We’ve been in a Gourmet Club for over 15 years. There are nine women in our group. It’s a fun easy way to get together with friends who like to cook. The goal is to challenge yourself to cook outside your comfort zone. Sometimes you make something great and sometimes it goes in the garbage. But that is what makes it entertaining. We have hard set of rules which adds to the fun. The theme can be a country, regional food, a chef or cookbook. The rules are as follows:

1. Gourmet Club is held on the first Saturday of the month, every other month. We prefer the evening but sometimes we switch it up and have a lunch or a brunch.
2. The host picks the theme and makes the main dish.
3. The categories can vary slightly but we usually have:
   • cocktail
   • 2 appetizers
   • main course
   • 2 starchy sides
   • 1 green side, second green side or salad
   • dessert
4. It has to be something you’ve never made before.
5. You have to make it yourself (it sounds obvious but …)
6. Stay in your lane – don’t make more than your dish.
7. Bring a bottle that compliments the meal.
8. Leftovers get left with the host.

This month the theme was Cantonese. The meal was delicious. To give you an idea of this month’s menu we had a Rum Cocktail, not so good ; ) tasted a little like Robitussin, Peking Duck Summer Rolls, Savory Pork Mooncakes, Slow Roasted Pork Belly, Chinese Broccoli, Gai Lan, Longevity Noodles, Cantonese Fried Rice and in lieu of dessert we had fortune cookies (store bought).

I made Peking Duck Summer Rolls for appetizer Fabienne made Cantonese Fried Rice with shrimp and pork. She made the char siu, which is barbecue pork. We’d love to hear ideas about other gourmet clubs!

Peking Duck Summer Rolls

serves 6-8 as an appetizer

Ingredients

Marinade

4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
3 garlic cloves mince
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar or white vinegar
2 tablespoons of Chinese rice wine or sherry

1 pound boneless duck breast
2 tablespoons oil
1 package of 12-in rice paper
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
2 green onion cut into long thin slices
1 english cucumber, deseeded and cut into thin strips

Instructions

Whisk together the marinade ingredients. Add the duck and breast to the marinade and refrigerate for 30 minutes up to 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF

Remove the duck breast from the marinade. Put the duck on a sheet pan and roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the duck breast skin side down and cook for 3-5 minutes until the skin is crisp. Be careful not to burn.  Drain the duck breast on some paper towels. Let the duck rest for a couple minutes and then slice thinly.

Fill a shallow bowl, large enough to hold rice papers, with warm water.  Lay a clean towel on your work surface. Dip the rice paper into the water. It will still be hard. Remove it from the water and lay it on the clean towel where it will soften. You can repeat the process until you have 4 rice papers softening.

To roll, spread a teaspoon of the hoisin sauce in the middle of the rice paper. Place a few slices of duck on the paper, add a few slice of onion and green onion. Roll the paper up and gently cut in half. Put on your platter. Repeat the process of softening rice paper and rolling until all your duck is used up. Serve immediately with a little extra hoisin and some hot sauce.

Ingredients for Peking Duck Summer Rolls

Roasted Duck Breasts

Assembling Summer Rolls