NC Made Cookbook Club: Poole's
The first installment of the NC Made Cookbook Club proved to be an ambitious challenge with delicious -- and surprising! -- results. Poole's: Recipes and Stories from a Modern Diner by Ashley Christensen starts us off!
Nicole and I studied the cookbook on our own, then convened to discuss which dishes we thought we could feasibly make, and narrowed it down from there based on the courses we wanted to cover. You can't just make a bunch of pies and call it dinner. Well, I could. But there would be children at the table! So here's the menu we settled on:
Classic Deviled Eggs
Whipped Tahini + Crudites
Whipped Tahini + Crudites
Chilled Corn Soup with Cherry Tomatoes
Tomatoes with Grilled Cornbread and White Balsamic-Thyme Vinaigrette
Buttermilk Chess Pie with Grilled Peaches
Buttermilk Chess Pie with Grilled Peaches
Sounds simple enough, right?
Let's just say, I now have a deep, profound respect for each cook working the line in Christensen's restaurants. Every recipe takes a lot of work to execute, but in the end, you appreciate that it's all done to achieve the rich depth of flavor and taste and texture combinations her dishes are famous for. And you leave the table fully stuffed with a sense of accomplishment that only comes from making every single element of a meal, from stem to stern.
So without further ado, here's a visual tour of our beautiful dinner table. It was a fun and scrumptious night. The Buttermilk Chess Pie topped with Grilled Peaches was declared the unanimous favorite (that crust!), while the Chilled Corn Soup presented as "big bowls of whipped cream" provoked withering looks of betrayal from all guests under the age of five. We're already looking forward to the next one!
Whipped Tahini + Crudites
Tomatoes with Grilled Cornbread and White Balsamic-Thyme Vinaigrette
Let's just say, I now have a deep, profound respect for each cook working the line in Christensen's restaurants. Every recipe takes a lot of work to execute, but in the end, you appreciate that it's all done to achieve the rich depth of flavor and taste and texture combinations her dishes are famous for. And you leave the table fully stuffed with a sense of accomplishment that only comes from making every single element of a meal, from stem to stern.
So without further ado, here's a visual tour of our beautiful dinner table. It was a fun and scrumptious night. The Buttermilk Chess Pie topped with Grilled Peaches was declared the unanimous favorite (that crust!), while the Chilled Corn Soup presented as "big bowls of whipped cream" provoked withering looks of betrayal from all guests under the age of five. We're already looking forward to the next one!
Whipped Tahini + Crudites
Tomatoes with Grilled Cornbread and White Balsamic-Thyme Vinaigrette
Chilled Corn Soup with Cherry Tomatoes
Buttermilk Chess Pie with Grilled Peaches
Love a cooking challenge? Join us! Read about how the NC Made Cookbook Club got started and how to share photos of your creations on Instagram with the hashtag #ncmadecookbookclub
Looking for ideas on how to spice up dinner? Check our 12 Ways to Use Vesta Dry Hot Sauce.