TheBanyanTree: Girls Night Out

[Sharon Mack]

This article was written about our dinner club here in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.  It is being printed in the Berkshire Eagle (the local paper).  Thought I'd share it with you all...we're pretty excited about it.  Should be coming out with photos and everything Wednesday (October 6th)

Girls Night Out
By Jayne Church
Special to The Eagle
PITTSFIELD

There are lots of dinner clubs in the Berkshires. Some of them, I find, can be just a bit over-the-top. Members often try to "out-gourmet" each other, to the point that most of the fun is taken out of their get-togethers and one-ups-man-ship is the rule.Just recently, however, I was invited to sit in on a very different kind of dinner club, one where keep-it-simple is the rule and fun is the theme of every meeting.

Founded by Sharon Mack, a Berkshire Institute for Lifetime Learning administrator at Berkshire Community College, the group of a half-dozen women, all friends of Mack or each other, has been meeting for just over a year.Sharon is an incorrigible recipe collector, snipping new ones out of magazines and newspapers every chance she gets. At first, she stored recipes in recipe boxes, then shoeboxes, and then bigger and bigger boxes. During a move, the bottom fell out of one of the boxes and she came close to losing years of collected recipes.After organizing and filing everything into categories (not just meat, for instance but beef, pork, lamb, veal) Sharon felt it was time to really use the recipes she had collected through the years.  She started the dinner club with only one hard and fast rule: every recipe must be brand new, something never tried before.

"We research the origins of the recipes," she said. "It's challenging and fun."

A few joined who simply wanted to show off their culinary skills, but they didn't last long. Now the members vote on whom they want to bring in.  The group meets once a month at different members' houses. Each time, they decide on the theme for the next meeting and everyone is assigned a course: appetizer; soup; salad; side dish; pasta or potato; main course or dessert.The theme for the dinner I attended was "When Pigs Fly" and all courses, except dessert, had to be based on pork.

Ruth Reynolds was in charge of the appetizer and her contribution was tender and delicious marinated pork cubes, served with pineapple chunks.

Sharon Mack made a really outstanding potato, ham, leek soup, based on a recipe she recently found in The Eagle.  She also brought the red wine.

Since the meeting was at Wendy Hubbard's house, Hubbard provided the main course * a luscious pork roast, and white wine. 

Bonnie Brace was to have brought a warm potato/sausage salad, but unfortunately she was in a minor car accident on her way to the meeting and was unable to attend.  
Wendy came to our rescue with some improvised rice.

Carol Hanford of Dalton, the only member who lives outside of Pittsfield, was assigned the side dish course. She made broccoli with tiny tomatoes and a sour cream garnish.

Marsha Burniske was vacationing that week so Sharon made dessert *"When Pigs Fly Pie" a crumb-topped pie filled with juicy apples, raisins and just a little ham.

Here is the recipe for the pork roast Wendy Hubbard served. The fennel and pears soften during cooking but keep their shape so you can serve them alongside the slices of pork.

Pork Roast with Fennel & Pears
3 to 4 pounds pork butt, well trimmed
4 cloves garlic, slivered
1 bulb fennel, coarsely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
3 shallots, minced
3 ripe pears, peeled, cored, and diced
1 quarter cup dry sherry
1quarter cup homemade or low-salt canned chicken stock
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, chopped
1 and 1 half teaspoons salt
3 quarters teaspoon freshly ground black peppe

rHeat the oven to 350 degrees F. Poke the meat all over with a thin-bladed knife and insert the garlic slivers into the holes. Put the fennel, shallots, pears, sherry, and stock into a large casserole or small roasting pan; toss to combine. Put the pork in the pan and pat the fennel seeds over the pork. Sprinkle the pork with the salt and pepper.Cover the pan with a lid or foil, and cook the pork until it's easily pierced with a fork and its juices run clear, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

Remove the roast from the oven and allow it to rest in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before carving. Slice and serve with the fennel, pears, and pan juices (degreased if necessary) spooned over the top.
Serves six Source: Family Circle (Issue 19)

Warm Sausage & Potato Salad 
1 pound boiling potatoes (about 3), peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut crosswise into quarter inch slices
3 tablespoon canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
1 half teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
11/2 teaspoons red- or white - wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/3cup olive oil
1/2 pound smoked sausage, such as kielbasa, quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1half inch slices
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 large head romaine lettuce, shredded (about 2 quarts)

Put the potatoes in a medium saucepan of salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are just tender, about 5 minutes.  Drain the potatoes and put them in a glass or stainless steel bowl.  Add the chicken broth and 1quarter teaspoon of the salt to the warm  potatoes and toss gently.

Meanwhile, in a large glass or stainless-steel bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, the remaining 1-quarter teaspoon salt, and the pepper; add the oil slowly whisking.

Put large nonstick frying pan over moderate heat. Add smoked sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until sausage is brown and warmed through, about 3 minutes. Remove the sausage and drain on paper towels.Toss the potatoes with 2 tablespoon of the dressing and the parsley. Toss the romaine into the remaining dressing. Put the lettuce on plates and top with the potatoes and sausage. 

Serves 4 NOTE: This is a French-style potato salad, in place of the broth use wine so the warm potatoes absorb the flavor of the liquid. Also a delicious French garlic sausage would be a good substitute for the kielbasa. 

Wine recommendation: The French often serve a simple and straightforward, fresh and fruity Beaujolais with this dish.

WHEN PIGS FLY PIE(Sharon's Mack's own creation)
1 large can apple pie filling (do not use 2)
1 cup raisins
1 quarter cup finely chopped ham
1 eighth teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 quarter teaspoon cinnamon
1/4  cup packed dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 third and 2 tablespoons flour
3 quarters cup roughly chopped walnuts
1 (6-oz.) Keebler Ready Crust Shortbread Pie Crust

Heat oven to 350°F.

Combine apple filling, raisins, chopped ham and spices.  Spoon into crust.Combine flour and brown sugar; cut in butter until crumbly.  Stir in walnuts; sprinkle over filling.Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until topping is golden.

I'm told there is room for two more members, and males would be welcome.Call Sharon Mack at ..........