Category Archives: Special Dinners

Stu Smith, Smith-Madrone Winery, Visits Boise

07 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by in Cottonwood Grille, Main Dish, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurants, Special Dinners, Special Events, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wine Dinners

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On November 6, Stu Smith from Smith-Madrone Winery and Vineyards, visited Boise and we were honored to go to dinner with him at the Cottonwood Grille. From the Smith-Madrone website, there is a link Here, we read that “Brothers Stuart and Charles Smith are the vineyard managers and winemakers of Smith-Madrone Winery. Their family lineage includes the Fetherolf family, German farmers from the Palatinate region, who came to America on the Good Ship Thistle in 1730 … He is an active member of the G.O.N.A.D.S. (the Gastronomical Order for Nonsensical and Dissipatory Society), founded in the early 1980s by a group of Napa vintners who meet for lively monthly lunches, chronicled in James Conaway’s books Napa: An American Eden and Napa: The Far Side of Eden … He enjoys barbecuing for guests at the winery; favorites are the (Smith-Madrone) Cabernet-marinated butterflied barbecued lamb and (Smith-Madrone) Cabernet Risotto (made on a camp stove as people gather around).” Here are some photos from the evening. Enjoy! We did. Be sure to Left-Click the photos to see enlarged. The photo here is the hearth at the Cottonwood Grille. Cheers!

Stu Smith and Robin

Cristi Takeda from The Buzz in Boise, joined us for dinner and a lively discussion. Thank-You, Cristi for being there.

Also joining us for the special event, were Peggy and Eric Behrens. Peggy helps out at The Buzz at their Monthly Wine Dinners. Glad you and Eric could make it, Peggy.

Stu was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the 2006 Fraser Vineyards (ID) Cabernet Sauvignon. We pulled these three from our cellar to have a comparison tasting with the Smith-Madrone 2010 Cab. All of these wines were awesome.

Stu brought with him the 2011 Smith-Madrone Riesling and the 2012 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon. These were two excellent wines. Thank-You for sharing, Stu.

For appetizers, we each selected an appetizer we wanted and then shared it with the wines. Here is a cheese plate, CG Cheese Plate. An assortment of cheeses served with crostini, fruit, candied walnuts and crackers

And Crab Cakes, Fresh Pacific crab mixed with shallots and Pernod, cooked
crisp and served with lemon beurre blanc. We also had Croquetas, Traditional Basque fritters made with creamed béchamel and served with rumescu sauce

One of us had this Tomahawk Chop. Yum!

We also had North American Elk, Premium elk loin, sautéed, sliced and served with a green peppercorn sauce; Northwest Premium Buffalo, Fresh buffalo sirloin sautéed, sliced, and served with a rich Cabernet Sauce. It was over cooked. Lemon Roasted Chicken, All natural chicken roasted with rosemary and lemon pepper, served with a lemon scallion cream sauce. Different soups were also on out table. Overall, a good dinner, with few exceptions, and some terrific wines. Oh, almost forgot to mention. We opened the evening with a 2010 Pend d’Oreille Chardonnay from the Vickers Vineyard at Sunny Slope.

Dinner At Maggie’s Place

29 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in Chicken, Comfort Food, Main Dish, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Salad, Special Dinners, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?

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A perfectly delightful evening at Maggie’s Place on Sunday night. Chef Maggie did an awesome job with the Chicken and Dumplings, again! And as always, she served up the perfect chalice of Stella Artois. And Robin chipped in with a great Huckleberry Pie. I feel so lucky to have two super-duper Chefs. Well here, you be the judge and look at these photos. Be sure to Left-Click on the photos and see a larger view. Cheers and Goot Essen!

A good German Sekt wine to go with the chicken. Not too sweet and a little frizant – bubbly.

A super great and delicious salad. Who would have thought that avocado and sweet red onion would go so well together. (Go full screen on this one. The colors are so delicious.)

And the star of the show! Maggie’s Chicken and Dumplings. Yum-O!!!!

Huckleberry Pie fresh out of the oven. Another gastronomic delight! It is not often that one can get huckleberries.

Yum!!!

So there you are. Such a treat. Such a joy! And if you clean your computer screen and go Full Screen to enlarge the photos, you could probably eat right off the screen. Try it. You’ll like it! Mikey would, if we could find him.

The Buzz Quarterly Wine Dinner and Le Cafe de Paris Breakfast

22 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in Breakfast, Food, Main Dish, Meatless Monday, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Pork, Restaurants, Special Dinners, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?

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Sunday, Oct 21, found us at another fantastic Quarterly Wine Dinner at the Buzz in Boise.Great event and great food and wines. Look at what we had and sorry if you missed this. Be sure to Left-Click for a larger view of the photos.  And as a matter of record, Christi will not tell you the cost of these wines before the end of the evening. She wants you, and rightly so, to judge the wine on its attributes and not on  the cost of the wine. Cheers!

Trio Bacon Potatoes
Butternut Squash Spread
Fried Mac and Cheese
2010 Toad Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay
13.9% alc. best with the Mac and Cheese [18] $14
2010 Barnard and Griffin Fume Blanc
12.8% alc best with the butternut squash [17] $12

Three Bean Salad
(I don’t normally like 3 bean salad, but this was awesome!)
2009 Blacksmith Syrah
14.4% alc hot! salad came through this wine. good food pairing [18] $16
2011 Alamos Red Blend
13.5% alc 50% Malbec, 25% Tempranillo, 25% Bernado great with the mushrooms in the salad [18] $13

Cream of Chipotle and Carrot Soup
(Great soup!)
2011 Tranche Rosé
12.9% alc Walla Walla great pairing with the spicy soup [19] $19
2007 Amador Foothill Red Blend
14.4% alc Grenache and Syrah blend in the Rhone style [18] $19

Pork Tenderloin
with
Whiskey Glazed Sweet Potatoes
Jalapeno Cornbread
(A superb main course!)
2009 Barton and Guestier Red Blend
13.5% alc [19] $13
2010 Tabali Pinot Noir 
13.5% alc both of these wines were an excellent selection with this entrée [19] $20

Pistachio Tea Cake
Panna Cotas
(What a great way to end a superb dinner!)
2010 Mothers Milk Shiraz
14.5% alc best to open this one 24 hours before serving [19] $25
2010 Cameron Hughes Zinfandel
15% alc a little “hot” for the delicacy of this dessert; still a good Zin, though [18] $16

So there you have our great dinner and adventure at the Buzz. An awesome dinner as usual with some really excellent wines. If you missed this one, maybe we’ll see you at the next Quarterly Dinner or maybe at the monthly Wine Dinner. Cheers!

And then on Monday morning – Meatless Monday Morning – we went to Le Café de Paris to meet a friend of us from Homedale, Gina. There we had breakfast. Some great toast and jam, but no pastries! That’s almost a Cardinal Sin. Almost. Gina bought several and took them back to Homedale with her. But here is what we had for breakfast and it was good. Enjoy!

Robin had this really delicious looking
Fried Egg Croissant
Fresh Fruit Bowl

I had an excellent
Omelet
asparagus, Gruyère cheese, mushrooms
Fried Potatoes with Green Onion

So, as you can see, we ate our way through the weekend. Oh. I didn’t tell you? For the homecoming game at BSU (they beat UNLV, 32-7) we had a great meatloaf. See Comfort Food at Halftime on this blog. Super weekend. It’s salad tonight. Cheers!

Wine Dinner Featuring Soup! Yup! Soup.

10 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Fruits, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Soup, Special Dinners, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?

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Yes indeed! You read that right! A wine dinner at The Buzz and the courses were all soup. I guess, as Joe said, we can call it a “soupr” evening. And it really was.
Cristi spends a lot of time preparing these dinners and she does her homework. For instance, here is some of what she said about soup. “Soup is generally a warm food; Often made by combining ingredients with a liquid. [Soup is] traditionally classified in two categories. Clear as in bouillon or consomme and Thick as in Puree – thickened with a starch; Bisque – Thickened with cream or pureed meat; Veloutes – Thickened with egg, butter or cream. Generally there is more liquid in a soup than in a stew.”
She goes on to let us know that there are also several different types of soup. “Fruit Soup – Frequently cold when fruit is in season; Fruksuppe (Norwegian) dried fruit; Hot Fruit Soup with meat. Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Chinese cuisines; Generally absent from Americas, Africa, Western European, Japan and Southeast Asia or Oceania cuisines. Cold Soups – At or below room temperature and they can be sweet or savory. Asian Soup – Generally broth based and many use tofu, soy bean curd – low-calorie and high protein.”
These are the type of “educational sessions” that she presents at the tastings. Extremely interesting. Enjoy these photos of the evening and hope to see you at the next Buzz Wine Dinner. Be sure to Left-Click the photos for a larger view. Cheers!

Joe brought this awesome wine – limited quantity – for some to share. Thanks Joe.

Beer/Cheddar Soup with Pretzels
(Awesome soup!)
2010 Wente Merlot
13.5% alc went very well with the soup. big and bold [17]

Avocado-Buttermilk Soup with Crab
(This is a WOW soup!)
2009 Chateau de la Roche Sauvignon Blanc
13.0% alc. absolutely wonderful with the avocado and crab. [19]

Chunky Tomato-Fruit Gazpacho
(A great palate cleanser.)
2011 Jean-Luc Colombo White Rhone
13.0% alc. good wine with the fruit. great pairing [18]

Lentil Soup with Kielbasa and Kale
(Don’t let the kale fool you. A good soup.)
2006 Lan Crianza Tempranillo
13.5% alc. great balance with the spiciness of the soup [18]

Chilled Pear Soup and a Chocolate Soup
(WOW!)
2008 Pillar Box Cabernet Sauvignon
14.5% alc. I thought it went best with the chocolate, but our table had a difference of opinion. [18]

So there you have our evening. It was a great evening and I think everyone learned a lot about soups and pairing them with wine.

Chili Rellenos

07 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by in Photos By: Bob Young, Rice Products, Special Dinners, What's For Dinner?

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Once again, Robin made delicious and awesome Chili Rellenos. Look at this dinner. And thank-you Maggie, for the fresh salsa. It went extremely well with the dinner. Left-Click the photos to see full screen.

Chili Rellenos cooking.

Chili Rellenos with Fresh Salsa
Rice with Black Beans and Roasted Green Tomatoes

That’s our Maggie! Check that look out.

Chilie Rellenos For Dinner

21 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in Cinco de Mayo, Main Dish, Mexican Food, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe By: Robin Young, Special Dinners, Traditional Food, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?

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The other night while watching the BSU football game – they won over BYU, 7-6. Not the best of games for BSU – Robin made some wonderful Robin’s Chilies Relleños as a Living Room Tail-Gate Party. These were absolutely the best I have ever had. I will also link the recipe in the “Boise Foodie Blog Recipes” listed above. The photo on the left shows the poblanos being roasted on the stove. There is also a recipe attached to the Chilie Rellenos for a salsa. But do remember – Salsa and Chilie Rellenos are very local and recipes may change with location. Here are some more photos. Enjoy!

Peeling the “char” from the poblano pepper.

Frying the rellenos in corn oil.

Chilie Rellenos and Tamale, Fresh Fruit, Fresh Salsa and Blue Corn Chips. And, of course, an Inversion IPA in the background.

A Bronco meal! Check those colors.

Two Awesome Meals

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Food, Grillin' and Chillin', Main Dish, Party Time, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Pork, Recipe By: Robin Young, Rice, Special Dinners, What's For Dinner?

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Two awesome meals this weekend. This one is one Robin made in the motor home’s microwave while we were at the Snake River RV Resort in Homedale, Idaho.

Fresh Made Popovers filled with Fresh Egg Salad

This was simply delicious!

And then tonight we had

Grilled Pork Ribs
Chinese Black Rice
Fresh Made Sweet and Sour Sauce

This was another great meal. I have never had Chinese Black Rice, but it is delicious! Fruity. Maybe a little sweet. Great with the pork. We had grilled three racks of these ribs and they were all super. Cheers!

Two Scrumptious Meals At Our House

07 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by in Captain's Shack, Photos By: Bob Young, Special Dinners, What's For Dinner?

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These were so much fun to do. Robin did an awesome job with the Blueberry Pancakes. Just look!!

Our dinner menu –
Black Beans with Herbed Rice
Lettuce with Fresh Cold Beets
Blue Corn Chips and Lime
Fresh Watermelon Slushy

And then breakfast this morning –
Fresh Whole Grain Blueberry Pancakes
Wild Huckleberry Syrup
Bacon

Edible Flowers at the Buzz

11 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by in Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Special Dinners, Special Information, What's For Dinner?

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Another great monthly wine dinner at the Buzz – Edible Flowers and Wine! I’m glad that Cristi duplicates the menu and wines two nights in a row – Tuesday and Wednesday – so that we can always make one. Tuesdays seem to work best for us. Here Peggy displays the 2010 Sun Garden Riesling that was a good wine. We bought some. Look at what we had for dinner and the wines to accompany the courses and all for $15 per person. Thanks, Cristi and Tommy for an awesome dinner.

Four Season Pizza
artichoke, olive, mushroom, salami

2010 Twin Vines Vinho Verde
10% alc, [13] $10.00

Cream of Dandelion Soup

2010 Bila Haut Cotes du Roussillon Villages
14.0% alc, [17] $15.00

Spring Mix Salad
(Beautiful!)

2010 Sun Garden Riesling
9.5% alc, [18] $13.00

Lavender Crusted Pork
Caprese Salad
Roasted Rosemary Red Potatoes

NV Basel Cellars Earth Series Volume 2
14.6% alc, [18] $20.00

White Cake
with
Rose Water Icing
(Beautiful presentation!)

NV Willamete Valley Oregon Blossom
11% alc [17] $11.00

Inquiring Minds Need To Know!

08 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in Special Dinners, Special Information, Spice Blends

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You will be surprised at some of these food items. How they are grown and how they are produced. Take a look at 8 of the Worlds Most Expensive Ingredients. Have fun. Which would you like to try? I think this melon, a Yubari King Melon, with a good cup of the coffee. Take a look. Here is some info on this melon. “The choicest melon pairs have been auctioned in Japan for as much as $26,000, but a standard Yubari melon costs between $50 and $100 in Japanese department stores.” The coffee, on the other hand, “Kopi luwak, or civet coffee, is coffee that has passed through the digestive system of a nocturnal catlike animal called a civet. . . Kopi luwak retails for as much as $500 per pound, or about $1 per gram.” Goot Essen!