Some More Dishes to Try

18 Friday Mar 2022

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5 Hour Duck, 5-Stars, Beef, Boise Farmers Market, Buy Idaho, Buy Local, Classis Sauces, Comfort Food, Dinner At Marnies, Dinner For Robin, Dinner With Family, Duck, Food Photos, Food Prep, Fruit, Idaho Beef, Idaho Potatoes, Main Dish, Mushrooms - Local, Pâté, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipes, Recipes - Dinner, What's For Dinner?

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

5 hour roasted duck, alfredo recipe, duck, fettuccini, fruit, green pepper, morel mushroom, nain dish, Pâté, Roasted Duck, stuffed pepper

Here are two really good meals we made. At least they’re good in my humble opinion. I liked them. The Fettuccini Alfredo our daughter found a basic recipe, but it looked a little bland, so I “adjusted” it a little. Added dried morels that were rehydrated in some white wine and added basil and fresh garlic. It was tasty. And the 2nd dish was Stuffed Peppers and i do like a good stuffed pepper. But Robin can not eat them. The last dish was 5 Hour Roasted Duck, which we all love! Take a look.

This was really a good dinner. As I stated above, I adjusted it. I used Half and Half instead of milk and added some white wine to the Alfredo. It was rich and smooth. Awesome flavor levels. Just be careful when adding the Half and Half that you don’t scorch it. Keep stirring gently. And I have never cooked pasta like this either. It worked fine.. (See the recipe) And too, I broke the dry pasta in half before adding to the pan. Easier for all to eat. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

This was a great pepper. The pepper was cooked, but still somewhat “crunchy”, but not raw. The flavor levels were great. Not over powered by the herbs or a strong green pepper taste. If you are making one, and use a larger cooking dish, try using different colored peppers – green, red, orange or whatever is available. And then serve them in the cooking dish. There was just me eating this, so I cooked it in a Pâté pan, as pictured. Worked well.

We all like duck. But it can be greasy. So if you like duck, try this one. 5 Hour Roasted Duck. It definitely is not difficult to do. Just takes a while. 5 hours! So plan ahead! Stewed the neck and any leftover vegetable parts and reduced it down to create the gravy. Use some pan drippings and wine, too. An awesome gravy. Serve with peas and carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy and thinly sliced fruit, left from stuffing the duck. While the duck is resting, cover it with aluminum foil to keep it warm. And as a note, we have tried this with a goose, but it was not as good.

So threr you have it. Try them all and let us know how it turned out. Guten Abend!

Chopped In The Kitchen

11 Friday Mar 2022

Posted by Bob and Robin in Apple, Apricots, Buy Local, Cabbage, Classic Sauces, Dinner At Marnies, Dinner For Robin, Eggs, Eggs Benedict, Food Photos, Food Prep, Grilled Pork, Housemade Sauces, Idaho Grains, Idaho Pork, Idaho Potatoes, Krusteaz, Lark and Larder, Latkes, Local Markets, Main Dish, Malheur River Meats, Photos By: Bob Young, Pork Belly, pork chops, Potatoes, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipes - Sauces, Sauces, What's For Dinner?

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

cabbage, caramelized apple, fried potatoes, Hollandaise Sauce, pork belly, potatoes, recipes, strawberry, waffles

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 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!

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!

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?

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

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.

Shrimp, Beets and Lamb

28 Friday Jan 2022

Posted by Bob and Robin in Asian Food, Boise Farmers Market, Boise Food Adventures, Boise Foodie Guild, Brocolli, Buy Idaho, Buy Local, Captain's Shack, Cooking Styles, Dinner At Marnies, Dinner For Robin, Food - Make Your Own Meals, Food Photos, Fruits, Ginger, Greens, Housemade Sauces, Idaho Lamb, Interesting Information, Lamb, Local Markets, Made From Scratch, Main Dish, Meadowlark Farms, Montmorency Sauce, Once & Future Wine, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipe By: Robin Young, Recipes, Recipes - Dinner, Seafood, Shrimp, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wines - California

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

kielbasa, lamb, pierogi, shrimp, zinfandel

No. Not all at the same time, except for one dish which is a combination of two items. But first, let’s talk about lamb. Many people don’t like lamb and I can appreciate that. But I’m not so sure that folks are confusing lamb and mutton, which come from the same animal. Here are some differences from masterclass.com. Hope this helps. It’s mostly about time.

Mutton and lamb are two types of meat from sheep at different life cycle stages. Here are the main differences between the two types of red meat:

Age: The key difference between mutton and lamb meats is the animal’s age. While mutton refers to the meat of an older animal (typically around three years old), lamb is the meat of a young animal (often around a year old).

Flavor: Lamb is a younger animal, so the meat hasn’t had time to develop as much flavor—thus, it is milder with a faint, grassy flavor. Alternatively, mutton comes from an older sheep with more fat and muscles, giving it a strong, gamey flavor similar to goat, venison, or wild boar.

Preparation: Due to its toughness, mutton tastes best when cooked slowly, which you can do using a slow cooker, slow-roaster, or meat smoker. In Kentucky, chefs sometimes use the mutton of older sheep for barbecuing. Lamb, however, is a tender cut of meat that benefits from a range of cooking methods, including roasting, grilling, and braising.

Texture: Mutton comes from older sheep that have had more time to develop dense muscles and fat content, resulting in tough meat that can be dry or chewy. Conversely, lamb hasn’t had the time to develop much connective tissue, so the meat is often more tender and moist.

http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Zin-Braised-Lamb-Chops.pdf

This is a wonderful dish which is fruity and a delicious way to prepare lamb chops. Especially thick cut ones. We get our lamb from Meadowlark Farms in Nampa, ID. The beets – home grown -, Harvard Beets, is from a recipe that Robin came up with and they are wonderful. You can find her recipe at Robin’s Harvard Beets. This makes a wonderful dinner and is a great paring. Any good, jammy Zinfandel will pair well with the lamb. We used a Once & Future Zinfandel (Joel Peterson)

http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Panko-Shrimp.pdf

Once again. A delicious Asian type Panko Sesame Shrimp with Broccoli. The photo shows broccolini. That’s all we had so we used it. I think broccoli florets, as the recipe calls for, would be much better. Broccolini tends to be a little “woody” and can be hard to eat. The original recipe called for ginger powder – I changed it to fresh grated ginger and also added some garlic cloves.

The next recipe I want to try is adapted from Rachael Ray, Kielbasa and Pierogi Tray Bake. Problem is, I am having a hard time locating frozen potato pierogis. She used red, yellow and orange peppers, but Robin can not “handle” those peppers, so I have changed it to Poblanos. She has no problem with Poblanos. I also will change the high hot pepper level to 4 drops of Sriracha, which should “tame” the dish, somewhat. We are not particularly fond of hot, spicy foods – Carolina Reapers, habanera or Thai Chilies – so we tend to go light on those hot spices. But you can adjust to your liking when I get the recipe complete.

Enjoy this post and the recipes. Good eating!

Some Meals We Have Enjoyed

07 Friday Jan 2022

Posted by Bob and Robin in Captain's Shack, Classic Cuisines, Classic Herb Blends, Cooking Styles, Dessert, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Dinner With Family, Egg Noodles, Ethnic Foods, Food - Make Your Own Meals, Food Photos, German Recipes, Herbs, Herbs and Spices, Housemade Soup, Idaho Beef, Main Dish, Morels, Mushrooms, Pasta, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe - Soup, Recipe By: Captain's Shack, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipes, Recipes - Bavarian, Recipes - Dessert, Recipes - Dinner, Recipes - Sauces, Sauces, Spices, What's For Dinner?

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

beef, prime rib, soup

Sorry for the long delay in getting articles or recipes posted. It’s been a crappy Fall, but things are returning to normal now. I will create this post, as I have done in the past with all posts, with a good description of the dish and a link to the recipe that we have created. Most of the recipes, however, are original only to the point that we have altered the original recipe to fit our needs. Most of the recipes presented here and on this blog, have a note attached to them “Source: adapted from (some other recipe)“. At least then, you know where you can find the original recipe. Please, as in the past, feel free to use and try any recipe presented and let us know how it came out and if you liked it or not.

Let’s start with a great soup. Did you ever see the movie Tortilla Soup? Well here is the recipe for that soup, Tortilla Soup http://www.rockinrs.com/Tortilla-Soup.pdf. I’m sorry I don’t have a photo of it. This is fun to make – you can make it as spicy as you want – and great eating. We love it!

And to start the main course off, how about Roasted Prime Rib of Beef? Really easy to do, but be sure you follow the cooking directions exactly. Recipe – http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Prime-Rib.pdf. This recipe calls for an herb butter and we used our Herb de Provence, http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Herbs.pdf. Use it liberally and mix well with room temperature butter. I even went so far as to, after adding the herb butter and salt, to dry brine this in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Came out great!

And here is a great leftover prime rib dish, Leftover Prime Rib Beef Stroganoff. (recipe – http://www.rockinrs.com/Leftover-Beef-Stroganoff.pdf) The original recipe called for Baby Portabella mushrooms, but we had some dried Morel mushrooms collected this past Fall and I reconstituted them in a little vodka and used some of the liquid in the sauce.

Total time to make this dish is about 20 minutes, not counting preparing the egg noodles or rice. If you would prefer not to use noodles, you can always use rice. If you use rice, I would probably use Basmati or Jasmin. Either way, we loved this and will make it again. Delicious flavors and easy to do. I even had someone tell me they have made a similar stroganoff with leftover meat loaf.

For the last of the prime rib, you can also make a delicious and scrumptious Prime Rib Soup. This is almost a one pot meal. Hearty with the barley in it. Great on a cold winter day. Just takes some time to make, about 3 hours and 15 minutes. But well worth it. Great herb combination in it. Here is the recipe – http://www.rockinrs.com/Prime-Rib-Soup.pdf

It takes a little time, but well worth it. The barley is really a great addition. That pretty much uses up the prime rib leftovers. But, there are 3 different meals from this cut of beef.

The last dish is a very German entrée. It is a Spinach Spaetzle with Speck, a German bacon. You can find the recipe here – http://www.rockinrs.com/Spinach-Spaetzle.pdf. Enjoy!

This is a big, hearty meal that will satisfy most big appetites. The speck gives a wonderful flavor the the spaetzle a great texture. We used a store bought spaetzle because I don’t have a spaetzle maker. We bought the spaetzle and the speck from a German shop here in Boise.

But wait! That’s not all! What about dessert? How about some Pecan Shortbread Cookies? http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Pecan-Shortbread-Cookies.pdf

A great shortbread treat full of toasted pecan bits, almond extract and a little rum, that is not in the recipe. I don’t usually do this, but our neighbor has a cookie business and they are good. Her business name is Crumb by devlyn and can be reached at (910) 405-4718 or emailed at crumbbydevlyncookies@gmail.com (No. I made the shortbread cookies!)

Enjoy these dishes. They are all good and worth a try. gutes Essen in German or biadh math is Gaelic. That covers my heritage.

Two Great Meals

04 Friday Jun 2021

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Chef Lou, Corn, Dill, Edible Flowers, Eggs, Fennel, Food - Frozen, Food - Make Your Own Meals, Food Photos, Food Prep, Green Peas, Heirloom Tomatoes, Herbs and Spices, Housemade Salad Dressing, Idaho Dairy, Idaho Eggs, Idaho Greens, Idaho Potatoes, Idaho Trout, Idaho Vegetables, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Made From Scratch, Main Dish, Marsing, Mustard, Onion, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Potato Salad, Potatoes, Prep Work, What's For Dinner?

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Acme Bakeshop, Boise Farmers Market, edible flowers, heirloom tomatoes, shrimp, sourdough bread

Two Great Meals

This potato salad,the recipe is located here Chef Lou’s Potato Salad, is full of vegetables. (Pictured above) You can use veggies, or not, or choose your own. The salad has an awesome dressing of mayo, apple cider vinegar and Dejon mustard. I also added some fresh lovage to add to the “celery” flavor. Try it. Easy to make. I chilled the cooked potatoes before adding them to the sauce/vegetable mix. I also cut the potatoes in “bite sized” pieces before cooking them. Try using new potatoes and quarter them.

The second wonderful dish we made was a Shrimp Salad. (Pictured above) This was a great, summer salad and it can be made ahead of time and refrigerated. Full of vegetables and shrimp and with a creamy sauce. I added frozen peas and corn to this salad which gave a a nice texture and flavor. I also used some fresh lovage in this, too. You could probably use lobster instead of shrimp, if you are so inclined. We served it with baked Orange Kokanee – salmon – (7 min at 375 degrees F) for 7 minutes. Toasted Sourdough Wedges with butter and garlic.

Well there are two meals you can play with. Have fun and enjoy! Just don’t forget: If it is on a plate, it is edible! Don’t ever put something on a plate that is not edible.

Continue reading →

A Visit To Le Coq d’Or

25 Friday Jan 2019

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Acme Bake Shop Baguette, Boise Restaurants, Chardonnay, Chicken, Classic Cuisines, Cooking Styles, Cream of Mushroom Soup, Dinner at Le Coq d’Or, Dinner With Robin, Duck, Ethnic Foods, Food Photos, French Foods, Galaxy 9 Photos, Idaho Lamb, Idaho Potatoes, Idaho Wine, Idaho's Bounty, Main Dish, Mediterrean Foods, Mushrooms, Photos By: Bob Young, What's For Dinner?

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Le Coq d’Or

What a great way to celebrate the birthday of Scottish Poet Robert Burns! An extremely good 5-Star restaurant in Eagle – Le Coq d’Or! 208-947-2840, 176 S. Rosebud Lane, Eagle, Idaho 83616. Tuesday-Thursday: 5:00pm-9:00pm; Friday and Saturday: 5:00pm-10:00pm.

The Restaurant at the Chateau draws upon flavor profiles from around the world: focusing on old-world traditional French and European cuisine, with subtle Eastern and Persian influences. All food served in our restaurant is made from scratch in our kitchen using locally sourced Idaho produce whenever possible. Fresh dining and artful ambiance makes the Restaurant at the Chateau a truly one-of-a-kind, well-rounded dining experience that will continue to enthrall you long after the last bite. Enjoy our house wine Roghani Vineyards or allow Christian Lamotte, our Maitre D’, to suggest one of our 100+ hand-selected wines from around the world.

And a great Truffle and Wine Dinner coming up Saturday, February 23, 2019. Call to make reservations and we will see you there! You will not be disappointed. In the meantime, here is what we had today. (Some of the photos are not the best – first time using the Samsung phone camera. Can only get better.) Left-Click any of these photos to see them enlarged.

Miss Fisher watches over the dining hall!

Robin in the dinning room.

Always a good wine from their winery. In this case, Shiraz

Green Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette

I had this awesome Creamy Mushroom Soup. Delicious!

Robin had French Onion Soup

Duck and Truffle Potatoes

Chicken with Mediterrean Sauce and Polenta

I would have any of these items again.Super good!

Great Shellfish Boil

09 Sunday Sep 2018

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Braising, Brunch with Robin, BSU, Captain's Shack, Clams, Comfort Food, Cooking Styles, Corn, Dinner For Robin, Dinner With Robin, Food Photos, Food Prep, Gameday, Garlic, Herbs and Spices, Idaho Potatoes, Kitchen Adventures, Lobster, Made From Scratch, Main Dish, Mussels, Pasta, Photos By: Bob Young, Potatoes, Recipe By: Bob Young, Recipe By: Captain's Shack, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipes - Dinner, Recipes - Pasta, Recipes - Seafood, Scallops, Sea Scallops, Seafood, Shell Fish, Special Dinners, What's For Dinner?

≈ 1 Comment

Since Boise State was playing the University of Connecticut, (BSU 62, UConn 7) we thought it would be fitting to have a shell-fish boil. Just did not have any sea water to boil the packs in nor any sea weed. Nonetheless, it was good. No! It was fantastic!
Per package, we used 1 lobster tail, 9 clams, 6 mussels, 1/2 ear corn and 8 small potatoes that we left whole. That was plenty per person. Wrapped the articles in cheese cloth, tied it into a package and placed it in sea salted boiling water for 20 minutes. Made some brown butter for dipping and some good wine and had a feast. Here are some photos. Left Click them to see enlarged. Enjoy!

Making the cheese cloth packages.

After cooking and plated.

Earlier this week, we had an awesome Scallops and Peas with Garlic Pasta. Here it is. Easy to do – Sear the sea scallops (the large ones), 4 per person, in butter with a little minced garlic. In the meantime, make about 1/4 pound angel hair pasta until adente. Add frozen peas and cook until peas are soft, if using frozen ones. Add to the seared scallops and mix well. Plate and top with chopped Italian parsley. Eat slowly and enjoy!

Scallops and Peas with Garlic Pasta

And then tonight, we had an awesome Baked Salmon with Green Beans, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Israeli Melon. Simply delicious and quick and simple.

Baked Salmon with Green Beans, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Israeli Melon

Good Snowy Weather To Make Sauerkraut! Here’s How.

04 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by Bob and Robin in Boise Farmers Market, Cabbage, Canning, Captain's Shack, Classic Cuisines, Comfort Food, Food Photos, German Food, Homemade Sauerkraut, Idaho Pork, Idaho Potatoes, Idaho Vegetables, Local Markets, Main Dish, Oktoberfest, Photos By: Bob Young, Pork, Pork Tenderloin, What's For Dinner?

≈ 3 Comments

There have been many people asking how to make their own sauerkraut. Well here is a great link – Kraut In A Jar or the entire site by Holly Howe, Make Sauerkraut. Both resources are superb and chock full of some great information from recipes to keeping the kraut from going bad.

This photo is from Holly’s site and some kraut she made in a jar.

Shredding the cabbage using a mandoline. See the belnd of red and white cabbage. 4 heads of white cabbage to 2 medium heads of red cabbage. Nice color blends.

Shredding the cabbage using a mandoline. See the blend of red and white cabbage. 4 heads of white cabbage to 2 medium heads of red cabbage. Nice color blends.

Enjoy the links I have listed and have some fun and make some sauerkraut. Let us know how it comes out! Make a pork roast in the oven. Add to that some mashed potatoes – Idaho potatoes of course – and some of your fresh made sauerkraut and you’ll have a great meal. Wash it all down with a good Spaten. Think of this dinner for Oktoberfest. We just put up 14 pints of kraut. Cheers!

Pork mit Kraut

Korean BBQ Beef

12 Saturday Nov 2016

Posted by Bob and Robin in Asian Food, BBQ Beef, Beef, Bok Choy, Captain's Shack, Dinner For Robin, Food Photos, Idaho Beef, Idaho Greens, Korean BBQ Beef, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Main Dish, Photos By: Bob Young, What's For Dinner?

≈ 1 Comment

Well, I thought this BBQ was good, but then, I like grilled meats. The recipe is in the file above, if you want it. Takes about 2 days, counting the marinating time. Very short to grill on a screaming hot grill.