Lamb Chops With Mint Cream Sauce

19 Monday May 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Boise Artisan Bakery's, Boise Farmers Market, Buy Idaho, Cream Sauces, Dinner At The Captains Shack, Dinner With Robin, Grenache, Heirloom Tomatoes, Herbs, Idaho Lamb, Lamb, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipes, Ste Chapelle Winery, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

cream sauce, cream sauces, lamb chops, Ste Chapelle Grenache, Ste Chapelle Winery

Super lamb dinner and all the fixins’! The mint cream sauce is easy to do: After brazing the lamb chops, deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup of Cream de Menthe. Add 1/2 cup of cream and stir to blend. Reduce over medium heat until thickened. Taste and season as necessary. Place 1 Tablespoon, or so, on each chop and serve.

Whipped Parsnip and Carrot

Braised Felzien Farms Lamb Chop
with
mint cream sauce

Acme Bake Shop Ciabatta

Farm Fresh Mixed Greens and Tomato Salad

Cauliflower with Brown Butter and Sage

2011 Ste Chapelle Winery Grenache

Omelet For Breakfast

29 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Acme Bake Shop Breads, Acme Bake Shop Rye, Asparagus, Boise Farmers Market, Bread, Breakfast, Breakfast At The Captains Shack, Captain's Shack, Cowboy Eggs, Eggs, Local Farmers Markets, Local Markets, Omelet, Photos By: Bob Young, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?, Whats For Breakfast?

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Asparagus, omelet, san marzano tomato, veggie omelet

I made Robin an Egg In Toast – make a hole in bread, grill it, add an egg, serve it – and noticed that there was some asparagus that had to be eaten and some mushrooms. So, for me, I made this omelet that was terrific. Left-Click to see the photo enlarged. Cheers!

Asparagus, Mushroom and San Marzano Tomato Omelet
Acme Bake Shop Toasted Rye

Scrumptious Dinner At “Fresh Off the Hook”

19 Saturday Apr 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Buy Idaho, Cod, Comfort Food, Fresh Off the Hook, Green Beans, Halibut, Locavore, Pasta, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurant Reviews, Salmon, Scallops, Seafood, Shrimp, Things To Do, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bay scallops, cod, Fresh Off the Hook, salmon, seafood

Once agai, we went to Fresh Off the Hook in Boise and were treated to another awesome dinner. It is, without a doubt, the Best In Boise for seafood. Yes. A 5-Star seafood restaurant. Their Menu is full of surprises and delicious. I want to try one of everything. For instance, their fried foods are more like the tempura at Sushi Joy, it is light and not grease soaked. The fried foods taste like they are supposed to. Shrimp taste like shrimp. Cod tastes like cod. Not over powered with batter. It is good! In short, if you are in Boise, you must try to go to Fresh Off the Hook. Cheers and enjoy these photos.

Sauvignon Blanc (Chile) on the left and a Kendal Jackson Chardonnay on the right. Look at the color difference.

Sauvignon Blanc (Chile) on the left and a Kendall-Jackson (CA) Chardonnay on the right. Look at the color difference.

Robin is enjoying herself.

Green Beans Fries
A great appetizer!

Shrimp Tomato Bisque

Clam Chowder
There’s actually clams in here!

Seafood Fettuccini
Tiger shrimp, bay scallops, bay shrimp, zucchini, mushrooms, scallions and diced tomatoes sautéed in white wine and garlic butter smothered in our creamy Parmesan-garlic sauce tossed with fettuccine noodles. Topped with Parmesan, tomatoes and scallions, and served with warm sourdough bread 14.99

Captain Alex’s Seafood Platter
A medley of cod, salmon, halibut, mahi mahi, Jumbo shrimp, calamari and clams battered and deep fried to perfection. Served with chef’s choice sautéed vegetables and wild rice 18.99

Fishing boat

Sailing rig. These are ship models that are placed around the restaurant.

Sweet Mustard Chicken Thighs

09 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bacon, Beet Greens, Beets, Boise Farmers Market, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Chicken, Ice Cream, Local Farmers Markets, Onion, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Strawberries, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food, Wines - Idaho

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

beet greens, beets, chicken, chicken thighs, Idaho wine, red pepper flakes, Sweet Mustard Chicken

This was a great alternative to fried or the basic baked chicken. A little sweet from the brown sugar and a little tangy from the mustard, without the strong mustard presence. I did tweak the recipe a little since the cayenne made it a little to hot for us. Changed it to red pepper flakes. Plus the sauce was not thick enough and just a little bland. You can see the recipe here: Sweet Mustard Chicken Thighs. It is in PDF format. I suppose that if you don’t like chicken thighs – second joints – you can use legs or breasts but make sure they still have the skin on and bone-in. And the wine went extremely well with the dinner. The wine is from Idaho as were the beets, beet greens and strawberries. Enjoy!

Sweet Mustard Chicken Thighs
Fresh Beet Greens with Bacon
Fresh Sliced Beets with Balsamic
2008 Vale Wine Co Merlot

Pound Cake
Fresh Strawberries
Ice Cream

Fresh Made Chicken Pot Pies

10 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by Bob and Robin in Carrots, Chicken, Classics, Comfort Food, Healthy Eating, Onion, Pastries, Photos By: Bob Young, Things To Do, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Carrots, celery, Chicken Pot Pie, Frank Purdue, potato, tender chicken

Our $7.95 whole chicken, just gave us 7 meals. That’s $1.11 per meal. Or, if you figure per person for the chicken, that’s $0.56 per plate. Guess we can get our meds this month! The chicken was a little over 6 pounds. Not one of Frank Purdue’s chickens (“It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken”) but it was good. The final meal was these Chicken Pot Pies that Robin made. The pies are ready to be placed in the oven in this photo. We use both round and rectangular bowls to make the dinner. Add to this a good Tuscan wine, and we had a good dinner. Here are photos of the final dish. Enjoy!

Robin’s Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie in a rectangular dish. Works any way you want to make them. Delicious!

Boise Foodie Meet-Up Group Meets

16 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Boise Adventures, Brunch, Chicken, Ethnic Foods, Friends, Indian Food, Main Dish, Nepalese Food, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Restaurant Reviews, Restaurants, Special Events, Tibetan Food, Vegetables, Whats For Lunch?

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Boise Foodie Meet-Up Group, curry, India, indian food, Mount Everest Momo Cafe, nepalese food, tibetan food

Six of the Boise Foodie Meet-Up Group met at the Mount Everest Momo Cafe today for lunch. They specialize in Indian-Nepalese-Tibetan foods. And I was pleasantly surprised. This was really an interesting lunch. I spent a year in India, so when I enter a restaurant specializing in Indian, or even Nepalese, food, I want the spices of India to be present. As we walked into the restaurant, I did get that “smell of the Indian spice”. I know then that the entrees are not canned – they are made on location. It was nice that the owner, Rajesh Shrestha, took the time to talk about the cuisine and the dishes that they serve.
The hot link above will take you to their website and a complete menu with descriptions of the entrees and prices. The serving sizes were completely satisfying – Just the right size. Out of 5-Stars, I rate the Mount Everest Momo Cafe 4-Stars. Pictured below, are some of the dishes we had. Left-Click any of these photos to see enlarged. Enjoy! We did.

The menu cover.

Curry Soup

Chicken Momo
Mint Sauce
Curry Sauce

Basmati Rice Naan (Bread) Spinach and Cheese Vegetables Chicken Curry Potato and Cauliflower

Basmati Rice
Naan (Bread)
Spinach and Cheese (Sag Panir)
Chicken Curry
Potato and Cauliflower (Alu Kaoli)

I thoroughly enjoyed this dish. The spices were perfect and everything was done to perfection. I do like the Naan. Light. Fluffy. Yet somewhat chewy. Here is a direct link to the Mount Everest Momo Cafe Dinner Menu with more definitive descriptions of the entrees. They also have a menu for their Lunch Specials ($6.95 per plate Monday – Saturday, 11 – 2:30) and it is printed below. However, it is not on their website.

Lunch Specials Menu

Celebration Theme At “The Buzz”

13 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Apple, Basque Foods, Cabbage, Celebrations, Dinner With Friends, Ethnic Foods, Food Photos, Italian Food, Main Dish, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Salad, Spanish Wines, Special Dinners, Special Events, Things To Do, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

the Buzz

Just in time for the holiday season quickly approaching. Celebrations of the World was the theme of the November Wine Club Dinner at the Buzz. We had dishes with a Spanish, German, Basque, African, Italian and the Netherlands influence. It was an exciting evening, full of information and tradition. Great job, Cristi! My only criticism of the dinner is the Swedish Meatballs could have had a little more of the sauce on it. The meat was a little dry, although the flavor was still there. A little more sauce – An easy fix. Here are some photos from the evening. The wine rating is [20] maximum points. Cheers! and see you at the next event. Thank you Paul Colwell for the wines, Peggy and Austin for being our Servers and Tommy for your support “behind the scenes”. An 800 calorie meal.

Spanish Fritatta

I enjoyed this appetizer. Great flavors.
2010 Faustino Crianza Tempranello
13% alc. a light wine and went well with the appetizer. lowest score of the night. [17] $14

Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup

If I don’t like pumpkin and I liked this soup, you will also!! It was good.
2010 Durigutti Malbec Reserva
14% alc. a wonderful wine with this soup. well balanced and fruitty. best score of the night [20] $22

Holiday Salad

2011 Anselmi
12.7% alc. a good white wine that went well with the acidity of the salad. good paring. try the wine before you eat the apple in the salad – things will change. [18] $15

Swedish Meatballs Cabbage Steaks Noodles Just a little dry as I noted above, but the flavors were still there. 2011 Luna Cabernet Sauvignon 14.1% alc. good, full bodied wine that paired well with the entree. [18] $18

Swedish Meatballs
Cabbage Steaks
Green Peas
Noodles

Just a little dry as I noted above, but the flavors were still there.
2011 Luna Cabernet Sauvignon
14.1% alc. good, full bodied wine that paired well with the entree. [18] $18

Gingerbread

A good ending to this meal. It really tasted good.
2010 Renwood Old Vine Zinfandel
14.5% alc. so good with the gingerbread. [19] $22

Cristi always opens the evening with usually two wines that she labels “Cristi’s Choice”. These were two really good wines.
2012 Zolo Torrentes from Mendoza, Argentina. A really nice white wine and well worth the $15 price. [18]
2011 Arenal Vina Paralillo Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile. Again, well worth the $14 price. [18]

New Boise Farmers Market – Oct 26, 2013

26 Saturday Oct 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Boise Farmers Market, Bread, Food, Food Photos, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Locavore, Photos By: Robin Young, Sourdough Bread, Turnip Greens, Turnips, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Acme Bakeshop, New Boise Farmers Market, Rice Family Farms

Robin took these two really good photos this morning at the New Boise Farmers Market. This is the last day at this location. Next week, November 2, they relocate to 8th Street and Fulton – to an indoor, heated and restroom available location. This is exciting. Good job, Robin!

Acme Bakeshop, Michael and Soraya and Friend Maria from Rice Family Farms.

Acme Bakeshop, Soraya and Michael with their friend Maria, from Rice Family Farms.

Some fresh vegetables are still available from the Rice Family Farms booth. There are other booths that still have fresh vegetables, too.

Yummy Fall Lunch

10 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop Breads, Bread, Butternut Squash, Captain's Shack, Carrots, Comfort Food, Housemade Soup, Main Dish, Photos By: Bob Young, Summer Squash, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

butternut squash, caramelized onion, Yellow Summer Squash

I am not a squash fan, but this soup was good and easy to do.

Cream of Summer Squash and Butternut Squash with Caramelized Onion, Garlic and Carrot

Cream of Baked Yellow Summer Squash and Baked Butternut Squash
with
caramelized onion, garlic, carrot and fresh thyme
Acme Bake Shop Rye Toast

“The Buzz” Monthly Wine Dinner – Small Wine Regions

09 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Beef, Cooking Styles, Dessert, Dinner With Friends, Ethnic Foods, Finger Foods, Photos By: Bob Young, Salad, Soup, Things To Do, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

the Buzz, wine dinner

A very interesting selection of wines and food tonight. And as Erica Larsen said, “Great food and wine for $15. Bottles were $11 each! Delicious! Another dinner tomorrow if you are interested.” Wine selections from New Zealand, Germany, Hungary, South Africa and Portugal. And Cristi kept it interesting with the food parings. If you missed this dinner, there is another with the same fare and wines tonight, October 9. You just can not beat the price – $15.00 per person – and the food selections. Cheers and hope to see you at one of these dinners. Personally, I think this was one of the better Wine Dinners. Great job, Cristi!! Enjoy these photos. Left-Click to see them enlarged.

Silverware, A Menu and A Glass of Wine

Pastry Twist
Mint and Pea Pesto
Cheese Dates
2013 Walnut Block Sauvignon Blanc (NZ)
13% alc . one of the better wines of the night. great finish and appeal. superb paring with the appetizer [18] $16

Pumpkin Tortilla Soup 2012 St Urbans Reisling Germany)

Pumpkin Tortilla Soup
2012 St Urbans Riesling (Germany)
9.5% alc. not my favorite wine for the night. The soup was spicy and I enjoyed it, but this wine just did not match with that flavor level. The wine was good by itself as was the soup. [16] $18

Hungarian Potato Salad 2001 Bull's Blood 12.5% alc. This was a very light version of this wine. We have had it before and it was full bodied.

Hungarian Potato Salad
2001 Bull’s Blood (Hungary)
12.5% alc. This was a very light version of this wine. We have had it before and it was full bodied. It was light enough to go with this delicious version of potato salad. I liked the salad. Different. [17] $11

Pumpkin Beef and Mushroom “Salad”
Pasta and Chimichurri Sauce
2009 Sebeka Cabernet Pinotage (S Africa)
13.5% alc. good clarity and color. full bodied and good balance [18] $11
I really enjoyed this entree. Good flavors and a good paring with the wine. Spaghetti squash on the bottom with caramelized onion made a perfect match.

Double Chocolate Bundt Cake
Noval Tawny Port (Portugal)
19.5% alc. I don’t particularly like port, but this was WOW! great balance and body. [19] $20
This was a superb paring between the chocolate cake and the port. Well done!!!