Terrier Summer Party - 2019

With three Terrier Dinner Clubs under my belt by summer 2019, I decided I wanted to expand the group a little bit more and invite a few more of my work friends for more of a party rather than a sit-down dinner. The result was a more casual event, but still lots of food and lots of fun. 

Lobster & Chicken Salad Rolls

Buttered Potato Rolls, Celery, Sir Kensington's Mayo, Lemon

I knew I wanted to start the meal with a few small bites of finger food, and lobster rolls are of course a quintessential summer favorite. I like mine with a little mayo, lemon juice, and celery, served on a warm, buttered potato roll. 

A couple of my guests had shellfish allergies so they got the same thing only with chicken instead of lobster, and a bit of ancho-morita hot sauce on top. Both sandwiches were a hit!

Deviled Eggs

Sir Kensington's Mayo, Bacon, Chives

Another snack item that people can't say no to. The trick to getting them to stay on the plate is to spread a small amount of the mayo/yolk mixture down as glue. 

Chilled Watermelon Soup

Shallot, Ginger, Garlic, Lime, Mint, Cilantro

I learned to make this amazing sweet and savory watermelon soup years ago. It's super-refreshing and goes down especially easily during the hot summer months. 

Tacos

Pork Shoulder Braised in Mexican Coke, Onions, Garlic, Ancho and Pasilla Chiles

Corn Tortillas, Pickled Onions, Queso Fresco, Braising Liquid, Cilantro, Tomatillo-Poblano Salsa

Good tacos are on my shortlist of favorite foods on the planet. I do my best to do them justice at home. For the party I got a big 6 lb. pork shoulder and had my butcher bone it out. I then braised it low and slow for several hours in Mexican Coke and a few other things. Served with classic accompaniments, it was absolutely amazing. 

Ribs

Dinosaur BBQ Sauce

Chipotle-Pineapple Glaze

With a little trial and error, you can actually make really good ribs in your oven at home (no barbecue necessary). They're fairly easy to do and are a hit with a crowd. In this case we used two different glazes, one a pureéd reduction of pineapple juice and chiles, and the other good ol' Dinosaur BBQ sauce straight from the jar. Yum. 

Sides

Heirloom Tomatoes, Burrata, Basil, Olive Oil

Esquites

Watermelon Rind Pickles

Jalapeño-Honey Corn Bread

To go along with the ribs, Leah and I made a bunch of sides. A classic summer tomato and burrata, the famous Mexican corn salad esquites, and corn bread (using the Dinosaur BBQ recipe, my favorite). 

The one very strange thing was that the watermelon rind pickles, which I've made before with great success, had an incredibly strong sulfuric taste, like rotten eggs. Not sure what happened, but we threw them out. 

Voila! It was quite a meal. Notice the black plastic tarp on the table to prevent mess. 

Lime Bars

Lime Powder & Zest, Whipped Cream

I love key lime pie, but didn't want to serve anything in slices. I came up with the idea to do basically the same recipe but in the form of individual bars. They came out great!

Peach Cobbler

Bourbon Salted Caramel Ice Cream, Caramel Sauce

I also wanted to make a dessert with peaches, and settled on a warm peach cobbler. Not leaving well enough alone, I also decided to make bourbon salted caramel ice cream, which was spectacular (if I may say so myself)! 

After dinner we all started boozing. I decided to open up this special bottle of experimental wild sour beer Leah and I had picked up recently at Tired Hands Fermentaria just outside Philly. Unfortunately it was absolutely disgusting - interesting to taste but barely drinkable. We managed to find replacement booze to cap the evening off, however =)