Breakfast – Fresh Morel Mushroom Omelet

17 Sunday May 2015

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Bacon, Blueberries, Boise Farmers Market, Breakfast, Breakfast At The Captains Shack, Breakfast With Robin, Captain's Shack, Eggs, Fruit, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Locavore, Meadowlark Farms, Morels, Omelet, Photos By: Bob Young, Sourdough Bread, Strawberries, Whats For Breakfast?

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garlic, garlic infused olive oil, morel mushrooms, morel omelet, omelet, wild mushrooms

Yup! ‘Tis the season and it looks like it is going to be a good one! East facing slope in a burn out area. These wild mushrooms are so delicious. Woody and earthy. Great just sauteed in garlic, in salads, in stuffing or sauteed in butter and garlic infused olive oil and made into an omelet. Pictured here are some fresh picked morels – from the Boise Farmers Market yesterday – getting ready to be “omeletized”. The eggs are from Meadowlark Farms in Nampa and the toast is from Acme Bake Shop and their sourdough. Bacon is from Twin Falls, Idaho. Cheers!

Fresh Morel Mushroom Omelet
Strawberry and Blueberry Fruit Mix
Toasted Acme Bake Shop Sourdough
Twin Falls Bacon

Let’s Make Some Pasta!

17 Sunday May 2015

Posted by Bob and Robin in Arugula, Bacon, Basil, Boise Farmers Market, Captain's Shack, Cheese, Classic Cuisines, Dinner For Robin, Dinner With Robin, Eggs, Ethnic Foods, Heirloom Tomatoes, Herbs and Spices, Housemade Pasta, Idaho Greens, Italian Food, Kitchen Adventures, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Meadowlark Farms, Olive Oil, Pasta, Peaceful Belly Farms, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipe Writing, Recipes, Recipes - Pasta, Tomatoes, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wines - Idaho

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Kitchen Adventures, pasta, pasta machine, spaghetti

Fresh pasta! So very good and cooks so fast. If you make your own pasta – and we’ll show you how in this article – just think of the variations you can make and the ingredient control you have. For instance, we use only local, farm raised and free range eggs from Meadowlark Farms (they are at the Saturday Boise Farmers Market at 10th and Grove.) Even your flour source can be local.
The recipe we use is an adaptation of Chef Anne Burrell’s. We use garlic infused olive oil and semolina. Both of which are not in her recipe. Here is the recipe for Pasta that we have adapted. There are several pasta makers on the market. Some relatively inexpensive and others somewhat more expensive. We have and have used a manual one like at this link – and pictured here – from Walmart, which we still have. About $30.00. Some people have this “thing” about Walmart. No problem. You can get a good one from Bed, Bath and Beyond that is still a manual one and works very well. These sell for about $35. This one is a slightly different construction and design, but you will end up with the same product when you are finished. You can also get one direct from Italy for around $500.00 and others that are commercial grade for around $1900.00. But why when the home Chef can get a good quality product for much less, unless you are into brand recognition.The one we use nowadays is an attachment to our KitchenAid, as pictured here and I love working with it. With this package you get a set of three presses: a flat one for lasagna or the beginning press for spaghetti or fettuccini; a spaghetti die and a fettuccini die. About $150.00. So your choices are wide and varied. Get the one that suits your needs. Now on to making the pasta. Enjoy! I have placed a link to the Pasta Recipe above. Print out a copy and follow along.

Basically four ingredients: Flour or semolina as pictured here and eggs with oil and water. You will need a clean and fairly large working area.

Basically four ingredients: Flour or semolina as pictured here and eggs with oil, salt and water. You will need a clean and fairly large working area. I like to pre-mix the eggs, water, oil and salt in a bowl. Then I don’t “splash” the eggs mixing them in the “well”.

The semolina “well” The process is the same if you use flour.

Pulling the semolina into the egg mixture using a fork. Work carefully.

The dough is starting to form.

The pasta dough is ready to knead. Notice the pastry knife used to help in the kneading process.

The pastry dough is kneaded and ready to rest for at least 1 hour.

Spaghetti noodles from the dough. Dust with flour to keep them from sticking.

Spaghetti Carbonara made from the pasta dough we made. Except for the pancetta, most of the other ingredients are all from the Boise Farmers Market./

Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe and pictured here, made from the pasta dough we made. Except for the pancetta, most of the other ingredients are all from the Boise Farmers Market. Serve this with a 2012 Sawtooth Winery Trout Trilogy Petite Sirah. Awesome!

3 Lucious Meals

06 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Acme Bakery, Avocado, Bacon, Beans, Black Beans, Boise Farmers Market, Breakfast At The Captains Shack, Breakfast With Robin, Brown Basmati Rice, Captain's Shack, Cinco de Mayo, Comfort Food, Corn, Dinner With Robin, Eggs, Feta Cheese, Focaccia, Herbs and Spices, Idaho Pork, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Meadowlark Farms, Omelet, Party Time, Peaceful Belly Farms, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Pork, Pork Tenderloin, Puerto Rican Food, Puerto Rican Recipe, Purple Sage Farms, Salad, Sofritto, Spanish Food, Special Dinners, Spice Blends, Spinach, Steamed Clams, What's For Dinner?, Whats For Breakfast?

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black beans, brown basmati rice, Cinco de Mayo, sofrito

It was a good Cinco de Mayo! At least meal wise. All from scratch, which really makes it fun, and then from mostly local products. Pork. Sofrito. Brown Basmati Rice. Mango Margaritas. Rhubarb Red Sauce. Black Olive and Rice Salad. Mostly fit the occasion; the holiday.
The photos below will give you an idea of these meals. Left-Click any of them to see enlarged. What did you do fro Cinco de Mayo? What did you cook? Have to eat? Anything special? Let us know. Spread the delicious words;photos. Cheers!

Pork and Sofrito Avocado Tomato Salad Brown Basmati Rice and Black Beans Mango Margaritas

Pork Tenderloin and Sofrito
Avocado and Tomato Salad
Brown Basmati Rice and Black Beans
Mango Margaritas

Good Cinco de Mayo dinner and fun to make!

Red Velvet Cake
with
strawberries and whipped cream

Our neighbors brought this to us, just because. Thank you! See why we love Boise?

Spinach Omelet
with
rhubarb red sauce and sofrito
Bacon
Toasted Focaccia

Such a differently good breakfast.

Steamed Clams
Buttered Corn
Black Olive, Tomato and Brown Basmati Rice Salad

Really a yummy dinner. Now for clam chowder with the broth.

Think Local – Buy Local – Eat Local!

23 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Bacon, Boise Artisan Bakery's, Boise Farmers Market, Breakfast At The Captains Shack, Captain's Shack, Idaho's Bounty, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Locavore, Photos By: Bob Young, Pork, Potatoes, Sourdough Bread, Traditional Food, What's For Dinner?, Whats For Breakfast?

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buy Idaho, Buy Local, eat local, sourdough bread, Think Local - Buy Local

Robin and I are BIG believers in buying local and supporting our local farmers. Even in the winter when the Saturday Farmers Market is closed. (Due to open the first part of April at 10th and Grove!) We shop wise! We check the labels! This breakfast was 100% local products. The sourdough bread from Boise; the bacon from Twin Falls; the potatoes from Burley and the eggs from Nampa. And it was scrumptious. Check this out!

Falls Brand Bacon
Acme Sourdough Toast
Burley Potatoes
Jasmine Tea Mock Fried Eggs from Meadowlark Farms

Let’s Make Some Pasta!

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bacon, Bolognese Sauce, Captain's Shack, Classic Cuisines, Comfort Food, Garlic, Heirloom Carrots, Housemade Pasta, Italian Food, Main Dish, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Sofritto, Special Events, Tuscan Cuisine, What's For Dinner?

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Bolognese sauce, homemade pasta, pasta, sauces for pasta, sofritto, Tuscan cuisine

Pasta. Ever think about how it is made? Really not hard to do. A little flour, some eggs, a little oil and water. That’s all there is. Oh yes. Then mix it all and not in a mixer. On a flat surface. Don’t get any on the floor! Here is a recipe from Chef Anne Burrell. Pasta. OK. So now I have made the pasta, and not to much of a mess.
Now what? Try a Bolognese Sauce with your pasta. The Bolognese is a very Tuscan style of sauce. We made all of this to take to the Treasure Valley Wine Society Board meeting last night. I think they liked it! Let me take you through the process of making the pasta. Here we go!

First. Make a hole in the center of your flour – I used Semolina. Add the eggs and the egg yolk, oil – I used a garlic infused olive oil – salt and 1 or 2 T water. Use a fork to mix the eggs. Start to bring the sides into the egg mixture and slowly mix.

It should start to look like this.

Once it is all mixed and blended, you should have a ball of dough like this.

Knead it for 8 to 10 minutes by hand. When done, the dough should look very smooth and feel almost velvety.

Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour,m if you are not going to use it immediately.

Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour, if you are not going to use it immediately.

Remove from the refrigerator and flatten out. Flour well. Cut into thirds, or even quarters – I used quarters.

Start on setting 1 on your pasta machine. The one pictured here fits on our Kitchen Aid. But there are other mechanical ones the fit on a counter top. They both do the same thing, except the one for the mixer does not require hand turning, obviously.

Start on setting 1 on your pasta machine, speed on mine set at 4. The one pictured here fits on our Kitchen Aid. But there are other mechanical ones that fit on a countertop. They both do the same thing, except the one for the mixer does not require hand turning, obviously.

Increase the setting to number 2, and runn the dough through the machine again. And Voila! Fettucin

Increase the setting to number 2 (the higher the number, the thinner the pasta.), and run the dough through the machine again. And Voila! Fettuccine.

Fettuccine processed and floured to keep it from sticking.

Sofritto cooking for the Bolognese. See the recipe above.

Sofrito cooking for the Bolognese. See the recipe above.

Bolognese Sauce.

Wine for the Bolognese. This is what I used in the sauce.

Oktoberfest At “The Buzz”

15 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bacon, Beer and Food, Cabbage, Cakes, Celebrations, Classic Cuisines, Dinner With Friends, Ethnic Foods, German Food, Oktoberfest, Photos By: Bob Young, Photos By: Robin Young, Pork, Special Beers, Special Dinners, Special Events, Special Information, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?, Wine Dinners, Wines - German

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Benedictine Abbey Weilhenstephan, Oktoberfest, Smit & Van Wyk

A good party at The Buzz last night for the October Wine Dinner – Oktoberfest! A little bit of a change in the program. There were two beers offered that were pretty good, especially the Weihenstephaner, which was a light and refreshing lager. Very drinkable. From the Smit & Van Wyk blog, “The world’s longest continuously used trademark goes to the Benedictine Abbey Weilhenstephan in Germany, which has been using the mark Weilhenstephaner to identify its beer since 1040 AD When Britain enacted its trademark registration statute in 1876, beer was first and second in line, Bass’s Red Triangle became U.K. Reg. 1 for pale ale, and its Red Diamond for strong ale became U.K. Reg. 2.” A fun night. Hope to see you7 next month on November 11 and/or 12 for “Party Foods to Prepare Ahead” along with “Holiday and Gift Wines”. Then Beaujolais Nouveau Night on November 20. Cheers!!

Brats, Pretzels, Mustard and Zwiebelkuchen
Weihenstaphaner Beer
7.7% alc. great with these appetizers. light and refreshing [19] $6.00, 16oz

“Zwiebelkuchen, which literally means onion cake in the German language, is either a one-crust pie made of steamed onions, diced bacon, cream, and caraway seeds on a yeast dough or a leavened dough that is particularly popular in the German wine-growing regions mostly of Rhenish Hesse, the Palatinate, Franconia, Baden and Swabia (a similar pie called Flammkuchen is also eaten in Alsace), or a quiche variant in Switzerland, traditionally eaten in Basel during the Carnival and in Bern for the Zibelemärit.” [Wikipedia]

Cucumber Salad
This was an awesome salad and Cristi said so very easy to make.
2015 Star Lane Sauvignon Blanc
14.2% alc. really good with this salad. [18] $22.00

Erbsensuppe mit Speck (Pea Soup with Bacon)
Il Canapone
14% alc. an OK wine that still went well with the soup. [16] $18.00

I think Cristi used ground pork. Speck is, “Speck Alto Adige PGI (German: Südtiroler Speck) is a dry-cured, lightly smoked ham (prosciutto in Italian), produced in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Parts of its production are regulated by the European Union under the protected geographical indication (PGI) status, also known as Tyrolean Speck.”

Pork and Apples with turnip and potato gratin and red cabbage 2011 Il Canapone 14% alc an OK wine that went pretty good with the pork [16] $18.00

Pork and Apples
with
turnip and potato gratin and red cabbage
Rye Bread
2011 Il Canapone
14% alc an OK wine that went pretty good with the pork [16] $18.00

German Chocolate Cake 2013 Monga Zin Carol Shelton [17] $21.00 good paring with the chocolate

German Chocolate Cake
2013 Monga Zin Carol Shelton
14.9% alc.good paring with the chocolate [17] $21.00

An interesting comment from Cristi about Oktoberfest mugs (steins) and attendance at the event. "Consumption about 5 million, 1-liter mugs [of beer] filled. Mugs are to be returned; Fine for stealing one is $60 US; security usually catches 150,000 each year, but the Hofbrau tent alone looses about 35,000 a year...6.3 million guests attended the 2014 Oktoberfest. 112 oxen, 48 calves and 6.4 million liters of beer were consumed. Tent security stopped 112,000 people from taking their mug home with them."

An interesting comment from Cristi about Oktoberfest mugs (steins) “Consumption about 5 million, 1-liter mugs [of beer] filled. Mugs are to be returned; Fine for stealing one is $60 US; security usually catches 150,000 each year, but the Hofbrau tent alone looses about 35,000 a year. ..6.3 million guests attended the 2014 Oktoberfest. 112 oxen, 48 calves and 6.4 million liters of beer were consumed. Tent security stopped 112,000 people from taking their mug home with them.” No, this is not one of “those” mugs!

Pasta Salad For Dinner

20 Friday Jun 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Avocado, Bacon, Boise Farmers Market, Captain's Shack, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Dinner With Robin, Garlic, Heirloom Tomatoes, Herbs, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Main Dish, Pasta, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Salad, Tomatoes, What's For Dinner?, Wines - Tuscan

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avocado, Bacon, heirloom tomatoes, pasta salad, salad

Last night we had this wonderful and light Bacon and Avocado Pasta Salad that Robin found. We only drifted from the original recipe a very little. The type of pasta used, heirloom tomatoes and garlic. Look at the recipe. Try it. The recipe is also permanently listed in the recipe file above. Serve it with a good Tuscan wine.

Bacon and Avocado Pasta Salad

Sweet Mustard Chicken Thighs

09 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bacon, Beet Greens, Beets, Boise Farmers Market, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Chicken, Ice Cream, Local Farmers Markets, Onion, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Strawberries, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wines - Idaho

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beet greens, beets, chicken, chicken thighs, Idaho wine, red pepper flakes, Sweet Mustard Chicken

This was a great alternative to fried or the basic baked chicken. A little sweet from the brown sugar and a little tangy from the mustard, without the strong mustard presence. I did tweak the recipe a little since the cayenne made it a little to hot for us. Changed it to red pepper flakes. Plus the sauce was not thick enough and just a little bland. You can see the recipe here: Sweet Mustard Chicken Thighs. It is in PDF format. I suppose that if you don’t like chicken thighs – second joints – you can use legs or breasts but make sure they still have the skin on and bone-in. And the wine went extremely well with the dinner. The wine is from Idaho as were the beets, beet greens and strawberries. Enjoy!

Sweet Mustard Chicken Thighs
Fresh Beet Greens with Bacon
Fresh Sliced Beets with Balsamic
2008 Vale Wine Co Merlot

Pound Cake
Fresh Strawberries
Ice Cream

Breakfast of Fruit Waffles

04 Tuesday Feb 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bacon, Breakfast, Captain's Shack, Fruit, Local Harvests, Photos By: Bob Young, Waffles, Whats For Breakfast?

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fried eggs, fruit, mrs butterworth, waffles

We had some blueberries and Snake River peaches that we had to eat. So, make some waffles, some fried eggs, bacon and Mrs Butterworths. Probably not the healthiest, but still good. Here are the plates. Enjoy!!

Robin did not want5 eggs or Mrs Butterworths, so just pure maple syrup, unsalted butter and fruit on her waffles.

Robin did not want eggs or Mrs Butterworth’s, so just pure maple syrup, unsalted butter and fruit on her waffles.

I had the fruit, waffles with Mrs Butterworth’s and unsalted butter, fried eggs and bacon. That will probably do me until dinner tonight with a very light snack this afternoon.

Trader Joe’s Pork Belly Taco

03 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bacon, Main Dish, Pork, Recipe By: Trader Joe's, Special Information, Trader Joe's, What's For Dinner?

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pork belly, trader joes

OK, since Trader Joe’s will be opening in Boise on February 28th, I thought it would be nice to see at least one thing that they will offer. (The photo here is from their web page) OK. 2 things – Recipes and Pork Belly. That’s nice. But just what is pork belly? Bacon? Well ….. not quite. From their web site, or more specifically from an article posted there and some recipes are posted there also, we see this explanation of pork belly Move Over Bacon –

Prediction for 2014: pork belly will be the new bacon. Oh, sure, you could get nit-picky and argue that pork belly is bacon, but to that we say… um, not quite. Yes, they come from the same cut of meat, the belly. But bacon, traditionally, is smoked or cured, and pork belly is not. You can buy pork belly raw and spend hours preparing it from scratch yourself – it’s very popular in both Chinese and Korean cuisines – or you can buy Trader Joe’s Fully Cooked Pork Belly and revel in the rich, lightly seasoned flavors without having to do any of that kitchen labor.

Trader Joe’s Fully Cooked Pork Belly comes to us from a supplier in the Midwest who supplies fully cooked pork belly to restaurants, as well – yes, that’s why so many restaurants are featuring pork belly now; they’re getting it fully cooked as well, and just doing final preparations in-house! Our supplier takes the big chunks of pork belly, lightly seasons it with salt, and then braises it over low heat for 12 hours. After it’s cooked, they vacuum seal it to keep it fresh, and send it to us. We’re selling each 12 ounce package of Fully Cooked Pork Belly for $4.99, every day. You’ll find it in our refrigerated case.

Just a little more information for you to absorb. Pork belly is not a new item by any means. The now closed Andrae’s Restaurant in Boise used to serve it and it is delicious. Chef Andrae Bopp is now in the Walla Walla, Washington area and he has a food truck there. Hope you enjoyed this info and will at lest give Pork Belly a try. I will! Cheers and Gut essen!