Each month, our neighborhood’s Gourmet Club meets to share a themed dinner. We nix the kids and enjoy an evening full of great food, drinks and socializing with close friends. There are eleven couples in our group, but not all of us can attend every month. There were 14 of us sharing in our latest dinner: A Cuban Dinner Party.
One person hosts, chooses the theme & menu, and then asks what each person would like to bring. It’s a nice reason to go shopping for new dishes and decor (to match your chosen theme!)
All recipes can be found by clicking on recipe titles:
Our full menu:
FEATURED BEVERAGE:
Mojitos
APPETIZERS:
Guava Paste & Queso Blanco on Crackers
Fried Calamari with Spicy Mayonnaise
Plantain-Wrapped Crab Cakes with Avocado Aioli
Yucca Fries with Cilantro Mayonnaise
MAIN COURSE:
Sangria-Roasted Pork
Vegetable Paella
Avocado & Onion Salad
DESSERT:
Tres Leches Cake
All was excellent!!!
Notes:
*Mojitos are a must- SO good.
*The guava paste/cheese combo is a classic cuban appetizer.
*I LOVED the yucca fries. It was my first time having had yucca, and everyone seemed to like these a lot.
*The crab cakes and calamari were also enjoyed.
*The Sangria pork was good- it surprisingly didn’t have a lot of flavor to it, but you could reduce the sauce and serve it alongside. It was very tender. The vegetable paella and avocado/onion salad were excellent served with the pork.
*We served slices of the very rich Tres Leches Cake for each couple to share (topped with whipped cream & star fruit and a scoop of vanilla ice cream). We picked up the star fruit at Specialty Produce. It was actually really delicious eaten in bites with the cake & cream. Everyone loved the cake!
It was a very successful dinner, and I’m adding it to my dinner party menus.
I think my invitation may have gotten lost in the mail so I am going to go ahead and send it to you again 🙂
I love this idea and I wish I had cool people around here who would participate. Heck I have a BBQ and ask people to bring sides dishes and I end up with 10 bags of chips, veggie tray, and a thing of dip.
Fabulous dinner party theme!! Love the sounds of that avocado & onion salad.. so refreshing!!
Great feast!! Everything is so delectable and aunthentic!
oh!! and i totally invite you to check out my vid on making boiled yucca with citrus mojo! i promise you will absolutely love if u liked them fried! it’s on the site under Flanboyant TV!
you all hit it on the head… great looking table! glad you picked up the sunflowers! so typical in our homes! if i ever get my hands or Cuban crackers (only found in Miami and NJ), I’ll send you some. then you can really experience the guava con cream cheese! like u said, another classic in our parties/snacks! and considering i don’t eat pork, i can appreciate the veggie paella! good job girl!!!
Would love to have dinner party like this. I grew up with yuca and plantain. Back in Indonesia, we had fried yuka for afternoon snack. Delicious! Love love love that plantain wrap crab cake. I really want to try to make it. Everything is so Yummy! Oh, of course I love Mojito!
OMG that looks great – I too am in a club called Gourmet Girls we meet every other month – We are meeting this Friday and the theme is BBQ. Will be fun!!
You’ve got some great recipes here! When we do this, I swear I rarely get good photos. Perhaps I can blame it on the wine — or my complete lack of patience! Nice job.
What a fun group — and the food looks FANTASTIC!!
Fantastic meal. That must be such a great together.