Janjou Pâtisserie Revisited

17 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Birthdays, Bistro, Bistro - Janjou Patisserie, Brunch, Celebrations, Classic Cuisines, Coffee, Comfort Food, Cookies, Ethnic Foods, Food Photos, French Foods, Fruits, Idaho Chefs, Janjou Pâtisserie, Local Markets, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurant Reviews, Restaurants To Try, Salads, Special Events, What's For Dinner?

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Today is Robin’s 43rd anniversary of her 29th birthday so when I asked her what she wanted for breakfast, she said a quiche from Janjou Pâtisserie. That sounded good, so off we went. (It’s only 2 blocks away from us!) If anything, it has gotten better. The Quiche Lorraine we had was delicious. The coffee is still excellent – we bought a pound – and the fruit tart we had was scrumptious. You must try it when you are in Boise. Make a special trip. You’ll love it. 5-Stars all the way. Enjoy these photos!

Wonderful fresh made and house made cookies!

Chocolate tarts

Fruit tarts

Raspberry Tart. We had one. Delicious!

Quiche Lorraine. Fresh made and scrumptious.

Robin enjoys her quiche!

“Edible Idaho” Spring Brunch Party

14 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by Bob and Robin in 4-Stars, Acme Bake Shop, Acme Bake Shop Rye, Black Beans, Boise Adventures, Boise Restaurants, Boise Weekly, Breakfast, Breakfast With Robin, Brunch, Buy Idaho, Chevre, Crème fraîche, Eggs, Eggs Poached, Hopi Blue Corn Polenta, Idaho Chefs, Idaho Dairy, Local Harvests, Locavore, Lox, Meadowlark Farms, Moroccan Food, Organic Foods, Party Time, Peaceful Belly Farms, Photos By: Bob Young, Photos By: Robin Young, Purple Sage Farms, Restaurants, Seafood, Special Events, What's For Dinner?, Whats For Breakfast?

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Acme Bake Shop, Crème fraîche, Earthly Delights Farm, Homestead Natural Foods, hotel, lox, Meadowlark Farm, Rollingstone Chevre

This morning, it was great to join Guy Hand, Edible Idaho Managing Editor, and friends at the The Modern Hotel for an awesome breakfast and the Spring Brunch Party. And from the menu for the brunch, The Modern states that “… thanks EDIBLE IDAHO, Earthly Delights Farm, Loganics, Rollingstone Chevre, Meadowlark Farm, Coiled Wines, Idaho Kombucha Co, Acme Bake Shop, Peaceful Belly, Homestead Natural Foods, Waterwheel Gardens, Next Generation Organics, Sweet Valley Organics, Gaston’s Bakery, and Miss Mona’s Chicken Ranch for their local products.” It’s just great to Eat Local and to support your local agriculture! Robin and I try very hard stay local! Enjoy these photos from this morning. And if you are in the area, The Modern serves some great meals. Try them and check out their website as listed above. They are definitely a solid 4-Star out of 5-Star restaurant.

Guy Hand and friends.

Guy Hand

Tara Morgan, Edible Idaho Editor and food writer for the Boise Weekly.

Guy Hand and Tara Morgan

A. Minskoff and Angie Shaltry from Coiled Winery

Sandy and Rich Ostrogorski and Meagan

Scone with Riesling Jelly

"Rizza" Cured Steelhead Lox Loganics Farm baby greens salad, Acme Bake Shop German rye toast, creme fraiche

“Rizza” Cured Steelhead Lox
Loganics Farm baby greens salad, Acme Bake Shop German rye toast, crème fraîche

Moroccan Black Beans and Poached Eggs
Organic Idaho black beans, Earthly Delights Farm heirloom Hopi blue corn polenta, preserved Meyer lemon crème fraîche, Meadowlark Farm poached eggs

It was a great breakfast!!

Scones and Mimosas

Tailgate Food?

04 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by Bob and Robin in Avocado, Bigwood Bread, Black Beans, Brunch, Captain's Shack, Chicken, Comfort Food, Dinner With Robin, Egg Salad, Eggs, Fruits, Italian Food, Meadowlark Farms, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Raspberries, Special Dinners, Vegetables, Watercress, What's For Dessert?, What's For Dinner?

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avocado, Bigwood Bread, Bigwood Sourdough, black beans, watercress

Robin has made some awesome “tailgate” food in the past several days. Here is the Tiramisu recipe from Giada De Laurentiis on the Food Network. Raspberry Tiramisu. The photo here is Robin wearing her new BSU Bronco hat! You can Left-Click any of these photos to see them enlarged. Enjoy!

Robin constructing the tiramisu.

Completed tiramisu.

Want a slice? Left-Click to enlarge.

Black Bean, Corn and Avocado Salad. Another yum offering.

Black Bean, Corn, Chicken and Avocado Salad. Another yum offering.

Egg Salad on Sourdough with Water Cress. Corn, Chicken, Avocado and Black Bean Salad. The Acme Bake Shop Sourdough was not available at the COOP when I went there, so I tried the Bigwood Bread Sourdough out of Sun Valley. This sourdough was a lot denser than the Acme sourdough. Not bad, but I prefer Acme Bake Shop. Hard to overcome that bias! Just a personal preference.

Good Visit to the Modern Hotel Brunch

28 Sunday Sep 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Boise Farmers Market, Breakfast With Robin, Brunch, Buy Idaho, Eggs, Fruit, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Modern Hotel, New Restaurant Trial, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurant Reviews, Restaurants, Restaurants To Try, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?, Whats For Breakfast?

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brunch, Modern Hotel

Yes, it was a good brunch. Different. And we rate this a 3 1/2 to 4 Stars out of 5-Stars. But we will have to go back for their dinner menu to make sure of the rating. This was our first time. They made a good impression on us. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful and loved to talk to all of their clients. They like their work and it shows. Here is a link to The Modern Hotel where you can view their menus, make room and restaurant reservations and get on their mailing list. An interesting point: They really do try to use local products as much as possible.

The Modern Hotel & Bar thanks Peaceful Belly, Homestead Natural Foods, Waterwheel Gar- dens, Purple Sage Farms, Next Generation Organics, Sweet Valley Organics, Gaston’s Bakery,
Idaho’s Bounty, Lava Lake Lamb, Malheur River Meats, Life Spring Farms, Cloverleaf Cream- ery, Meadowlark Farm, M & N Cattle Co., Acme Bakeshop and Miss Mona’s Chicken Ranch for
their local products

If you are in the area or are visiting Boise, please visit their website. Here are some photos of our visit. Enjoy!

Artwork at the entrance.

45 rpm records in the Men’s Room and they say, in the Women’s Room.

I won’t say the location of this Little Demon in the restroom.

Fresh Scone with Mascarpone Cheese

Lomo Side Dish

Lomo is the Spanish word for tenderloin. Pork tenderloin is known as lomo de cerdo, whereas beef tenderloin is just called lomo. A specific type of lomo is lomo embuchado, which is a dry-cured meat made from a pork tenderloin. [This is what we had and pictured here] It is similar to cecina, but with pork instead of beef. An Italian version exists called lonza stagionata. [Wikipedia]

Gâteau de Crêpe ( Cake)stewed fruits and mascarpone

Gâteau de Crêpe (Crêpe Cake)
stewed fruits and mascarpone

Fried Egg Moroccan Black Beans with Lemon Cream Polenta

Fried Egg
Moroccan Black Beans
with
lemon cream and cilantro
Fried Polenta

This was a Special for today. Our Waitperson, Ceci, said they were trying this out to place as a regular addition to their menu. We said they should add it.

Lox and Scrambled Eggs for Breakfast

28 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop Breads, Breakfast, Brunch, Captain's Shack, Icebox Lox, Lox, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe By: Robin Young, Recipes, Salmon, Sourdough Bread, What's For Dinner?, Whats For Breakfast?

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Boise Foodie Blog Recipes, icebox lox, lox, salmon

Here is an awesome recipe for Robin’s Icebox Lox. It can also be found in the recipe file above. We had this for breakfast this morning. Yum!

Robin’s Icebox Lox
Scrambled Eggs
Acme Bake Shop Toasted Sourdough

Boise Foodie Meet-Up Group Meets

16 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Boise Adventures, Brunch, Chicken, Ethnic Foods, Friends, Indian Food, Main Dish, Nepalese Food, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurant Reviews, Restaurants, Special Events, Tibetan Food, Vegetables, Whats For Lunch?

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Boise Foodie Meet-Up Group, curry, India, indian food, Mount Everest Momo Cafe, nepalese food, tibetan food

Six of the Boise Foodie Meet-Up Group met at the Mount Everest Momo Cafe today for lunch. They specialize in Indian-Nepalese-Tibetan foods. And I was pleasantly surprised. This was really an interesting lunch. I spent a year in India, so when I enter a restaurant specializing in Indian, or even Nepalese, food, I want the spices of India to be present. As we walked into the restaurant, I did get that “smell of the Indian spice”. I know then that the entrees are not canned – they are made on location. It was nice that the owner, Rajesh Shrestha, took the time to talk about the cuisine and the dishes that they serve.
The hot link above will take you to their website and a complete menu with descriptions of the entrees and prices. The serving sizes were completely satisfying – Just the right size. Out of 5-Stars, I rate the Mount Everest Momo Cafe 4-Stars. Pictured below, are some of the dishes we had. Left-Click any of these photos to see enlarged. Enjoy! We did.

The menu cover.

Curry Soup

Chicken Momo
Mint Sauce
Curry Sauce

Basmati Rice Naan (Bread) Spinach and Cheese Vegetables Chicken Curry Potato and Cauliflower

Basmati Rice
Naan (Bread)
Spinach and Cheese (Sag Panir)
Chicken Curry
Potato and Cauliflower (Alu Kaoli)

I thoroughly enjoyed this dish. The spices were perfect and everything was done to perfection. I do like the Naan. Light. Fluffy. Yet somewhat chewy. Here is a direct link to the Mount Everest Momo Cafe Dinner Menu with more definitive descriptions of the entrees. They also have a menu for their Lunch Specials ($6.95 per plate Monday – Saturday, 11 – 2:30) and it is printed below. However, it is not on their website.

Lunch Specials Menu

Happy Fish Sushi and Martini Bar

25 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Asian - Happy Fish Sushi, Asian - Shige, Asian - Sushi Joy, Asian Food, Brunch, Cooking Styles, Photos By: Bob Young, Seafood, Special Events, Sushi, What's For Dinner?, Whats For Lunch?

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asian food, Happy Fish Sushi and Martini Bar, saki, seafood, sushi, Sushi Joy

The Idaho Foodie Meet-Up group met at the Happy Fish Sushi and Martini Bar in downtown Boise today for lunch. Not bad, but my benchmarks are still Sushi Joy and Shige. That’s not to say that we would not return here. No way. Probably rated at 4 1/4 – Stars out of 5. It’s just not “as good” as our benchmarks. But that’s very subjective and I realize that. Here is what we had. Robin, myself and Bernadette were the only ones there. The ladies each had a bowl of Miso. It smelled good. You missed a good adventure. Enjoy!

Poki Combination
Cubed cuts of fresh salmon and ahi served in our own spicy sesame soy sauce

Escolar (Hirame)
Some call this fish white tuna, but it is actually snake mackerel. A buttery white fish that melts in your mouth!

Eel (Unagi)

Jackie B
Spicy Tuna and Yellowtail wrapped in Avocado and seared Ahi, topped with Sriracha

Sakitini

Another Good Cooking Seminar At Williams-Sonoma

21 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Brunch, Classes, Cooking Classes, Dessert, Food Photos, Fruits, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Locavore, Mahi Mahi, Photos By: Bob Young, Salads, Special Events, What's For Dinner?

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food, ground mustard, mission figs, Williams Sonoma, yummy dessert

A good seminar with Chef Chad entitled Farm To Table. It was good to have Robin with me at this event too. In keeping with the theme, Chef Chad emphasized the use of local and fresh products from local farmer’s markets and vegetable stands. He did a good job in using these local products where ever possible. Black Mission Figs don’t grow in the Treasure Valley! Here are some photos of the dishes that Chef Chad showed us this evening. Cheers and enjoy! There are recipes available if you would like one. Just let me know.

Fig and Fromage Blanc Crostini

A great appetizer. The recipe says to use ciabatta, but Chef Chad changed it to sourdough which worked very well.

Baby Arugula Salad with Berries and Gorgonzola

Gorgonzola is not one of my favorite cheeses, but the combinations in the salad worked very well with the cheese. It was suggested to add some toasted nuts to the salad. Try adding fresh thyme and stone ground mustard to the vinaigrette. You can also make this into a main dish by adding marinated red onions and thinly sliced grilled steak.

Rolled Eggplant with Sausage and Mascarpone Reday for the oven to bake at 450 degrees for 4-7 minutes.

Rolled Eggplant with Sausage and Ricotta

Ready for the oven to bake at 450 degrees for 4-7 minutes.

Rolled Eggplant with Sausage and Ricotta

Sauteed Pluots with Mascarpone and Almonds

Ok. What are “pluots”? Good question. They are a cross between apricots and red plums. Also known in some places as Red Apricots. Slightly sweet. Slightly tart. A yummy dessert!

So as you can see, a delicious and wonderful seminar/class. We will not be able to make the September event, but will try to make the October class. Most of these recipes come from the Williams-Sonoma Cooking from the Farmers’ Market by Tasha DeSerio and Jodi Liano (Weldon Owen, Inc. 2010). Cheers and Bon Appetite!

Breakfast At Crooked Fence Barrelhouse

04 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in 10 Barrel Brewing, Breakfast, Brunch, Buy Idaho, Crooked Fence Barrelhouse, Eggs Benedict, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Special Beers, Special Events, What's For Dinner?

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bacon and eggs, brewers association, english muffin, food, passport program

Thought we would give this a try. Plus we signed up to be with the Meet-Up Group, but did not really see them. I think they were in another room. But we did have Marnie and Mac with us. Mac was a little upset that they did not honor his Idaho Brewers Association Passport Program. Can’t say that I really blame him because the program is supposed to cover all Idaho breweries. Can’t say that the visit was all that great either with service being somewhat slow and the food was not up to the standards of 10 Barrel Brew Pub in downtown Boise or Table Rock Brew Pub. (10 Barrel is the best of all three of these places in my opinion.) Here are some photos of our visit. I will rank this visit as a 2 1/2 Stars out of 5. Not a good showing.

The beer flight was good. Just the right size. Robin liked the Picket Porter best and I liked the Bonneville Brown best. Robin liked the Bonneville least and I liked the porter least. That’s not a real surprise. But we did rate the Rye Sing IPA even at 3rd place.

Bacon and eggs. This probably would have been good had the "toast" had more ofv a brown color to it. It was more like dried out bread. I didn't know that you had to request butter on the toast either. Not good and cost them serious points.

Bacon and eggs. This probably would have been good had the “toast” been a little more brown. It was more like dried out bread. I didn’t know that you had to request butter on the toast either. Not good and cost them serious points.

Eggs Benedict. The Hollandaise was pasty and the eggs probably should have been done a little more. The whites were close to being transparent. The English Muffin should have been toasted a little more, too. They seem to have a problem making toast and the food had an abundance of salt on it! We probably will not be back for another meal here.

Sunday Brunch at Cottonwood Grille

26 Sunday May 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Boise Adventures, Brunch, Classic Sauces, Cottonwood Grille, Crab, Eggs, Main Dish, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurants, Salmon, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?

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cottonwood grille, gravlox, snow crab, strange mixture

Last night Robin said she would like to go to the Cottonwood Grille for brunch. No problem! It’s always a party when we go there. A good treat, since we missed our seafood this week. And I still had my vegetables before 6:00pm. As we were going into the parking, one of “Boise’s Folks” was at the entrance (photo above). I have no clue as to what or who this is. Just interesting. A strange mixture of cultures here in the Mountain West. Interesting. Enjoy these photos of our breakfast, Left-Click any photo to see enlarged and please VOTE above. Cheers!