Erin made Warm Ricotta with Olive Oil and Lemon Zest. She served the ricotta with homemade crackers that were perfectly crisp and yummy! The fresh ricotta recipe called for either vinegar or lemon juice – she did it with both and mixed them. This was a great appetizer, though I think it may have been more due to Erin’s fantastic crackers than the ricotta (which were a nice complement to the crackers).

Jeff made Creamy Mushroom Soup. I enjoyed the deep mushroom flavor and creaminess of this soup, and I bet I would have especially liked it when it was piping hot. Alas, the challenges of bringing soup to a potluck. Even lukewarm, it was good enough that it’s got me wondering why I’ve never made mushroom soup and considering trying my hand at it.

Revi made Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Eggs, Pomegranate, and Marcona Almond Vinaigrette. I loved the bright colors of this salad, and the way all the flavors came together. It had sweetness, a bit of bite from the onions, richness from the cheese and eggs, and for me the toasty nuttiness of the almonds really put it over the top.

Drew made Marinated Kale Salad with Chickpeas and Sumac Onions. This salad was a bit plain at first, but Brian had made Fig and Pumpkin Seed Vinaigrette (that I failed to take a picture of) which someone had the idea of adding to the kale. This was a brilliant suggestion, as the fig dressing was delicious and pumped up the flavors of the kale salad quite nicely.

Drew also made Mexican Street Corn Salad. I always like a Mexican street corn salad. This one was tasty, though not a particular stand-out from others I’ve had. Some people thought it was very spicy, but I like some good kick so wasn’t bothered by that.

Chris made Cheesy Broccoli or Cauliflower Casserole. He did the cauliflower version. It was delicious, but as Chris pointed out… everything is good when topped with bread and cheese. I do, however, think this was a pretty good rendition – flavorful, creamy, and with a wonderfully tasty crunchy topping. He used bread from Gjusta (a local bakery I adore), which is probably why the bread crumbs were my favorite part.

Shaun made Hot Buttered Peas with Prosciutto, Pine Nuts, and Garlic. He went heavy on the prosciutto to peas ratio, which I am not complaining about. I thought that I would like this dish more than I did. Everything about it sounded really good to me, but for some reason I found it a bit uninteresting.

Rachel made Pasta with Sausage and Red-Sauce-Braised Broccoli Rabe. Props to her for homemaking the sausage, which was delicious! I really liked the flavors of this dish and was definitely glad to take some of the leftovers home. My only complaint is that braising the broccoli rabe in the red sauce turned it dull brownish and soft, rather than the crisp vibrant green that I usually love.

John made Classic Baked Ziti. This tasted like a pretty typical rendition of baked ziti, which is to say… it’s hard for pasta covered in melty cheese to be bad, but it wasn’t anything to write home about. There was nothing wrong with this dish, but nothing that would inspire me to give it a second thought or consider making it.

Shayna made Super-Crisp Roasted Potatoes. I was pretty blah on this dish, though in fairness I do have to note that I am not generally a potato fan. I didn’t find them to be memorably crispy (perhaps they were more crisp when fresh out of the oven?), and I found myself scrounging around for more bits of rosemary to enhance the flavor.

I made Super-Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits. I followed the instructions to roll the dough into a 12-inch square, but this made the dough much thinner than it appeared in the pictures. I hoped that they might rise a lot, but the resulting biscuits were pretty flat. The biscuits were buttery and somewhat flaky, but I wonder if they would have been more flaky had I not rolled them so thin.

Brad made Tender Italian Meatballs with Rich Tomato Sauce. He said they were really wet, and therefore didn’t hold together well. While they were more meatball pieces than whole beautiful meatballs, I thought the flavors of both the meatballs and the sauce were spot-on, and found myself wishing for pasta or toasted bread as vehicles to get more of it into my face.

Anthony made All-American Pot Roast with Gravy. The recipe said to put the meat on a platter and top with the vegetables and sauce, but that seemed like a waste of a lot of good gravy, so he served it stew-style all in one pot with rice to eat it over. The meat was tender, but I didn’t find this to be a particularly special pot roast. Anthony had recently made a pot roast from Joy of Cooking, which in my opinion was the winner.

Robert made Cooler-Cooked Rib-Eye Steaks with Shallots, Garlic, and Thyme. The steak was flavorful and insanely tender. I have never attempted to sous vide anything, but when I eat something like this it makes me want to try. Definitely my favorite dish of the night.