On Saturday night we hosted our second preview night for Mi Casa-Su Casa, our speak easy supper club. The guests this go round were a group of funny, smart and adventurous food bloggers… eek!
I admit that I was a little nervous to cook for this group. They were all invited because they write blogs that I really like and I knew they were all super clever and very very wise in the ways of food. What if I totally screwed up?? What if the eggs wouldn’t peel, the fish wouldn’t cook evenly, the steaks took too long to fry? (I’ll give you a hint, all of those things actually happened… I just rolled with it.)
I baked the cream cheese pound cakes in advance and then just warmed them up in the oven at meal time. Aren’t they adorable??
The black eyed peas are ready for the fridge!
So, I spent all day Friday and all day Saturday prepping as much of my menu in advance as possible. I was like a US Marine… Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.
Oh, you’d like to know what the menu was? I don’t blame you. Here it is!
Nibbles and cocktail on arrival- old fashioned deviled eggs, dill pickled carrots and sweet tea spiked with rum and mint.
Starter- Jethel’s baked trout served on bacon and fennel seed potato salad.
Main- Chicken fried steak with black eyed peas, braised asparagus, biscuits, gravy and chow chow.
Dessert- Strawberry shortcake (cream cheese pound caked with strawberries roasted with black pepper and balsamic and vanilla whipped cream.)
Letting the sweet tea with lemons and mint sit and cool before going in the fridge. I could drink this whole pitcher by myself!
I LOVE this potato salad… it’s tangy and mustardy and the toasted fennel seeds give it an incredible aromatic edge.
Friday morning saw me baking the cakes and brewing the tea. On Friday afternoon I was storing away the beans, which had been slow cooked with onion and a smoked ham hock. Friday evening was spent stirring up the gravy, which took me three goes because I kept getting distracted by the frying of bacon and the toasting of fennel seeds for the potato salad and then my gravy would go all thick and gluggy and lumpy. Note to self… focus on the gravy.
The damn gravy.
On Saturday I filleted and portioned the fish and put it in the fridge to marinate. I boiled and peeled two batches of hard boiled eggs because the first batch wanted to hang on to their shells like they were made of gold and ended up a holey mess (and, yes. I did buy the eggs way in advance and let them age so that wouldn’t happen. But it still happened. This is why I hate eggs.) I baked the biscuits and prepped the asparagus and the strawberries.
I swear, I try to clean as I go! But our kitchen is small and sometimes the messes are big!
The fridge is packed and we are ready for dinner!
And all this prep work helped me calm down and focus (except for that damn gravy) and remember why we’re hosting these dinners in the first place. I stopped feeling nervous and started feeling really excited! Soon our house was going to be full of people who love food! People who love food just as much as I do and who are willing to be brave and come try this crazy experiment with us! This wasn’t scary… this was awesome!
And by the time the bloggers rolled in, hungry and chatty and snapping pictures of our still-somewhat-under-decorated-apartment, I was pumped!
I’ll tell you more about how the actual evening went in another post later this week.
If you’re interested in joining us for a Mi Casa-Su Casa dinner, we still have some seats available for 3 November. Want to join us? Email me at sarahkate@micasa-sucasa.com.au
Love it, what a great teaser! Can’t wait to read your next post
vegeTARAian- Sadly, my next post won’t have as many photos! I always get so distracted with the cooking and the plating that I forget to do photos. Hopefully the bloggers took enough pics to make up for my lack!
SarahKate, you did an awesome job. Seriously! So much deliciousness! I urge anyone to make their bookings at Mi Casa Su Casa. You won’t regret it!
John- Thank you SO much! It was a great night. So excited now for Opening Night!
I love hearing about the prep that went into the lovely meal you prepared for us all. From where I sat everything was PERFECT…you’re the hostess with the mostess! Can’t wait to come back SOON!
Miss Piggy- It was such a fun night! Now I’m looking forward to Nov 11 and the Cooking For the Chef challenge!
loved seeing these ‘behind the scenes’ pics, i was thinking how messy i get when i cook and how i probably wouldn’t cope. the menu sounds excellent
Muppy- I am a SUPER messy cook… much to Andy’s exasperation! I’m trying to get better, but it’s a slow process.
and yes they little cakes look super adorable!
I am seriously so excited for you and for this wonderful adventure you are on! I love reading every post!
JJ- If only you lived in Sydney so we could cook awesome meals together!!
JJ could do an awesome vegetarian menu!!
This is cool to see all the prep that went into such a beautiful dinner!! Seriously, I loved everything about that night and you were an amazing host
I don’t know if I could pull off something like that!
Anna- You’re an amazing cook! I’m sure you’d rock at hosting a night!
Thanks for sharing the behind the scenes info. The menu sounded aweseom and I look forward to your next post. I am so looking forward to your Thanksgiving dinner!
Sara- I’m so looking forward to the Thanksgiving meal! We’re going to have a great time! Will be good to see you again.
I know the great insane ordeal that goes into prepping for a big group of people and even worse if it is a group of foodies lol So big props to you Sarah! Oh man, I love southern comfort food! Menu looks good! Can’t wait to hear what’s next. Gumbo or Jambalaya maybe?
Ramen Raff- You do way more prep than I’ll ever have to do! Jambalaya is a GREAT idea. My husband has a secret jambalaya recipe that I should bust out!
those baked cream cheese pound cakes looks delicious!
Vivian- Thank you! Hope you can join us for a dinner soon!