Spaghetti Puttanesca

10 Friday Jan 2025

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5 Hour Duck, Buy Idaho, Buy Local, Capers, Classic Cuisines, Food Italian, Herbs and Spices, Merlot, Pasta, Prep Work, Recipes - BBQ, What's For Dinner?

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anchovy, black olives, capers, dinner, food, pasta, puttanesca, recipe, recipes, spaghetti

This is really a good version of spaghetti, full of flavor. I have made it before, several times, but I have no idea where the recipe is. Can’t even find it on my computer. I came across this one which is very similar to the one I have made. Fun to make, it only takes about 20 minutes as long as you have all the ingredients prepped. Have a go with it and have fun making it. A classic Italian dish.

Spaghetti Puttanesca
(Spaghetti With Capers, Olives, and Anchovies)
Source: adapted from Serious Eats
Bob and Robin Young, Boise, ID
The Captain’s Shack           10 January 2025
PDF: CS-Spaghetti-Puttanesca.pdf
Note: Pasta that packs an aromatic punch, thanks to garlic, anchovies, capers, and olives. Go light on the additional salt. The anchovy, cspers and olives have plenty.
Prep: 15 mins       Cook: 20 mins      Total: 20 mins
Serves: 3 to 4

Ingredients:
6 T (90ml) Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, divided
4 med Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced or finely chopped by hand
4 to 6 Anchovy Fillets, finely chopped (1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons)
Large pinch Aleppo Pepper
¼ c Capers, drained and chopped (about 2 ounces; 60g)
¼ c chopped Pitted Black Olives (about 2 ounces; 60g)
1 c (225g) Whole Peeled Tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, roughly broken up by hand, about half a 14-ounce can
One 5-ounce (140g) can Oil-Packed Tuna (optional)
Celtic Sea Salt
8 ounces (225g) Dried Spaghetti
Small handful minced Fresh Parsley Leaves
1 oz (30g) finely grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
¼ t freshly ground Tellicherry Black Pepper
Directions:
In a medium skillet, combine 4 tablespoons (60ml) oil, garlic, anchovies, and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat until garlic is very lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Adjust heat as necessary to keep it gently sizzling. Add capers and olives and stir to combine.
Add tomatoes, stir to combine, and bring to a bare simmer. If using, stir in canned tuna, flaking it gently with a fork. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, in a 12-inch skillet, 12-inch sauté pan, or large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water, cook spaghetti until just shy of al dente, about 2 minutes less than package directions.
Using tongs, transfer pasta to sauce. Alternatively, drain pasta through a colander, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Add drained pasta to sauce.
Add a few tablespoons of pasta water to sauce and set over medium-high heat to bring pasta and sauce to a vigorous simmer. Cook, stirring and shaking the pan and adding more pasta water as necessary to keep sauce loose, until pasta is perfectly al dent olive oil, parsley, and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately with more grated cheese at the table. Serve with a good red wine, like merlot.

Penne Pasta in Vodka Sauce

26 Friday Jan 2024

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Classic Herb Blends, Classic Sauces, Cooking Styles, Cream Sauces, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Food - Make Your Own Meals, Food Photos, History of Food, Homemade Sauce, Housemade Sauces, Italian Food, Passata, Pasta, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe By: Captain's Shack, Recipes - Italian, Sauces, Scallops, Seafood, Shrimp, What's For Dinner?, Zucchini

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penne pasta, vodka

I have been wanting to try this pasta for quite a while now and finally got up the nerve to try and make some. I think it came out very well. Originally, the sauce does not include any vegetables or protein. I changed that and used some large dice zucchini, shrimp, scallops and quartered crimini mushrooms. I like those additional items as it gives the pasta a good texture and mouth feel. Vodka Sauce is a popular Italian-American pasta sauce known for its rich and creamy texture. The exact origins of vodka sauce are unclear. One popular belief is that vodka sauce originated in Italian-American restaurants in the United States during the mid-20th century, more than likely in the 1970’s. Vodka was added to tomato sauce as a way to enhance the flavors of the ingredients. Vodka is thought to interact with the fat in the cream and the acid in the tomatoes, creating a smooth and balanced sauce. Here is a link to the recipe. Enjoy. https://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Penne-Pasta.pdf

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?

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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.

Beef Stroganoff

05 Thursday Aug 2021

Posted by Bob and Robin in Avocado, Beef, Breakfast, Buy Idaho, Buy Local, Captain's Shack, Classic Sauces, Comfort Food, Cream Sauces, Dinner For Robin, Dinner With Family, Eggs, Food - Russian, Food Photos, Heirloom Tomatoes, Idaho Beef, Idaho Vegetables, Local Farmers Markets, Mushrooms, Pasta, Photos By: Bob Young, Pinot Noir, Recipe By: Captain's Shack, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, What's For Dinner?

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mushrooms avocado herbs, recipes, Stroganoff

We recently made/created a version of the classic Beef Stroganoff as pictured above. (The recipe can be found here – http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Stroganoff.pdf). The original recipe did not call for vodka. But this is a Russian dish, so vodka is a must. We did not, however, use the traditional potato based vodka, but rather a corn based. An entirely different flavor level and profile. Seems to me to be more inline with White Lightning. The button mushrooms cut into about 1/4″ slices. Also, we added some chopped fresh rosemary, which was awesome.But look at the recipe and see what you think. We are always open to suggestions.

And then one morning, Robin asked for an Avocado and Tomato Omelet. Never thought of this combination, but it was really good. No, did not cook the avocado or the tomato, Serve with a good fresh fruit mix. In this case, blueberries and cantaloupe. CROW bread toasted from Acme Bakeshop in Boise. Great combination.

A very good Pappadelle Dinner

23 Friday Apr 2021

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Beef, Boise Artisan Bakery's, Buy Local, Captain's Shack, Classic Herb Blends, Cooking Styles, Dinner At Marnies, Dinner With Family, Food Photos, Garlic, Idaho Beef, Idaho Pork, Idaho Wine, Italian foods, Local Markets, Malheur River Meats, Mushrooms, Pasta, Petit Verdot, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipes - Dinner, Recipes - Italian, What's For Dinner?

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Pappadelle, Petit Verdot, ragu, red wine ragu

Pappadelle with Red Wine Ragu and Toasted Sourdough with Garlic

We came across this recipe from two different sources, one was Chef Jacques Pepin, and then we adjusted both recipes to make this one. It was delicious! We added a little chervil (French parsley) and Herbs de Provence, which we blend ourselves. We also added a little ground pork. Next time, too, I may add some diced garlic cloves. It is missing in this recipe, excerpt for the Garlic Toast (Acme Bakeshop Sourdough).

The other item that you may want to contemplate is the type of Passata – tomato sauce – you use. I like Cento Traditional, but I also like Rao’s Traditional and Mutti. Any of these are good, but if you prefer to use your own that you have made from all those seasonal Roma or San Marzano, then do so. Please though, when you puree the sauce, leave the skins on.

So here is our recipe. Enjoy it. http://www.rockinrs.com/CS-Pappadelle-Red-Wine-Ragu.pdf Let us know your opinions.

Woodsman Pasta

13 Tuesday Oct 2020

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Captain's Shack, Pasta, Photos By: Bob Young, What's For Dinner?

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woodsman, woodsman pasta

We came across this recipe after watching Rachael Ray. We altered it slightly and came up with this delicious version. Just remember to prep the pancetta, sausage, shallots, rosemary and garlic first. It will make the job much easier. Here is the recipe – http://www.rockinrs.com/Woodsman-Pasta.pdf. Enjoy this creation. It will serve 6.

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.

House Salad
organic greens, tomatoes, shallots, parmesan cheese house balsamic dressing

Delicious!

French Onion Soup

Traditional Flatbread
bacon, shallots, Swiss cheese, cream on a cracker-like crust

Salmon with Pasta and Capers

Salmon Champenoise
fresh salmon filet baked in white wine, cream, pesto and crusted with Parmesan cheese and served over vegetable basmati rice

Birthday Lemon Cheesecake

Chocolate Mousse

An awesome, 5-Star late lunch. Thanks Chef for a great Birthday meal. Thanks Marnie for treating us.

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?

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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

Interesting Meals To Contemplate

27 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Asian - Spices, Asian - Sushi Joy, Asian Stir Fry, Atlantic Salmon, Avocado, Bacon, Bagel, Beets, Boise Food Adventures, Breakfast At The Captains Shack, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Carrots, Cheese, Chicken, Cooking Styles, Cream Sauces, Creamed Spinach, Curry, Eggs, Eggs Fried, Fruit, Greens, Heirloom Beets, Heirloom Carrots, Heirloom Tomatoes, Herbs and Spices, Housemade Pasta, Housemade Sauerkraut, Idaho Bacon, Idaho Eggs, Idaho Greens, Idaho Sturgeon, Idaho Vegetables, Local Farmers Markets, Lox, Lunch For Robin, Mushrooms, Pasta, Photos By: Bob Young, What's For Dinner?

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sturgeon

So much fun in the past month or two. Fun in the kitchen. No particular recipe, just a game of “Chopped”. We have these items, now make something edible. Mostly I did.
Hopefully I found something from breakfast, lunch and dinner. To see any of these photos enlarged, Left-Click them. Lets start with Breakfast. I do hope this stimulates you to prepare something different. Good luck! Most of these ingredients, are available at the Boise Farmers Market at 10th and Grove.

Poached Eggs on a Potato Raft
Fresh Fruit
Bacon
Acme Bakeshop Toasted Sourdough

Alia’s Manhattan Morning
Fresh Everything Bagel
Cream Cheese
Tomato
Capers
Onion
Lettuce
Lox

Strawberry Waffle

Bagel
Salmon
Spinach
Fried Egg
Pico de Gallo

Biscuits and Gravy
Poached Egg
Fresh Honeydew

How about some lunch?

Curry Chicken Salad Sandwich on Ciabatta
Avocado
Heirloom Tomato

Huevos con Salsa
Tomato
Avocado

Deconstructed BLT

And now, Dinner!

Salmon Yakitori
Jasmine Rice
Spinach Salad
Yellow Beets
Heirloom Tomato
White Carrot Threads

Note: Yakitori is mostly a form of skewered chicken. But if you take the sauce, called “… tare, a special sauce consisting of mirin, sake, Japanese soy sauce (Shoyu. Prefered dark but white is also fine), and sugar …” and add it to something like this salmon, you get something completely different and good. No need to skewer the salmon, just marinate it for about 30 minutes and then slowly cook it on top of the stove or bake it in the oven. I do like this sauce and usually have some on hand. Easy to make.

Scallops
Fig Jam Marinated Shrimp
Celeriac Thread Salad
Celeriac, also called turnip-rooted celery, celery root or knob celery, is a variety of celery cultivated for its edible roots, hypocotyl, and shoots.

Lobster Ravioli
Fresh Green Salad
with
Heirloom Tomatoes and Rose Turnip Threads

Braised Sturgeon
mushroom sauce
Heirloom Carrot Thread Salad
Creamed Spinach

From Sushi Joy in Boise
Playboy Sushi Roll
House Salad

Captains’s Shack Housemade Pasta with Prosciutto
Prosciutto is an Italian dry-cured ham that is usually thinly sliced and served uncooked; this style is called prosciutto crudo in Italian (or simply crudo) and is distinguished from cooked ham, prosciutto cotto.

Breakfast and Dinner

21 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Baking, Braising, Breakfast, Breakfast At The Captains Shack, Breakfast With Robin, Buy Idaho, Capers, Captain's Shack, Dinner For Robin, Dinner With Robin, Eggs, Eggs Baked, Food Photos, Green Salad, Greens, Homemade Lox, Homemade Pasta, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Lox, Meadowlark Farms, Onion, Pasta, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipes, Recipes - Breakfast, Recipes - Dinner, Sea Scallops, Seafood, Shaved Fennel, Shaved Onion, Shell Fish, Sourdough Bread, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?

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eggplant, fennel, fresh pasta, Scallops, squash

Fun times, again, in the kitchen! Fun making our own pasta, and better than some of the store bought “stuff”. Pasta dishes can take all forms and so can breakfast. Here we made two different breakfasts – two days – and a really good pasta dinner. Let’s look at breakfast first. Left-Click any of these photos to see enlarged.

Eggs in Pockets

Spray cup cake pan with Pam. Shave – slice thin -potatoes and line cups. Bake off to lightly brown at 350 degrees F. Scramble several eggs and add whatever you want to the mix. Pour into cups. Bake at 350 degrees F until eggs are set. Remove from oven and cool. Remove Pockets and serve.

Eggs in Potato Pockets
Fresh Peaches and Blueberries

Lox and cream Cheese cream cheese, red lettuce, shaved onion, capers, homemade lox

Homemade Lox and Cream Cheese
Acme Bake Shop Sourdough Bread, cream cheese, red lettuce, shaved red onion, sliced tomato, homemade lox, capers

Here is the recipe for Robin’s Homemade Lox. In the photo above, I added fennel fronds to the process in the refrigerator. You can add any herb you wish.