Some Good End-Of-Summer Meals

29 Sunday Sep 2019

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Acme Bake Shop, Acme Bake Shop Red Wheat, Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, AirFryer, Argentina Pink Shrimp, Avocado, Banana, BBQ Beef, Beans, Blueberries, Boise Artisan Bakery's, Boise Farmers Market, Breakfast, Breakfast At The Captains Shack, Buy Idaho, Buy Local, Captain's Shack, Classic Cuisines, Classic Herb Blends, Classic Sauces, Classic Spice Blends, Classis Sauces, Cooking Styles, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Dinner For Robin, Eggs Basted, Eggs Omelets, Eggs Poached, Food Photos, German Food, Greens, Grilled Beef, Grilling, Herbs, Herbs and Spices, Hollandaise Sauce, Homemade Sauce, Housemade Hollandaise Sauce, Idaho Potatoes, Idaho Vegetables, Idaho Wine, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Omelet, Parma Ridge Winery, Peaceful Belly Farms, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Purple Sage Farms, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipes - Breakfast, Recipes - Sauces, Rice Family Farms, Salads, Salmon, Seafood, Shrimp, Sourdough Bread, Spinach, Things To Do, Traditional Food, True Roots Produce, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?, Whats For Breakfast?

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Fun time in the kitchen this past late summer. Mostly “playing” Chopped of the Kitchen: “These are the ingredients, make something edible!” In other words, mostly no recipe, just do it!
And let’s remember: The best ingredients are not processed ingredients, but rather go to your local Farmers Market. Visit your local fruit stand. You control what ingredients to use, not a major super market. Although, there are some really good super markets available, Just look at the ingredients and where the fruits and vegetables are grown, In My Not So Humble Opinion. Buy Local! Look at some of these meals. Enjoy, we did! Here is a link to Kelley’s Canyon Orchards for fantastic fruits. Look in the sidebar for more links to some fantastic produce and farm products.

Shrimp Omelet with Herbal Hollandaise Sauce. Here is the recipe that we use for making our own – from scratch – Hollandaise Sauce. CIA Basic Hollandaise Sauce. We modified this one to add fresh herbs, from the garden.

Robin said she wanted a toasted shredded wheat biscuit for breakfast with bananas. I added the blueberries. The biscuit has brown sugar on it that is caramelized with a torch.

Or how about this Toasted Whole Wheat Sandwich with Avocado and Tomato for breakfast. The tomato was from True Roots Gardens and the Whole Wheat was from Acme Bakeshop. Both vendors are at the Boise Farmers Market,

German Benedict for breakfast. The Hollandaise is linked above. Why a German Benedict? The spices on the Air Fried potatoes is a blend or German spices.

You like Eggs Benedict? Look at these.

Salmon Benedict on a Bed of Spinach and Fresh Idaho BFM Fruit – Israeli Melon (Awesome!) and Blueberries. The Hollandaise is linked above and we added tarragon and thyme from our garden.

Grilled Brisket Benedict on a Bed of Spinach on Toasted Acme Bakeshop Sourdough and Fresh BFM Fruit. The Hollandaise is linked above and we added tarragon and thyme from our garden.

Grilled brisket? Or AirFryer goodies? Here was an awesome meals.

German Potato Salad

Grilled Brisket, German Potato Salad, Fresh BFM Fruit and Cowboy Beans
2017 Parma Ridge Winery Cabernet Sauvignon

Chicken? How about AirFryer Asian Chicken and Grilled Baby Bok Choy and Green Salad Here is the recipe: AF Asian Chicken.

AirFryer Steak with Sauteed Summer Squash and Fresh Beet and Beet Green Salad Here is the recipe – AF Ribeye Steak

AirFryer Pork Chop, Green Peas, Potato Cubes and Cantaloupe Malheur River Meats is where we got these pork chops. Awesome products! See their link in the sidebar.

Crab Cakes with Caprese Salad

Cognac Shrimp Reduction

Cognac Shrimp with Vegetables

So there are some of our meals. We eat well and very good. Thank goodness for the Boise Farmers Market every weekend during the season. Be sure to check our recipe file above. It gets updated regularly. Cheers and Cook Your Own Meals – They’re better!

Real Biscuits and Gravy Anyone?

17 Monday Sep 2018

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bacon, Biscuits and Gravy, Breakfast, Buttermilk Biscuits, Comfort Food, Food of Scotland, Food Prep, Housemade Gravy, Pork, Recipes, Recipes - Breakfast, Sausage, What's For Dinner?

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biscuits and gravy, Buttermilk Biscuits, sausage gravy, sawmill gravy

And here are some recipes! From Jim Long’s Columns at Blogspot.
“The “real” gravy most of us in the Ozarks know and love is just plain sausage gravy. It’s simple, cheap and easy to make, yet this satisfying concoction has become almost impossible to find in restaurants. What you’ll find instead, is factory-made gravy out of a can. Wholesale restaurant suppliers deliver cases of gallon-sized cans of fake sausage gravy and all the “chef” has to do is to open the can, pour it into a pot and heat it…There are regional variations of the classic sausage gravy, with some folks adding onions, others adding a dash of cayenne pepper, others swearing fresh-cracked black pepper, or crushed red pepper is the only way to fix the gravy, but over all, the recipe for the real thing remains the same as it has for centuries.” [Jim Long’s Columns]

Sausage Gravy
Ingredients:
1 lbs Country Sausage (mild or hot)
3 T Flour
1/2 t fresh Nutmeg
Salt and lots of fresh ground black pepper
2 to 3 cups Whole Milk
Directions:
Crumble the raw sausage in a hot cast iron frying pan. Fry the sausage until there is no pink left. Add flour 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring quickly until a paste forms. Then add milk, 1 cup at a time and the nutmeg. Stir briskly and cook the mixture until it thickens. Then pour it over fresh-baked buttermilk biscuits, split in half, buttered or not.

A little biscuit history from Quora, “The American South has deep Scottish roots, and American biscuits are made in a very similar way to Scottish shortbread, so most likely the origin of biscuits is in Scottish shortbread. They brought the recipe over, and as dishes do, it evolved. A little more liquid turned the originally hard biscuit into a soft one…The ingredients of biscuits and gravy are all cheap and readily available. Pigs have been in America longer than the Puritans – originally brought to Jamestown in 1608. Other than that it’s pretty much just flour, milk and some salt and pepper. People brought their cooking methods over from Scotland and Northern England (hence the popularity of fried foods in the South), usually emphasizing the simpler dishes, cooking styles and ingredients. Over the decades of people making, perfecting and experimenting with the recipe, those original recipes and cooking methods evolved into the biscuits and gravy we know today. There’s some evidence people have been eating biscuits and gravy since before the Revolutionary War.”

Buttermilk Biscuits
Drop biscuits or rolled, your choice! And the biscuits? You can buy those canned, frozen, instant or bakery-made but the old-fashioned biscuit is as follows:
Ingredients:
2 c Flour
4 t Baking Powder
1/4 t Baking Soda
3/4 t Salt
2 T Butter
2 T lard or Crisco
1 c Buttermilk, chilled
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. With your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. Pour in the chilled buttermilk and stir to mix. Turn dough onto floured surface, dust with flour and fold dough over on itself 4 or 5 times. Roll out with a rolling-pin or quart fruit jar until the dough is about an inch thick. Cut out biscuits with 2-inch cutter and place biscuits on a baking sheet so the biscuits are just touching. Bake until golden and fluffy, about 15-20 minutes.

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy with Hollandaise Sauce

Make the gravy while the biscuits are baking. This isn’t health food, but it certainly is a satisfying breakfast! Add some eggs and bacon and a few cups of coffee and you are tasting a real Ozarks tradition.

Just don’t confuse Sawmill Gravy with Sausage Gravy. They are not the same.
“During the early years of America, many logging camps sprung up in the mountains where virgin timber was found. In these lumber camps, cooks would prepare breakfast for a hundred or more lumberjacks. One of the common foods was gravy made from coarsely ground cornmeal. When made from whole grain cornmeal, this gravy was very nutritious and would give the lumberjacks strength to do their jobs.
This gravy’s name comes from the fact that these men worked at a saw mill, and sometimes when the gravy would be coarse and thick, the lumberjacks would accuse the cooks of substituting sawdust for cornmeal.

Cornmeal Gravy, aka Sawmill Gravy

Sawmill Gravy
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon bacon drippings
3 heaping tablespoons white cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
dash of pepper
Directions:
Place bacon drippings in a pan. Add cornmeal and salt. Cook on medium heat, stirring until brown. Add milk and let boil until it thickens, stirring vigorously to keep it from lumping. Season with pepper to taste.” From: “Smithsonian Folklife Cookbook”, Recipe from Janice Miracle, Middlesboro, Kentucky.

Some Thanksgiving Suggestions

18 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Black Beans, Boise Adventures, Boise Farmers Market, Boise Food Adventures, Breakfast, Brine, Brunch, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Comfort Food, Crockpot, Eggs, Eggs - Huevos Rancheros, Ethnic Foods, Garlic, Ham, Homemade Sauce, Housemade Sauces, Idaho Eggs, Idaho Potatoes, Interesting Information, Local Farmers Markets, Meadowlark Farms, Mexican Food, Potatoes, Recipes, Recipes - Breakfast, Recipes - Dinner, Recipes - Mexican, What's For Dinner?

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It seems as though everytime a holiday comes around, Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter for instance, that those traditional family gatherings arrive with questions. Especially, questions from the kitchen. What shall I make for a special breakfast? Or, is there a different way to make mashed potatoes? Or, how do I brine a turkey?
All are good questions and I suppose there are many, many answers. After searching the web and aking questions from some Chef friends and venders at the Saturday Market, here are three suggestions. I’m going to try each one of these and I really believe that they will turn out really good. So here are the three recipes for “How To Brine A Turkey“, “Mashed Potatoes in a Slow Cooker” and “Salsa Ranchera” for Huevos Rancheros. Enjoy and if you use any of these, tell us how it came out. Cheers and Happy Holidays! Left-Click these photos to see them enlarged.

How To Brine a Turkey
Makes 1 turkey

Ingredients
1 turkey
4 quarts water
1 cup coarse kosher salt, or 3/4 cup table salt
Aromatics: bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves, juniper berries, allspice berries, orange peels, lemon peels, etc.

Equipment
1 large pot or bucket with a lid
Measuring cups and spoons
Paper towels

Instructions
1) Find a pot and make fridge space: Find a pot or food-safe bucket large enough that you will be able to entirely submerge your turkey. Next, clear some fridge space and make sure your pot will fit.
2) Place the turkey in the pot: Unwrap your turkey and remove the giblets, then transfer it to your pot. Add any aromatics you’d like to use.

Mix the brine solution: Heat 1 quart of water in the microwave until warmed — it doesn’t need to come to a boil, just be warm enough to dissolve the salt. Add the salt and stir until the salt has dissolved. Let the liquid cool slightly; it’s fine if it’s still a touch warm.
Pour the brine solution over the turkey. Pour the remaining 3 quarts of water over the turkey: This dilutes the salt solution to the best ratio for brining and also helps further cool the solution.
2) Make sure the turkey is completely submerged: If necessary, prepare additional brine solution at a ratio of 1/4 cup per quart of water to completely submerge the turkey.
Cover and refrigerate: If the turkey floats, weigh it down with a dinner plate. Cover the pot and place it in the refrigerator.
3) Brine for 12 to 24 hours.
4) Rinse the turkey in cool water and pat dry. Clean your sink thoroughly after doing this step to avoid cross-contamination. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Dry for another 24 hours for crispier skin.
Optional: If you have time, let the turkey air-dry overnight in the fridge. Place it on a roasting rack set inside a roasting pan and cover loosely with plastic bags to avoid cross contamination. This drying step will give your turkey crispier skin.
5) Roast as usual, but check your turkey early: You can roast the turkey either immediately after brining or after air-drying. I’ve found that brined turkeys tend to cook a bit more quickly, so cook as usual, but start checking the turkey’s temperature an hour before the end of your estimated cooking time.

Mashed Potatoes in the Slow Cooker
Serves: 8 to 10
Source: adapted from The Kitchn

Ingredients:
5 lbs Russet Potatoes
3 to 4 cloves Garlic, optional
1 t Celtic Sea Salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground Tellicherry Black Pepper, to taste
3 to 3½ c Whole Milk, or a mixture of milk and cream
½ c unsalted Butter

Directions:
Peel and chop the potatoes: Lightly grease the slow cooker insert with butter or cooking spray. Peel the potatoes and chop into small pieces about 1 inch to a side. The smaller the potatoes, the faster they will cook, obviously. Transfer the potatoes to the slow cooker.
Add the seasonings: Smash the garlic cloves, if using, and drop on top of the potatoes. Stir in the salt and a generous quantity of black pepper.
Pour in 1½ cups milk: Pour in 1½ cups milk and stir the potatoes once.
Cook until tender: Cover the slow cooker and cook 4 to 5 hours on HIGH or until the potatoes are very tender and soft. Turn the heat to WARM.

Melt the butter: When the potatoes are done, melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat.

Warm the dairy: Stir 2 cups milk, or a mixture of milk and cream, into the melted butter and warm gently over low heat.

Mash the potatoes: If you used garlic but don’t want the potatoes super garlicky, remove the garlic cloves and discard. Use a spoon to scoop out and discard any browned bits on the sides of the pot. Use a potato masher or ricer to mash the potatoes right in the pot.

Slowly stir in the dairy: When the potatoes are as smooth as you like, slowly stir in the warmed dairy and butter. The potatoes will look soupy at first but the potatoes will quickly soak up the liquid. Add an additional ½ cup of milk or cream if you want them to be even creamier.

Taste and season: Taste and season with additional salt or pepper if desired.

Keep warm: To keep the potatoes warm, leave in the covered slow cooker on the WARM setting for up to 4 hours.

Salsa Ranchera

Salsa Ranchera Recipe from Mexico
(Cómo preparar una Salsa Ranchera auténtica en tu casa)
[huevos rancheros—”rancher’s-style” eggs]

Source: adapted from mexgrocer
Preparation: 10 Cook Time: 1 Servings: 6

Ingredients:
2 Roma Tomatoes, diced
½ white Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, diced
1 T Vegetable Oil
Serrano chile as desired
2 1/2 T Oregano
1 t Cumin
Juice of half a Lime
Celtic Sea Salt

Directions:
Submerge the tomatoes in boiling water for a few seconds. Peel them, dice them and put them in what will be your salsa bowl. Chop up the onion, chili, and garlic and mix with the tomato. Add the oil and the lime juice and sprinkle with oregano.

Huevos Ranchera

Huevos Rancheros
An Easy Mexican Recipe

Source: adapted from mylatinatable.com/best-huevos-rancheros/

Ingredients:
2 lg Eggs
2 Corn Tortillas
¼ Onion, chopped
BlackmRefried beans (homemade or store bought)
2 med Potatoes
Thick cut Ham, cut into cubes
Salsa Ranchero
Celtic Sea Salt, fresh ground Tellicherry Black Pepper to taste
Queso Fresco and Cilantro to garnish.

Directions:
Sauté the potatoes, onion, and ham in a small amount of olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Lightly fry the tortillas, and pat dry. Put on a plate. Warm up the refried beans, and spread onto the tortillas.
Fry an egg to your preferred level of doneness, and put on top of the tortilla and beans. Top with salsa ranchero, queso fresco, and fresh cilantro. Serve with the potato, onion, and ham mix.

Two Good Meals We Made – Idaho Trout and Eggs Benedict

10 Friday Nov 2017

Posted by Bob and Robin in Asparagus, Atlantic Salmon, Bearnaise Sauce, Breakfast, Breakfast At The Captains Shack, Breakfast With Robin, Brunch, Brunch with Robin, Buy Idaho, Chicken, Classic Sauces, Cod, Comfort Food, Cooking Styles, Copper River Salmon, Crab, Eggs, Eggs Benedict, en Papillote, Food Photos, Halibut, Ham, heirloom vegetables, Herbs, Hollandaise Sauce, Homemade Sauce, Housemade Béarnaise, Housemade Hollandaise Sauce, Huffington Post, Idaho Beef, Idaho Chicken, Idaho Eggs, Idaho Greens, Idaho Pork, Idaho Trout, Idaho Vegetables, Local Markets, Made From Scratch, Mushrooms, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipes, Recipes - Breakfast, Recipes - Dinner, Recipes - Sauces, Red Snapper, Salmon, What's For Dinner?

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Ah yes. These were fun meals. Idaho Trout Papillote with Candy Heirloom Carrots and Mashed Potatoes. Served with a delicious 2006 Alves de Sousa Douro Estação (Portugal). From Wikipedia, an En papillote is –

En papillote (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃ papijɔt]; French for “in parchment”), or al cartoccio in Italian, is a method of cooking in which the food is put into a folded pouch or parcel and then baked. The parcel is typically made from folded parchment paper, but other material, such as a paper bag or aluminium foil, may be used. The parcel holds in moisture to steam the food. The pocket is created by overlapping circles of aluminum foil and parchment paper and then folding them tightly around the food to create a seal. A papillote should be opened at the table to allow people to smell the aroma when it opens.
The moisture may be from the food itself or from an added moisture source, such as water, wine, or stock. This method is most often used to cook fish or vegetables, but lamb and poultry can also be cooked en papillote. Choice of herbs, seasonings and spices depend on the particular recipe being prepared. The pouch should be sealed with careful folding.

We used Apple Brandy for moisture.

Idaho Trout en Papillote with Mashed Potatoes and Candy Carrots.

To serve the papillote, Melissa d’Arabian says,

To serve, cut open the packets and serve directly in the parchment on a plate or remove the fish to the plate using a spatula, being sure you don’t leave the juices behind.

A good recipe can be found here – by Melissa d’Arabian. If you want to add vegetables, you can use almost anything. zucchini, Bok choy, sliced carrots, sweet onion, green beans and mushrooms to name a few. You can also use chicken, beef, pork, salmon, red snapper or sea bass to name a few. Here are some recipes: Sesame Ginger Salmon, by Kelsey Nixon; Salmon and Vegetables, by Jessica Gavin; Chicken en Papillote; Chicken and Summer Vegetables; Pork en Papillote; Pork Papillote with Apples and Onions.
So there are a few recipes. Use your imagination. You can google “Type of en Papillote” and find many, many more. Be creative. Have fun. Serve with a good wine.

And for breakfast, Try a

Klondike Waffles Benedict with Turkey and Fresh Fruit.

and to start here are several different kinds of Eggs Benedict – 17 Twists on Eggs Benedict Recipes, Huffington Post; Here is an awesome twist 13 Eggs Benedict Recipes, Chowhound and Top Eggs Benedict Recipes, Fine Cooking.

To go with the benedict, you need Hollandaise Sauce or Béarnaise Sauce. Here is an easy Hollandaise Sauce from Allrecipes – Microwave Hollandaise Sauce. And here is an easy Foolproof Béarnaise Sauce Recipe.

OK. There you go. Head for the kitchen and have fun. And remember, a Béarnaise Sauce or a Hollandaise Sauce is great on asparagus. Just sayin’.

After Thanksgiving

29 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Acme Bake Shop Breads, Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Asparagus, Blueberries, Boise Artisan Bakery's, Boise Farmers Market, Breakfast, Breakfast At The Captains Shack, Breakfast With Robin, Captain's Shack, Eggs, Eggs Poached, Food Photos, Idaho Eggs, Photos By: Bob Young, Pork, Recipe - Soup, Recipe By: Captain's Shack, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes - Breakfast, Recipes - Dinner, Scrapple, Slow Cooking, Soup, Sourdough Bread, Special Dinners, Special Events, Tetrazzini, What's For Dinner?

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Tags

Rappa Brand Scrapple, scrapple, Tetrazzini, turkey tetrazzini

So much fun to make some of these. And not difficult at all. The Creamy Turkey Tetrazzini may be the most difficult, although you probably have most of the ingredients left-over from Thanksgiving in the refrigerator, except maybe for the mushrooms. If you don’t have Cream Sherry, use a good white wine that is slightly sweet, yet bold.

Creamy Turkey Tetrazzini

Crumbled Scrapple with Meadowlark Farms Poached Eggs
Acme Bakeshop Toasted Sourdough
Fresh Raspberries and Blueberries

Split Pea and Ham Soup

And here is the recipe for the Split Pea and Ham Soup that we made for the Williamson Orchards and Vineyards New Tasting Room Open House. It was superb and made from Idaho products – Ham Hock, Split Peas, Heirloom Carrots, Onions, Celery, stock and herbs.

Awesome Mother’s Day Weekend in the Kitchen

08 Sunday May 2016

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bacon, Baking, Blue Crab, Boise Farmers Market, Boise Food Adventures, Breakfast At The Captains Shack, Breakfast With Robin, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Cast Iron, Chicken, Comfort Food, Cooking Styles, Crab Cakes, Creamed Spinach, Dessert, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Dinner For Robin, Dinner With Family, Food Photos, French Foods, Green Salad, Herbs and Spices, Housemade Sauces, Housemade Tartar Sauce, Idaho Eggs, Idaho Greens, Idaho Vegetables, Idaho Wine, Indian Creek Winery, Local Markets, Morels, Mother's Day, Mushrooms, Party Time, Peaceful Belly Farms, Photos By: Bob Young, Pinot Noir, Popovers, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes - Breakfast, Recipes - Dinner, Recipes - French, Recipes - Seafood, Salad, Special Events, Spring Vegies, What's For Dinner?

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Tags

coq au vin, crab cakes, Pinot Noir, popover

Just a super fun and good weekend celebrating Mother’s Day with Robin. Exciting coming up with meals that were different and surprisingly good. Fun to make. Easy to make, although some were rather involved. Great to have Marnie over for Sunday dinner. Even Ray, her Golden Lab, had a good time with Buddy.
Some of the photos that follow of the dishes I prepared, have the recipe hotlinked in the article. Please feel free to use the recipe if you would like. The Coq au Vin – Chicken in Wine – is not difficult to do, but it does take some time. The Popovers are quick and easy. The Crab Cakes are different. We had these for both dinner a breakfast! the remoulade is a pretty basic sauce and can vary widely. “… Rémoulade (English pronunciation: /reɪməˈlɑːd/; French: [ʁemulad]) is a condiment invented in France that is usually aioli- or mayonnaise-based. Although similar to tartar sauce, it is often more yellowish (or reddish in Louisiana), sometimes flavored with curry, and sometimes contains chopped pickles or piccalilli. It can also contain horseradish, paprika, anchovies, capers and a host of other items. While its original purpose was possibly for serving with meats, it is now more often used as an accompaniment to seafood dishes, especially pan-fried breaded fish fillets (primarily sole and plaice) and seafood cakes (such as crab or salmon cakes).” Ours is mayo, chilli sauce, ketchup and green tomato relish. And a touch of horseradish.

Crab Cakes on Biscuits with Strawberry Fan and Rumalade

Crab Cakes on Biscuits
with
Strawberry Fan and Remoulade

Here is the recipe for the Old Bay Crab Cakes. They are differently good.

Strawberry Pie

After the Crab Cakes, we just had to have this Strawberry Pie Recipe. I’m not a baker, but this is wonderful!

Crab Cakes and Eggs

This was an awesome breakfast! Nothing better than seafood for breakfast.

Popovers

Fresh from the oven. Great with butter and jam, too!

Popovers
with
Creamed Spinach Filling

Another suprisingly easy recipe. Popover with Creamed Spinach Recipe

Coq au Vin – Chicken in Wine – getting happy!

Coq au Vin Popover with Creamed Spinach Fresh Green Salad

Coq au Vin
Popover with Creamed Spinach Filling
Fresh Green Salad

One awesome and fun to make dinner. Here is the recipe for Coq au Vin, Chicken in Wine. Enjoy this one. It is a superb French classic!

Add to this dinner a very good

2008 Indian Creek Pinot Noir

and we had a fantastic experience. Plus the Coq au Vin had some in it too!

Valentines Weekend – Meals Made For Robin

16 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Bearnaise Sauce, Blueberries, Boise Farmers Market, Breakfast, Breakfast At The Captains Shack, Breakfast With Robin, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Carrots, Celebrations, Chef Lou, Classic Cuisines, Classic Sauces, Dessert, Dinner For Robin, Eggs, Eggs Benedict, Herbs and Spices, Hollandaise Sauce, Housemade Béarnaise, Housemade Hollandaise Sauce, Housemade Sauces, Idaho Beef, Idaho Chefs, Idaho Eggs, Idaho Lamb, Idaho Wine, Kitchen Adventures, Lamb, Meadowlark Farms, Mushrooms, Onion, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe By: Chef Lou, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Recipes, Recipes - Breakfast, Recipes - Dessert, Recipes - Dinner, Recipes - Sauces, Snake River AVA, Special Dinners, Valentines Dinner, Vegetables, What's For Dessert?, What's For Dinner?, Whats For Breakfast?, Zhou Zhou Winery

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Tags

Boeuf Bourguignon, Chef Lou's Orange French Doughnuts, Parsnip and Celeriac Puree, recipes

Such a wonderful Valentines weekend spent in the kitchen making the meals for Robin and I to enjoy! And that we did! “And if you [read this article] in the next 5 minutes, we’ll include a link to the recipes!” where you can find some of the recipes for some of these treats. Boise Foodie Blog Recipes! Enjoy these photos and the recipes. And yes, the Hollandaise and Béarnaise Sauces were all made from scratch! Most of the items here are Idaho products. Zhoo Zhoo Winery Claret was served with the Valentines Dinner. 2009 Bedrock Wine Co. Rebecca’s Vineyard Pinot Noir was used in the bœuf bourguignon (French Beef Stew). Cheers!

Flowers for Robin. Loving her was the easiest thing I ever did!

Flowers for Robin
Loving her is easier than anything I’ve ever done before!

Weekend Appetizers Fennel and Celery Salad Cucumber Salad Chicken Pate Rye Toast Wedges

Weekend Appetizers
Fennel and Celery Salad
Balsamic Cucumber Salad
Chicken Pâté
Rye Toast Wedges

Saturday night Felzien Family Farms Lamb Chops with Bearnaise Sauce Steamed Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce

Saturday night dinner
Felzien Family Farms Lamb Chops
with
Béarnaise Sauce
Steamed Asparagus
with
Sliced Almonds and Hollandaise Sauce

Sunday morning breakfast Eggs Benedict and Fresh Fruit

Valentines Breakfast
Eggs Benedict with Fresh Fruit and Sausage Links

Sunday dinner Boeuf Bourguignon with Parsnips and Celeriac Puree

Valentines Dinner
Bœuf Bourguignon
with
Parsnip and Celeriac Puree

Valentines Dessert Skillet Apple Pie [Modified] with Whipped Cream and Chocolate Strawberry

Valentines Dessert
Skillet Apple Pie
[Modified – I added blueberries and pear slices]
with
Whipped Cream and Chocolate Strawberry

Monday Morning Recovery
Scrambled Eggs
Bacon
Chef Lou’s Orange French Doughnuts

And as an added bonus, here is Chef Lou’s Orange French Doughnuts. I worked several years with Chef Lou at the Westside Drive-In in Boise. Great experience. Enjoy!

Chef Lou’s Orange French Doughnuts

Source: Chef Lou Aaron, Westside Drive-In, Boise, ID
Yield: 12 doughnuts

Ingredients:
5 T Butter, room temperature
½ c Sugar
1 Egg, beaten
1/3 c Milk
½ c Ricotta Cheese or Cream Cheese, softened
Juice and Zest from one orange
2 c All Purpose Flour
1 t Salt
1 t Nutmeg
¼ c melted Butter
1 T Cinnamon mixed w/1 T Sugar

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar; add egg and mix well. Add Milk and Ricotta, or cream cheese, to the mixture alternately w/dry ingredients. Mix in orange rind and juice.
2. Fill greased muffin cups to ½ full. Baked in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Cool slightly and pop doughnuts out of pan.
3. Roll doughnuts first in melted butter, then in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
For variation, you can also garnish with strawberries & whipped cream.

Super Bowl Weekend

08 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Cajun Food, Captain's Shack, Cast Iron, Chicken Wings, Classic Cuisines, Classis Sauces, Cooking Styles, Crab Cakes, Crayfish, Creole Food, Dessert, Dinner For Robin, Housemade Sauces, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes, Recipes - Breakfast, Recipes - Seafood, Salads, Shrimp, Special Dinners, Tailgate At The Captains Shack, Tailgate Party, What's For Dinner?

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Tags

beet panna cotta, Cajun recipes, Crayfish, crayfish pie

Actually, a weekend full of some really fun food. And some I had never made – Crayfish Pie. Made them in individual servings using a cupcake pan. Worked well. And they were good! The Crayfish Pie is a traditional New Orleans dish.Here is my recipe for Crayfish Pie. Enjoy!
And really, I never expected the Denver Broncos to pull this one off. But happy they did. 24 – 10 over the Carolina Panthers. But Carolina is to be congratulated on a superb season – 17-2! Wow!
But now, for the food. We had a great time preparing and securing all of this. Took probably two days and that is where the fun is – prepping. A lot of food for two of us – I really expected more, but that didn’t happen. Anyway, look at what we made and devoured! Left-Click any of these photos to see enlarged. Cheers!

We went to Powell's Sweet Shop and got some candy hearts and gilato. Look at the lid of the candy box on the copunter.

We went to Powell’s Sweet Shop and got some candy hearts and gilato. Look at the lid of the candy box on the counter.

Italian Peppers, Meatballs and Pasta. Thanks Paul!

Blue Crab Cakes

Beet Panna Cotta. Delicious!! Beet Panna Cotta Recipe

Robin making 7 Layer Mexican Dip

7 Layer Mexican Dip

Purging crayfish!

Crayfish cooking

Preparing the filling for the Crayfish Pie.

Individual Crayfish Pies using a muffin tin.

Individual Crayfish Pie

Shrimp, Chicken Wings, Dips and Sauces. Plenty of Tailgate Food!

Lots of food all weekend and generally all homemade. Waiting sorta of patiently for the BSU Broncos football season to start next Fall. Seems like it is so far away! We also made two salads – Fennel and Celery with Olive Oil and Balsamic Dressing and Sliced Cucumbers with a Balsamic Dressing. Delicious!

Try This For Breakfast!

02 Saturday Jan 2016

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Alpicella Bakery, Bearnaise Sauce, Breakfast At The Captains Shack, Breakfast With Robin, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Classic Sauces, Eggs, Eggs Poached, Herbs and Spices, Housemade Béarnaise, Housemade Sauces, Idaho Eggs, Local Harvests, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipes - Breakfast, Recipes - Sauces, Salmon, Seafood, Spinach, What's For Dinner?

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Béarnaise, classic sauces, Poached eggs

Now this is a great twist on Eggs Benedict. Instead of Hollandaise Sauce, use a Béarnaise Sauce. This is one of the sauces that you should have in your recipe box, or book, or file or pocket. Basically a Hollandaise Sauce, but with the addition of tarragon – lots of tarragon – and diced shallots. Hollandaise Sauce on Eggs Benedict or fresh steamed asparagus. Béarnaise Sauce on beef, salmon or these eggs. Enjoy! The photo here is to Parma Ridge Winery Bistro entrance. I bet if we talk nice, Chef Storm could/would try this. Hmmmmm!

Eggs Béarnaise with Fresh Baby Spinach and Salmon on Sourdough Toast

Swimming Eggs Béarnaise Florentine
with
Fresh Baby Spinach and Salmon
on
Sourdough Toast

Celebrating Jacques Pépin’s 80th Birthday Today!

06 Tuesday Oct 2015

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5-Stars, Boise Farmers Market, Breakfast At The Captains Shack, Captain's Shack, Caviar, Eggs, Herbs and Spices, Local Farmers Markets, Meadowlark Farms, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipes - Breakfast, What's For Dinner?

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caviar, Jacques Pépin

Jacques Pépin, one of the world’s most famous and skilled Chef’s, celebrates his 80th birthday. Here is some information about him from Wikipedia.

Jacques Pépin (born December 18, 1935)[1] is an internationally recognized French chef, television personality, and author working in the United States. Since the late 1980s, he has appeared on French and American television and written an array of cookbooks that have become best sellers. In addition to the Daytime Emmy Award won with Julia Child, Pépin has received two of the French government’s highest honors: He is a Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1997) and a Chevalier de L’Ordre du Mérite Agricole (1992). In October 2004, he received France’s ultimate civilian recognition, the Légion d’honneur.

On May 13, 2010, Pépin, along with other chefs from The French Culinary Institute (known as The International Culinary Center), Alain Sailhac, Jacques Torres and André Soltner, prepared a $30,000-per-couple dinner for President Barack Obama’s fund-raiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at Manhattan’s St. Regis Hotel.
On February 5, 2010, during the christening of MS Marina, Pépin was named an honorary commodore of the Oceania Cruises fleet,[7] for which he serves as Executive Culinary Director.
He received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Boston University on May 22, 2011. In October 2011, Pépin was the recipient of the first-ever tribute dinner at the New York Food and Wine Festival. Cooking for Pépin at the event, hosted by Martha Stewart, were some of America’s best-known French chefs including Alain Ducasse, Daniel Boulud, and others.

James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award
James Beard Foundation, Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America
Chevalier de L’Ordre du Mérite Agricole
Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Daytime Emmy, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home
James Beard Foundation’s Cookbook Hall of Fame, La Technique
James Beard Foundation’s Cookbook Hall of Fame, La Méthode
James Beard Foundation Award for Best National TV Cooking Show, Jacques Pépin’s Kitchen: Encore with Claudine
James Beard Foundation Award for Best National Cooking Segment, Jacques Pépin’s Kitchen: Cooking with Claudine
James Beard Foundation Outstanding Culinary Video, Today’s Gourmet
Co-founder of the American Institute of Wine and Food

Scrambled Eggs with Chives, Lumpfish Caviar, Sour Cream and Herring Red Row. Fresh Idaho Cantaloupe and Toasted English Muffin

Scrambled Meadowlark Farms Eggs
with
Garden Fresh Chives, Lumpfish Caviar, Sour Cream and Herring Red Row
Fresh Idaho Cantaloupe and Toasted English Muffin