Come Dine With Me… At Home Ambrosia Cookoff – 2

 A local group of friends – all foodies — love to cook together when they visit each others’ homes. In light of the recent pandemic, they cannot share a kitchen, so instead they share a Facebook group: Come Dine With Me… At Home!

Over the last few months, they’ve shared a recipe every few weeks, prepared it on the same weekend, and then shared notes on taste, wine pairing ideas, and photos, on the Facebook group page. For one challenge, they decided to change things up a bit. This time, instead of one recipe, they were going to create a three-course dinner.

They were given a choice of what to make from the Ambrosiaapples.ca website. The instructions were that they could substitute anything they wanted on any of the recipes – or create their own — but the dishes had to include Ambrosia apples. Everyone was asked to choose one appetizer, one entrée, and one dessert. Cocktails were optional.

Our second group Included: Daniela, Ed, Amber and Jessie (all adults), Halfmoon Bay, BC.

Ambrosia apples purchased from: Claytons Foods, Sechelt

They started with a simple cheese and Ambrosia plate. “I bought ’Julianne’ from Salt Spring Island Cheese and sliced Ambrosia apples with it,” says Daniela.  “A few Rainforest crackers and a gin and tonic with apple peel were perfect accompaniments.” 

Next up was an Ambrosia apple and Kale salad, which they all agreed was very good.  “The apples added a nice crunch,” says Daniela. “I’d make it again for sure though I would add a little feta next time.”

For the entrée, they made the pork with apples and stuffing and the roasted cauliflower.  “The pork and stuffing was super easy to make, though the boys said it was a little dry,” reports Daniela.  “We would sear the pork first next time and cover it with the apples rather than laying the pork on the apples as the method said to do.” 

As far as the roasted cauliflower with apples and vegan cheese sauce: “We had to sub with broccoli as I couldn’t find caulifower,” says Daniela. “I thought it sounded amazing but was disappointed.  The Ambrosia apples were a great addition and I actually really liked the broccoli sub, but I just couldn’t ‘get with’ the vegan cheese sauce.”

This group had Apple Hasselback for dessert and Ed made a caramel sauce to go over it.  “We didn’t get any pictures of our dessert before we added ice cream,” he says. “It was fantastic and we will definitely make it again!”

 The recipes used in this menu are:

Ambrosia Apple and Kale Salad https://ambrosiaapples.ca/ambrosia-kale-salad/

Roasted Cauliflower with Ambrosia Apples https://ambrosiaapples.ca/roasted-cauliflower-ambrosia-apples/

Pork Chops with Ambrosia Apples and Stuffing https://ambrosiaapples.ca/pork-with-ambrosia-apples-and-stuffing/

Crustless Ambrosia Apple Pie Ala Hasselback (https://ambrosiaapples.ca/crust-less-ambrosia-apple-pie-a-la-hasselback-recipe/)

Dinner paired with Dirty Laundry’s Secret Affair White blend and a merlot from Deep Roots Winery. “Okanagan fruit with Okanagan wine – can’t beat it!”

The final word goes to Daniela: “Thanks for the menu. I will definitely use Ambrosia apples in my cooking more. It was fun to experiment with different dishes and the apple theme meant that everything went together really well.”

 To read about the first menu, click here. https://ambrosiaapples.ca/ambrosia-apples-cook-off/

We’d love to hear about any experiences you’ve had with cooking with Ambrosia Apples! Would you like to come dine with US? Share your interest by contacting us on our Instagram page http://instagram.com/bcambrosia, or by posting and tagging @bcambrosia and #ComeDineWithMe. We will contact you for a few details, and if your menu is featured, you’ll win a fancy Ambrosia apple bag! Check out our recipes here https://ambrosiaapples.ca/recipes/

Postscript (two weeks later): “We had the Ambrosia Apple and Kale Salad again for dinner tonight. This time we added some feta. It is my new favourite salad! Also, we love the Ambrosia apples. We’ve cooked with them a few times now. The salad is a total winner and we’ve also made rhubarb and Ambrosia crumble. Their sweetness meant I didn’t have to add as much sugar to the sour rhubarb. We LOVE AMBROSIA APPLES!”

 

Ambrosia Apples