The next best thing to sharing a good meal, is talking about it. On eight occasions annually, the Taste Buds Cookbook Club gathers to do both.
A week ago, the group convened at member Beth Callaway’s country home to begin exploring “Beyond Parsley: Beautiful Food,” a cookbook by the Junior League of Kansas City, Missouri.
“We choose one cookbook each year and pretty much cook through it, exactly following the recipes; we don’t change a thing,” said Patti Griffin, who is credited with getting the club up and running about eight years ago.
“Beyond Parsley,” first published in 1985, is now on its second edition and 10th printing. It is praised by online reviewers for recipes that are elegant without being overly complicated. They range from simple-to-prepare meals for busy weeknights to sophisticated dinners for entertaining.
The Taste Buds’ eight members take turns as host, and each member is responsible for a rotating category: specialty drink, appetizer, soup, salad, entree, side dish, dessert, and bread and wine. Members can choose what they want to prepare from the cookbook, within their designated category for that meal.
“We try to coordinate what we bring based on what the entree is,” said Gail Laws. “We try to do something that will complement the entree that’s been selected.”
For the January luncheon, Callaway chose to make the Shrimp Nantucket from “Beyond Parsley.” Laws checked out the shrimp recipe before deciding what side dish to make.
“I read the ingredients and saw it had a lot of cream and cheese in it, so I knew I needed to do something simple to go with that, and also to add some color. So I did broccoli and tomatoes. It looked really pretty on the plate.”
The luncheon also included curried spinach-apple spread, salad with hot bacon dressing, artichoke and mushroom soup, chocolate cake with fudge icing, garnished with chocolate ivy leaves — and Bloody Marys.
Tasting and testing
Recipes are followed to the letter and critiqued after the meal. Members freely talk about pros and cons and make margin notes for future reference in case they want to use that recipe on another occasion. Each member has collected personal favorites to make at home for their own families or guests.
With this format, the group has already worked its way through cookbooks including “Savor the Moment, “Tables of Content,” “Stop and Smell the Rosemary,” “Dallas Dish” and the whole Barefoot Contessa series.
“The Contessa’s are some of our best recipes,” said Callaway. “Her instructions were so wonderful and very clear.”
As much as the good food, members relish sharing culinary interests and friendship. A cookbook club is a prime outlet for exploring the food world.
Griffin remarked, “We all genuinely want to try new recipes, and that’s sometimes hard to do because in our families, some people don’t like certain things.”
When asked what she savors most, Laws said, “Oh, the camaraderie, the cooking, and after we eat, it’s great to dissect the recipes.” It’s about experiencing new things as well as the tried-and-true, she added. “And it’s so easy to do because you’re responsible for that one thing, and you can really focus on that one thing — and enjoy everybody else’s labors, too. It’s really fun; we just love it.”
Enjoy the Taste Buds’ recipes from “Beyond Parsley” in today’s food pages.
SHRIMP NANTUCKET
Serves 8
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 bay leaf
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons chopped scallions
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup milk
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
Butter
BROCCOLI AND CHERRY TOMATOES
Serves 4-6
1 large bunch broccoli
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
CURRIED SPINACH-APPLE SPREAD
2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup mayonnaise
Curry powder, to taste
1 large unpeeled apple, finely diced by hand
3/4 cup chutney
3/4 cup peanuts, chopped
SALAD GREENS WITH HOT BACON DRESSING
Assorted salad greens (see steps)
6 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
6 tablespoons bacon drippings
6 tablespoons vinegar
6 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons sugar
3 eggs
ARTICHOKE AND MUSHROOM SOUP
4-6 servings
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
3/4 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 1/2 cups half and half
1 16-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and diced
Sale, cayenne pepper and Beau Monde seasoning, to taste
CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH FUDGE ICING
Serves 10-12
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups flour
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon soda, dissolved in 1 cup boiling water
For fudge icing:
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 rounded tablespoons cocoa
Pinch of salt
1 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
CHOCOLATE IVY LEAVES
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Scant 1/2 tablespoon Crisco
Fresh waxy green leaves (Camellia, ivy or gardenia are ideal. Leaves with raised veins on the underside of leaf are most effective. Retain enough stem on each leaf to use as a handle. Wash leaves and dry thoroughly.)
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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