23 Monday Nov 2009
Posted in Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe By: Robin Young, Recipes, Things To Do
Here is a Rainbow Chard Mediterranean Style Salad. Rainbow chard, pine nuts and raisins. Serve this salad warm
The Bok Choy and Pomegranate Salad is full of bok choy, avocado, pomegranate seeds and with a pink grapefruit dressing. Serve this one cold. Of the two, I preferred this one.
21 Saturday Nov 2009
Posted in Food, Main Dish, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurant Reviews, Things To Do
Yes, in fact, we did take an impromptu visit to Seasons on Saturday 21 November. We were going to Caldwell, ID to join in on the Coyotes Group Grand Opening, and decided to stop in here. An awesome meal! Great food! Here is our Review We did rate the restaurant a 4-Star and it deserves every bit of that. The food is soooooo very good and it is a great place to take family and friends. They are even going to have some “special” nights where they feature specific cuisines. 17 December 2009 is a “Greek Dinner” and it will be awesome. Owner Rachel Hurn and Chef Eric Peterson do a fantastic job. I urge you to visit them. Be sure to check out our review as linked above. And they do use local products and they are expanding their wine selection to include most of the Idaho wines. And of course, here are some photos. Cheers!
20 Friday Nov 2009
Posted in Celebrations, Classic Sauces, Food, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurants, Wine and Food
(Left-Click on any of the single graphics to see full screen. Be sure to go full screen on the slide show) 
There comes a time in every year that is so very important to the worldwide wine industry. In the US, that is usually the Thursday before Thanksgiving. The arrival of the Beaujolais Nouveau – the arrival of the wine from Beaujolais and is supposed to reflect what the wines of France will be like in the release year. This year we were lucky enough to reserve a seating at the Le Cafe de Paris. What an awesome release party this was. The wines were a Georges Debouet Beaujolais Nouveau ’09. Young, fruity, flirty, dry, no wood and fun. The other was a 2009 Pierre Ferraud Beaujolais Villages. Light, fruit forward with strawberry and raspberry on the palate. Easy to drink. Good personality and character. A touch of oak. (Our favorite). We bought a bottle of the 2007 Pierre Ferraud Cote-de-Brouilly that went extremely well with the main course of the evening, a Beef Bourguignon with Chantrelle Mushrooms and Cippolini Onions.
All in all, this was a fantastic evening! I will have to upgrade the Cafe de Paris rating. I had Andrae’s rated at a 5-Star, but they moved to Walla Walla, WA. So far, until tonight, I have not found a replacement at that level of quality. Now I have!!! This was a superb meal – delicate, tasteful, delicious.
The Fois Gras Torchon with Warm Gingerbread and Port Poached Pears was superb – rich, creamy and delicious! Even the Escargot with Parsnip Puree, Puff Pastry and Beurre Rouge were not overly garliced nor “rubbery”. The Truffled White Bean Soup was creamy and smooth, not whole beans. Little trails of truffle oil and shaved white truffles on the top. The Beef Bourguignon was superb. And the Apricot Glazed Baba with Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream and White Chocolate Sauce was unforgetable! (All of these dishes are in the slide show) Definitely a 5-Star rating – they earned it! Chef/Owner Mathieu Choux is to be commended along with his staff! Congratulations!
14 Saturday Nov 2009
Posted in Appetizers, Condiments, Food, Main Dish, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurants, Things To Do
I said that the next time we went to Sweetwater’s Tropic Zone, that I would get the Curry Goat. As the Walrus said, “The time has come”. We returned tonight and the meal was superb!!! Here is what we had. You might want to read below, but the slides are labeled. Remember to go to full screen to view the photos.
Our dinner consisted of: Pineapple Curry Muscles that were superb. The sauce is awesome. House Salad, Trinidadian Curry Goat (there’s the goat), Cuban-Style Bistec de Palomilla (Cuban steak that is pan seared) and a Chocolate Torte. The main thing is, would I have the Goat again? The answer is simple: Absolutely! It was that good! Actually, everything we had was that good. When we go back, and we will, it will be hard not to choose the same things again. We will probably go through the entire menu eventually. You really need to visit the Sweetwater’s Tropic Zone. It’s that good and giving the old Andrae’s a race for taste and quality! Cheers!
01 Sunday Nov 2009
Posted in Food, Food Prep, Herbs, Main Dish, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young
No, no sour cream in this one! The Romertopf is a clay cooking pot that does chicken like nothing else! In it’s own steam and juices. Not particularly slow, at 375 degrees F for 2 1/2 hours will do it. Here we see the 7 pound chicken resting on a bead of onion, potato, garlic and white wine.
After cooking for 2 1/2 hours at 375 degrees F, this is what the chicken will look like. Well done and falling apart. Lightly browned on top. And the aroma of the garlic, rosemary and sage. It is awesome!
And here the dinner is plated. Notice that the plate is Fresh Beet Greens, Romertopf Vegetable Blend and the Romertopf Chicken. Think of this with a nice 2005 Eagle Knoll Winery Chardonnay. OK, so here is the recipe:
1 – 7 lbs Whole Chicken
2 lg Carrots, cut into 1″ rounds
1 lg White Onion, cut in half and then each half cut into thirds
1 lg Potato, cut into 1 ” rounds and each round cut into thirds
5 lg Button Mushrooms cut into quarters
2 Sticks of Rosemary, fresh and chopped
8 fresh Sage leaves, chopped
8 lg Cloves of Garlic, diced
1 c White Wine
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pre-Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Clean the chicken.
Place the cut vegetables in the bottom of the Romertopf, one layer thick. Place the chicken on the vegetables and fill around the chicken with the rest of the vegetables.
Fill the cavity with the diced garlic and the herbs. Save some of the herbs and garlic and sprinkle lightly over the bird. Salt and pepper the bird.
Place lid on the Romertopf and cook in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. Remove the lid and cook for an additional 1/2 hour.
So there you have it. Not exactly an Old Persons’ Sunday Chicken Dinner, but just as good! And while I was at the local grocery store, my favorite checker was there and she asked if my list was dinner for tonight. So Mary, the recipe is for you. And yes, it really was good, with some left over. That makes a an inexpensive dinner. Cheers!
20 Tuesday Oct 2009
Posted in Food, Main Dish, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Things To Do
Last week, Robin said she wanted to got to the Outback Steak House for a steak and some fresh root vegetables. Normally, that would be a real treat. But it has been a while since I have done a steak dinner. So, not to be out 
done by our friends to the west, I went to our local butcher and had him cut me two nice, fresh Filet Mignon steaks, about 1″ thick. Nice! Then I found some pretty good fresh vegetables – summer squash, Chinese peas, broccoli, carrots and onion. Just a simple matter of cutting the veggies into pieces and steaming them over a bath of Herbs de Provence (our own blend) and salt and pepper until tender. The beef was bacon wrapped and grilled over low heat on the stove. A simple salad of shredded lettuce and applesauce. It has been rainy and somewhat cool here in Boise today – a little gloomy. So this dinner seemed to be a “comfort” meal that drove the blahs away. If nothing else, the plate tends to have some nice color in it that aids in the presentation. We eat with our eyes first. It was fun to make. Cheers!
11 Sunday Oct 2009
Posted in Food, Main Dish, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Things To Do
Well, it really was a good dinner. Our friends, Debra and Geno, joined us and it was delightful. If you missed the previous post, here is the menu –
Sauerbratten with Cabbage and Special Sauce
Lemon Bars
And here is the dinner plated. From left to right – Cabbage in Apple Cider and Clove, Hot Potato Salad, Fresh Baked New York Rye Bread and the Sauerbratten with Special Sauce. Loads of fun to prepare and especially to share with friends. Cheers!
10 Saturday Oct 2009
Looks like it might be a seafood type week – except for Saturday which will be Sauerbraten with Cabbage and Potatoes, the beef is getting happy right now. But for tonight, what shall I make. How about a Lemon Spaghetti with Lime Butter Halibut? This was very good! The pasta was not made with fresh cream – I used sour cream, onions, garlic, lemon oil, spinach (peas would be better), chives and fresh parsley. And the halibut was flash grilled with lime oil, butter and French tarragon. YUM-O! Robin had a Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Marzen and I had a glass of a 2006 Davis Creek Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. Buh Bye McDonalds, we’re eating dinner here!
09 Friday Oct 2009
Posted in Food, Main Dish, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Things To Do
So I asked Robin tonight hat she wanted for dinner. I told her I was going to have a Johnsonville Cheese Brot and some soup from the other night. She did not want that, but instead she wanted some of the Kokanee I caught last summer. She wanted Kokanee Florentine with Mint Garlic Sauce (she made it earlier) and an Idaho CC Cookie, or two.
Yo! Her wish is my command! There is a photo of what she had. Fun to make these things “on the fly”. Actually, it looked good! She ate it all and didn’t ask if I wanted a taste. (Sould have tried it right from the pan!!) Oh, well!
23 Wednesday Sep 2009
Yes, there really is an Idaho Style Old Peoples Dinner! Chicken? Yes, but sauteed and with an Elderberry Sauce. Potatoes? Yes, but smashed and with garlic, not whipped smooth enough to sip through a straw and smooth enough so one may, if so desired, “gum masticate” them. Gravy? Can’t have smashed potatoes without gravy, and chicken gravy at that. Peas? You bet!! And just think, it’s not even Sunday afternoon. But the real clincher to this dinner is the Elderberry Sauce. Sweet yet tart. Smooth yet “chunky”. And fresh elderberries at that. Serve with a 2008 Dahlia Series Indian Creek Winery Pinot Gris. Here’s the recipe. Enjoy!
5 c Elderberries, de-stamed and fresh
4 whole Cloves
1/2 c Sugar
1/2 c Plum Vodka (Koenig)
Add everything except the sugar to a 4 quart pot. Heat the berries over a low flame until the juices begin to run. Add the sugar and cook the combination until the liquid boils and the crystals dissolve. Use an immersible blender (Motor Boat) and lightly break the berries up – you want some texture. Pour the hot mixture into hot, sterilized jars and let seal. Enjoy with pork, chicken or turkey. Cheers!
Boise Foodie Guild 