Bacon Wrapped Gourmet Club - A night in Spain

The theme for the first Gourmet club meeting was: Tapas! Everyone whole-heartedly embraced the concept and came prepared with lots of wine, garlic, olive oil, and bread. The conversations were fluid and varied, the kitchen a flurry of pans and pots, the table littered with wine bottles - success!

Definitely a meeting of worthy contenders for best dish - everything from simple roasted peppers with capers, to an onslaught of black bean empanadas and proscuitto wrapped asparagus with oozing goat cheese (I'm craving one of those right now, actually), there was garlic shrimp with a heavenly garlickly oil for dipping, our equally garlicky white bean and garbanzo salad, and delightful bites of bacon-wrapped dates. I personally found the albondigas recipe to be "pork-heavy" and would make several alterations...the saffron sauce came out well, however, and they seemed to be eaten (always a good sign).

We brought a Tempranillo to share, but I'm not sure the structure was up to par with some of the pairings we had - c'est la vie, we drank it anyway!

The next meeting is likely at our house - though we'll post more pics and recipes from Tapas night...thoughts, suggestions, let me know!

What's in a name?

Help us name our "gourmet club" - here were some options....
Epicure
CGC (Chicago Gourmet Club)
The Urban Gourmet
Mangia Group
Meet and Mangia
Buongustaio (Gourmet in Italian)
Il Buongustaio Urbano
Club Cucina
Vino e Cibo (Wine and Food in Italian)
Le Bon Vivant (Gourmand in French)

We'd like to have SOMETHING to call our gatherings...leave any additional thoughts in the comments!

The Gourmet Club begins...

Several months ago, on a cold, wintry work day, Erin and I had a lengthy discussion around our desire for a "gourmet club". She has been thinking about this for some time now, found a sounding board (and core member) in me and hence...the club was born.

Here are the details from the original email - this will set the stage for you:
- Meet once a month on a Saturday
- Everyone rotates hosting, and the host picks the theme for the next month (if your place is too small to host, someone else will happily step in while you still are officially the "host")
- We will have a core group of people who are serious about committing to this (criteria = having an interest in food, and genuinely excited to spend time cooking once a month, hosting, etc.) with some wiggle room for guests (i.e., dates, others we extend the invite to on a monthly basis but who may not be up for it EVERY month)

Core Group:
Erin
Sara
Chris
Sarah R.
Bill
Amanda
Tricia
Colleen
Sarah
Orin
Ryan
Mica (and Peter)

So, it's unlikely that all of these people would agree, but say they do... That said, if everyone in agrees, we're at 11. Maybe we just pick an additional person or two. And, as mentioned, we could always invite people on a monthly basis, maybe seeing how the first few months go and what attendance is like.

Possible themes to get excited about:
- Cuisine (Italian, French, etc.)
- Secret ingredient
- On a budget (i.e., less than $10 dishes)
- Cook-off (i.e., chili)
- Inspired by a movie, song or book
- Wine/beer pairings
- Small plates

Oh, the possibilities are endless!

Our first meeting is Friday, March 5 - they're 8, possibly 10 folks attending. Stay tuned for more!