The appetizers were easy and tasty.  Somehow I screwed up the popovers, which I’ve made half a dozen times before. Like most times, I cut the recipe in half.  The popovers were remarkably dense — but lathering them in butter, sea salt and bacon made them quite tasty.

The French Onion Soup was a little bit watery — if I were to make this again, I think I would reduce the amount of water by 50% in this recipe.  The portions were just right for 6 people.  The soup was slightly more caramelized than I had anticipated, but the soup was tasty in general.  I think I’ll find an alternate recipe in the future.  I’m really surprised the recipe from America’s Test Kitchen let me down.

The Seared Sea Scallops with Bacon Butter Sauce was a pretty big hit.  The folks who traditionally don’t like vegetables or fish even ate every bite of this small course.  Each person did have one medium sized scallop sitting on a bed of wilted spinach.  I would definitely make this as a small fish course again.

The main course of Chicken Dijon was a really big hit.  The chicken thighs were a great substitution for drumsticks I think.  I made 8 thighs for 6 people. All thighs were gone pretty quickly. I should have cooked another 2 or 3 thighs just to make sure everyone was happy.  The Dijon sauce was delicious — everyone passed serving dish around the table and dipped their baguette in the sauce (just as Food and Wine indicated they would).

The haricorts verts Lyonnaise were gobbled up too.  They were so easy to make and I indent on adding these to my standard traditional menu options.  This took just a couple minutes and the beans can be prepped HOURS before and just tossed in the oil with the onions at the last minute. I will be fixing these for Thanksgiving.

I completely forgot to make the Arugula Salad. I didn’t even realize I had forgotten the salad until the next day.  No one seemed to miss it — it wouldn’t have made the meal, but would have been a nice addition.

The desserts also went quickly.  The chocolate bonbons were by far the favorites — as well they should have been.  The process to create these treats was long and intense, but these chocolates were absolutely amazing. I only wish they were easier to make — if they were I would probably end up eating these every day…be 450 pounds and a diabetic.  Perhaps it is a good thing these are such a pain in the ass to make.  I will probably make these for Thanksgiving dinner as well.

The wines were well received as well. We had 6 people at dinner and finished 8 glasses of wine, half a bottle of port and half a bottle of Calvados.  Traditionally Supper Club is over around midnight or 00h30.  People left my home around 01h45.

All in all, I would say this dinner was a success.  The new recipes I tried worked out quite well and, as noted above, have even made it into my standard recipe pile.

Next Supper Club is a black tie event on New Years Eve — which is the best way to spend the holiday, if you ask me.