24 Monday May 2010
Posted in Lox, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Salmon, Seafood
Robin made some fresh lox the other day out of some fresh salmon. So for lunch today, we had a Cream Cheese and Lox with Onion, Capers and Fresh Bibb Lettuce on a Toasted Bun. (Thanks Donna, for the lettuce sets!) Delish!! There is a place in downtown Boise where you can get this for $6.95 and it is called a Manhattan. Their’s is good …. But this is better. It’s fresher, I think. Anyway, it was good!
18 Tuesday May 2010
Posted in Alley Gardens, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Things To Do
Today in Boise, reminds me of the description of Seattle, WA or Sherwood, OR – rainy, cool. In Boise right now: 50ºF, 100% RH, winds ENE@5mph and rain rate at 0.03″ per hour (second photo). A good time to post these photos and let everyone know how the project is doing. It’s finished! Now for some more planting. I know two of the neighbors who have made raised garden beds in their yards since we started this.
Looking West in the alley.
Looking East in the alley. It’s raining! I will probably add some more lattice on the fence.
11 Tuesday May 2010
Posted in Egyptian Food, Party Time, Photos, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes, Things To Do
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.
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
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!
24 Saturday Apr 2010
Posted in Food, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Sauerkraut, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?
Try this for dinner:
Homemade Sauerkraut
Mashed Garlic-Rosemary Potatoes
Fresh Homemade Sourdough Bread
But also, there is something that I found out: Robin likes her pork chops cooked crispy. Not burned, but well done and crispy on the outside. That must come from when pork – the other “White Meat” – was not produced as strictly as it is today. But that’s OK. Next time, I will make sure it is done to her liking. The sauerkraut was fermented for six weeks. The sourdough starter has been going for about five weeks. And there is a “thing” now that if one is going to eat bread – and what good German won’t have bread with a meal? – that you should eat sourdough breads because of the fermentation of the starter. Enjoy, we did. Cheers!
02 Friday Apr 2010
Posted in Classics, Party Time, Photos, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes, Salad
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)
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.
02 Friday Apr 2010
Posted in Celebrations, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food
Such an awesome dinner at Le Cafe de Paris here in Boise for my birthday dinner. Thank-You Robin for being here and there and everywhere. Here’s what we had for dinner. Enjoy, we did!
15 Monday Mar 2010
Posted in Food, Food Prep, Food Trivia, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurants, The Perfect Reuben
Yesterday, Pi Day, 3.14, Robin says, “The Plaza Grill” is having a Reuben special for lunch. That’s all I needed. Read about their Reuben, #7.
Rated on 1 to 5-Stars, here is how we rate the several places in Boise that serve a Reuben Sandwich. 1-Star is enough for this year and a 5-Star is one that meets the criteria.
1. Barbaccoa – Big thick slabs of meat, no rye toast, they used bread, and soggy from an over abundance of kraut. No grilled onion. Rating: 1-Star
2. Donny Mac’s – Rye toast was weak on the rye, heavy on the 1000 Island dressing. Sloppy to eat because of the really wet kraut. The pastrami was good. Raw onions. Rating: 2-Stars
3. Cucina di Paolo – Yea! Russian Dressing. Good pastrami and not overly salty. Great kraut. Did not notice any grilled onion. Good rye toast, although it was Marble Rye. I would prefer a straight Jewish Rye, Deli Rye. I always like a good Jewish Kosher pickle with my Reuben. None of these places had that. Rating: 4-Stars
4. Seasons Bistro – Wow!! We’ve got a foot race. Homemade Russian Dressing, as was Cucina di Paolo. Good pastrami as was Cucina di Paolo. Great kraut that is special ordered and, in my opinion, better than Cucina di Paolo. Good rye, that I actually tasted the caraway seed, although it was the Marbled Rye!!! I told Rachael Hurn, Owner, that I really would like to give her the 5-Stars for this sandwich, but I couldn’t. She asked, “Why?” And I told her, “No Jewish Kosher deli pickle.” She said she would go get me one. Too late. But, Rachael does know – as did Paul at Cucina di Paolo – the difference between a Reuben and a Rachael Sandwich. She has both on the menu!!! Rating: 4½ – Stars
5. Westside Drive-In – I was disappointed. The pastrami was poorly heated. And the dressing was not Russian. I think it was 1000 with horseradish. The kraut was very good though. He also uses marbled rye. No pickle!!! And I’m really getting tired of the marbled rye. Why not a good deli rye? Sorry Lou.
Rating: 3½ – Stars
6. Willowcreek Grill – Most of their lunches that we’ve had here have been pretty good. Great salads and a good clam chowder. Sorry, but I can not say the same about their Reuben Sandwich. Where’s the pickle?? The taste just was not there. The pastrami was just OK. But the kraut at least perked it somewhat. The rye – mediocre marbled at best. The sauce – OK, but nothing to write home about. The cheese is hard to find. It looks impressive, but the taste is just not there. Sorry.
Rating: 3 – Stars
7. The Plaza Grill at the Owyhee Hotel Yea!!! Look at that green “thing” on the sandwich. A Pickle! Yea! And out of 7 Reuben establishments tried, this is the first pickle! But then, from their menu, “Grilled Reuben on Rye – Grilled on rye with cured lean corned beef, sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing and melted Swiss cheese” $9.95. Did I see Thousand Island dressing? Sure did. Wrong dressing, remember? Should be Russian dressing. Too bad. And, I don’t think that the kraut was grilled long enough, either. It was still pretty runny. Can’t get rid of that Marbled Rye either. There’s got to be a bakery in Boise that makes their own rye bread – Deli Rye bread that tastes like rye or caraway. I was glad to see the pickle – but sad to see the Thousand Island dressing.
Rating: 3½ – Stars
Are we really closing in on “The Perfect Reuben Sandwich in Boise“? It looks like a difficult job, but someone has to find Boise’s Best. Or am I being a traditionalist? To coin a phrase, “It’s tradition!”, or so it’s been said. If I had a fiddle and if I could play it, I’d shout “It’s Tradition!” from the roof top. At this point in time, the Seasons Bistro (Eagle) and Cucina di Paolo (Boise) are taking the lead. They have set the bar pretty high. Cheers!
25 Thursday Feb 2010
Posted in Food, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Smoking and Grilling, Things To Do
Well, it looks like Grilling Time is here! Close to 50 degrees here today; Supposed to be close to 60 next week. The air even smells like spring. So, it was time to fire up the grill for the first time this year. Grill some Potatoes, a nice Steak and some Apples, and we’ve got a good dinner. Grilled apples? Oh yes!! After grilling them to caramelize the sugars, slice them and place on a bed of lettuce. No dressing! Just grilled apple and lettuce. YUM-O! Oh yes, can’t be grilling without the homemade Baked Beans. Just look at that platter! and drool! Cheers!
17 Wednesday Feb 2010
Posted in Celebrations, Food, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes
After two days and two rises, here is what we end up with. Photos starting at the 2nd rise, day #2.
Here we are at the 2nd day. The 4 eggs and 1/2 cup of lard have been added and the flour mixed in.
After a 2 hour rise, we roll the dough out and cut the Fasnachts. (I can taste them now!!)
Deep fry them at 325 degrees F until they are golden brown. Take them out and roll them in …. almost anything.
It’s munch time!! Take an extra cholesterol pill. You’ll probably need it. No one said they were healthy; Just good!
Well, now it’s your turn, Joe and Diane! Enjoy, they are hearty. Cheers! The recipe is elsewhere on this blog.
28 Monday Dec 2009
Posted in Celebrations, Food, Party Time, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Things To Do, Wine and Food
It was really great to have so many people over to our house recently for an Open House. So, what did we have?
Veggie Tray with Green Garlic Dip
Meat Balls in Sweet and Sour Sauce
Idaho Deviled Blue Crab
“Flying Grandma” Punch
Skewered Tomato and Basil and Mozzarella
Fresh Made Lox with Cream Cheese
Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms
Artichokes Hearts Stuffed with Brie and Spinach
Sage Bread Sticks
Olive Tray
Homemade Chicken Liver Pâté
White Bean Dip
Fresh Baked Cookies
And the wines?
1979 Robin’s Best Red Petit Syrah
1978 Chalone Vineyard Estate Bottled Pinot Blanc
1978 Chalone Vineyard Estate Bottled Chardonnay
1971 Chateau Trotanoy Pomerol
1970 Chateau Clerc Milon Grand Cru Baron Philippe de Rothschild
None of this would have been possible without the help of Our Wine Cellar, Susan, to help straighten the house up, Marnie and Mac for their countless hours of helping to prep the food and run errands, Chris for making the punch (Did he try any?) and Mattie for keeping Chris “in line”. Many thanks to all of you. And Thanks too, to everyone who came. We certainly did enjoy your company! Be sure to look at the photos! Some photos are new …. some photos are old! Cheers! And Happy 2010! And yes, some of the recipes are available if you would like a copy. Just email me.
Boise Foodie Guild 