A Visit To Da Vinci’s Italian in Eagle

06 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by Bob and Robin in 3-Stars, Boise Restaurants, Capers, Classic Cuisines, Cooking Styles, da Vinci's Italian, Dinner With Robin, Green Salad, Italian Food, Pasta, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurant Reviews, Restaurants To Try, Salads, Salt, Tuscan Cuisine, What's For Dessert?, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wines - Idaho

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Da Vinci, Tuscan cuisine, veal, veal marsala, veal picatta

Overall, a good visit and meal at da Vinci’s Italian in Eagle, ID last night. Overall good flavors in the food and good wines. My only negative comment is that there seemed to be an overuse of salt. Things were salty. But the layers of flavors – after you got by the salt – were very good. Had it not been for the overuse of salt, we would have rated da Vinci’s a 4-Star restaurant. Instead, we rate this as a 3-Star (out of 5-Stars) restaurant. You can see their menu at Yelp. From their website, “All Full Size Entrees Include Our Bottomless House Salad Bowl With Da Vinci’s Homemade Italian Dressing And Freshly Baked Tuscan Bread, Or Substitute A Caesar Salad For An Additional $2.95.all Chicken And Veal Dishes Are Complemented With A Side Of Angel Hair Pasta With Aglio Olio Or Tuscan Tomato Sauce. Add Extra Chicken $2.50 Add Extra Veal $4.50” Here are some photos from the evening. Enjoy!

The “party” area.

Art on the walls.

Table ambiance.

Robin had,

Veal Piccata
Veal scaloppini sauteed with lemon, white wine, capers and garlic

Bob had –

Veal Marsala
Veal scaloppini sauteed with sweet marsala wine and mushrooms

The 2010 Terra Nativa Cabernet Sauvignon went very well with this veal. The wine was light enough that it did not overpower the subtlety of the veal and the marsala sauce did not interfere with the wine. Good paring.

We shared –

Homemade Tiramisu
Coffee and rum-soaked chocolate sponge cake layered with mascarpone cream, dusted with cocoa, and garnished with chocolate pieces

Happily, Healthy Wine Tasting

10 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Carrots, Chicken, Dill, Ginger, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipes, Salads, Soup, Special Events, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wine Dinners

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lentils, the Buzz, The Buzz Coffee and Wine, wine club dinner, Wine Dinners

Cristi, in her Queen of Wine Crown, led us through a wonderfully different Wine Club Dinner last night at The Buzz here in Boise. (Her recipes for these dinners can be found at Buzz Wine Blog.) Several interesting points that she made. (1) “Superfood is a marketing term used to describe foods with supposed health benefits. [The term ‘superfood’ is] not commonly used by dieticians.” She also pointed out that there is no evidence to support that 8 – 8oz glasses of water a day is beneficial. However, soaking in water relaxes us; cleanses us; sounds of running water are soothing and swimming is good exercise to name a few. Best rule of thumb for water consumption is thirst! The amount of water intake varies on size and activity and general overall health.
As for wine: There is a 16 year Harvard study showing that drinking wine reduces heart attack. That does not mean a gallon a day of wine – 2 oz a day would be a better target. A French study showed that wine reduces the risk of heart disease. A 12 year study in Amsterdam shows that limited amounts of wine reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
And to balance out the wine, here is what we had for dinner. Enjoy the photos; check out the link above for recipes from some of the wine dinners and Left-Click any of the photos to see them larger. Cheers!

Some of the 7 wines we had.

Chicken Satay with Kale Chips 2011 Tapiz Chardonnay 13.9% alc. well rounded and went very well with the kale and the yogurt sauce. [18] $20.00

Chicken Satay with Kale Chips and Yogurt and Honey Mustard Sauce
2011 Tapiz Chardonnay
13.9% alc. well rounded and went very well with the kale and the yogurt sauce. [18] $20.00

Ginger Lentil Soup (delicious!) 2012 Revelry Merlot 13.6% alc. this was a superb match with the spiciness of the ginger in the soup. perfect paring! [18] $17.00

Ginger Lentil Soup
(delicious! Robin enjoyed this.)
2012 Revelry Merlot
13.6% alc. this was a superb match with the spiciness of the ginger in the soup. perfect paring! [18] $17.00

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
(Delicious!)
2012 Tangent Albarino
13.5% alc super paring. went especially well with the dressing and the oxalic acid of the spinach. another great paring! [19] $16.00

Beef Stroganoff Dill Carrots Cauliflower with Peas 2012 Vistalba 14.0% alc it was surprising how well this plate went with the wine. even the fresh dill pared well. [18] $22.00

Beef Stroganoff and Noodles
Dill Carrots
Cauliflower with Peas
2012 Vistalba
14.0% alc it was surprising how well this plate went with the wine. even the fresh dill pared well. [18] $22.00

Chess Pie with Raspberries
Henkell Brut
11.5% alc. good paring with the pie, even for this non-sparkling wine enthusiast. it did go well with the berries. (We purchased 2 bottles.) [17] $16.00

A good – great healthy meal! Great wine parings. Overall a great food preparation. Cheers and hope to see you at the Wine Dinner in January.

3 Awesome Plates at The Captain’s Shack

11 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Acme Bake Shop Breads, Acme Bakery, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Chicken, Dinner With Robin, Photos By: Bob Young, Quinoa and Grains, Salads, Scallops, Seafood, Talapia, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?

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braised, eggplant, Frencmans Gulch Winery, talapia

Really had fun preparing these three dinners. Some were better than others, but all were good. The quinoa in the Eggplant/Quinoa side dish, was under cooked and therefore still crunchy. Never did fluff.
The braise scallops and the braised tilapia were both very good. And the asparagus and onions were super. Here, take a look at these. No recipes available as these were put together “on the spot”. As the show says, open your baskets and make something from the ingredients. Really fun to work in the kitchen this way. Cheers!

Stuffed Chicken Breasts spinach, mushrooms and onion Acme Bake Shop Rye toast Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Stuffed Chicken Breasts
spinach, mushrooms and onion
Acme Bake Shop Rye Toast
Mashed Potatoes and Chicken Gravy

Chicken cut to show the stuffing.

Braised Talapia and Salsa Braised Eggplant and Onion with Quinoa

Braised Talapia and Pico de Gallo
Braised Eggplant and Onion with Quinoa
2012 Frenchman’s Gulch Chardonnay

Orange Braised Scallops Sweet Potatoes Green Salad with Bean Sprouts and Cucumber Asparagus 2013 Bedrock Winery Abrente

Orange Braised Scallops
Sweet Potatoes
Green Salad with Bean Sprouts, Heirloom Tomato Wedges and Cucumber
Asparagus with Orange Zest
2013 Bedrock Winery Abrente

Cruise Night At The Buzz

13 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Classic Cuisines, Dessert, Dinner With Friends, Dinner With Robin, Ethnic Foods, French Foods, Greens, Grilled Vegetables, Italian Food, New Zealand Food, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Salads, Spanish Food, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?, Wines - French, Wines - Italian, Wines - New Zealand, Wines - Spanish, Wines - Tuscan

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Buzz, Cruise Food, The Buzz Coffee and Wine, Wine, Wine Dinner Buzz Bistro

The wines tonight came from around the world with stops in Italy, Spain, New Zealand, Tuscany and France. The food came from different cruise lines and indeed was Cruise Food. And if you have ever been on a cruise and have eaten onboard, you know what a dedicated support team the kitchen Exec Chef has.
When Cristi prepares these tastings, she also has a dedicated support team and it is about time that I recognize them and tell them publically how much we appreciate their time and effort.
Tommy, Cristi’s husband, keeps the dinner plates moving and remembers that I like bread with my meals.
Austin and Bailey, Cristi’s children, help by serving, bussing the tables and setting the tables up.
Peggy Hand-Behrens researches the menu, sits down with Cristi and pairs the wines with the food, and then prepares some of the entrées. She also helps to pour the wine and prepare the dishes. She is one busy Lady!
Joseph Geist, when he is available, helps to pour the wines.
To all of these folks a BIG Thank-You! Your efforts are really appreciated and without your support, the program may not exist. So if you participate and enjoy these dinners, please let these folks know how much you appreciate them and the service they give.

Beef Carpaccio (Celebrity Lines), Italy
2011 Zonin Valpolicella
14% alc a good wine with this salad [16]

Chilled Peach Soup (Royal Caribbean) Spain
2011 Tierras Guindas
13.5% alc. a super good wine with this super good soup [17]

BBQ Sweet Potato Salad (Carnival) New Zealand 2013 Wild South Sauvignon Blanc 1.5% alc really6 a super good wine particularly with this entree. [18]

BBQ Sweet Potato Salad (Carnival) New Zealand
2013 Wild South Sauvignon Blanc
12.5% alc really a super good wine particularly with this entrée. [18]

Jamaican Jerk Chicken (Princess) Spanish
2001 LAN Rioja
13.5% alc. another superb wine paired well with the spiciness of the chicken. [18]
(notice the bread?)

Cream Brule (Royal Caribbean) France 2013 Bila-Haut 13.5% alc. a good match with the Cream Brule [18]

Crème Brûlée (Royal Caribbean) France
2013 Bila-Haut
13.5% alc. a good match with the Crème Brûlée [18]

A Night In Shangri-La

02 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Avocado, Beer and Food, Blueberries, East Indian Food, Ethnic Foods, Housemade Soup, Locavore, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurant Reviews, Salads, Shangri-La Tea Room, Tea, Things To Do, Vegetarian Foods, What's For Dessert?, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

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Cecilia Rinn Starbelly Dancers, Shangri-La, tea, vegan, vegetarian

The Shangri-La Tea Room and Cafe, that is! Good music with the Fleet Street Klezmer Band and Dancing by the Cecilia Rinn Starbelly Dancers. And then, there is always the awesomely different food served up. Vegetarian at that. But delicious. Easily a 4-Star, if not higher, out of 5-Stars restaurant. Don’t wrinkle up your nose at the thought of a vegan dinner. This is really superior. We’ll be back! Enjoy these photos of the evening and Left-Click any of them to see enlarged. Cheers!

They do have other things besides tea. Yes, they have a fairly good selection of beer and wine.

But with close to 100 different teas to select from, you should find one you like.

And some of the teas you can steep right at your table. This is a Tea Flower.

A wonderful Coconut Soup to star thing off with. And housemade, as is most of their food, salad, sandwich, soup and dessert selections.

A wonderful Coconut Soup to start things off. And housemade, as is most of their salad, sandwich, soup and dessert selections.

How about this Mock Tuna sandwich? This is absolutely delicious and one reason I keep going back.

Or this Mock Tuna and Crackers appetizer.

Or maybe you would like this Veggie Burger made with goat cheese, mango and peach salsa, spring greens, walnuts and portobello mushrooms. This is almost better than the Mock Tuna.

How about the Veggie Burger Salad?

Then for4 dessert a delicious Blueberry Lemon Muffin Cookie.

Then for dessert a delicious Blueberry Lemon Muffin Cookie.

This Power Pudding is to die for!! It’s like eating a chocolate mousse mixed with nice, creamy butter.

After eating all of these goodies, one must have entertainment.

Body art on one of the dancers!

Fleetstreet Klezmer Band. Victoria Kostenko on tyhe violin. Schlomo Kostenko vocals and bass fiddle and Mathew Voorhees on the accordion.

Fleet Street Klezmer Band. Victoria Kostenko on the violin. Shlomo Kostenko vocals and bass fiddle and Mathew Voorhees on the accordion.

The Cecilia Rinn Starbelly Dancer performed.

The Cecilia Rinn Starbelly Dancers performed.

Some the excellent dancers.

Even the guys get to dance!!!

Great Meatball Dinner

22 Thursday May 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Acme Bakery, Boise Artisan Bakery's, Boise Farmers Market, Captain's Shack, Cream Sauces, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Dinner With Robin, Herbs and Spices, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Photos By: Bob Young, Salads, Squash, What's For Dinner?, Zucchini

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fried sage, ground pork, ground turkey, parsley sauce, sage, squash, summer squash, zucchini

Not to long ago, we were watching the Cooking Channel and Bobby Flay came on with an add. He was making meatballs and then using a yogurt and parsley sauce with them. I think we duplicated that tonight. We made our meatballs out of a 50/50 blend of ground turkey and pork – not sausage – just ground pork. Here is the dinner we ended up with. Super good! Cheers.

Turkey/Pork Meatballs
with
Parsley Yogurt Sauce and Fried Fresh Sage

Scalloped Potatoes

Sauteed Summer Squash and Zucchini

Radicchio e Fagioli

Toasted Acme Bake Shop Sourdough

Herbs and Wine at The Buzz

14 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Dinner With Friends, Food Photos, Herbs, Herbs and Spices, Housemade Soup, Photos By: Bob Young, Salads, Special Dinners, Spices, Sriracha Chili Sauce, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wine Dinners

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Buzz Coffee & Wine Events, Wine, Wine Dinners

I would be remiss if I did not send our condolences to Tommy and his family for his loss over the weekend.

We had a very quiet and intimate wine tasting at the Buzz last night – Herbs and Wine was the topic. Great topic and job, Cristi! Your choices of topics is what makes these Wine Dinners so very interesting. If you live in Boise, or the surrounding area and you missed this event, you can redeem yourself tonight as the program is repeated. The program starts at 6:30pm and costs $20.00 per person for a 5 Course dinner and at least 6 wines. Here is what we had and the wines to go with dinner. Cheers!

Herbed Quiche
2012 Wente Chardonnay
13.5% alc.a wonderful chardonnay with this quiche. [19]

Herbed Zucchini Soup 2012 Monte Fresco 13% alc. good choice with the spice in the soup. great soup

Herbed Zucchini Soup
2012 Monte Fresco
13% alc. good choice with the spice in the soup. Awesome soup! [17]

Spiced Grape Salad
2012 Zolo Bonardo
13.8% alc. great paring with the salad. big enough to go with the radish [19]

Herbed Chicken
Broccoli
Saffron Tomato Rice
2012 Fernandez Gomez Rioja
14% alc. superb match. went very well with the broccoli. [19]

Lavender Cupcake with Honey Frosting
2012 Tranche
13.2% alc. I thought the balance was a little off on this one. The cupcake, however, was awesome! [17]

Scallops and Lobster For Dinner

12 Monday May 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Acme Bake Shop Breads, Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Boise Artisan Bakery's, Boise Farmers Market, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Dinner With Robin, Lobster, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Locavore, Photos By: Bob Young, Purple Sage Farms, River View Gardens, Salads, Scallops, Seafood, Sourdough Bread, Volcanic Farms, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wines - California

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Acme Bake Shop, Boise Farmers Market, lobster, ravenswood chardonnay, ravenswood winery, seared sea scallops

Braised Sea Scallops in a Butter and Garlic Sauce. Farm Fresh Salad. 1995 Ravenswood Winery Sangiacomo Chardonnay and Toasted Acme Bake Shop Sourdough. The wine went very well with dinner. This is still a superb wine whose time has come. Time to drink it.

Braised Sea Scallops
in
butter and garlic sauce

Farm Fresh Salad
with
tomatoes and carrot threads

1995 Ravenswood Winery Sangiacomo Chardonnay
Toasted Acme Bake Shop Sourdough

The wine went very well with dinner. This is still a superb wine whose time has come. Time to drink it. And then we can open our 2005 supply of this fantastic chardonnay. Hope it goes as well with this great seafood combination. The components for the salad were all from the Boise Farmers Market as was the Acme Bake Shop sourdough bread. We always eat so well at The Captain’s Shack!

Delightful Visit at Sizzler In Boise

08 Thursday May 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Avocado, Beer and Food, Brocolli, Cuts of Beef, Dinner With Robin, Lobster, Main Dish, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurant Reviews, Restaurants, Salads, Seafood, Shell Fish, Sizzler, What's For Dinner?

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lobster, salad bar, sizzler, steak

I know. It’s a chain. But let me tell you, this was a surprisingly good visit. The Service People were tremendous. Happy. Pleasant. They appear to like to work here. The service was tremendous. I met the Manager and he was very pleasant and a pleasure to talk to. And the food was very good. But what really impressed me was the salad bar. Huge variety of objects to put on your salad. Even 1/2 avocados. And fruit. They even have a taco bar. And a dessert bar. An again, it was all really good food. We had the Steak and Lobster. The steak was well prepared and delicious. It was by no means as tender as that we have had at Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa, but the flavor was every bit as good! Think about that. The lobster was a little small, but again was cooked well. Not rubbery. I cut it with my fork. Just look at these photos. And here is a link to their Web Site. Enjoy. We did and we will return. For a chain restaurant, it is well worth 4-Stars out of 5-Stars.

Crab Salad

Salad Bar Choices

How many salad bars have avocados? Or Kiwi? And a good selection of fresh fruit?

At least 3 types of lettuce for your salad. And great toppings, too. I’d go back just for the salad bar! It’s that good.

Salad bar toppings.

Our Steak and Lobster dinners. Wonderful mushrooms and onions. And broccoli. You make the choices for steak toppings, rareness of the steak and vegetable selections. Robin had a baked potato with all the fixins’.

Cinco de Mayo Enchiladas

06 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Beef, Beer and Food, Boise Farmers Market, Captain's Shack, Cinco de Mayo, Classics, Dinner With Robin, Enchiladas, Ethnic Foods, Local Markets, Mexican Food, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipes, Salads, What's For Dinner?

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casserole dish, diced onion, enchilada sauce, Whole Grain Tortilla

What a great use for some hamburger – Thanks Brook! Lightly fry the crumbled hamburg. Add diced onion, garlic and Ro-Tel and cook until heated. Place on one end of a 12″, Whole Grain Tortilla and roll up, folding in the ends. Place in a casserole dish and add enchilada sauce and cheese. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. Serve with a green salad and slaw. You could serve with rice of black beans, too. Serve with Dos Equis. Then for dessert, fresh made Flan. Yum-O!