Some Meals to Contemplate

12 Friday Aug 2022

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Breakfast, Brown's Buffalo Ranch, Buffalo, Buy Local, Captain's Shack, Chicken, Dinner For Robin, Ethnic Foods, Heirloom Tomatoes, heirloom vegetables, Idaho Eggs, Idaho Grains, Idaho Greens, Idaho Venison, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe - Dessert, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipes, Recipes - Dinner, What's For Dinner?

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buffalo, shortbread, Tatonka

Sorry it has been so long since the last post. But things have been hectic. So now here are some meals that we have been working on. Some are using leftovers and therefore no real recipe. Others have recipes and posted with the photo of the meal. Hope you enjoy these. Let’s start with breakfast.

bp-12Aug2022_1_Captains Shack_Eggs Polenta

We had some Idaho produced polenta in the refrigerator so why not some Fried Polenta, Sausage Linjks and Basted eggs? That’s what we had. All very basic, except you might want to prepare the polenta on medium low heat to prevent burning. The eggs were basted – fry until whites are set then add water and a clear lid to steam the eggs. Only takes a minute or too. Found it works best with butter in the pan and not an oil.

Then there were what we like to call Eggs on Pillows. Basted eggs on “pillows” of fresh made hash browns. And then served with sausage links. Again, not difficult to make.

Now. Let’s move to dinners.

Nothing says one can not have a salad for dinner. Try this modified Caprice Salad, for example. Basically, a Caprice Salad -tomato, mozzarella cheese and lots of fresh basil. Then I added black olives and I had to use mozzarella string cheese – all I had. Then added celery and hard cooked eggs. and olive oil for a dressing. It worked. Different, but yummy!

And for dinner, a Tuscan Fried Chicken using Italian herb mix and some of our Herbs de Provence, http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Herbs.pdf Topped each piece with some fresh basil. It was really good.

And then how about a Native American dish I called Totanka Stew. Totanka is Sioux for buffalo. The stew is a great one and we like it better than a beef stew. The buffalo was a sliced hump roast and the cut to bite sized pieces. http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Totanka-Stew.pdf Not difficult to make, just takes a little time.

And for dessert, Robin loves the Shortbread Cookies. Again, not hard to do, just takes a little time. Sometimes I even add roasted pecans, but not always. http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Pecan-Shortbread-Cookies.pdf

So there you go. Some fun meals to try. Enjoy!

It’s Been A Good 2 Weeks

15 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Birthdays, Bistro, Brocolli, Buy Idaho, Buy Local, Cakes, Captain's Shack, Carrots, Chicken, Classic Cuisines, Comfort Food, Curry, Dessert, en Papillote, Food - French, Food - India, Green Beans, Green Salad, Housemade Soup, Idaho Trout, Local Farmers Markets, Parma Ridge Winery Bistro, Party Time, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe By: Captain's Shack, Recipes - French, Recipes - India, What's For Dinner?

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chicken, curry, en papillote, French Food, India foods, kokanee, kokanee salmon, Papillote

First of all. I made it to 80 the first of April and I thank all who helped me make it an awesome day! Parma Ridge Bistro and Winery for a super great dinner as always and the German Chocolate Cake! And Marnie and Eric for opening their house and the Open House. Thank you one and all!

The kitchen has been slow and moderately successful. If I must throw away “leftovers” then that tells me that it was not especially liked. But that’s just my opinion. So lets start with the German Chocolate Cake and homemade Cupcakes. Thank you Stephanie and Michelle. And a very special thank you to the Love of My Life, Robin – you always make these time so special!

German Chocolate Cake from Parma Ridge Winery and Bistro http://www.parmaridge.wine/

Special Occasion Sweets by Michelle Smith, our Granddaughter-In-law Anna Shanner’s sister.

Now for the dinners. One of the better ones was a Salmon Papillote. Eric caught the Kokanee 2 days prior ton the meal and it was delicious! Moist and succulent.

Salmon Papillote plated with a Green Salad and Carrots and Broccoli cooked in the papillote

And next there was an Indian Style Butter Chicken, a Rachael Ray treat that I “tweaked” somewhat. http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Butter-Chicken.pdf. I added Kashmir Curry Powder that we make ourselves, which cuts the heat spice, somewhat. http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Kashmir-Curry-Powder.pdf I also added some Sake. Here it is.

And finally, we had some boneless, skinless chicken thighs leftover from the Butter Chicken, so I made some Chicken Rice Soup and I really liked it.

So there you have some of the menus we had in the past week or so. The “not so popular” ones are not included. But enjoy these. I did. There is no recipe for the papillote. From Wikipedia, “En papillote (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃ papijɔt]; French for “enveloped in paper”), or al cartoccio in Italian, is a method of cooking in which the food is put into a folded pouch or parcel and then baked. This method is most often used to cook fish or vegetables, but lamb and poultry can also be cooked en papillote. It is a combination cooking method of baking and steaming.

The parcel is typically made from folded parchment paper but other material, such as a paper bag or aluminum foil, may be used. The parcel holds in moisture to steam the food. The pocket is created by overlapping circles of paper or foil and folding them tightly around the food to create a seal.

The moisture may be from the food itself or from an added moisture source, such as water, wine or stock. The choice of herbs, seasonings and spices depend on the particular e being prepared.

The parcel can be opened at the table to allow people to smell the aroma when it opens.”

“Chopped” In the Kitchen

31 Thursday Mar 2022

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, AirFryer, Beef, Beets, Cabbage, Chicken, Eggs, Greens, Photos By: Bob Young, What's For Dinner?

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airfried chicken, beets, cabbage, chicken fried steak, Martin's Swiss Dressing, meatloaf, seafood alfredo

It is always fun to see what is in the refrigerator or in the kitchen, in general. This week was no different. No particular recipe, “Just Do-It!”. And I don’t usually post an advertisement within a post. But there are exceptions. This is one of them. “Oma & Popies” is very local to Boise, and is very good. But, Swiss Hibiscus, https://swisshibiscus.com/made-in-portland-oregon is a superb dressing and is totally produced in Portland, Oregon. You can call them at (503) 477-9224 and place an order, or use the link. If you are in Portland, or in the area, their address is 4950 NE 14th Ave, Portland, OR, 97211. This dressing is great on salads, but I like to dip French Fries in it or use it on baked salmon. Yum-O! OK. Enough of the ads (They don’t know I have this blogged!)

BP_30Mar2022_1d_Captains Shack_AF Fried Chix and Cabbage

Daughter Marnie, said she had some chicken and would make dinner. There was some cabbage that needed to be used so she made this delicious AirFryer Chicken with steamed cabbage. It was delicious!

There was some sea scallops – those are the big ones – and large, 16-20 count, shrimp, parsley and parmigiano that was begging to be used. So how about making a Scallop and Shrimp Alfredo. Easy one pot meal. Made it with fettuccini and and some white wine and served with chopped parsley.

Wife Robin asked for Chicken Fried Steak one night. Had some steak that needed to be used and some crushed saltines (won’t use saltines twice for this!), but they did not adhere to the steak like I wanted. Served with baked potato and peas and carrots. Good, but not Earth shattering.

And finally, meatloaf. Hard to find a good meatloaf. This was good, but a little too loose. This is what the crushed saltines were originally used for. A cup of milk in the mix is a little to much. Need to cut back to a half cup. Flavors were good. The salad was some canned beets from last summer, spinach and lettuce blend and had cooked eggs. All-In-All, a good, flavorful dinner. http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Meatloaf.pdf

Coq au Vin for Valentines

17 Thursday Feb 2022

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Buy Idaho, Buy Local, Captain's Shack, Carrots, Chicken, Classic Cuisines, Cooking Styles, Food - French, Heirloom Carrots, Herbs, Homemade Sauce, Main Dish, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Pork Belly, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipes - Dinner, Recipes - French, What's For Dinner?

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coq au vin, morel mushrooms, pork belly

Coq au Vin, Rooster in Wine, was my choice this year to make for Robin, my wife of almost 40 years, and Marnie, my daughter. It’s not for the faint of heart. It takes some ambition and time. But it is well worth it. Delicious!

Just a few suggestions. Prep your ingredients first. I suggest paper bowls for your prep work. Take your time and don’t rush through this. If you are thinking of using an Instant Pot, try, instead, a large cast-iron skillet, at least 2″ deep and a glass lid, you can’t watch the cooking through a solid lid. The dish takes almost a constant vigil.

I used a package of frozen Pearl Onions instead of fresh ones that I would have to peel; heirloom carrots instead of the orange ones; Courvoisier Cognac instead of brandy; dried morel mushrooms reconstituted in the wine used for the dish instead of button mushrooms; pork belly cut into strips instead of bacon and for the beurre manie, I just added to the oil in the pan some flour for thickening. For the chicken, I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs. The original recipe, Julia Child’s, calls for you to cut up a chicken. (Still had to skin and de-bone the thighs.)

And this really needs to be emphasized: Watch your temperatures and don’t burn the sauce. Keep the liquid level just covering the chicken – use chicken stock, not broth, if necessary – and use a medium to low simmer temperature.

Recipe – http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Coq-Au-Vin.pdf

In my opinion, the dish has enough vegetables in it. So I did not use asparagus or rice to serve with it. I also served it with a dish of fresh cut fruit. Marnie had a Red Velvet Cake for dessert Try this and let us know what you think. We loved it.

Two Meals to Try

11 Friday Feb 2022

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Buy Idaho, Buy Local, Captain's Shack, Cheese, Chicken, Classic Cuisines, Classic Herb Blends, Classis Sauces, Cooking Styles, Dinner With Family, Food - French, Food Photos, French Wines, Homemade Sauce, Idaho Vegetables, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe By: Captain's Shack, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipe By: Robin Young, Recipes, What's For Dinner?

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Alfredo, coq au vin, shrimp

Here are two meals we made. The first is probably one of the best alfredo sauces I have ever eaten. Not “gummy” with cheese, but rather clean and smooth. Shrimp went very well with the sauce. The second is an “Old Persons Meal”, of sorts. Fried chicken with garlic mashed potatoes with pan dripping gravy and garden green beans. Enjoy these.

Recipe – http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Alfredo-Sauce.pdf

The recipe calls for penne pasta, but we didn’t have any. So we used linguini which worked very well. The shrimp really added to the dish – you could probably use any seafood, scallops, lobster or Dungeness crab might be good, or other protein. Use your imagination.

The Alfredo was smooth and creamy and not grainy. It added to the shrimp we used and did not conflict with it. Several flavor levels came through that were delicious.

I have had problems when frying chicken, but this one seems to have over come that flaw. I added some baking powder to the flour that I used to coat the chicken and beaten egg to dredge the chicken in before the flour. We also made sure the chicken was dry before dredging. Cook slowly over medium high heat for about 5 minutes per side, taking care not to burn the chicken. Start cooking skin side down. We always use thighs, or second joints if you are on the East coast, bone-in and skin on.

The gravy was made from the pan drippings to which we added some flour and some wine. Made sure that was all mixed then added some half and half and completely combined to make the smooth gravy. It was delicious.

So there are two more meals from this past week. Next thing I am trying is Coq au Vin, Rooster in Wine. Probably not as good as Julia Child would do, but good nonetheless. Stay tuned and Good Eating!

IP Chicken with Ketchup, Honey and Soy

05 Wednesday Aug 2020

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Asian - Sauces, Asian - Spices, Asian Food, Carrots, Chicken, Comfort Food, Cooking Styles, Dinner At Marnies, Dinner With Family, Dinner with Marnie, Dinner With Robin, Food Photos, Housemade Soup, Photos By: Bob Young, What's For Dinner?

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asian food, chicken

Now don’ let the name of this dish fool you. This is one awesome chicken dinner. Try it! You’ll like it! (*Left-Click these photos to see them enlarged.) IP Chicken with Ketchup, Honey and Soy. And if there are any leftovers, it makes a great chicken/rice soup.

IP Chicken with Ketchup, Honey and Soy

And when you get done with the main dish and you have these wonderful leftovers, try some Chiken/Rice Soup. Delicious!

Leftover Chicken/Rice Soup

“Feeding the Hungry” in Boise

24 Friday Apr 2020

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Boise, Boise Adventures, Boise Area Food Adventures, Boise Food Adventures, Chicken, Classic Cuisines, Coffee, Comfort Food, Cooking Safety, Feed the Hungry, Food, Food Prep, Greens, Hot Dogs, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Photos By: Joe Levitch, Support Local Businesses, What's For Dinner?

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Feed the Hungry

It never ceases to amaze me as to in the times of hardship and strife how all kinds of people – from all background, ethnicities and religions – come together to lend a helping hand and expect absolutely nothing in return! Such a great feeling.
And during this time of self and required quarantine due to the CoronaVirus, the generosity of people all comes to the surface. There are several churches, and other religious faiths, and businesses that have come to the aid of those in need. In particular the homeless and those who just need a meal and a smiling face. So we bind together and offer a helping hand and something to eat. And by the way, all of the food products and individual help are all donated! To these businesses, people and churches, Thank-You! Our part was at the 1st Presbyterian Church, 9th and State Streets, Boise. (Left-Click any of these photographs to see them enlarged!)

This sign was on a post in downtown Boise

Look at these meals. Usually fro 45 to 60 served on the 4th Thursday of each month at the 1st Presbyterian Church at 9th and State Streets in Boise. (The room and all facilities included, including the full kitchen!)

Filling the Dinner Bags

But before we moved to Dinner Bags, we had Baked Potatoes and all the trimmings. Look –

Baked Potato and Acme Bakeshop Dinner Roll

Baked Potato and Chicken with Acme Bakeshop Rolls and Salad

But then, we had to switch to the Dinner Sacks because of The Virus –

Hot Dog Rolls from Acme Bakeshop

Hot Dogs! Good ones! Not microwaved! Cooked the Old Fashion Way!

Packing the dinner sacks

Dinner Sacks in March

Dinner Sacks in April

and this is why we do it. Thank-You Joe Levitch for this photograph! It says it all.
“Man Alone”

The Boise Farmers for 1 Hour Tomorrow!

14 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by Bob and Robin in Beef, BFM, Boise Area Food Adventures, Boise Farmers Market, Boise Food Adventures, Buy Idaho, Buy Local, Chicken, Eggs, Green Salad, Greens, Herbs, Herbs and Spices, Idaho Beef, Idaho Lamb, Idaho Vegetables, Lamb, What's For Dinner?

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Boise Farmers Market – Pick Up, PopUp, a 1 hour special, tomorrow 15 Feb 2020 at the Shoreline location. Limited products. See you there!

AirFryer Cooking Times and Conversions

23 Monday Sep 2019

Posted by Bob and Robin in air fryer resources, AirFryer, Chicken, Food - Frozen, Food - Make Your Own Meals, What's For Dinner?

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I do get many requests for specific cooking information – recipes, ingredients and cooking times. Here are three charts that you might want to print-out and keep. Left-Click any of these graphics and print them out or save the3m to your computer. The Frozen Foods and the Chicken information comes from the FB group, Make Your Meals Group. Enjoy and have fun with the AirFryer and experiment!

AirFryer Conversions

AirFryer Cooking times/temperatures for some Frozen Foods

AirFryer Chicken Temperatures

1st Annual Idaho Truffle Dinner

24 Sunday Feb 2019

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Chardonnay, Chateau des Fleurs, Chicken, Classic Cuisines, Cooking Styles, Crème fraîche, Dinner at Chateau des Fleurs, Dinner With Robin, Food Photos, Idaho Truffles, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Potatoes, Restaurant Reviews, Restaurants To Try, Scallops, Sea Scallops, Special Dinners, Special Events, Special Information, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wines - Idaho

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This was a fantastic event and I do hope we are able to enjoy it next year. It was hosted by the Idaho Truffle Association and you can get more information about Idaho truffles by clicking Here. The event was located at the Chateau des Fleurs located at 176 S. Rosebud Lane, Eagle, Idaho 83616, Phone 208-947-2840. And yes, this is a high-end, 5-Star restaurant. But worth every penny. Here is the exquisite Menu. Enjoy your meal. You can Left-Click any of these photos to see them enlarged.

The menu for this event.

One of the wines we had. 2014 Roghani Vineyards Chardonnay

Pan Seared Chicken Breast
Cipollini and Shimengi Mushroom Risotto
Shaved Black Perigord Truffles
2014 Roghani Vineyards Chardonnay

Confit Idaho Yukon Potato
Truffle Pommes Puree
Infused Crème Fraîche
Shaved Bianchetti Truffle
2014 Roghani Vineyards Un-Oaked Chardonnay

Chef Jimenez Inspired Truffle Ravioli
Ravioli Filled with Brie and Parmesan
Binachetti Truffle and Moral Mushrooms
Bianchetti Nage and Beurre Noisette Bread Crumbs
2014 Roghani Vineyards Chardonnay

Truffle Infused Sweet Breads
Sweet Breads with Seared Scallop
Foie and Celeriac Puree
Celery Gelee
Parmesan Truffle Essence
Fresh Shaved Bianchetti Truffle and Shimengi Mushroom
Petit Herbs
2013 Roghani Vineyards Riesling