Stircrazy in March

Heidi Rohr

2011 started with a bang and the dinnerclub was in full swing again. My selection this year was something different and wanted to do this for a while. I have done a cooking course in 2010 and thought that it may be something fun for Dinnerclub.

I contacted Brett from Stircrazy in Houtbay whom I have done a Thai cooking course before.
Brett gave me a selection on cuisines to choose from for the night.
We decided on a Mediterranean Cooking course for the evening. We were a group of 10 that were divided into teams of 2. Our head chef for the evening was Karen; she was overseeing everything, helping us and checking that we don't burn the kitchen down.

The 5 team all got a starter, main and dessert to prepare. Each dish would be tasted and Karen was to decide at the end who would be the overall winner.
Prize of awesomeness: Best Chef's outfit.
Team 1: Sabine &Ryan
Team 2: Daryn &Jules
Team 3: Lorna &Holly
Team 4: Doran &Jan
Team 5: Rebecca &Heidi

The night was very eventful, at times hectic due to the pressure of getting your dish done which seemed chaotic at times. After each dish the whole group would sit down and taste or creations, a little bit of everything and we would discuss how certain thing where prepared.

The recipes we prepared where as follows:
1. Tomato's stuffed with Aubergine and Ricotta
2. Stuffed Zucchini with Yogurt Sauce
3. Pork Medallions in More- Conac Sauce
4. Pepper with Chorizo and Calamari
5. Mussels in white wine and garlic sauce
6. Maghreb Egyptian Pasta
7. French peasant salad with blue cheese
8. Almond Tart
9. Stir- fried chicken
10. Cashew meringue Cake
11. Banana& coconut pancakes
12. Prawn and Potato Fritters
13. Tomato and Ricotta Cheese tart

The selection was tuff at times on who to choose but Team 4 seemed and proved to a favorite for the evening and Karen came to a decision and made them overall winner.

Prize of Awesomeness went to Chef Ryan Gerber due to his Chef's hat and culinary skills.

The evening involved interacting and comradery as teams started helping other teams that were running out of time or had particulary difficult recipes. There was a whole lot of laughing, tasting, eating and a whole lot of food.
It would have been nice to have a little intro to Mediterranean food in the beginning, little explanation on the food, tastes and spices used.

It's a great idea for group activity or just a social evening with friends.