Happy Mother’s Day!

10 Sunday May 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Celebrations, Food, Food Prep, Main Dish, Party Time, Photos

As with all Holidays or Days of Celebration, I ask Robin about 10 days in advance what she would like me to make. The only exception is usually Memorial Day and maybe July 4th – I fire up the grills and smoker for these two days! So, as expected, she submitted her suggested menu for Brunch:

Mimosas
Popovers with Gruyere Cheese
Baked Eggs with Spinach

The Mimosa went extremely well with the Brunch

Sometimes it is difficult to photograph through the oven door, but here is an attempt. The Popovers are getting Happy!

And here are the Popovers with Gruyere Cheese in happy land! Happy Popovers – Happy Robin! These would really be great at a wine tasting filled with Tuna Salad, Ham Salad, Shrimp Salad … Use you imagination!

Popovers with Gruyere Cheese

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Makes 16

2 c unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 t Sea Salt
2 c Whole Milk, use the good stuff with cream on the top
4 lg Eggs
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 c Gruyere cheese grated and (about 6 ounces)

Place muffin pans in the oven and preheat oven to 350ºF

Whisk flour and salt in medium bowl to blend.

Heat milk in small, heavy saucepan over medium heat until very warm, about 125 degrees.

Whisk eggs in large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk warm milk into eggs. Gradually stir flour mixture into milk mixture just to blend (batter may still be slightly lumpy).

Remove hot muffin pans from oven. Spray pans with nonstick spray. Spoon 1/2 cup batter into each of 16 muffin cups. Top each with 1 tablespoon cheese. Bake until puffed and deep brown, about 40 minutes.

Remove popovers from pan and immediately cut a slit in the top of each to release the steam. Serve immediately.

Note: The key to making popovers that won’t deflate as soon as they come out of the oven is to cut a slit in the top while they are still hot. That releases the steam and allows the popovers to dry slightly inside. Popovers are not easy to reheat because they will flatten, so plan to take them out of the oven just before serving.

And here are the Baked Eggs with Spinach. Quite good, but keep an eye on them, they can over cook very quickly!@

Baked Eggs with Spinach

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes Serves 4

2 T Butter, room temperature
1 (10-ounce) package frozen Chopped Spinach, thawed and drained
2 slices Sourdough or French bread
4 lg Eggs
4 t Heavy Cream
Salt, Pepper and Smoked Paprika

Preheat the oven to 375ºF

Rub the inside of four ramekins with a tablespoon of butter.

Squeeze liquid from the thawed spinach. Place about 1/4 cup of spinach in each prepared ramekin, making a bed in the bottom. Dot each bed with a teaspoon of butter, cut into bits.

Butter both sides of the bread slices, then cut each slice into four triangles. Stand two triangles in each ramekin so that they are leaning against the sides of the dishes with a point up.

Break an egg into each ramekin. Sprinkle the eggs with salt, plus pepper and paprika. Drizzle each egg with 1 teaspoon of cream. Arrange the ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet.

Bake the eggs until the whites are set and the yolks are firm around the edges and soft in the center, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve while still hot.

So there you have it – Photos of Brunch and the recipes. What did you make for your Mother today? Cheers!

Chef James Grimes

29 Wednesday Apr 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Celebrations, Cooking Programs, Food Prep

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It’s not often that we get to Salute one of “our friends”, but now is one of those times. Please look at Chef James Grimes and his TV spots. The flyer has some interesting information on it, about his resume and the 2009 IWC. Take a look. Cheers!

Easter Dinner – The Saga Continues

12 Sunday Apr 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Celebrations, Food, Food Prep, Photos

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Most holiday dinners around here are a “saga”. But now that we have a New Kitchen, the “Saga” is far more fun and efficient. The Lamb Roast is marinating; The Angel Food Cake is prepped; The Panchetta Wrapped Asparagus is prepped;

The wines are standing …… The 1988 Indian Creek (ID $189.00) Pinot Noir, an awesome wine from an awesome winery is standing and getting “more happy”. Too bad this is our last bottle and I don’t think Indian Creek has any more either.
The 2007 Bedrock Winery, Rachael’s Vineyard (Sonoma CA $45.00) is also standing. This should be an interesting comparison.

And then the Challah is ready!! This is really a fantastic Jewish Celebration bread. And I have had some questions on the bread, so here are some photos of the process.

Here is the dough getting ready for the first rise. Give it plenty of room. Notice the buttered sides of the bowl. You can place it in the oven with just the oven light on and it will maintain a good rising temperature.

Here is the Challah dough after the first rise, about 1 1/2 hours.

After the second rise, one must “braid” the dough after dividing it in half. The loaf in the rear has been braided, buttered and sesame seeded. The loaf in the front is about to be braided. The loaf weights each are about 2 lbs, 2 oz. Your batches may vary.

Here are the two loaves braided, buttered and seeded.

And here we have the “fruits of your labors”! But don’t cut it until it cools.

The making of the Challah is not hard. It does, though, take some time and patience. The recipe is posted elsewhere on these Easter postings. Try making the bread before you try it for friends. If you do make it, let us know how it went for you. Try it plain and buttered and try it toasted with butter. It has a wonderful flavor! Oh, and the crumb is tight and not open, as in a French baguette. Experiment with this bread and have fun with it! I have had several questions about this bread, so I hope I have answered them for you. Cheers!

Scallops and Asian Slaw

05 Sunday Apr 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food, Food Prep, Recipe By: Robin Young, Wine Dinners

≈ 1 Comment

Scallops and Asian Slaw

Buddy, like Mama Cass, “Singing For His Supper”

The Scallops, Sea Scallops, were broiled with salt, pepper, garlic sliced thin, Old Bay Seasoning and Paprika. The slaw was Robin’s and the recipe is listed below. It was super with the scallops. Both were excellent with a 2005 Moscato D’Asti, an Italian bubbly wine, full of fruit and slightly sweet. It went extremely well with the dinner.

Asian Slaw

8 Servings

Cabbage is chock full of nutrients including vitamin C and indoles, important cancer-fighting compounds. In addition, red cabbage also contains anthocyanins, the purple pigment with strong antioxidant activity commonly found in blueberries. In the winter months, cabbage is an abundant nutritional resource when other fresh produce is either expensive or unavailable. This recipe calls for a lot of salt, but it is used in this dish to soften the cabbage. Then it is thoroughly rinsed off so the recipe doesn’t provide too much sodium. This coleslaw is colorful and makes a delightful accompaniment to any meat, fish or vegetarian main dish. The garnish of minced scallions and toasted sesame seeds brings out the flavor of the slaw and adds additional crunch.

Ingredients:
1 medium head green cabbage
1 medium head red cabbage
3 tablespoons sea salt
3 large carrots
1/4 cup minced scallions
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Dressing:
2/3 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons dark-roasted sesame oil

Instructions:
1. Discard the outer leaves of cabbages. Cut heads in quarters; remove and discard cores. Slice cabbage thinly or shred in a food processor. Layer the cabbage in a large bowl with the sea salt. Toss to distribute salt evenly and let cabbage sit for 1 hour to soften.

2. Meanwhile, peel the carrots and grate them into thin shreds.

3. Drain off any liquid produced by the cabbage and rinse the cabbage well in several changes of cold water to remove excess salt. Taste the cabbage; if it is still too salty, rinse it again.

4. Add carrots to the cabbage and mix well.

5. Whisk the rice vinegar, brown sugar and sesame oil together in a small bowl.

6. Pour the dressing over the cabbage and mix well. Let chill. Garnish with minced scallions and toasted sesame seeds before serving.

Nutritional Information (Per serving)
126.8 calories
3.7 g total fat (0.5 g sat)
0.0 mg cholesterol
23.7 g carbohydrate
3.6 g protein
5.7 g fiber

Flour and Protein vs Gluten

03 Friday Apr 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food Prep, Food Trivia, Interesting Information

≈ 3 Comments

A Discussion on Flour Types

Those of us who like to bake – that was not always the case for me – have at least at sometime in the past, been confused about “gluten” and “protein” levels in different flours. What’s the difference between Bread flour and Pastry flour, for instance.

First, lets start with “gluten”. “High protein flours are generally recommended for yeasted products…” that require a lot of structural development in order to keep their shape and strength: The development of gluten. (2004, Baking Illustrated. Page 1) It is the gluten produced by the protein in the flour that produces elastic sheets in the dough that expand with the gas produced from the yeast. Flours are categorized by their protein levels.

That said, let’s look at the protein levels, or the ability of a flour made into a dough, to produce high glutens. The two are related.

Bread Flour – Protein content about 14 grams per cup. (There are 27 grams to the ounce) This is the flour of choice for yeast doughs. A slightly higher proportion of protein is available to professional bakers, such as your local pizza maker. In most cases, if a recipe calls for a high gluten flour, bread flour will work just fine.

All-Purpose Flour – Protein content 10 – 12 grams per cup. This staple flour is usually a blend of high gluten hard wheat and low gluten soft wheat flours. All-Purpose flour from the supermarkets, Pillsbury and Gold Medal – flours milled in the northern United States – have the 10-12 grams per cup. However, there are variations of All-Purpose flours between brands. For instance, King Arthur All-Purpose flour and Hecker’s have protein levels as high as 12 – 13 grams per cup. Almost as high as Bread flour. Southern brand flours, such as White Lily are low in protein, about 9 grams per cup. When a recipe calls for All-Purpose flour, you can use either bleached (chemically induced whiteness) or un-bleached (no chemical additives).

Cake and Pastry Flour – The lowest of the protein levels at about 8 grams per cup. These flours are used when a tender crumb is desired. Cake flour is chlorinated to make it whiter, Pastry flour is not. Cake flour can be found in most grocery stores, Pastry flour is not always available. If you cannot find Pastry flour, combine 3 parts of All-Purpose flour with 1 part of Cake flour.

So there you have a short discussion on the different types of flour and why some are better suited for breads and the like and others are better suited for piecrusts and cakes.

1996 Baking With Julia, William Morrow and Company, New York

2004 Baking Illustrated, Editors of Cook’s Illustrated, America’s Test Kitchen,
Brookline, MA

2006 Bob’s Red Mill Baking Book, John Ettinger, Running Press, Philadelphia, PA

Lamb Paella

28 Saturday Mar 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food Prep, Recipe By: Bob Young, Recipes

≈ 2 Comments

To celebrate National Spanish Paella Day, I just had top make a Lamb Paella. It really turned out good!! And it went very well with the Basque Sheepherder’s Bread, recipe in a prior post.

Here is the Lamb Paella. The recipe is printed below.

It was good to have Geno and Debra to try this with me. We will probably see this again, some day!

Authentic Lamb Paella

· Olive Oil (enough to cover the bottom of the paella pan)
· 1 med Yellow onion, diced
· 6 cloves Garlic, chopped
· 2 lbs Lamb, cut into chunks
· 2 Chorizos, diced
· ¼ lbs Green Beans (Spanish-bachoqueta)
· 4 med Roma Tomatoes, ripe and chopped
· 2 Roasted Red Bell pepper, cut into strips – roast your own
· 2 Roasted Yellow Bell pepper, cut into strips – roast your own
· 1 t Saffron
· 2 t of smoky Paprika
· 8 cups Beef stock, warmed to 190 degrees F
· 3 c Spanish Rice
· Sea Salt ( to taste)

First, add the olive oil to the paella pan and cook the onion and until it is translucent over med low heat. Add the garlic and stir. Add the lamb and cook until lightly browned. Add the diced chorizos and cook for 4 minutes. Then add the green beans and cook them together with the meat. While they are cooking, make a clearance in the middle of the paella pan and fry the chopped tomatoes and roasted peppers until they look a little pasty, quickly adding the paprika and saffron, stirring quickly and immediately adding the beef stock until it is almost to the top of the paella pans edge.

Cook all the ingredients for about 20 minutes over a high simmer and tasting for salt. After 20 minutes we add the rice, distributing it evenly, making sure the rice is covered with liquid. The heat should be medium high, not interrupting the boil. It takes about 20 minutes for the paella rice to cook. Do not stir the rice once you have added it to the paella pans, just change its position so that the heat gets to all parts equally. All the stock should be absorbed when finished. Take the paella off the heat and let stand for about 10 minutes covering the top with newspaper. If the rice has been cooked correctly, the rice grains should be loose, not clumped together or having a mushy texture.

For a fantastic table presentation, small wedges of lemon can decorate the border and branches of Romero (aromatic herbs) in the middle. Now you are ready to dig into your paella with wooden spoons and eat directly from the paella pans!

There it is. Cooking time is about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Not in the recipe – for the final 10 minutes, add about one-half cup of a red table wine and let the rice absorb it. This recipe will easily serve 10 – 12 people.

Basque Sheepherder’s Bread

27 Friday Mar 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Food Prep, Photos, Recipe By: Bob Young

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Today is National Spanish Paella Day! Really it is! I talked to Robin this morning and they are going to try to make Winnemucca, NV tonight and get some paella. But, one can not have paella without Basque Bread. I think I found a recipe. Check out the slides – they follow the recipe, more or less!

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: Basque Sheepherders Brea

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here is the recipe:

Basque Sheepherders Bread

1 1/2 c 160 degree tap water
5 T Butter, soft and at room temperature
1/4 c Clover honey
1 1/4 t Kosher Salt
1 1/4 T Active Dry Yeast
3 1/2 c All-Purpose Flour
1 1/4 c Whole Wheat Flour
Salad oil

In a large bowl, combine hot water, butter, honey and salt. Stir until butter is melted; let cool to about 110 degrees. Stir in yeast; cover and set in a warm place until bubbly, about 15 minutes. Beat in about 1 1/4 cups Whole Wheat flour to make a thick batter. Stir in about 3 ½ cups of All Purpose flour to make a stiff dough. Scrape dough onto a floured board. Knead until smooth and satiny, 10 to 20 minutes — adding as little flour as possible to prevent sticking. Place dough in a greased bowl; turn over to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled — about 1½ hours.

Punch dough down and knead briefly on a floured board to release air. Shape into a smooth ball. With a circle of foil, cover the inside bottom of a 5-quart cast iron or cast aluminum Dutch oven. Grease foil, inside of Dutch oven, and lid with oil. Place dough in Dutch oven and cover with lid. Let rise in a warm place until dough pushes up lid by about ½ inch, about 1 hour. (Watch closely.) Bake, covered, with a lid in a 375-degree oven for 12 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Remove bread from oven and turn onto a rack to cool. You might need a helper. Peel off foil and turn loaf upright. Makes one 2 1/4 pound loaf.

So there’s the bread. Now for the Lamb Paella and the wine. Yum-O!

BBQ Site

23 Monday Mar 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food Prep, Interesting Information, Thought For The Day

≈ 1 Comment

Hi All – I received this email today,

“I ran across your blog today and, as a fellow Boise foodie I really enjoyed it. I am a competitive BBQ cook and have a blog of my own. Keep up the good work, John”

Here is his web site: BBQ Web Site and it looks like a good one! Check it out. The kitchen is done! Check out the updates at Our Retirement Blog. Cheers!

Valentine’s Day Dinner, 2009

15 Sunday Feb 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Celebrations, Food, Food Prep, Photos, Vegetables

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It never ceases to amaze me as to how exciting it is to prepare a meal for family and then have friends drop in and eat with us. So it was this Valentine’s Day Dinner.

Of course, the dinner is in honor of Robin and Marnie!
And Mac was there too. But to our delight and surprise, Geno and Debra arrived – to try some of his bread and to return a paella pan he had borrowed. When they called, I didn’t tell them we were about to eat dinner. But then I knew they both liked wine and lamb. We were glad to have them.

And some of the wine. A 1977 Diamond Creek, Volcanic Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, on the left. And on the right, a 1973 Joseph Swan Vineyards Zinfandel. Both of these wines from our cellar.

Crown Roast of Lamb with a 1992 Moscato d’Asti Tintero. An awesome combination.
Lamb with Red Wine and Balsamic Vinegar Reduction, Brown Rice with Scallions and Mushrooms and Mashed Root Vegetable Combination. Such an awesome dinner and easy to prepare. It just takes some time.

But then, Robin made this terrific and succulent Chocolate Torte. This went well with a 1970 Croft Porto Vintage Port.

Such a great day and dinner! Great women! Great friends! Great food! Thank-You to everyone who participated. Wonder what we’ll have for Easter Dinner. It’s a little way to go before Easter is upon us, so we have time to plan this dinner out.

Perfect Prime Rib

13 Friday Feb 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food, Food Prep, Main Dish, Photos

≈ 1 Comment

Hi all,

If you’re looking for that perfect romantic food splurge, for Valentine’s Day or other special occasions, you can’t beat a perfectly roasted prime rib. Here’s a recipe that is guaranteed to result in one of the best prime rib’s you’ve ever eaten.

Start with the best quality prime rib cut that you can afford. I personally like to cut the rib bone portion from the rest of the roast and then tie them back together for cooking. This allows more surface area for the rub to penetrate the meat and makes it easy to enjoy the rib bone portion after cooking.

Make a rub with 3 minced garlic cloves, and 2 teaspoons fresh chopped thyme. You can add up to 2 teaspoons of rosemary if you like the rosemary taste (I personally don’t use any rosemary).

Mix this with one tablespoon kosher salt and two teaspoons of coursely ground black pepper. Rub this over the entire surface of the roast and then refrigerate (as much as overnight). Before cooking, let the roast come to room temperature (about 2 hours).

Preheat your oven to 450 (yes…this is hot hot) and lay the roast, bone side down, in a shallow baking pan (it can get messy so line your pan with foil). Roast at 450 for 15 minutes. This will sear the outer portion of the roast….sizzling good.

Turn the oven down to 350 (don’t open the oven door) and then bake for about 45 minutes. The doneness of the roast will not be determined by time, but by internal meat temperature. (get out your meat thermometer and check it about every 10 minutes after 30 minutes or so)

Tent the roast in foil and allow it to rest 15 to 30 minutes before carving. The meat continues to cook and heat during the resting.

For “rare”, remove from heat at internal meat temp of 115-120F. The internal meat temp should be 125-130 after resting.

For “medium rare”, remove from heat at 125-130F. Temp should be 130-140 after resting.

For “medium”, remove from heat at 130-140F. Temp should be 140-150 after resting.

I used my charcoal BBQ grill (with lid) for my most recent cooking. I added some hickory chips for the final lower temp part of the cooking for a slight smoky flavor that added a new dimension to the flavor….and was GREAT. I simply tried to duplicate the temps in the recipe by adjusting my heat in the BBQ.