The Blooming Union Presents: A Renaissance Dinner

Oct 21

Oct 21 The Blooming Union Presents: A Renaissance Dinner

On Saturday 10.12.19, I got to attend my 3rd Renaissance Dinner. What is a Renaissance dinner? It is a beautifully curated meal prepared by couple, Kadeem and Samantha. The dinners fuse Kadeem’s love for cooking with Samantha’s innate ability for baking tasty desserts. Guests (usually an extension of the couple’s network by 2 degrees of separation) meet over food, share ideas, and just overall enjoy each other’s vibes. On this particular outing, I was joined by my friends who were celebrating their 10th anniversary.

The menu included cucumber salad, maduros (sweet plantains), okra with egg vegetable fried rice, air fried jerk chicken breast and ended with a nice serving of homemade banana pudding. First came the cucumber salad and plantains. The plantains were nicely fried but Sam and Kadeem were worried about the sweetness of them.

Since they came out a little more like tostones they were dressed in a little Himalayan salt and garlic. After the plantains, we waited a bit for the main course. It was being made fresh on the spot in the air fryer. During the meal, Kadeem shared with us how he got into being a pro with the air fryer. He told us that on a trip back to his parents’ home one weekend, his mom happened to tell him all about the benefits of the air fryer. He literally left that visit with the air fryer already ordered on Amazon. Since then, he has been cooking up a plethora of different spiced wings, salmon, shrimp, potato wedges, and chicken thighs on his trusty air fryer. I’m just going to label him the air fryer king.

The chicken eventually came out and was plated with the okra and fried rice. The chicken was so juicy with a nice crispy texture. It was very nostalgic for me. It reminded me of those days as a youth when my mom would make some banging seasoned chicken and then place it in the oven to cook for about 2 hours but with the air fyrer, this flashback scene only cost a half an hour of cooking.

Finally, the main event. DESSERT. I love sweets. I was excited to finally try Samantha’s homemade banana pudding. Can I tell you--- this was thee best pudding, better than Magnolia’s! While eating the pudding, Samantha shared with us her motivation for creating it. One day at Penn station, she saw a Magnolia. She said that the small cup of pudding cost her more than 6 bucks. I was shocked as I normally pay around 5 but you know things in Grand Central are always a little pricey. After having the treat, she decided to recreate it with her own spin on it. She did an amazing job. The pudding was light and fluffy. Ingredients tasted fresh and regal (remember Taurus people love rich tasting food yall), like nothing artificial was added to it. I feel like her secret ingredient is nutmeg. She puts that on everythang and its always drool worthy. Like, I would love it if all banana pudding lovers tried her rendition. If she is selling these for the holiday, I will definitely post on my social feed. Once again, if you are a banana pudding lover, this is what you need in ya life.

Samantha and Kadeem’s union has definitely birthed so many good things – their cookie business, these renaissance dinners and now a cookbook. If you would like to find out more about the couple, visit their website---The Blooming Union. How beautiful is that!