Georgian Dinner Party

We had a dinner party featuring Georgian food. This is Sarah's brainchild and while I am not entirely sure what inspired it (though it was probably Nigella Lawson or Christina Nichol's Lucky Peach blog), it was a fun way to try some new foods I probably never would have found and made on my own. We had at least one vegetarian in attendance and we planned it so that almost all of the food (except the chicken, of course) was vegetarian friendly.

RECIPES

• Georgian Stuffed Chicken -- we cooked a separate batch of the rice stuffing in a glass dish so vegetarians could enjoy it.
• Beet Latkes with Horseradish Cream
• Badrijani Nigvzit (Walnut Stuffed Eggplant Rolls) -- these were my favorite food from the meal! A little labor intensive but really delicious and absolutely worth the work.
• Hachapuri (Cheese Stuffed Bread)
• Muhammara (Red Pepper Walnut Dip) -- I'm not sure of the exact recipe Sarah used to make the one served at our dinner, but I have made the one at this link several times and I love it.
• Dark Grape Pelamushi (Grape Juice Pudding) -- I made this since I had a lot of grapes given to me by our farm share. It turned out more brown than purple, and I am not sure how well executed it was since I had never had it before, but it was fun to try to make something so different. It had a nice sourness from the grape skins and grapey flavor since the grapes had seeds (waaaay different from most American table grapes, which barely have any grape flavor and are mostly just sweet). If I ever make it again I will probably try this recipe instead.

Other things we served that we did not prepare:

• Sartori MontAmore cheese (heart eyes emoji here)
• Olives
• Pita bread
• Khortytsa, a Ukrainian vodka (we couldn't find any Georgian spirits locally to buy)
• Red wine
• Our favorite beers

Dirt Cake

Dirt cake is one of our family dessert staples. Imagine cookies 'n cream ice cream but not quite as cold so you can taste all the delicious flavors. I'm not sure when I first had it, but my mom has been making it all my life. It is a favorite birthday cake of my oldest brother, who was born in January, but we also made it in the summer. My mom still makes it whenever more than one of us comes home to visit. Imagine my surprise at hearing it was my boyfriend's favorite birthday cake too! It is not the only reason I married him but it certainly didn't hurt. He requested it again this year, and we shared this one pictured above at his birthday party.

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RECIPE:

Dirt Cake
from my mom, original source unknown
serves 12-20

20 oz Oreo cookies, crushed
¼ cup (½ stick) butter or margarine, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3 ½ cups milk
2 small packages (3.4 oz each) Jello instant French vanilla pudding mix
12 oz Cool Whip, thawed

Put Oreo cookies in a zippered plastic bag and crush into small pieces with a rolling pin. Set aside. Beat butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside. In another large bowl, combine milk and pudding mix with a whisk until completely mixed. Let stand 5 minutes until thickened. Fold in Cool Whip to milk and pudding mixture. Mix pudding mixture into butter mixture until well combined. Layer 1/3 crushed Oreos, ½ cream mixture, 1/3 Oreos, ½ cream mixture, 1/3 Oreos in 9x13 inch rectangular pan. Refrigerate 1-2 hours or until flavors have blended. Store covered in refrigerator.

Notes:

• This recipe was written when standard packages of Oreo cookies were 20 oz. They are now over 25% smaller at 14.3 oz (booooo). You can still make it with one package of cookies but if you really like a lot of cookie crumbs in your dirt cake, consider buying more than one and having some leftovers, or buy another, smaller package.
• If you can't get Oreos where you live, you can substitute a different kind of chocolate sandwich cookie with vanilla cream filling (like Hydrox? Are those still a thing?)
• Do not use non-dairy milk. The pudding will not set.
• You can make this in individual servings too! Instead of putting the whole thing in a 9x13 pan, put a little bit of cookie crumbs in the bottom of a clear plastic cup, top with a few spoonfuls of the cream mixture, then sprinkle more cookie crumbs on top. This will make anywhere from 12-18 servings depending on how much you put in each cup.
• I recommend serving gummy worms/candies on the side if you have the urge to put them in at all. I have discovered I'm a dirt cake purist: no flavored cream (especially chocolate because it competes with the chocolate cookies) and absolutely no gummy worms or candies in it WTF gross. Something about mixing gummy and creamy textures is just really revolting to me and I can't be the only one who feels this way. Plus I imagine children would love the idea of putting their own worms in their dirt cake.