2015 – Here We Come!

30 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5 Hour Duck, Acme Bake Shop, Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Appetizers, Bread, Captain's Shack, Carrots, Celebrations, Comfort Food, Crockpot, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Dinner With Robin, Duck, Grilled Vegetables, Holiday Gatherings, Holiday Menu, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Meadowlark Farms, Photos By: Bob Young, Slow Cooking, Special Dinners, Special Events, Tomatoes, What's For Dinner?

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new years day, new years eve

Well, 2014 has been a good year. We spent some time on a houseboat in Portland, OR. We saw my brother and sister in Jacksonville, FL – I had not seen them for “too many years”. We saw old high school classmates in Florida, too. Had a great time in the kitchen and will be making our own pasta from now on – we got a pasta machine for our Kitchen Aid – and we will be making our own pie crusts now. The store bought ones although being good, have too much salt in them. Buddy, pictured here with his Teddy Bear, is now 12 years old. Here is how we are preparing for the New Years celebrations – Our menu.

New Years Eve
East Coast Crab Dip
Stuffed Mushroom Caps
Fried Baby Artichokes with a Yogurt Dip
Bacon Wrapped Scallops

New Years Day
Open House at Meadowlark Farms in Nampa. We are making an Italian Pot Roast with as much local products as possible; Beef, onions, carrots and potatoes are all local.

Here are some photos of our meals for the past few days; Our New Years Prep meals.

Start off with

Shrimp Pasta
Acme Bake Shop Garlic Sourdough

5 Hour Chicken
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Creamed Onions and Spinach

We have done 5 Hour Goose, 5 Hour Chicken and the original 5 Hour Duck. The duck is by far the best.

Baked Ham
Grilled Zucchini Squash
Baked Yam

So there is our Lead-Up dinners and then our menu for New Years Eve and New Years Day. And of course, there will be wine from our cellar and Martinelli’s also. What are you having? Staying home? Going out? Be careful and have a Happy New Year! Cheers!

Skillet Chicken and Dumplings and Crab Fritters

02 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Acme Bake Shop Holiday Breads, Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Boise Farmers Market, Captain's Shack, Carrots, Cast Iron, Chicken, Chicken and Dumplings, Comfort Food, Crab, Crab Fritters, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Dinner With Robin, Heirloom Tomatoes, Housemade Tartar Sauce, Local Markets, Main Dish, Oak Knoll Winery, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe by: Robin and Bob Young, Salad, Salmon, Seafood, Special Dinners, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wines - NW

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chicken and dumplings, crab, crab fritters, Oak Knoll Winery, Skillet Chicken and Dumplings

Ah! Two really delicious, although somewhat different, dinners. A differently delicious chicken and dumpling dinner all done in a skillet by Chef Ron Lock, Skillet and Chicken Dumplings and a delicious variation to crab cakes, crab fritters! Crab Fritters. Both recipes and dinners are well worth a try. If you don’t like crab, try using salmon. Here are the photos from the meals. Enjoy!

Skillet Chicken and Dumplings cooking!

Skillet Chicken and Dumplings
Acme Bake Shop Cranberry Sourdough Bread
Housemade Cranberry Relish

Crab Fritters Fresh Salad Greens Heirloom Tomatoes Housemade Tartar Sauce 2013 Oak Knoll Muller Thurgau

Crab Fritters
Fresh Salad Greens
Heirloom Tomato Wedges
Housemade Tartar Sauce
2013 Oak Knoll Muller Thurgau

5-Hour Duck For Dinner!

19 Sunday Oct 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in 5 Hour Duck, Buy Idaho, Cream Sauces, Dinner With Family, Dinner With Robin, Duck, Idaho Wine, Local Farmers Markets, Main Dish, Mirepoix, Photos By: Bob Young, Slow Cooking, Special Dinners, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

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5 hour roasted duck, Baked Sweet Potato, Creamed Spinach, Grand Marnier, Idaho wines

Oh yes once again! We do like the duck done this way. Made Creamed Spinach with Grand Marnier Cream and Baked Sweet Potato and Duck Gravy. Certainly was delicious! And then top that off with a super good 1985 Rose Creek Winery Cabernet Sauvignon. That is still a super wine. On a scale of 1-20, easily a 19.7. So close to the perfect 29 year old Cab. Enjoy these photos. Cheers!

A perfect wine! Great job Jamie Martin, winemaker, now at Cold Springs Winery in Hammett, Idaho

5-Hour Duck resting after coming from the oven. Roasted some sweet potatoes with it. Yummers!

5-Hour Duck
Creamed Spinach with Grand Marnier Cream
Baked Sweet Potato with Duck Gravy

Oktoberfest At “The Buzz”

15 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bacon, Beer and Food, Cabbage, Cakes, Celebrations, Classic Cuisines, Dinner With Friends, Ethnic Foods, German Food, Oktoberfest, Photos By: Bob Young, Photos By: Robin Young, Pork, Special Beers, Special Dinners, Special Events, Special Information, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?, Wine Dinners, Wines - German

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Benedictine Abbey Weilhenstephan, Oktoberfest, Smit & Van Wyk

A good party at The Buzz last night for the October Wine Dinner – Oktoberfest! A little bit of a change in the program. There were two beers offered that were pretty good, especially the Weihenstephaner, which was a light and refreshing lager. Very drinkable. From the Smit & Van Wyk blog, “The world’s longest continuously used trademark goes to the Benedictine Abbey Weilhenstephan in Germany, which has been using the mark Weilhenstephaner to identify its beer since 1040 AD When Britain enacted its trademark registration statute in 1876, beer was first and second in line, Bass’s Red Triangle became U.K. Reg. 1 for pale ale, and its Red Diamond for strong ale became U.K. Reg. 2.” A fun night. Hope to see you7 next month on November 11 and/or 12 for “Party Foods to Prepare Ahead” along with “Holiday and Gift Wines”. Then Beaujolais Nouveau Night on November 20. Cheers!!

Brats, Pretzels, Mustard and Zwiebelkuchen
Weihenstaphaner Beer
7.7% alc. great with these appetizers. light and refreshing [19] $6.00, 16oz

“Zwiebelkuchen, which literally means onion cake in the German language, is either a one-crust pie made of steamed onions, diced bacon, cream, and caraway seeds on a yeast dough or a leavened dough that is particularly popular in the German wine-growing regions mostly of Rhenish Hesse, the Palatinate, Franconia, Baden and Swabia (a similar pie called Flammkuchen is also eaten in Alsace), or a quiche variant in Switzerland, traditionally eaten in Basel during the Carnival and in Bern for the Zibelemärit.” [Wikipedia]

Cucumber Salad
This was an awesome salad and Cristi said so very easy to make.
2015 Star Lane Sauvignon Blanc
14.2% alc. really good with this salad. [18] $22.00

Erbsensuppe mit Speck (Pea Soup with Bacon)
Il Canapone
14% alc. an OK wine that still went well with the soup. [16] $18.00

I think Cristi used ground pork. Speck is, “Speck Alto Adige PGI (German: Südtiroler Speck) is a dry-cured, lightly smoked ham (prosciutto in Italian), produced in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Parts of its production are regulated by the European Union under the protected geographical indication (PGI) status, also known as Tyrolean Speck.”

Pork and Apples with turnip and potato gratin and red cabbage 2011 Il Canapone 14% alc an OK wine that went pretty good with the pork [16] $18.00

Pork and Apples
with
turnip and potato gratin and red cabbage
Rye Bread
2011 Il Canapone
14% alc an OK wine that went pretty good with the pork [16] $18.00

German Chocolate Cake 2013 Monga Zin Carol Shelton [17] $21.00 good paring with the chocolate

German Chocolate Cake
2013 Monga Zin Carol Shelton
14.9% alc.good paring with the chocolate [17] $21.00

An interesting comment from Cristi about Oktoberfest mugs (steins) and attendance at the event. "Consumption about 5 million, 1-liter mugs [of beer] filled. Mugs are to be returned; Fine for stealing one is $60 US; security usually catches 150,000 each year, but the Hofbrau tent alone looses about 35,000 a year...6.3 million guests attended the 2014 Oktoberfest. 112 oxen, 48 calves and 6.4 million liters of beer were consumed. Tent security stopped 112,000 people from taking their mug home with them."

An interesting comment from Cristi about Oktoberfest mugs (steins) “Consumption about 5 million, 1-liter mugs [of beer] filled. Mugs are to be returned; Fine for stealing one is $60 US; security usually catches 150,000 each year, but the Hofbrau tent alone looses about 35,000 a year. ..6.3 million guests attended the 2014 Oktoberfest. 112 oxen, 48 calves and 6.4 million liters of beer were consumed. Tent security stopped 112,000 people from taking their mug home with them.” No, this is not one of “those” mugs!

Saint Lawrence Gridiron hosting Boise Farmers Market Festival

05 Sunday Oct 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Boise Farmers Market, Buy Idaho, Celebrations, Dinner With Friends, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Locavore, Party Time, Restaurant Reviews, Restaurants, Restaurants To Try, Saint Lawrence Gridiron, Special Dinners, Special Events, Special Information, What's For Dinner?

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Boise, Boise Farmers Market, Idaho Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Saint Lawrence Gridiron

The Saint Lawrence Gridiron, at 705 W Bannock Street in Boise, will be hosting a dinner spectacular for the Boise Farmers Market and The Idaho Center for Sustainable Agriculture tonight, Sunday, Oct 5. There are still tickets available and you may get them at the door. Or, for more information and to reserve your spot call (208) 345-9287. Tickets are $65.00 for a 5 Course Local Harvest Supper. Happy Hour starts at 4:00pm with dinner to follow at 5:00pm. See you there!

The telephone number on the flyer is incorrect. The correct one is (208) 345-9287

Lamb Dinner with Chris

03 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Apple, Brussels Sprouts, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Celebrations, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Dinner With Chris, Dinner With Family, Dinner With Robin, Herbs and Spices, Idaho Lamb, Lamb, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Main Dish, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipes, Special Dinners, Vegetables, What's For Dessert?, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wines - Italian

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Boise Farmers Market, Boneless Leg of Lamb, brussels sprouts, heirloom carrots, lamb

Yes, a full and complete Lamb Dinner with Chris. The occasion? I don’t know. Maybe “Just Because”. Here Oma Robin holds him the day after(?) he was born. Or is she still holding him after delivery? Anyway, a cute baby boy! And his birthday is just past. 24 years! So it makes this photo 24 years old! So on with the dinner. Enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed the dinner. Everything Chris – and us – like! Left-Click any of these photos to see them enlarged. Cheers! Oh! And Yes. Most of the ingredients of this meal were grown or raised locally. The lamb was a Felzien Farms lamb. Veggies from the Boise Farmers Market. Etc.

Rolled and Stuffed Bonelessx Leg of Lamg Orange Balsamic Brussels Sprouts Oven Roasted Rosemary and Thyme New Potatoes Oven Roasted Heirloom Carrots

Rolled and Stuffed Boneless Leg of Lamb
Oven Roasted Rosemary and Thyme New Potatoes
Orange Infused Balsamic Brussels Sprouts
Oven Roasted Heirloom Carrots

I boned the lamb and then rolled it with fresh oregano, fresh mint, salt and pepper and spinach. Then on the outside I dusted it lightly with Greek Spice. It was so yummy!

The dinner plated. We served this with a 2013 Honor Vera Garnacha. And believe it or not, it was just a little light with the Brussels sprouts. Other than that, it was a good match.

Skillet Apple Pie
with
Cinnamon Fresh Whipped Cream

This is so easy to make and so delicious. The only other thing, outside of the butter and brown sugar, to make this slightly better would be the addition of lattice designed bacon on top! Here is the recipe if you want it. Skillet Apple Pie recipe. (We added some fresh vanilla seeds to the mix too. Scrapped the bean to get the seeds.)

Robin’s 32nd Anniversary of her 39th Birthday!!

18 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Ahi Tuna, Appetizers, Beer and Food, Caesar Salad, Celebrations, Chandler's Steak House, Classic Cuisines, Classis Sauces, Dinner With Family, Dinner With Robin, Idaho Beef, Idaho Chefs, Joseph Swan Vineyards, Kobe Beef, Oysters, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurants, Restaurants To Try, Seafood, Spanish Wines, Special Dinners, What's For Dessert?, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wine Dinners, Wines - California, Wines - French, Wines - Idaho

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Chandlers, kobe beef, oysters, tuna

When one reaches a given year, let’s say 60 or there abouts, one really should celebrate ones birthday over several days. And one should have plenty of food and wine! I do believe that Robin had just that this year!! Happy Birthday, Honey! Let’s start the celebration on Sunday, September 14 with a dinner that Marnie and Mac made. Thanks to Sophia and Chris, too, for helping with this event. Look what we had.

Mac’s 2010 Mead!

Some pretty good IPA.

All the makings for some really good tacos. Pork, onions and tomatoes. Along with salsa and avocado.

And add some grilled flank steak and one has a delicious taco.

Stuffed Peppers for a side dish.

And Robin really likes Marnie’s Carrot Cake. (So do the rest of us!)

Then we had to rest for a while after eating all of this. This is the Birthday Rule: When it is your time to celebrate, YOU get to choose where you want to go for dinner. Any place in town. U-Pick-It! Robin chose Chandler’s Steak House this year. Good Choice. Look at this spread, and they knew it was her Birthday! Thank-You for a great dinner. The food, The Staff and the Wine were all super!

Robin at out table studying the Wine List.

We did have some great wine.

And it went very well with our dinners.

Start with these two delicious wines. Went very well with our seafood appetizers.

These two also went quite well with the appetizers.

Pacific Oysters
Freshly shucked oysters on the half shell, served on shaved ice with housemade mignonette sauce.
Kumomoto, Humbolt Bay, CA
Shigoku, Willapa Bay, WA

Tower of Tuna
Fresh ahi and hamachi tuna, diced and towered with avocado, tomato, red onion, red chili, ginger, and sesame seed vinaigrette with
Asian sesame crisps.

Now for these two awesome red wines with our entrees. Great choice!

Chandler’s Caesar Salad
Whole crisp leaves of romaine with our classic anchovy caesar dressing and garnished with parmesan cheese crouton and white anchovy.

American Kobe Beef
Snake River Farms crosses the premiere Japanese Wagyu breed with American Black Angus to create the American Kobe beef. This richly marbled beef is considered to be America’s best grade.

Veal Picatta
Scallopini cuts of fresh veal in a lemon,
butter and caper sauce, served with broccoli
raabe and orzo with sundried tomato

An awesome dessert wine.

Chocolate Volcano Cake with Grand Marnier Whipped Cream and Hot Fudge Sauce

Chocolate Volcano Cake
Grand Marnier Whipped Cream and Hot Fudge Sauce

Fresh Fruit Cobbler
Fresh, seasonal fruit baked in a vanilla crust
with house-made cinnamon ice cream

So there you have it. Several awesome meals. Here’s to next year!! Cheers.

Dinner at Bombay Grill

20 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Boise Adventures, Bombay Grill, Chicken, Classic Sauces, Comfort Food, Curry, Dinner and a Movie, Dinner With Robin, Indian Cooking, Indian Food, Lamb, Main Dish, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurants To Try, Rice, Special Dinners, Spices of India, Vegetarian Foods, What's For Dinner?

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Bombay Grill, indian food

And a super dinner it was! This is still my first pick for Indian food here in Boise. Easily rates 5-Stars out of 5. I spent a year in India, when I was 15, and I remember the smells of the fragrant spices. The Bombay Grill takes me back in time and brings back the enjoyable aromas and flavors of the spices and food. They do offer a full vegetarian menu, although we had chicken.
Then we went to see The Hundred-Foot Journey, a movie I highly recommend, especially if you like cooking. Basically, it tells a story of the clash between two cuisines, French and Indian. An Indian family buys a rundown restaurant across the street from a high end French restaurant. They remodel the building and open up their own restaurant. The movie mostly takes place in France. Here are some photos from the Bombay Grill, 928 W Main St, Boise, ID 83702, (208) 345-7888. I just wish their website was up and running. Enjoy!

We arrived at Bombay Grill about 10 minutes before they opened. We were some of the first to be seated. Here you can see the interior of the restaurant.

Good appetizers.

A nice light Lager from India.

Robin had a medley of entrees. It gave here an idea of the range of the cooking style and the ingredients used.

Robin had a sampling of entrees. It gave her an idea of the range of the cooking style and the ingredients used.

I always like the curry. Here is a chicken curry entree. Just spicy enough without being overpowering. Thanks to the Chef, Mr Singh, for coming to our table and talking to us. Your food is superb!

August At “The Buzz”

09 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Beer and Food, Dinner With Robin, Healthy Eating, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Special Dinners, Special Events, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?, Wine Dinners

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Buzz Coffee & Wine Events, the Buzz, The Buzz Coffee and Wine, Wine Dinners

I just received this from Cristi at The Buzz in Boise. It looks like an exciting month. Hope to see you there. We have our beer mugs there, do you have yours? For when you come in to have a nice mug after work? Tommy will keep yours on display if you bring him one. These monthly wine dinners are one of the best wine dinner buys in Boise. 5 course meal and at least 5 wines, and sometimes more. If you are missing these, you really should try to make one. Just call for reservations. Hope to see you there, Joe Dewey! Cheers!

August at The Buzz

Hope that everyone is enjoying the last little bit of summer, we will be glad when it does cool down a little bit. We have some fun events coming up. Our music schedule is 15th Larry Clark, 22 Nancy Kelly. On August 16th we will be hosting our Classical Jam night starting around 5 PM, Come listen or join in and play with members of the chamber orchestra.

Our Wine Dinners this month are August 12th and 13th at 6:30PM, cost is $20 per person for a 5 course meal and wine with each course. We will be enjoying courses from all over the world. To make reservations please call (208) 344-4321 or email at buzzwine@cableone.net. Watch for information about our monopoly game coming in September.

Don’t forget we have opened our growler fill station and now have kombucha growlers as well. Come and check them out.

Enjoy the last few days of summer and we hope to see you soon,

Cristi and Tom Takeda

Zucchini Pancakes and Eggplant Pizza For Dinner

28 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Basil, Boise Farmers Market, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Dinner With Robin, Eggplant, Italian Food, Local Farmers Markets, Local Markets, Main Dish, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Pizza, Purple Sage Farms, Recipe By: Robin Young, Recipes, Rice Family Farms, Special Dinners, Vegetables, Vegetarian Foods, What's For Dinner?, Zebra Tomatoes, Zucchini

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Burrata, eggplant, Eggplant Pizza, feta, limoncello, Roma tomatoes, Zucchini Pancakes

Wow! This was really a great change and it was Good! Take a look.

Eggplant Pizza
Zucchini Pancakes
Sliced Garden Fresh Green Zebra Tomatoes
Housemade Limoncello

Here is the recipe for the Zucchini Pancakes. Another tasty way to use up all of those zucchini you either have now or will shortly. They could make a great party appetizer/finger food treat if you eat them cold with a dipping sauce. Then there is the Eggplant Pizza. Here is a recipe that is close, Eggplant Pizza, but we altered it. Instead of using a tomato sauce, we used fresh sliced Roma tomatoes. And for the cheese we used Burrata and some Feta. I sauteed the eggplant on one side, turned it and placed the tomato slice(s) on the eggplant, then the cheese and fresh basil. When the eggplant was browned, I placed a lid on the pan and let the cheese melt. These were really yummy!

The zucchini, eggplant, onions and Roma tomatoes all came from the Boise Farmers Market. The basil and the green Zebra tomato came from our garden. Cheers!