Saint Jacques au Saffron

20 Friday Jan 2023

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Bacquet's Restaurant, Chef Franck Baguet, Classic Cuisines, Cooking Styles, Coquilles St. Jacques, Dinner at Bacquet's Restaurant, Eagle Restaurants, Food - French, Food Photos, French Foods, Main Dish, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe by: Chef Franck Bacquet, Recipes, Restaurants To Try, Sea Scallops, Seafood, What's For Dinner?

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Bacquet's Restaurant, saffron, Saint Jacques, Scallops

Saint Jacques au Saffron (Scallops with saffron)

We had an awesome experience this past week and that was we had an awesome dinner at Bacquet’s Restaurant in Eagle, Idaho.We have been there before and it was superior then. It still is. We had more than the scallops pictured above, much more. But these, at least in my opinion, stood out. The food and the restaurant is easily deserves a 5-Star rating. Service was outstanding as was the food. If you are in the Boise area, Google the restaurant to find it and make reservations! (1117 E Winding Creek Dr, Eagle, ID 83616 (208) 377-6238) I asked for permission to use the recipe, and Michele Holly, Manager, was happy to give me permission to use the recipe. So here is a link to the recipe. https://www.rockinrs.com/St-Jacques-Scallops.pdf This recipe is not for the faint-of-heart home cook, but it is doable. Just take your time and follow the recipe.

The recipe calls for U10 scallops, so here is an explanation of just what that means. U10 size: Jumbo scallops are a dry scallop. All cold water ocean scallops have a succulent sweet texture and are 100% white meat. What does u-10 mean? It means that there are less than 10 scallops in a pound, and they are perfect for sauteing and broiling! These wild, jumbo sized Sea Scallops are harvested off the coast of Chatham, Massachusetts. Their size ensures a tender, succulent texture with loads of sweetness and just enough briny salinity to be both refreshing and satiating.

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.”

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!

Robin’s Birthday Lunch

18 Wednesday Sep 2019

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Bacquet's Restaurant, Basmati rice, Birthdays, Brunch, Brunch with Robin, Capers, Carrots, Chef Bacquet, Classic Herb Blends, Copper River Salmon, Dinner at Bacquet's Restaurant, Dinner For Robin, Dinner with Marnie, Ethnic Foods, Food - French, Food Photos, French - Bacquet's Restaurant, French Foods, French Wines, Green Salad, Greens, Housemade Pasta, Housemade Salad Dressing, Housemade Sauces, Housemade Soup, Pasta, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Salads, Salmon, Seafood, Special Dinners, Special Events, What's For Dinner?, Whats For Lunch?, Wines - French

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Bacquet's Restaurant

Bacquet’s Restaurant, Address: 1117 E Winding Creek Dr #150, Eagle, ID 83616, Hours: 11:30am – 10PM. Phone: (208) 577-6238. Easily a 5-Star French (the best in the area and the only one) restaurant and well worth the trip. Suggest you call for reservations, though. Here is some of what we had. Enjoy. We did.