Category Archives: Recipe: Bob and Robin Young

What’s For Dinner? – Bœuf Bourguignon

03 Monday May 2010

Posted by in Beef, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, What's For Dinner?

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After watching Julie and Julia for the third time; and after watching Julie Powell burn the Bœuf Bourguignon for the third time, I decided to see if I could make this classic Julia Child dish without burning it. Here is a link to the Recipe, albeit altered slightly. And to beat that, we had friends over for dinner! Bœuf Bourguignon, Chive Mashed Potatoes and a great Green Salad. We chose two wonderful wines to go with dinner, 2006 Indian Creek Winery Pinot Noir and a 1989 Montinore Vineyards Pinot Noir. Then for dessert, Robin made a wonderful Chocolate Banana Cake. And on top of all of that, I did not burn the Bœuf Bourguignon! Just a wonderful dinner! Cheers!

Lemon Baked Chicken

01 Saturday May 2010

Posted by in Chicken, Food Prep, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes, What's For Dinner?

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Now here is an easy meal. Chicken, lemon, thyme, asparagus and noodles. How easy do we get?

Lemon Baked Chicken

Ingredients:
2 Chicken breasts, skinless
1 Lemon, zested and juiced
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 T Lemon Thyme
Flat Egg Noodles for 2
3 cloves Garlic, diced
1/2 lbs Asparagus
2 T Butter
1 T Olive Oil
1/2 lbs Button Mushrooms, quartered

Directions:
1). Place the chicken breasts in an oven proof casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Zest the lemon and spread over chicken. Squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken. Place the lemon in the pan along the side. Sprinkle with 1 T Lemon Thyme. Let marinate for 1 hour.

2). Place the butter and the olive oil in a sauté pan over low heat. Place 1 T Lemon Thyme in sauté and cook the mushrooms. Remove from heat and set aside.

3). Place the noodles in a pan of hot water with the garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until done. Drain. Place 2 T butter in the hot pan. Return the noodles,. along with the garlic, to the pan. Add the sautéed mushrooms. Cover and set aside.

4). Pre-heat the oven to 385ºF. Place the chicken in the oven and cook for 45 minutes.

To Serve:
Place a bed of noodles on the plate. Place a chicken breast on the noodles. Make a raft of asparagus and place on the plate. (See photo) Serve with a good white wine. Cheers!

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!

Asparagus Herbed Soup – Redone!

25 Sunday Apr 2010

Posted by in Food, Food Prep, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?

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When you make a mistake, there are two routes you can take: (1) Ignore it or (2) Correct it. I choose to correct the mistake. So it is with the Asparagus Soup with Lemon Herb Crème Fraîche. The first time I made it I really messed it up. This time (see photo) it is much, much better. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way Debbie made it (The Buzz). I just changed it somewhat. For instance, I used leeks along with some onion. And I also added some herbs while the soup was cooking. Look at the link above for a printable copy. But for your browsing interest, here is the recipe. Cheers!

Asparagus Soup with Lemon Herb Crème Fraîche

Author: Bob and Robin Young
Source: The Buzz and Food and Wine
Web Page: Rockin’ R’s Web Page, Boise Foodie Guild Blog

Comments: This is a different and an awesome Asparagus Soup that we first had at the “Buzz” in Boise.
Degree of Difficulty: Moderately difficult
Servings: 6

Ingredients:
½ c Crème Fraîche
1 T Parsley, chopped
3 t Chives, chopped
2 t Tarragon, chopped
1 t Lemon Zest, finely grated
1 t Lemon juice, fresh
Sea Salt and fresh ground Pepper
2 lbs medium Asparagus, tough ends discarded, tips reserved and stalks coarsely chopped
2 T Butter, unsalted
1 med Leek, white and green cut into rounds and then cut in half
¼ med Onion, finely chopped
1 qt Chicken stock
2 c Water

Directions:
1). In a bowl, blend the Crème Fraîche with the parsley, 2 t of chives, 1 t of tarragon and the lemon zest and juice. Season with salt and pepper, then cover and refrigerate. In a small saucepan of boiling salted water, blanch the asparagus tips for 1 minute; drain and ice down. Transfer to a plate.

2). Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, 4 minutes. Add the stock and water and bring to a boil. Add the chopped asparagus and season with 1½ teaspoons of salt and a few grindings of pepper. Add the remaining tarragon and chives. Boil over moderately high heat until the asparagus are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

3). Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender and pour it into a clean saucepan. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer over moderate heat. Use an immersion blender and puree the soup until smooth and creamy. Place about 4 or 5 asparagus tips in a warmed bowl and ladle the soup into shallow bowls. Top with large dollops of the Lemon-Herb Crème Fraîche, some cut chives and serve.

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Boise Sourdough – Act III, "The Final Curtain"

15 Thursday Apr 2010

Posted by in Bread, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes, Sourdough

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So here we go … the Final Act! After the bread rises I always like to do the final rise in the pan that I am baking the bread in. That way I don’t disturb the rise and deflate the bread as much. Slash the top – the cut could be deeper – so the bread has a place to expand, especially when it hits a 450 degree oven.

After it rises to about 1/4 inch above the top of the pan, it is ready to bake. 450 degrees F for about 25-35 minutes. I always use an instant read thermometer. 190 degrees F is the internal temperature I am looking for.

And then … the Bread! The aroma in the house, and in the alley along the house, is amazing and reminds me of Freihoffer’s Bakery in Wilmington, DE. when I was “tiny”.

I took some of this bread with us last night to the TVWS Pinot Noir tasting and shared it with some “testing tasters”. “Good sour taste”, was the comment from Chef James. Other comments were “Good texture”, “Good taste”, “Great with the wine and the dinner”. If you want the recipe, and it is involved, just Click Here and enjoy the process!
Have fun and I do hope you have enjoyed the postings on this bread. Cheers!

Sauerkraut

13 Tuesday Apr 2010

Posted by in Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes, Sauerkraut

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This is far too much fun!! Developing these recipes, the Sourdough Bread and this Sauerkraut. The results of the first batch of sauerkraut is almost complete. If you had some to sample, now is the time. Just let me know what you thought. Thanks Gail for your input!! Here is the Kraut Recipe that I am working on. There was a song – last century – that had the line in it, “… second verse, same as the first…”. Well, this second batch is better than the first, as sauerkraut goes! I just sampled some. It’ll be ready, I think about, 01 May. Basically, here is what is in my sauerkraut.

Ingredients:
14 lbs Cabbage, fresh
3½ T Kosher salt, no iodine
1¾ T Cinnamon
3¾ T Caraway seeds
4½ T Mustard seeds
2¾ c Four Monks White Wine Vinegar

Look at the recipe for the procedure. My crock is one that Robin bought me for Christmas and is awesome. Holds about 20 pounds of shredded cabbage. Also, I added 1/2 head of red cabbage to this batch, as I did the original batch. Gives it some color. I said above that I sampled some: There is a bite, but not offensive. And I detected some sweetness, but there is no sugar in the recipe. The caraway is good and the cinnamon is there, but in the background. Mustard seed gives a unique flavor. So for now, there is the report. We’re talking about 2 weeks before I bottle the kraut. Cheers!!

Boise Sourdough Starter, Part III

13 Tuesday Apr 2010

Posted by in Bread, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Sourdough

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Let’s see. Almost 6 days to get to this point. But, the starter is made and can now be saved and used again. So, unless I mess up the starter I have, I should not have to make any more for, say, 100 years!! Now we start the bread making process. This will take 2 1/2 days, or there abouts.

Sourdough Bread

Ingredients:
For the starter: (04/13/10) See Note #4 below
• 1 piece of starter the size of a tangerine (kept out at room temperature for 6 to 8 hours or in the refrigerator for a few days)
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 cups organic, unbleached white or all-purpose flour

Directions:
1. (04/13/10) Break up the starter, dilute it in the water, and mix in the flour. Cover this mixture loosely and set it aside in a warm spot for 18–24 hours or until it is quite bubbly.

After mixing the 2 cups of water and the 2 cups of flour. Let this sit and rise. Remember: There is only wild yeast in this bread. No cultured yeast. So be patient!!

For the dough: (Not quite yet, but soon!)
• 2 1/2 cups organic, unbleached white or all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 cup starter from the previous step
• 3/4 cup cool water
• Cooking oil (to grease the bowl)

2. Mix the flour and salt together in a food processor fitted with the plastic dough blade. Pour the starter in and pulse the machine several times to mix the ingredients. Then, with the machine running, slowly add the water and continue mixing for a few minutes (If you don’t have a food processor, simply mix the dough in a bowl for about 5 minutes, until it forms a ball.)
3. Remove the mixture from the bowl and place it on a well-floured work table and round it into a ball.
4. Let the dough rise in a well-oiled bowl, covered, in the refrigerator for 12–15 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and allow it to warm up at room temperature for 2 hours.
5. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, and stretch them into tight baguette shapes. Place each one on a baguette tray or a parchment-lined baking tray.
6. Cover the baguettes and let them rise for 6–7 hours, until they have doubled in size.
7. Preheat the oven to 450° F.
8. Using a sharp razor blade, slash the tops of the loaves diagonally 3 or 4 times (this will allow them to expand more easily while baking) and spray them with a fine mist of water from a spray bottle.
9. Place the loaves in the oven and immediately spray them, along with the walls and floor of the oven, with water. Repeat this step after about 5 minutes of baking.
10. Bake the loaves 25–30 minutes, until they are entirely golden and the crust is crisp and blistered. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before slicing.

Notes:
1. The (Dates) represent the days that I performed the stated tasks.
2. Step #4 (04/09/10). I added 1 c King Arthur flour and 10 T of water. I placed the starter in a bowl and covered it with a warm, damp towel.
3. This starter is the same starter that Boudain Bakery in San Francisco uses. They have had theirs since 1849.
4. (04/13/10) It looks like this amount of starter is enough for about 8 loaves.

—————————–

I know it looks like a bread making. But, I won’t normally change any new recipe until I have tried it. Then I can see how the recipe works and can change it at that point. Cheers!

Maharajah’s Mince Lamb Curry (Bhēra karī )

08 Thursday Apr 2010

Posted by in Curry, Lamb, Main Dish, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes, Things To Do

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Having spent a year in India, Rajasthan to be specific, there are certain elements of Indian food that still entice the senses. Sight being one and aroma being another and, in this case, word association with a given recipe. Never, ever had beef in India. It was probably goat or mutton – which is old lamb and not the same!
But this recipe just triggered some of those responses. So …… tonight this is what we are having. I have everything here to make this – I just pulled some ground lamb from the freezer. If you want a printable recipe, just Click Here. In the meantime, here is the recipe. Enjoy!! I have converted the metric weights and measures to pounds and ounces where necessary.

Maharajah’s Mince Lamb Curry (Bhēra karī)

Sources: http://www.maharajahschoice.com/recipes.php?group_id=4, http://www.spice-india.com/2009/03/keema-mattar-keema-matar.html , http://www.spice-india.blogspot.com
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon of oil
500g minced lamb (1½ lbs)
½ cup of water
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1½ T curry powder
½ can of 400 ml (13.5oz) tinned tomatoes
1 large onion chopped (or equal quantity of Maharajah’s Fried Dehydrated Onion)
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon of stock powder – optional
½ cup of Frozen Peas
1 T Garam Masala
Small pinch Red Pepper Flakes

Directions:
Heat oil (to medium heat) and fry onions (if using fresh onions) until golden brown.
Add minced garlic and ginger, fry for about 1 minute then add curry powder and fry for approx. 2 more minutes stirring constantly. Make sure that heat is not too high and curry powder fries (not burns).
Add minced meat and water. Stir until mince is separated.
Add tomatoes, red pepper flakes, salt (and or stock powder), garam masala and dehydrated onions (if fresh are not used earlier).
Cook on low heat for about 30 to 45 minutes.
Add frozen peas, warm through.
Serve with rice or bread.
This recipe makes very good filling for jaffles and is also delicious on toast.

Note: The appliance is known by various names around the world, including toasted sandwich maker or jaffle iron in Australia and South Africa, toastie maker or toastie pie maker in the United Kingdom. Breville, manufacturers of some of the earliest sandwich toasters, is sometimes used eponymously.
Typical toasted sandwiches are a grilled cheese sandwich, tuna melt, or patty melt. Toasted sandwiches are also known by various names. They are frequently called toasties in Britain, brevilles, jaffles in Australia (also brevilles in South Africa) or toasties in New Zealand. Jaffles are so named after the original jaffle iron (U.S. English: “pie iron”). Sandwich toasters are less common in the United States where grilled cheese sandwiches are more popular.
Sandwich toasters are notorious for being used relatively little, because of their specialised nature. A survey carried out in 2005 suggested that 45% of British adults owned but did not use sandwich toasters.

Rustic Sourdough Bread, Part II

07 Wednesday Apr 2010

Posted by in Bread, Classics, Food Prep, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes

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OK, so here we go. I have posted this recipe before on this blog. But this version has some changes which I like much better. No necessarily different ingredients, but rather an altered technique. Here are some suggestions:
1). The 1st rise calls for 90 minutes. Don’t cut this short!
2). I divided the batch into two loaves at the 1st rise and placed them in a warm oven (the oven light on) to achieve the rise. Works extremely well.
3). I literally “poured” the dough
into 2 loaf pans and did not punch down between the 1st and 2nd rises. I just gently shaped the loaves and did not deflate.
4). The 2nd rise calls for 1 hour. Again, I did not cut this short. The loaves rose in their respective loaf pans.
I think the bread came out just fine. The crumb is what I am looking for. The taste is good, although not heavily “sour”. (Add 1 teaspoon of citric acid – vitamin C – if you want more sour or let your starter ferment longer.)

So enough of the “gibberish! I think the photos do the bread justice! Here is a direct link to the recipe, if you would like to print it out. Rustic Sourdough Bread Enjoy the bread and be sure to let us know how it comes out. And as a side note, my niece, Beth, tried the Cobb Salad the other day and her husband said it was the best salad he has ever had. Kudos to Beth!!

Rustic Sourdough Bread

Ingredients – Starter Feed:
1 c Starter, give away or make pancakes
½ c Water, 100°F
1 T Honey, use a light, floral honey. Tupelo is good.
1 t Active Dry Yeast
1 c King Arthur Unbleached All- Purpose Flour

Ingredients – Bread Dough:
12/3 c Water, 100°F
2 t Active Dry Yeast
2 T Honey, use a light, floral honey. Tupelo is good.
2½ t Salt
2 c Refreshed Starter
4 c King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Starter Feed:
1). Remove 1 cup of your starter and either give it away and let a friend start their own or make pancakes or waffles.

2). Add:
½ c 100°F Water
1 c King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose flour
Pinch Yeast

Stir to completely blend and let sit 12 hours before using.

Bread Dough:
1). Combine all of the ingredients, kneading to form a smooth dough.

2). Allow the dough to rise, in a covered bowl, until it’s doubled in size, about 90 minutes.

3). Gently divide the dough in half; it’ll deflate somewhat.

4). Gently shape the dough into two oval loaves, and place them on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise until very puffy, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.

5). Spray the loaves with lukewarm water.

6). Make two fairly deep horizontal slashes in each; a serrated bread knife, wielded firmly, works well here.

7). Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until it’s a very deep golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and cool on a rack.

Preparation Time: 13 hours
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Inactive Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 14 hours

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.