOL We have a couple of restaurants that specialize in mussels.

It might be considered "pub" food - just not in these parts. It would be rare to see that in our pubs! Then it is about a 16 to 18 hour drive for me to "scape" from any seaside rocks!

I rarely have them with fries either - not my first choice - it was at my friends request.

But I bought an extra pound of mussels and will have them again either tonight or tomorrow. Just haven't chosen how to fix them, I have some heavy cream I will be using.. somehow, maybe with bacon...

Now I don't know if this is done in Normandy but in Quebec the most chosen condiment for fries is Mayo!! It's not bad actually.
My neighbour, who spent many summers with her Gramma in Normandy also has her fries with tons of fresh cracked pepper. Don't know if that's a Quebec thing or a Normandy thing - but again it's surprisingly good.
 
Back on topic...

I've been part of an organized dinner club for the last 6 years, although not necessarily limiting it to gourmet meals. There are 8 of us in the group, basically 4 couples. My ex and I still count as a couple, even though we no longer co-habitate.

Our club works like this. We hold a dinner every 3 months in Spring, Winter, Summer, and Autumn. We rotate the location, but it's always held in someone's home. We also rotate the season, so that no one couple ends up with, say, a summer dinner every year.

Each dinner has four courses: appetizer, soup or salad, entree, and dessert. Usually, the couple who is hosting will determine a theme for the dinner. We've had themes as varied as "comfort food, "island eats," or just food from a particular country, style, or region.

Each couple is assigned a course for the meal (also rotating), with the couple hosting being assigned the main course (which makes logical sense because they will be doing the most cooking in their own kitchen).

We have one other variable. Since all of us belong to the same wine club, each couple must each bring two bottles of wine (doesn't have to be two of the same bottle) that pairs with the course we are contributing.

One thing we don't do is split the cost. Each couple covers their own course and the wine. Fortunately, it's a fairly like-minded group, and I've never once heard any griping about such-and-such paying less or more than anyone else. But no one really goes whole hog, either, since 5 people in the group are retirees on fixed incomes, and we're all naturally budget conscious - more or less.

Like I said, we've been doing it for 6 years now, and it's been a lot of fun. I'll also add that we once experimented with growing the group to 10 or 12, but went back to 8 people and have decided to keep it at 8 permanently. It just makes it easier as far as selecting dates, having enough table space, place settings, glassware, etc.
 
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It's actually just under 5 hours, which is why I hear a lot of Quebecois on the beaches.

I stand corrected - I was remembering from a different location and time era.

Still:
Guess it depends on the route you take, the weather in the mountains, the traffic and of course whether or not you get lost... :wacko:

oh yeah and hope it is low tide when you arrive to be able to scrape without getting too soaked! ;)
 
that sounds great Steve - glad it works for you.

I'm afraid that I am a person of the moment. Most of my friends although all are good cooks and love a beautiful meal - but are not foodies, per se.
 
Back on topic...

I've been part of an organized dinner club for the last 6 years, although not necessarily limiting it to gourmet meals. There are 8 of us in the group, basically 4 couples. My ex and I still count as a couple, even though we no longer co-habitate.

Our club works like this. We hold a dinner every 3 months in Spring, Winter, Summer, and Autumn. We rotate the location, but it's always held in someone's home. We also rotate the season, so that no one couple ends up with, say, a summer dinner every year.

Each dinner has four courses: appetizer, soup or salad, entree, and dessert. Usually, the couple who is hosting will determine a theme for the dinner. We've had themes as varied as "comfort food, "island eats," or just food from a particular country, style, or region.

Each couple is assigned a course for the meal (also rotating), with the couple hosting being assigned the main course (which makes logical sense because they will be doing the most cooking in their own kitchen).

We have one other variable. Since all of us belong to the same wine club, each couple must each bring two bottles of wine (doesn't have to be two of the same bottle) that pairs with the course we are contributing.

One thing we don't do is split the cost. Each couple covers their own course and the wine. Fortunately, it's a fairly like-minded group, and I've never once heard any griping about such-and-such paying less or more than anyone else. But no one really goes whole hog, either, since 5 people in the group are retirees on fixed incomes, and we're all naturally budget conscious - more or less.

Like I said, we've been doing it for 6 years now, and it's been a lot of fun. I'll also add that we once experimented with growing the group to 10 or 12, but went back to 8 people and have decided to keep it at 8 permanently. It just makes it easier as far as selecting dates, having enough table space, place settings, glassware, etc.

Steve, I've always wanted to be a part of a Dinner Club like yours and I'm amazed it's been successful for 6 years with the same people. I hope you'll share your next dinner with us. When is the next one planned?

Dragon, my SC loves mussels and orders them whenever they are on the menu, as I've never prepared them. Such big shells for a tiny bit of food doesn't thrill me, although the broth from them with a good hunk of French bread is good. I've noticed he's always still hungry after eating them.
 
Steve, I've always wanted to be a part of a Dinner Club like yours and I'm amazed it's been successful for 6 years with the same people. I hope you'll share your next dinner with us. When is the next one planned?
The next one is actually next Saturday, the 21st. It's supposed to be our Spring dinner, even though we are expecting snow tomorrow! I'll try to remember to take some photos.

We have a nice diverse mix of people. One of the couples is close to my age, while the other two are in their mid seventies. I think one of the reasons we get along so well is because, much like this forum, we've set down a few ground rules. For example, any discussion of religion and politics is off limits. Pretty much anything else is fair game, though, and we have some great discussions, in addition to the good food and wine.
 
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Cooking Mussels

Kgirl: Sounds like the servings are skimpy.

I bet if you prepared them at home he would be satisfied. The general serving is 1 lb of mussels (raw, in the shell) per person. I almost always calculate 1.5 lbs per person. That is what I served last night and we were stuffed. There were no hor d'ouerves/ salad or dessert. Just fries, mayo & wine. There were even about 5 or 6 mussels left over. She had to leave early and while I was stacking dishes.... well - funny thing ... they went missing! :pig:

First tip: to cook - use a large frying pan, not a deep kettle type. They cook more evenly and you won't have rubbery overcooked mussels on the bottom while you wait for the ones on top to open. No shaking of pan necessary and a bare minimum of stirring.
2nd tip: if you have a glass lid - PERFECT! You can see exactly how they are progressing.
3rd tip: If there are mussels left over it is possible to reheat the next day. There is a trick though - remove the mussels from the sauce or broth (it's a chore but also remove them from their shells {and don't eat them!}) store them separately. (You can even freeze them like this.) The next day, or whenever, reheat the sauce/broth first, then drop the mussels into the hot broth, give it a stir and they will heat thru by the time they get to the table.
4th tip: often when a mussel doesn't open, don't throw it away. Give it another minute or two and it probably will. If not, lol, then discard.

The above will give you beautiful flavourful, tender mussels NOR will they be tough or rubbery!

Can't believe I don't have any pictures, of my own, of mussels. Will have to rectify that!
 
don't know what Carabba's Mussels are but are the ingredients something I might have on hand for tonight? Yes, Please.
 
That dinner club sounds like a lot of fun!
I wish we can organize something like that here but my friends and family tend to just want to come to my place for our casual every-other-weekend dinners and get-togethers. They all refer to my home as Park Drive Bar & Grill.
They don't like to host, always coming up with excuses. I'm the only good guy in our group, it seems like.
Off topic, but I always wondered about people who don't like friends/family coming to their homes for dinners or whatever...
 
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I used to be part of a dinner group. I think there were four couples and one single person. We tried to meet monthly; whoever hosted chose the theme and assigned which course the others would bring, and sometimes the recipes. It went for a little over a year and then fell apart. A couple of the people were really competitive about their food - one hosted a Japanese dinner and made about five dishes for the one course she was doing. Another person was rather abrasive and DH got along with her less and less as time went on.

Steve, I really like the way your group is organized. Quarterly dinners are much more manageable.

Kayelle, I've made mussels at home and with the right serving size and a nice salad, they make a satisfying meal for us. Dragn has great tips. I like to put lots of garlic, fresh parsley and chopped tomatoes in the broth :yum: This might go on next week's dinner menu.
 
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