18th Dinner Club: Soul Food Menu & Recipes
22-Nov-2005
Friday night was our last Cooking Club meeting of the year. It’s always a little sad when we take a break for the holidays but it will be really exciting to get together again next year. This month M was the host and she chose Soul Food as her theme. What I found interesting as I was doing my research is that many of the things that came up during research for our "Americana" dinner were also core for Soul Food dining, although there may have been a slight twist to the recipe. And, as you might expect, there was also overlap with the "New Orleans" dinner we had. This is the sort of thing I love realizing as we learn through these meals. Here’s what we ended up with for our dinner:
- Appetizer: Sausage Balls (The website I originally got this from is down, but this recipe is the same. However, I modified it – see my version below) & Chipotle Deviled Eggs based on a recipe in "Dishing with Kathy Casey: Food, Fun & Cocktails with Seattle’s Culinary Diva" by Kathy Casey
- Cocktail: Sazerac
- Salad (Vegetable): Collard Greens with Red Onions and Bacon
- Side: Grand Central’s Famous Mac & Cheese
- Main: Buttermilk Fried Chicken (turn your speakers down…) and Fried Chicken
- Dessert: Sweet Potato Pie
Sausage Cheese Balls
1 pound hot bulk sausage
2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese (1/2 lb.)
1½ cups baking mix
vegetable oil (if needed)
Combine ingredients and shape into walnut sized balls. Depending on the fat content of the sausage, you may have to add a little vegetable oil (about a tablespoon) to get the sausage and cheese to blend.
Bake on cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 10 to15 minutes. May be frozen before or after baking. Serve hot.
Makes 4 dozen.
Dipping Sauce
Mix puréed chipotles in adobo sauce with Heinz ketchup. Start with a small amount of puréed chipotle sauce and increase until desired taste is attained.
18th Dinner Club: Soul Food Summary
Culinary Fool 
This look good!