# Dinner Club Menu Needed - BBQ Theme



## wendyfrompa (Apr 16, 2009)

(Sorry for earlier post on incorrect forum!)

I am in need of a BBQ Themed Dinner Club Menu. My husband and I host a large BBQ in the fall every year so our Dinner Club is expecting something BBQ-licious for our upcoming (May) meal. I would like gourmet it up also - if that is possible.

Since it is spring and heading toward summer, I would also like some fresh fruit streamed through the menu items if that makes sense with BBQ.

I am looking for Appetizers, 1 Salad, 2 Entrees, 2 Sides and Dessert. (Course based wine selections would be great suggestions as well!!!)

Some ideas I have are:
*Appetizers*: Tapenade, Grilled Bacon-wrapped scallops, Grilled Tequila-Cilantro Pineapple
*Salad*: Cucumber and tomato slices (read it on a thread) but with a fruit (maybe mandarin orange or mango) vinaigrette or puree.
*Entrees*: MahiMahi w/Pineapple Salsa or Whole Grilled Sea Bass and a Steak/chicken item
*Sides*: No ideas
*Dessert*: No ideas HOWEVER - My eyes were open at our last dinner club when the host (who also happens to be a culinary instructor/chef) lightly grilled angel food cake and plated it with fresh berries and mango puree - FABULOUS!!! 

Any help anyone can provide will be much appreciated! 
Have a wonderfully blessed day!!!


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

Picking up from the other forum:

Wendy, I get them in the frozen foods section of a local Asian market. Depending on size, they run from 7 to 12 in a package. I think I'd opt for the smaller ones as an appetizer. 

If you do a search under "baby octopus recipes" you'll get dozens of hits, at least half of which deal with grilling them. Plus many recipes that call for cutting larger octopi into pieces can be adapted to the babys---which are inherently more tender.

If you decide you'd like to serve them but not grilled, I have several really great recipes. Made one the other night, in fact: baby octopus with wine and green olives. Delish!

Another, similar, possibility might be grilled stuffed squid. Again, something you don't see on every grill. 

Given your theme, you might want to run the changes on sliders as an appetizer. F'rinstance, I do one I call a Buffalo Blue Burger: bison chop meat with blue cheese on the inside. Each mini-burger is served in a pumpkin bun, sitting on a bed of red onion marmalade and topped with a mustard sauce and a few arugala leaves. Another version starts with ground lamb. It has haloumi cheese inside, and sits on a bed of Lebanese style olive salad and is topped with tzatziki. This one is done on rosemary mini-buns. Etc. 

For the meat-protein entree, maybe a rolled, stuffed flank steak. Again, not something you see on every grill. And the pinwheels they form (after slicing) make a nice presentation.


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## buonaboy (Sep 5, 2007)

Here's a pork rub I've made a few times, I originally did it at a catering for a small coffee-shop-chain's company party. It is delicious. 

I used the infamous "Alton Brown Rub Ratio" 8:3:1:1
(sugar:salt:heat:flavoring) as a starting point

4 cups Muscovado brown sugar(or any dark brown)
1 1/2 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup cayenne
1/4 cup smoked paprika
1/2 cup fine ground espresso 
1/4 cup cracked coriander 

-this makes enough for a few BBQ's, store it in the pantry in a sealed container. 
-ciao


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