Category Archives: Backyard Garden

From Our Kitchen To Yours!

18 Wednesday May 2016

Posted by in Acme Bake Shop Breads, Alley Gardens, Appetizers, Apricots, Arugula, Avocado, Backyard Garden, Bacon, Baking, Basque Bread, BFM, Boise Area Food Adventures, Boise Farmers Market, Breakfast At The Captains Shack, Brussels Sprouts, Buy Idaho, Cabbage, Captain's Shack, Comfort Food, Crab Cakes, Desert Mountain Farms, Dessert, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Eggs, Felzien Farms Lamb, Greek Food, Green Salad, Healthy Eating, Herbs, Herbs and Spices, Ice Cream, Idaho Chicken, Idaho Dairy, Idaho Eggs, Idaho Greens, Idaho Lamb, Idaho Vegetables, Local Markets, Meadowlark Farms, Ohana Micro Greens, Omelet, Photos By: Bob Young, Rice Family Farms, Salads, Sausage, Scallops, Seafood, Spice Blends, Spices, Spring Greens, True Roots Produce, What's For Dinner?

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , ,


05Nov2015_1b_Rembrandts_Lil-Jake-Omelet - CopyIt could be anything! But hopefully, it’s always pretty good. Mostly healthy and always has a local product element. Local. That’s what we try to feature always! Beef, pork, lamb, seafood, greens, fruit, vegetables, eggs, mushrooms, sprouts. You get the idea. And what’s even more fun – sometimes … most times – is preparing the meals. Here are a few photos of some of the dishes we have made recently. If there is a recipe for the item, it may be in the recipe file as listed above or you can look for it by Clicking Here.
We were going to make Greek kabobs and I wanted to find a good Greek herb blend. There is a really good Greek restaurant near us, Mazzah Mediterrean and every time I walk by it, I get this wonderfully awesome aroma of Greek spices. So I found this chart of cultural Spice Blends. We used the Greek Spice and added Sumac and Marjoram. If you are looking for a particular blend, this may help. Save the image and print it out if you need to.

I recently saw an article where folks were planting vegetables and herbs in their front yards, instead of grass! Talk about local and fresh! But we have been doing this for years. Our front lawns, as small as it might be, is our herb garden. Pretty blooms. Great smells and absolutely fresh herbs. Something to think about.

I recently saw an article where folks were planting vegetables and herbs in their front yard, instead of grass! Talk about local and fresh! But we have been doing this for years. Our front lawns, as small as it might be, is our herb garden. Pretty blooms. Great smells and absolutely fresh herbs. Something to think about.

Lamb Kabobs with Greek Spices

Lamb Kabobs with Greek Spices
From the spice chart above. Local lamb and vegetables.

Greek 5-Cheese Filo on Spinach Bed

Greek 5-Cheese Filo on Spinach Bed
Local spinach! No we didn’t make the filo.

Vanila Ice Cream It was super. Local dairy products.

Vanila Ice Cream
It was super. Local dairy products.

Bacon and Cheese Omelet Apricots

Bacon and Cheese Omelet
Apricots
Toasted Basque Bread
Local eggs, bacon and Basque bread.

Creamed Spinach Popovers

Creamed Spinach Popovers
Local spinach and dairy

Braised Scallops on Shredded Napa Cabbage Strawberries

Braised Scallops
on
Shredded Napa Cabbage
Sliced Strawberries and Kiwi
Strawberries are local.

Braised Scallops on Crab Rice Green Salad

Braised Scallops on Crab Rice
Green Salad with Carrot Strings and Micro Greens
Greens and carrots for the salad are all local.

Crab Rice and Shredded Napa Cabbage

Crab Rice and Shredded Napa Cabbage

Sunnyside Up Eggs on Spinach and 5 Greek Cheese Filo Sausage Links Apricot Chunks

Sunnyside Up Eggs
on
Spinach and 5 Greek Cheese Filo

Sausage Links
Apricot Chunks
Local eggs, sausage and spinach.

Mushroom Omelet Sausage Pineapple Toasted Basque Bread

Mushroom Omelet
Sausage
Pineapple
Toasted Basque Bread
Everything but the pineapple is local!

Parsley Salad with Shaved Radish and Fresh Miners Lettuce.

Parsley Salad
with
Shaved Radish and Fresh Miners Lettuce
All local from the Boise Farmers Market (I’m there every week!)

So there you have it. Not 100% local, but darn close. And this time of year with the Boise Farmers Market being open, it gets easier to buy those local products. Plus, our herb gardens are in full swing – bloom! Enjoy.

It’s Been A Long Time – Salisbury Steak Time!

31 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by in Alley Gardens, Backyard Garden, Basque Bread, Beef, Boise Farmers Market, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Comfort Food, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Dinner For Robin, Herbs, Idaho Beef, Idaho Potatoes, Idaho Wine, Local Markets, Main Dish, Mushrooms, Onion, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Vegetables, Weston On The Lake Winery, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wines - Idaho

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

,


Every so often, one has a yearning for “things from the past”. In this case, comfort food. A Salisbury Steak and Baked Potato. Not much more basic than that. Add a good and hard to find Idaho wine, and you are in ecstasy!

Salisbury Steak with mushroom dark gravy Baked Potato with butter and chives Toasted Basque Bread

Salisbury Steak
with
mushroom, garden fresh thyme, onion and bacon dark gravy

Baked Idaho Potato
with
butter and garden fresh chives

Toasted Basque Bread

2012 Weston Winery and Vineyards Murray Hill Estate Malbec

How easy was that? Yum.

Fresh Hagerman Trout

02 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by in Acme Bake Shop, Acme Bake Shop Red Wheat Bread, Alley Gardens, Backyard Garden, Baking, Baking - Papillote, Boise Farmers Market, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Classic Cuisines, Cooking Styles, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Dinner With Robin, Ethnic Foods, Food Prep, Healthy Eating, Herbs, Idaho Trout, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Main Dish, Recipes, Red Wheat, Seafood, Trout, What's For Dinner?

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, ,


Brown-Trout-2I found some what looks like some good Idaho – Hagerman to be exact – trout. Yes, I know, it’s farm raised, but still excellent trout. Did you know that 98% of the trout that you buy in the US, whether it be in a restaurant or in a grocery store or fish store is trout from Idaho? That’s a very high percentage! Tonight I think I will make a Truite au four en Papillote, Trout Baked in Foil is the direct translation but I will use parchment. Stuff the trout with some very fresh Lemon Thyme from the garden and some lemon slices, salt and pepper and a Pinot Grigio to baste. Sounds yummy!

Note: 09 July 2016 – I had a question from a reader from Georgia asking where they might buy some fresh Idaho t6rout and have it shipped to them. Here is a reply that I made to her. “Hi Nona – Thanks for the question. One source for fresh Idaho trout is http://www.clearsprings.com/consumer/products/trout/clear-cuts/. Another source may be Hagemann Ranch Trout Farm (Google it for website) and they are in Bodega Bay, CA. A lot of the restaurants in the area use them, but they do sell to individuals. I will continue to look for you. Enjoy the trout!”

Backyard Chicken Farmers Event!

20 Tuesday Mar 2012

Posted by in Backyard Garden, Chicken, Special Events, Special Information

≈ Leave a comment


I received this information from Gretchen Anderson (thebycf@gmail.com) and thought I would pass it on. For you Backyard Chickeners, this might be an ideal event. You grow the chickens … we will buy the eggs. Left-Click the graphic to see a larger view. Contact Gretchen directly via email for more information. It should be a fun time!

2011 Alley Gardens

14 Tuesday Jun 2011

Posted by in Alley Gardens, Backyard Garden, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Traditional Foods

≈ Leave a comment


Wow! Time sure flies when you’re having so much fun! I didn’t realize that it has been 10 days since I posted anything here. A hospital visit will do that, I suppose. (Look at what Robin made for me during my recovery. Rhubarb and Strawberry Puff Pastry with Vanilla Ice Cream. I’m so lucky.)

And then, she also made this Strawberry Puffy Pastry with Pastry Cream. (That’s the Idaho State Flower on the dessert – Syringa.) So what does this to do with the Alley Gardens? Try growing strawberries and/or rhubarb in your garden. The following photos show, among other things, basic designs for your Alley Garden – you don’t really need an alley – and some of the produce you can grow in them. Enjoy and I hope this sparked your curiosity. Cheers!

Here is our Alley Garden.

Lettuce in our garden.

And chives and flowers.

The front area between the sidewalk and the curb, is all herbs and it has been since 1986. Great color and herbs.

There is a Doctors office across the street and last year they installed the greenhouse. From what I understand, it was quite productive. Love the way they decorated the storage shed.

Our next door neighbor moved in last summer. This year they started a small, but productive, herb garden.

And other gardens in the area. Some are in the yards, and others are not. Use your imagination and keep the garden space an addition to your property.

These folks started theirs late last summer. This year they expanded and installed a watering system.

And if you don’t have the yard space. why not try “potted gardens”. This one has rosemary, mint and thyme in it.

I think that if you keep your design unique and not interfering with traffic flow, either car or pedestrian and keep it neat, the city will not “bug” you about the garden. Just have fun with these gardens and you will be surprised at how productive they can be. Enjoy!

Backyard Gardening Tips

03 Tuesday May 2011

Posted by in Alley Gardens, Backyard Garden, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?

≈ 1 Comment


It really doesn’t take a lot of space to make yourself a very productive garden. A Victory Garden, if you please. From Better Homes and Garden, I received this link on Schoolyard Gardening, but think of it also in the terms of a backyard garden. Same principle. Same idea.
The photo to the left is where I have “re-claimed” some minimal space along an alley that raises some beautiful tomatoes, edible flowers, fruit (quince) and many, many herbs. We have lettuce and chives in this year already. The Better Homes and Garden article starts off with the statement,

There is no better way to get kids to enjoy fresh vegetables than involving them in the process of planting, growing, and harvesting. That’s the message that celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is promoting with his Food Revolution project. Start your own Food Revolution this year, whether at your child’s school or in your backyard, by building a raised-bed garden.

On the page too, you will find several links of tips for planning and planting your garden. There is a link for designing and planting  Raised Beds or Getting More From Less Space. Both of these are good articles. You will be surprised at how much, for a little investment in time , money and resources, you can produce in a small space. Many places around us have started to use the space between the sidewalk and the street for raised beds. I would check with your city first, though, before I went to a lot of effort of building the beds and then have to remove it. Cheers and have fun with this project. These is a page on this blog to Companion Planting and the link is located in the Sidebar.