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Here are two recipes that I made this past week. The Lamb, https://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Boneless-Lamb.pdf , is absolutely awesome, if you like lamb. But remember, lamb, is up to one year old and mutton is older than a year. The lamb we used came from the Boise Farmers Market (BFM) – Meadowlark Farms – and most of the veggies for the guacamole did also, at least most of them, came from the BFM. And the guacamole is also wonderful. Use it as a dip at a gathering. My sister adds a little rendered bacon to it. I would use a thick cut bacon, diced, https://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Guac.pdf .
At any rate, try these recipes and let us know how you liked them, or not. If you didn’t like them, please let us know why.
This is the lamb after being cook and the first slice
This This is the guacamole. We like it a little thick. so we don’t mash it so much. If you add bacon, I would use the thick cut, dice it and then let it cool and drain off some of the fat.
(Yes, that’s me in the photo!) I found this little farmstand while4 riding my bike in Marsing, ID. South Bruneau Hiway and 4th Ave. A really good small stand, and they have good products. Eggs, sourdough breads and cookies that are fresh baked on site. If you are in the area, well worth the stop. Cash only or EBT. Just look at some of the products. This is by far not all of them.
The stand supply
Cinnamon Swirl bread
So those are some of the products. The breads and cookies are sourdough. You can’t miss the stand there are signs and flags. Fun place. Good breads!
This recipe actually comes from a longtime friend of ours who lives in California. It is an awesome dish with just a hint of tarragon. I did not alter it excessively, but did add a little chopped arugula at the very end, which does give the dish an interesting flavor profile. The official name of the dish is Chicken Breasts with Tarragon. Because of the additions I gave it, the name became Isaac’s Chicken. Here is the link to the recipe. Enjoy. https://www.rockinrs.com/Isaacs-Chicken-Rev.pdf.
I have to cut the chicken smaller.I also used a Sauvignon Blanc, but you can use any good French Bordeaux white wine. The alcohol gets cooked off, especially after you reduce it. Just the flavor remains. The dish is not difficult to make and within 30 minutes, you should be at the table eating, We tried this over Jasmine rice but like it better over noodles. Be sure to prep all ingredients before you start. I have a supply of paper bowls that I keep, just for prepping. Keeps the process organized.
Enjoy this dish. It is delicious! Let us know how you like it and any changes you made.
It is not often that I post “advertisements”, but this is an exception. In this case it is for the Boise Farmers Market – BFM. I have been going there during the summer for many years and it is the highlight of my week. If you are in the Boise area, please check it out. You won’t be disappointed. The winter market is indoors and only lasts for a few weeks. Look at the graphic below and either print it out or write down the information. It runs from November 16 to December 21st. I thank you and BFM thanks you. Happy Shopping!
I have received many requests for my recipes for CS Bread Braid (Challah) and CS Pot Roast. (https://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Bread-Braid.pdf and https://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Pot-Roast.pdf) The bread braid I added a little sourdough starter, but you don’t have to0, just add the amount of starter you would as water to the water amount in the recipe. But we liked the slight tinge of sourdough in the breade. And to the pot roast I added some button mushrooms quartered. You can use any mushrooms you want.These recipes were fun to develop and are very good, IMNSHO (In My Not So Humble Opinion).If you try them, let us know what you think, or what you changed. And it is perfectly OK to say that you didn’t like it, just tell my why. Here are the photos of the final products.
CS Bread Braid. Great toasted or as French Toast.
French Toast using the Bread Braid I made
CS Pot Roast on Black Truffle Oil Mashed Potatoes and a Fresh Green Salad with Grapes and Mic5ro Greens
I do like pork! But I really need to change my preparation of the meat. If not the preparation, then the plating of it. What to serve with it? Sauerkraut is a pretty standard plating. But I wanted to change that, And o I came up with this. I used red cabbage, snow peas and carrot rounds, to sweeten it a little, and a little balsamic glaze to soften the cabbage flavor. I brazed it with just a little Aleppo pepper. The combination worked well and folks enjoyed it. Then I took parsnips and chunk diced them and braised them also.
The pork. Braised it over medium heat so not to burn it. Initially and before cooking I used our Pork Rub, (https://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Pork-Rub.pdf) all over the tenderloin and did not “skimp” on the amount. Then pat it into the meat and let it sit for about 30 minutes. The 2020 Parma Ridge Winery Boys Blend was superb with this dinner!
After braising the pork, I removed them from the heat and deglazed the pan (cast-iron skillet) with about 2 ounces of Tarragon Vinegar that we made a while back.Then a little butter in the drippings and some flour. Brought the roux together and added whole milk and about 2 T of Plochman’s mustard and stirred to combine and thicken. I then returned the tenderloin to the pan and spooned some of the sauce over it. After plating, I added a little more if it was needed. Everyone seemed to enjoy it – there is none left!
There are times when one feels really challenged in the kitchen, whether it is perfecting a dish, Creamed Spinach for example, where something just does not come out as you had planned or pictured. And at other times you want to create something kind of different with pan drippings. Or you want to create a dish that can be daunting or challenging. Well here are 3 that did just that. Let’s take a look. (Click on the images to see them enlarged)
This one was, I thought, just a basic baked chicken and rice dish. But then I thought, plain Jasmin rice with a good baked chicken can be sort of mundane, so why not add some green onion – a very Oriental twist – and fresh spinach? That spinach was a surprise to some who ate it. And the pan drippings of the rosemary and sage can create a differently good gravy. It did! Even added a little to the rice, which gave it a whole new twist. I think, and use it quite often, that it is sinful to “dump the pan drippings” in the trash, so I used it. Not many in the household would do such a thing. Use those drippings!
Potatoes. They are good, but if it were up to some other cooks that need potatoes at every meal – you know who you are – at least change them up from peeled, water logged piles of something that resembles pablum, to maybe some good, crispy hash browns that don’t need to be only served at breakfast. And to, add something green, like the creamed spinach pictured here. Add some mushrooms to the pan dripping gravy from the seared pork chop. Don’t be afraid to be creative and adventuresome in preparing a meal. If nothing else, it’s fun!
Here is another adventure. Steak with Mushroom and Onion Pan Gravy, Asparagus with Lardons and Green Onion and Smashed Potatoes and Gravy. (I used an hand masher and left the potatoes a little lumpy and as always, left the peels on.)
I guess I like to “mix things up” in the kitchen and try different variations of a given dish. Have fun when preparing and use your imagination. And, I might add, most of the products here came from the Boise Farmers Market.
I have been working on some new recipes for the past several weeks. I have 3 that I will post here. Hope you like them. Let me know. The3re will be at least three new recipes. My favorite oven bbq pork ribs, a really good bbq sauce in the Memphis style – slightly tart, but also with a sweetness. A Memphis style bbq rub that is great on ribs, beef, pork and chicken. Then a side dish – corn fritters, since corn is now in season. I grew up on these and love them. Almost as good as a corn pie! Most, but not all of the ingredients in the posted recipes, come from the Boise Farmer’s Market (BFM) and I am grateful for their products and information. Use your local farmer’s markets. Enjoy!
Starting with the Oven BBQ Pork Ribs, I have created our version of a Memphis style bbq rub. Sweet, but tangy. Best to be very generous with this rub and the longer it “cures”, stays refrigerated for awhile – I let the ribs I was doing to rest (cure) in the refrigerator for 24 hours. But that length of time is not essential. 8 hours will also work. Don’t forget to let the meat come to room temperature before you cook it. This rub is full of sugar, sea salt, onion powder and garlic granules, Aleppo pepper, cumin and smoky paprika. Great on the pork In did and super on chicken.
The BBQ Sauce I came up with, https://www.rockinrs.com/CS-BBQ-Sauce.pdf, CS BBQ Sauce, is thick and rich. Slightly smoky. Slightly tangy. It includes red onion, minced garlic, ketchup, dark brown sugar, apple cider vinegar and pomegranate molasses among some other ingredients. Check the recipe by clicking the link.
Now, IMNSHO, In My Opinion Not So Humble Opinion, are super good! And they are done in the oven. (Can these be considered truly BBQ Ribs?) As plated here, we added some of our Doctored Baked Beans and a Corn Fritter. Drizzle some CS BBQ Sauce over the ribs (even go well with the beans) and Yum-O! They fall of the bone and have great flavors from the rub and the sauce.
And since I mentioned Corn Fritters, they go really great for breakfast with eggs. The eggs above are basted. A very Pennsylvania Dutch (German) treat. I was raised on these and they were aq hit when I made them for folks. Not hard to do. Fresh corn works best, but frozen corn can also be used. Here they are served with fresh fruit and homemade sourdough bread toast.
The last item I want to share is a sourdough bread we have been working on since January of this year. Created our own starter and it takes a while to develop and experiment making bread and other treats. Sourdough Blueberry Muffins, for one. (https://www.rockinrs.com/Sourdough-Blueberry-Muffins.pdf) This bread I have baking in a Romertopf Clay Pot and it comes out just great.It is a full flavored sourdough. Robust. Makes great toast and sandwiches. Great grilled cheese.
So there you are. Try these and let us know if you liked them or not. If not, let us know why. Cheers and Good Eating!
So you have some “stuff” still in the refrigerator that you don’t quite know what to do with. Don’t throw it out, unless, of course, it’s green and fuzzy. It’s not exactly Réchauffé – a dish of warmed-up leftovers, but more like Utiliser les restes – using leftovers. We have strawberries that need to be used, so we make Strawberry Waffles. And there is some Pork Belly, “… pork belly is uncured meat (while) bacon is a cured meat…(it is) the boneless cut that remains after the loin and spareribs are removed.” (pork.org) Just in case you wanted to know. So why not make an Idaho Benedict or a sautéed cabbage and apple to go with a Malheur River Meals ( https://malheurrivermeats.com ) pork chop? (Or you can get their products at the Boise Farmers Market or at Lark and Larder in Boise Good idea! So let’s take a look. Bon appetit!
Strawberry Waffle
Strawberry Waffles are so delicious. I have made waffles from scratch but here I used Krusteaz, because I had some that needed to be used. Just altered it slightly with strawberry jam and 1 egg in the batter. Then when I cooked it, I put sliced strawberries in the batter plus more sliced strawberries on top of the waffle before serving. A dusting of powdered sugar, too. You can use other fruits, also, like blueberries.
Malheur River Meats Pork Chop with Braised Apple and Cabbage
This was a yum dinner. A Smoked Bone-In Pork Chop with Braised Apple and Cabbage. Caramelized the apple first in butter and brown sugar over med-high heat and watched it carefully so as not to burn the apple. Just golden brown. Then added some chopped cabbage and caraway and sautéed it all together. There were no left-overs from this dinner!
Idaho Benedict
Shredded potato in egg ring form
Potatoes browned
This was so differently good! If you like Eggs Benedict, try this version. Instead of a toasted English muffin, I used a potato pancake, of sorts. More like a latke than a pancake. I had the “cake” keep its shape and form by using an egg ring. Worked well. Cooking was a challenge to keep it from burning. Med high heat and used the rendered pork belly fat – some of it – to cook the potato in. Turned it over carefully when I noticed some browning on the edges. It really came out fine and was cooked all the way through. Then for serving, placed potato on plate, then one strip of thick cut pork belly broken in half, poached egg and finally Hollandaise Sauce. ( CIA Basic Hollandaise Sauce )
So there you have it. Another fun week in the kitchen!
Actually I have never made either of these dishes before, so this was an exciting trip! The idea for the kielbasa dish came from Rachael Ray, but I radically changed some of the ingredients by adding additional spices and herbs and eliminating others. The sauerkraut, for instance, was to be one with cumin and caraway and if you could not find one like that, adjust it by adding a “scant” teaspoon each. I went to a 2 teaspoons each and it was wonderful. I also added turmeric and Riesling wine. I guess that’s the German in me. Here is the recipe for our CS Kielbasa and Pierogi Combo dinner – http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Kielbasa-Pierogi-Combo.pdf
Kielbasa and Pierogi Combo ready for the oven
Dinner is plated
The second dish we made, my wife Robin came up with this one, I definitely have never made. It takes some time and effort, but I think well worth it. It’s basically, ground pork, not sausage, fresh ginger and garlic, Shoyu soy sauce (Japanese) and green onions wrapped in wonton pastry. Care must be taken when frying these and not burn them. They should be a light brown color. Here is the recipe for these – http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Pork-Wontons.pdf.
Filling the wontons. You might want to use a little shredded Napa cabbage in each one too.
The wontons sealed and ready to cook. There is more than one way to seal these.
The wontons out of the fryer. Notice they are brown and not burned. Keep your eye on them while cooking. They will burn quickly.
Presentation plate with Shoyu soy sauce with grated ginger.
So there you have two more dishes to try. The wontons might just make a good appetizer or “tailgate food” for a sporting event. Enjoy!
Boise Foodie Guild 