Cooking Club XIII

It was Justin and my's turn to host Cooking Club this round. Since it was in December we decided to do a theme of Holidays Around the World. We started the night with 2 different drinks from Europe - Wassail  which is like a spiced cider, and Clogg, which is like a mulled wine. We made both so they could be drunk with or without alcohol. I thought both were delish but overall Wassail was more popular. 

We traveled to Asia for appetizers.
Ukoy - Shrimp Patty  - This turned out great. Everyone loved it. Hard to beat a deep fried patty.
Maruya - Banana Fritter - This one was ok. It seemed to be more like a pancake than a fritter. We used the plantains as the recipe recommended and decided it would be better with actual bananas.

For the soup course we traveled Africa.

L’hamraak Garagh - Pumpkin Soup -  Everyone loved the soup. It was thick and rich. We thought it could've used some sort of a garnish on top for presentation.

Next up was South America. 

Tamales de Carne - This recipe I got from a friends Mom. I had actually made these before and knew they were great.
Pastel de Quinoa - Quinoa Sausage Casserole - The top recipe of the night. I will definitely be making this again. Even using the diary free cream cheese, it still turned out so good! I had some problems finding chorizo and ended up getting dried links from World Market. I think they actually added to the dish instead of using a crumbled chorizo. 
Pina Mango Salsa de Arandanos - Mango Pineapple Cranberry Sauce  - This was good but nothing overly special. 

Dessert was from Australia. We made a Plum Pudding, which is a cake with brandy soaked plums, walnuts and a brandy sauce over it. It wasn't bad, but I'll say no one finished it or wanted to take the recipe home. :) I thought it had a flavor a bit like rye or pumpernickel bread. 

Another fun and successful night. Hard to believe we'll be bringing a little baby to the next one!