Moroccan Themed Ladies Supper Club!
I am lucky enough to be part of a great little local ladies supper club. I was introduced to this club, and great group of women by my friend Erin (that’s her there in the front, striking a pose in the little dress) of The Olive Notes. I met Erin through the world of blogging, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that she and her husband Chris live about 10 minutes away from us. They have a great group of friends here in Saint Augustine, that have really welcomed Roberto and I since we moved here.
Well the ladies in this circle of friends started an awesome supper club. There are eight of us currently, and we all get together each month. It is kind of a dress up event. Sometimes people just show up in jeans and a nice shirt, which is totally allowed, but there are also party dresses and high heels. It is a very girly event – and no boys allowed!
We all take turns hosting, and each month, the hostess gets to pick the theme, then everyone brings a dish to add to the dinner. We always have a welcome cocktail and appetizer to start, which usually finds us all in the kitchen chatting, laughing and catching up with each other. Then we move on to the table and have soup or salad, and then the main course with a vegetable side and a starch side. There is always wine to accompany the meal, and of course we end with something sweet. It is always a great night and something we all really look forward to each month.
Well this past Friday, it was my turn to host – and so I chose a Moroccan theme. For one, a lot of my table decor has a North African/ Middle Eastern flair to it, and the cuisine is one of my favorites….plus, did you know I recently got a Tagine!?? LOL! π
This supper club was a huge success – the food was delicious and we ended the night by working off some of that food with a little belly dancing! I have a lot of music from this region of the world, and all of the ladies know I used to belly dance, so they asked for me to bring out all my gear and show them some moves. We all got down, and it was a wonderful time! Good music, good friends, good times.
But I know that you are all here for the food, so here we go – We started with Moroccan Pomegranate Martinis – fresh lemon and lime juice mixed with vodka, POM Wonderful and simple syrup.
The appetizer was a Spiced Moroccan Carrot Dip – with fresh cilantro, and green olives, served with pita bread.
We started at the table with a wonderfully spiced Harira (traditional soup of Morocco. It is usually eaten during dinner in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to break the fasting day ).
For the main dish, I did a Vegetable Tagine overloaded with fresh acorn squash, chick peas, onions and kale, dotted with prunes and topped with sliced almonds. There was fresh flat bread and a delicious vegetable curry to go with it, and for dessert,
the Moroccan piΓ¨ce de la rΓ©sistance – M’hanncha -“The Snake” (although it kind of broke in the revelry!) – which was very reminiscent of baklava.
Everything was wonderful and I had a great time hosting these lovely ladies!
Click through for the Vegetable Tagine recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
2 acorn squash
olive oil
cider vinegar
salt & pepper
2 1/2 cups of chickpeas that have been soaked over night.
1 large bell pepper – any color, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
1 TBS of sambal belacan (Malaysian version of harissa given to me by my good friend Dharm)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
about 1/2 to 1 tsp of each:
tumeric
coriander
cumin
smoked paprika
saffron
cinnamon
salt & pepper
clove of garlic, sliced very thin
splash of red wine
4 cups of greens – I used kale
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut acorn squash in half and place in a baking dish filled with an inch of water. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Peel and slice. Place in a large bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, splash of vinegar and salt and pepper and let marinate for about an hour.
Slice, the pepper and onion and place in another large bowl with the soaked chick peas.
In a small bowl mix together the sambal belacan, cider vinegar, olive oil, and spices, garlic and red wine. Mix together and pour over the chick pea mixture. Let marinate for one and a half hours.
Preheat oven to 350. Pour chickpea mixture into tagine, and then pour the acorn squash over top. Let cook for one hour. After an hour, remove tagine lid, stir contents and add half of the greens. Cover again and cook another 40 minutes. Lift lid and add the rest of the greens, cook for another 20 minutes. Serve with couscous.
dawn - March 2, 2009 at 11:50 am
Mmmm that dip Jenn, oh that dip sounds heavenly.
Cute dress too. You always have the cutest outfits.
justeatfood - March 2, 2009 at 11:55 am
If only I lived closer! Looks like so much fun.
Emily
Judy - March 2, 2009 at 11:56 am
Looks like a great night and you all seem to be having so much fun! I need to make it to one of those sometime!
The TriniGourmet - March 2, 2009 at 12:06 pm
hehehe i clicked on this before having breakfast, sheer torture π
toontz - March 2, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Belly dancing? I had no idea, lol.
kellypea - March 2, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I LOVE this kind of dinner party! We’ve done Med rim food a couple of times and it’s our favorite. The carrot dip sounds amazing and everything looks so yummy. Wishing I had a tagine but can’t figure out where to put one more kitchen anything in this house!
Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy - March 2, 2009 at 12:18 pm
I am super jealous π I can’t believe Erin’s a blonde now!!! I hope some day I can host the supper club at mine π
NΓΊria - March 2, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Woooooaaaah! What a great time you had!!!! I’m a bit jealous here :D. I would love to learn belly dancing myself. It’s so in fashion here in Spain now. Enjoying life, friends and food… what else can you ask for?
Sue - March 2, 2009 at 12:24 pm
The BEST part is getting together with gal pals and having a great time. What a bonus that the food was so fantastic. And double yum for those cocktails!
Happy Cook - March 2, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Wow looks like you girls had a wonderful time.
Wish i had here a ladies club like this.
My sis who lives in texas says she also have a clup like this and all the ladies get together once a onth too.
And all those delicious food, i would be there in a second to have all of them.
Natasha - 5 Star Foodie - March 2, 2009 at 12:40 pm
What a fun party! The food looks fantastic!
Jonzie - March 2, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Wow, I have to say everything looked great, both the ladies and the food π
erin :: the olive notes - March 2, 2009 at 1:03 pm
so fun!!! We all had such a great time…thanks for hosting, for the tasty tagine, and belly-dancing lessons π
marguerite - March 2, 2009 at 1:10 pm
That sounds like so much fun!!! The food looks amazing!!!!
You got a Tagine? Really? *grin*
Peter - March 2, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Looks like a fab evening with some exotic fare. Do you ladies need a cook the next time? I work for wine! π
Michele - March 2, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I belong to a very similiar group! We call each other the Dinner Divas! I think it’s great that you found SO MANY young women that are interested in cooking. That has beens somewhat of a challenge for us. Right now there are four of us since one just recently moved away. I love my group and yours looks great too!!!
Oh, and the food…DELISH!
Bob - March 2, 2009 at 1:46 pm
That sounds like so much fun! Can I come if I wear drag? π
Sefa - March 2, 2009 at 3:20 pm
I can see that you girls have lots of fun.
I love harira.. yummy and it is perfect for breaking the fasting during Ramadhan.
joan nova - March 2, 2009 at 5:06 pm
I’m glad you decided to post about it. Looks like a great group and a lot of fun. Of course, I know the food was good.
Superchef - March 2, 2009 at 5:31 pm
looks like you girls had such a lot of fun!! wish i had a supper club here..maybe i should start one π
Peter G - March 2, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Looks like a fun get together…and a great idea to catch up! As usual, your food looks superb Jenn…glad that it was all enjoyed!
pam - March 2, 2009 at 8:34 pm
I wish I had a group like that by me! I love your dress and I want a tangine. Yep, nothing but envy from me tonight.
RecipeGirl - March 2, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Everything looks woooonderful!! What a fun group π
patsyk - March 2, 2009 at 10:18 pm
What a fun supper club! I love that you all did some bellydancing at the end of the evening – what fun!
Sara - March 3, 2009 at 1:34 am
This looks like so much fun, what a great theme!
How to Party with an Infant - March 3, 2009 at 2:39 am
I’m inspired!
Bellini Valli - March 3, 2009 at 2:54 am
What an amazing night shared with special friends Jenn:D
nina - March 3, 2009 at 2:59 am
I have not managed to meet up with fellow bloggers here in Cape Town, but would love to share this passion with others!!!
Dharm - March 3, 2009 at 6:52 am
Sounds like a great night! What a bunch of lovely ladies too!! So glad the Sambal Belacan came in useful – was it good??!!!
Tracy - March 3, 2009 at 9:13 am
What a small world, looks like a great group of friends and fabulous food. What more does one need.
Maria - March 3, 2009 at 10:45 am
You had me at the Morrocan Pomegranate Martini … and the food looks great too π
I love Moroccan cuisine and don’t get to enjoy it quite enough. Thanks for sharing all this–looks like you had an amazing time!
kat - March 3, 2009 at 10:52 am
These kind of dinners are so much fun. We used to do something similar in San Francisco, maybe its time to start a Minneapolis group
CabotJen - March 3, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I love the martinis and, seriously, is there anything smoked paprika *can’t* do? π
Rosa - March 3, 2009 at 1:50 pm
What a great event! Wow, that food looks fantastic! I love Moroccan dishes…
Cheers,
Rosa
The Leftover Queen - March 3, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Thanks, Dawn! π
Toontz, you’d be surprised…. π
You never know Peter….it could happen! But only if you dress in drag like Bob suggested! π
Yes, Dharm! It was fantastic! I have used it in some other things already and it is great to have around!
lo! - March 3, 2009 at 5:05 pm
What a load of fun!
You can’t beat Moroccan food for color OR flavor. Looks like an absolute feast!
Aggie - March 3, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Oh what fun Jenn!! Everything looks so good! And I love your dress!! π
The Duo Dishes - March 3, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Two big pieces of the snake please! Fun idea to do with friends.
Natashya - March 4, 2009 at 1:46 am
Wow! Makes me wish I lived in Florida!
Toni - March 4, 2009 at 1:53 am
Oh Jenn – you make me wish I lived in St. Augustine! That dinner sounds absolutely fantastic! I love every single dish.
janet ching - March 4, 2009 at 6:03 am
Wow, what a lovely girlies night! I could feel the great fun you had there!
Lori Lynn - March 4, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Sounds like great fun. We do that here too. the last one was Northern Indian food. Next one I am hosting with be inspired by Jackie Kennedy: The White House Years. Looking forward to it!
LL
Soma - March 4, 2009 at 4:46 pm
I missed a lot of your posts all of which I am going over today!… This one looks so great I had to comment. The girls, the food & the mood – everything
rocks! I loved the carrot dip. Harira & the tagine, i make quite often, as I am a big Moroccan food Fan.
Maggie - March 7, 2009 at 5:49 pm
This looks like so much fun! It really makes me want to get something similar started after our move. I’ve loved all of your tagine adventures so far but the overloaded vegetable tagine looks the best!!
Kirby! - March 8, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Too cute!! What a fun time. It looks like you run with a cool group of ladies!
courtney - March 9, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Love your dress! Looks like so much fun.
Lynne - March 11, 2009 at 6:14 am
What a great supper group you have! The food sounds wonderful!