Category Archives: Party Time

Berryhill and Co, Boise

30 Sunday May 2010

Posted by in Party Time, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurant Reviews, Things To Do

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Berryhill and Co, one of Boise’s better restaurants. Here is their Chicken and Risoto Chicken with Fresh Vegetables. We wnt there for Sunday Brunch and we were extremely pleased. Please look at the link for our Restaurant Review. The next several photos are from their brunch. If going for brunch, you may want to call for reservations.

Soup, gravy and roast beef.

Fruit, wilted spinach, French toast, scrambled eggs, quiche, bacon, potatoes, bangers and pasta.

The Goodie table!

The end result of the tables of food! A good meal for $14.00 per person.

How To Tell When Meat Is Done

27 Thursday May 2010

Posted by in Food Prep, Food Trivia, Party Time, Thought For The Day

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I had a question on the grilled pork recipe below. How do you tell when the pork is done? Do you cut into it to see how pink it is? No!

Answer: Neat trick that works well with pork or beef. Use either hand.

1). Relax the thumb and feel the muscle (on all these tests)- meat is raw (thumb muscle is loose and “pliable”).
2). Thumb to 1st Finger-Rare.
3). Thumb to 2nd Finger-Med/Rare.
4). Thumb to 3rd Finger-Med/Well.
5). Thumb to 4th Finger (Little finger)-Well done.

Remember those feelings and then touch the steak or pork. How does it feel? Relaxed thumb muscle (raw)? Cook longer! Thumb to 2nd finger (middle finger)? Maybe …. Your choice. The meat only gets dryer from here.

Try this trick. It really works. You never want to cut any meat to “see if done”. Cutting it lets all those wonderful juices out. Let the meat rest 10 minutes or so before cutting. That includes your Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey. I know it smells good and you’ve been waiting for 4 hours. Just 10 minutes more ….. Now feast! Cheers!

Egyptian Fafafel (Ta’amia)

16 Sunday May 2010

Posted by in Beans, Egyptian Food, Food, Party Time, Recipes, Things To Do

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Here is what looks like a good alternative to the hamburger. This is strictly vegetarian, but it has everything in it that I like. I would use the Garbanzo beans instead of the Fava beans. Give it a try. See what you think. Cheers!

Egyptian Falafel (Ta’amia)

Source: Cooking Guide by Tmatem دليل الطبخ العربي
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=122897277730079&id=107993822552848&ref=mf

Ingredients:
1¼ lbs broken Fava or Garbanzo beans
2 large Onions
5 Garlic cloves
Dill, cilantro, parsley, bunch of each
salt and dry coriander to taste
2 chili peppers, optional

Directions:
1). Wash and soak the beans for 12 hours.
2). Chop the greens and the onions.
3). Grind the beans in a food processor. Add the greens, onion and garlic and blend to a medium consistency.
4). Form as patties or in balls and deep fry.
5). Serve with Tahini salad or green salad.
6). You can also add an egg to the mixture or sprinkle sesame seeds on each pattie or ball before frying.

Felcitously & shifa = بالهنا والشفاء = Enjoy your meal = Bon appétit

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That really looks easy to do and it looks like you can add whatever herbs you want. Have fun with this one.

Egyptian Rice Stuffed Tomatoes

11 Tuesday May 2010

Posted by in Egyptian Food, Party Time, Photos, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes, Things To Do

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The other day, I came across this recipe for Egyptian Stuffed Tomatoes. I have no idea why I am so hung up on this recipe, except it is different and Robin can not eat Stuffed Peppers. This recipe comes from an Egyptian FB page and for me, therein lies a problem. Translation! Here is the link to the Original Recipe, Delicious Dishes by Tmatem, Chef Sweetheart. There looks like some really interesting and good recipes on that page, it’s a matter of translation. With that in mind, here is the recipe as well as I can translate it … my Arabic is poor at best!

I do have a question though. What is and/or how is Almfire smooth made? Maybe some of our readers can help. Cheers!
12 May 2010 Update: As you can see from the listed source of this recipe, it has taken several people to help me translate this recipe from the Arabic to English. I sincerely appreciate the help and the correct translation and thank all of these people. I do believe that these people are from the Cairo, Egypt area.

Egyptian Rice Stuffed Tomatoes

Source: Delicious Dishes by Tmatem, Chef Sweetheart; Chef Habiba, Rahma Elbatran, http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=126164197396327

The Tomatoes
Ingredients:
1 kilo (2¼ lbs)Tomato (6 tomatoes)
½ the amount of Padding (stuffing) raw
½ c Tomato Juice
½ c Vegetable broth or boiling water

Directions: Tomatoes
– Wash tomatoes, Slice the tops off the tomatoes, keep them
scoop out insides of each tomato
– Sprinkle the cored tomatoes with salt and pepper and place upside down to drain.
– stuff each tomato with the filling mix till the half of it. Replace the tops
– Place in a baking dish and pour the light broth and the tomato sauce over them
– Bake in high heat oven until the rice is cooked then serve

Padding (Stuffing) Raw
Chef sweetheart ♥ ♥ ♥, Chef Habiba

Ingredients:
½ kg (1¼ lbs) of minced Meat (Ground beef or something similar)
1 lg Onion, finely chopped
3 T Butter or Safflower oil
2 c Rice
Salt and pepper to taste
Seasoning of your choice
1 bunch Parsley, chopped
1 bunch Dill, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, peeled and chopped (Garlic Almfire)
1 t fresh Mint, chopped
2 Tomato

Directions: Stuffing
– To prepare the filling mix, wash the rice then drain, combine the tomatoes, parsley, dill, and half the onion
– saute beef and onions for 5 minutes, or until beef is browned. Season with salt and pepper, add it to the rice mix.
– Add the oil or the margarine and stir the mixture well
– This mixture can be used as a stuffing for any type of stuffed vegetables’ MaHshi”

Felcitously & shifa = بالهنا والشفاء = Enjoy your meal = Bon appétit

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So there you have it. Any hints? Suggestions? If you make it or if you have made this dish, let us know how you liked it. Cheers!

Mother’s Day Breakfast

09 Sunday May 2010

Posted by in Party Time, Things To Do

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Thank-You Marnie and Mac for taking Mom out to breakfast for Mother’s Day at La Café de Paris. And what a treat!! Robin, Mac and I had the Lobster Benedict, which was awesome! Marnie had the French Toast.

Cinco de Mayo – Barbacoa Beef Cheek Tacos

27 Tuesday Apr 2010

Posted by in Cinco de Mayo, Main Dish, Party Time, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?

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Cinco de Mayo (5 May) is right around the corner. And what a better way to celebrate than to make some beef cheeks (barbacoa). Here is a recipe that is pretty easy to make, but it takes some time. Enjoy these. Cheers!

(Adapted from: http://www.food52.com/. The original recipe can be found at http://www.food52.com/recipes/2731_barbacoa_beef_cheek_tacos by aargersi. The photo is from Sarah Shatz)

The marinade turns into a thick, rich almost mole-like sauce … delicious!
Serves 6-8

Pickled Onions:
1 Red Onion
1 T Salt
2 T Sugar
1 Beet, cut into ¼
1 bunch Cilantro
⅓ c Water
⅔ c Cider Vinegar

Directions:
Slice the onions very thinly and put them in a microwaveable container. Add the beet, cilantro, salt and sugar. Cover everything with the water/vinegar mix. Microwave for 1 minute, stir, and microwave for another minute. Cool, then refrigerate overnight. The beet will turn it a really pretty hot pink color.

Barbacoa Beef Cheeks:
2½ lbs Beef Cheeks
4 lg Garlic cloves
1 T unsweetened Cocoa powder
1 T Peanut Butter
1 Ancho Chili
1 t instant Espresso
2 T Olive Oil (plus 2 more for cooking)
1 T Honey
2 t Cumin
1 t smoked Sweet Paprika
1 bunch fresh Cilantro
1 t Salt
1 c Beef Stock
3 Limes
1 Avocado
Corn Tortillas
fresh Cilantro

Directions:
Clean and trim the cheeks. Put them in a container that you can marinate them in.
Remove the stem and seeds from the ancho, cut it up into chunks and rehydrate in a little water (You can stick it in a ramekin and microwave for 30 seconds)

Peel and chop the garlic. Put everything from the garlic to the salt in the food processor (including the water from the chili) and blend into a paste. Toss the paste with the cheeks and marinate for several hours or better yet over night.

When it is time to cook, heat the oven to 275ºF, and heat 2 T olive oil in a Dutch oven. Brown the cheeks on both sides. Use the stock to rinse the rest of the marinade into the Dutch oven, then squeeze the juice of 3 limes in.

Bake at 275ºF for 3½ hours – turn the cheeks over once or twice while they cook and if the liquid dries up add a bit more stock.

When the cheeks are fall-apart tender, take the pan out of the oven. Using 2 forks, pull the meat apart in the pan so that it mixes in with all of that fatty juicy goodness.

To serve – heat 2 tortillas. Fill with barbacoa (beef cheeks), a slice of avocado, some of pickled onions and fresh cilantro. Serve and enjoy!!! Join us on Facebook in the group Here’sWhat’s Cookin!

Le Café de Paris

23 Friday Apr 2010

Posted by in Classic Sauces, Food, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Wine and Food

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I needed to get another opinion as to if my sauerkraut was ready to be packed. So, we went to Le Café de Paris and had Mathieu Choux sample some. He said it was good and it is ready to process. We talked a little about how I processed the kraut and he agreed on my procedure. I canned 12 pints today. And I am making a new batch of sourdough bread. Tonight’s dinner: Braised Pork Chops with Fresh Sauerkraut, Mashed Potatoes and Sourdough bread.
Besides, we needed to prepare ourselves for Dinner In Burgundy on 29 April. We’ll be there at 6:30. Will you?

So while we were there and the kraut testing went well, might as well stay for dinner. (That’s not to say that I didn’t get my dates mixed up and we were a week early for the Burgundy dinner!) So, let’s find a good wine. How about a 2007 Herdadeclo Esporāo Alanadra. It truly went very well with everything.

Robin had this awesome Soup Du Jour, Leek and Potato Soup as an opener.

While I had this delicious Maison Salade, House Salad with Oil and Balsamic Dressing.

Robin had Confit de Canard, Roasted Duck with Fingerling Potatoes in a Brown Sauce.

Not to be left out, I had the Poisson du Jour (Special of the Day), Red Snapper and Potato Cake in a Brown Butter Sauce with fresh Green Vegetable. Do you think the Brown Butter Sauce had anything to do with my choice?

And there’s always dessert. How about an eclair for each? OK. That sounds good. And a rich French roast coffee. Yup! That did it!

So that was a great dinner. But next week …. Dinner In Burgundy and we look forward to the Bœuf Bourguignon with Potato Puree, Spring Vegetables and Pan Sauce. We hope to see you there! Cheers!

Mother’s Day Dinner At "Seasons Bistro"

22 Thursday Apr 2010

Posted by in Celebrations, Party Time, Restaurants, Seasons Bistro, Things To Do, Thought For The Day

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And just so You don’t forget, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world!” Mother’s Day is coming up, Sunday May 9, and here is a wonderful way to celebrate!

Greetings!
Join us
Sunday, May 9th
Mother’s Day Brunch Buffet

1117 E Winding Creek Dr. – Eagle, Idaho 83616
939-6680

The Buffet –

Stuffed French Toast

Apple-Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Soft Scrambled Eggs

Bacon, Sausage, Fruit

Caramel Apple or Berry filled Crepes

Smoked Salmon with mini Bagels

Cake Truffles and Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Swedish Poached Ham with Dijon Mustard and Breadcrumbs
with
Scalloped Potatoes
Chilled Asparagus Salad with grated Egg and Vinaigrette
Artisan Bread

Mimosas
$25.99 per person
$9.99 – Kids 9 and under
10-am-2pm – reservations requested

Blaze and Kelly will be on the Patio

Sincerely,

Rachel Hurn
Seasons Bistro, Wine Bar & Catering
939-6680

Mother’s Day Salad

Ingredients:
2 Tbl. raspberry vinegar
2 1/2 Tbl.raspberry jam
1/3 cup vegetable oil
8 cups spinach, rinsed and torn into bite size pieces
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
8 strawberries, quartered
2 kiwis, peeled and sliced

Directions:
1. Mix together raspberry vinegar, raspberry jam, and vegetable oil in a small container.
2. Combine spinach, nuts, strawberries, and kiwi in a salad bowl. Toss with raspberry dressing.
You may add chicken, toasted pecans or chevre if you would like. ENJOY! You deserve it!

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Enjoy this outing. It certainly looks delightful. And thanks for the recipe, Rachael. Cheers!

Cobb Salad Recipe

02 Friday Apr 2010

Posted by in Classics, Party Time, Photos, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes, Salad

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Last night at the Le Cafe de Paris in Boise, we had a wonderful Cobb Salad. I do not like a bleu, or blue, cheese, but this was an awesome salad. Here is the recipe and some information. Cheers!

“Cobb salad is the quintessential American salad, first pulled together on a whim by Robert Cobb of the former Los Angeles landmark Brown Derby restaurant when he needed to feed Sid Grauman late one night (1937). It was such a hit, movie stars started requesting “Cobb’s salad”, and soon its popularity spread. The original Brown Derby restaurant on Wilshire Blvd. was eventually torn down in the 80s, like so many downtown LA landmarks – Perinos, the Ambassador Hotel – leaving a swath of strip malls in their place. I fondly remember the Brown Derby. It was in the shape of huge brown hat (you couldn’t miss it) and within a few blocks of where we lived when I was a kid. Ah well, big brown hat gone, but thank goodness the salad remains, a legacy of the Golden Era of Hollywood.” (Simply Recipes, Cobb Salad Recipe)

Cobb Salad Recipe

Ingredients:
½ head of Romaine
½ head of Boston lettuce
1 small bunch of Frisée (curly endive)
½ bunch of Watercress, coarse stems discarded

All lettuces should be rinsed, spun or patted dry, and coarsely chopped

6 slices of Bacon
2 ripe Avocados, seed removed, peeled, and cut into ½-inch pieces
1 whole skinless boneless Chicken Breast (about ¾ pound total), halved, cooked, and diced
1 Tomato, seeded and chopped fine
2 hard-boiled large Eggs, separated, the yolk finely chopped and the white finely chopped
2 T chopped fresh Chives
1/3 c Red-Wine Vinegar
1 T Dijon-style Mustard
1-2 t Sugar
Salt and pepper
2/3 c Olive Oil
½ c finely grated Roquefort Bleu cheese or Maytag Blue Cheese (This is the one I liked!)

Directions:
1) In a large salad bowl, toss together well the various lettuces and watercress.
2) Cook the bacon in a skillet on medium heat until crisp on both sides. Remove from skillet and lay out on paper towels to absorb the excess fat. Allow the bacon to cool. Crumble the bacon and set aside.
3) Compose the salad. Arrange the chicken, the bacon, the tomato, and the avocado decoratively over the greens and garnish the salad with the grated egg and the chives.
4) In a small bowl whisk together the vinegar, the mustard, and salt and pepper to taste, add the oil in a slow stream, whisking, and whisk the dressing until it is emulsified. Stir in the Roquefort. Add sugar to taste, ½ teaspoon at a time. Whisk the dressing. Serve separately or toss in with the salad.

Serves 4.