Supper Club with the Food Network

A few of our members love the Next Food Network Star and since the latest winner was Aarti, it was decided that our September menu would be a tribute to her for winning and used some of the recipes that she cooked in the competition.

Here is the menu:  Kale and Mango salad, Quinoa Pilaf (without the salad component), Coconut Tomato Gazpacho, Ground Lamb Kabobs (without the potatoes), and Pistachio Ice Cream Pops.

This was surprisingly tasty as the kale was not cooked.  I was fun to watch Arlene "handle" the kale.  Here is a video of her doing that.

I made the soup and I have to say that the recipe was not specific enough for me.  There was no real measurement for the soup ingredients and I think the small red onion was a little too overpowering for the CSA farm tomatoes which were just lovely.  Also, the texture of the soup would have been smoother with peeled tomatoes and the color was a little salmony.  The shrimp was nicely spiced but it used 2 cups of sherry vinegar which was just poured down the drain after cooking a half a pound of shrimp.  I really hate waste.

The quinoa was very tasty and went very well with the lamb.  Kim decided not to include the potatoes as we had the quinoa.  Here is Kim manning the grill for the kabobs.

Janet confirmed that there was quite a bit of dairy and the ice cream was a little sweet.  The taste was unique and the pistachios added a nice crunch.

Overall the dinner was pretty tasty and it was a great time to catch up since we missed last month's meet up.  The kale salad was the winner of the night and the quinoa and lamb were hits.  Some adjustments need to be made to the soup and the ice cream should be a special treat now and again.