Share Cubanos & Mojitos along with other movie inspired recipes from our Gourmet Group adventure!
Cubanos & Mojitos – Movie Inspired Recipes!
This past weekend’s April blizzard morphed our usual party of 8 for Gourmet Group into an intimate party of 4. Jeff and Bridget, our hosts for the evening, selected “Food Served or Inspired by a Favorite Movie” as our theme. This creative choice produced a delicious menu and a fun evening complete with clips from the featured movies.
Main Course – Cubanos, Cumin Lime Cole Slaw and Mojitos
From the movie Chef
Mojo Pork Cubanos, inspired by the movie Chef, took center stage. These layered cuban sandwiches feature citrus & herb marinated pork roast, thin slices of pan-crisped ham, Swiss cheese, yellow mustard and pickles. Once assembled on toasted bread, the sandwiches are then pressed and toasted again to perfection. Note – they used Bella bread, a craft bread sold by Kowalskis. This is an involved recipe, but the results were so worth it!
Jeff and Bridget made Cumin Lime Cole Slaw which was great on the side or piled inside the cubanos. Mojitos, the light and refreshing concoction of rum, sugar, club soda and fresh muddled mint was the perfect cocktail pairing. What a great main course combination!
First Course – Fried Tomatoes with Buttermilk Ranch Herb Sauce
From the movie Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Mike & I selected Fried Green Tomatoes as an homage to the movie Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Truth be told, I had to use unripe red tomatoes because green tomatoes are not available this time of the year. To amp up the flavor of this recipe, I added 1/2 tsp. each of cayenne and paprika, plus 2 tsp. of lemon zest. I served the fried tomatoes as finger food with a Buttermilk Ranch Herb Sauce. I added a small herb salad mix tossed with a lemon and chive vinaigrette to round out our 1st course.
Appetizer & Dessert Pinch Hit
Our friends Brian and Lynda had planned to serve a charcuterie platter inspired by a couple of (yet to be revealed) movies. A mystery that will have to live on for now! A stop at the HyVee deli produced a small sampling of cheese and sausage to pinch hit for the appetizer course.
Tracey and Rick were tackling Reine de Saba (chocolate almond cake) from the movie Julie and Julia. Tracey even used her mother’s copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. What a fun personal touch. Tracey, who actually did make her cake, tucked it into the freezer and promised to share it with us in the future. Mike and I look forward to that. A few store bought sweets filled in for our dessert course.
Nothing like a nice warm spicy Cuban meal to offset the cold and snow outside!
It really was a great meal!