04 Tuesday Feb 2014
Oh my! When the Acme Bake Shop Rye was delivered – yes, we have it delivered to our front door! – it was still warm. Time for lunch after I slice the loaf. How is this for a delicious rye panini?
03 Monday Feb 2014
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OK, since Trader Joe’s will be opening in Boise on February 28th, I thought it would be nice to see at least one thing that they will offer. (The photo here is from their web page) OK. 2 things – Recipes and Pork Belly. That’s nice. But just what is pork belly? Bacon? Well ….. not quite. From their web site, or more specifically from an article posted there and some recipes are posted there also, we see this explanation of pork belly Move Over Bacon –
Prediction for 2014: pork belly will be the new bacon. Oh, sure, you could get nit-picky and argue that pork belly is bacon, but to that we say… um, not quite. Yes, they come from the same cut of meat, the belly. But bacon, traditionally, is smoked or cured, and pork belly is not. You can buy pork belly raw and spend hours preparing it from scratch yourself – it’s very popular in both Chinese and Korean cuisines – or you can buy Trader Joe’s Fully Cooked Pork Belly and revel in the rich, lightly seasoned flavors without having to do any of that kitchen labor.
Trader Joe’s Fully Cooked Pork Belly comes to us from a supplier in the Midwest who supplies fully cooked pork belly to restaurants, as well – yes, that’s why so many restaurants are featuring pork belly now; they’re getting it fully cooked as well, and just doing final preparations in-house! Our supplier takes the big chunks of pork belly, lightly seasons it with salt, and then braises it over low heat for 12 hours. After it’s cooked, they vacuum seal it to keep it fresh, and send it to us. We’re selling each 12 ounce package of Fully Cooked Pork Belly for $4.99, every day. You’ll find it in our refrigerated case.
Just a little more information for you to absorb. Pork belly is not a new item by any means. The now closed Andrae’s Restaurant in Boise used to serve it and it is delicious. Chef Andrae Bopp is now in the Walla Walla, Washington area and he has a food truck there. Hope you enjoyed this info and will at lest give Pork Belly a try. I will! Cheers and Gut essen!
02 Sunday Feb 2014
OK. It’s been two weeks since I have been in the kitchen. Withdrawl!! Back to the comfort of our awesome kitchen. What to make. It’s Sunday morning – I usually make some special breakfast. OK. Just got fresh eggs from Meadowlark Farms in Nampa, ID. We have some ham and Robin bought some fresh English Muffins. We have lemon and cayenne and unsalted butter. How about Eggs Benedict? Sounds good to me. Make the Hollandaise from scratch with Russ’ recipe for Easy Blender Hollandaise Sauce. And as long as it has taken me to write this, I could have made another batch. It’s that easy and that good! The recipe is also held permanently in the Boise Foodie Blog Recipes above. Here is the result of about 20 minutes in the kitchen. Yum-O!
31 Friday Jan 2014
Let’s see. We were in Florida for 14 days. With luck, that’s 28 meals plus. Nope, not going to post every meal, just some of the better ones. All of these restaurants rate at least 4-Stars out of 5-Stars. I am not going to list these restaurants in any particular order, i.e., worst to best. They all rate “Best”. And most of these will have links in the sidebar if available.
We were only allowed into one kitchen in all of the restaurant and that was in Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa. So the photo here is not from any kitchen in Florida … Actually it is our kitchen in Boise. Great way to hold your recipe in a skirt hanger, if you can get away with it. So read on and enjoy these epicurean delights. Cheers! And if you are ever around any of these restaurants, please stop in and say hello. Let them know you saw them here on this blog.
Front entrance to Chef Larry’s Cafe, Titusville, Florida.
My sister Peggy and her husband Jim and Robin and I with Chef Larry of Chef Larry’s Cafe in Titusville, Florida. A small restaurant that is full of local “color”. It looks like it is a hit with the local folks as well as tourists. There is a permanent link to the cafe in the sidebar. Good food. Enjoyable. Loved the Chef Larry’s Fresh Fruit Vinaigrette on the House Mixed Greens salad. All of our plates came with it.
Catch of the Day with the House Mixed Greens and Potatoes
Smoked Chicken with Shitake Mushroom Mayonnaise.
Crabcake and Tomato Soup. All of these dishes are made in house!
Our next restaurant that we enjoyed was in Winter Park, Florida, was The Ravenous Pig.
The Ravenous Pig
Really good salads. This one is called The Gatherer.
Heirloom Tomato Salad
Porterhouse Pork
Scallops
White Fish
And then when we were in West Palm Beach, Lani took us to Guanabanas – Island Restaurant and Bar . Really good food with an island flair, both the design layout of the restaurant and the food.
This is well worth the trip if you are in the area. Good food and an exciting and different venue.
House Salad
Crabcake with Fried Plantains. Most of these dishes came with Cuban Rice.
Crab
Burger
Catch of the Day and Roasted Corn.
Then while we were in Jacksonville Beach, my brother Alex took us to Sliders Seafood Grille and Oyster Bar in Neptune Beach.
In side Sliders
And these were delicious!
Here the oysters are before they get placed on the platter.
Seafood Manicotti. Super good!
Peggy, Jim, Marge, Robin and Alex.
And finally, Robin’s niece Kerstin Karlsson to us to Taste of Berlin German Restaurant in Brandon, FL. Delicious!! (The only link I could find for them is on FaceBook)
The interior. Small and cozy and very clean.
Gotta have a beer! or two.
Northern German Potato Salad. Yum-O!
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Chicken like a Cordon Bleu chicken.
Pork Shank. Most of the main dishes came with sauerkraut, red cabbage, bread dumplings and a small carrot/cucumber salad.
Schweinebraten
Sauerbraten
Fruit Dessert
Black Forrest Cake
German Chocolate Cake
So there is a smattering of some of the food we had while there. As I said above, all of them were delicious and worth a return trip. Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa was good, but so were these. Try them all if you get the chance. You will be happy. Cheers!
11 Saturday Jan 2014
Posted in Blog Poll, What's For Dinner?
10 Friday Jan 2014
Here is the latest from Cristi at the Buzz here in Boise. (Check the sidebar for their link if you want more information.) This month’s Wine Club Dinner really sounds interesting and I know Tommy does a great job cooking. This will be an interesting evening, especially paring the wines with dinner. Sounds like fun. Hope to see YOU there, but don’t forget to call for reservations. Cheers!
We, at the Buzz, wish all the best in this new year for you and your family.
Just a reminder that the price for wine club dinners has changed slightly dinner is now $20.00 per person (with a $5.00 credit toward the featured wines). We will continue with the second Tuesday and the next day at 6:30 PM. The first wine club dinner for 2014 will be on January 14 or 15 and will feature Asian Foods. Don’t forget to make your reservations; buzzwine@cableone.net or (208) 344-4321.
Music in January will be:
1/10 John Cazan
1/17 Johnny Shoes
1/24 Sons of Thunder Mountain
1/25 Jean CardenaWeekend wine tasting begins at 6PM on Friday and Saturday nights. Music starts at 7PM. We have appetizer, dinner, and dessert specials on Friday and Saturday Nights. No reservations required just stop in and say Hi.
Again Thanks and Happy New Year,
Cristi and Tom Takeda
Buzz Coffee and Wine
03 Friday Jan 2014
I thought this Statehouse Oyster Chowder was pretty good. Robin is not an oyster fanatic. I’m not a “fanatic”, but I do like them ever so often. Tonight, at 30 degrees and the inversion setting up, it tasted good and it was a treat to a cold body. If you would like the recipe, it is linked above. Thanks to my sister Peggy for sharing this.
Serve this with either a 2012 Ste Chapelle Special Harvest Riesling – Idaho Snake River AVA – or a 2012 Joseph Swan Vineyards Gewurztraminer, preferred, and you will have an awesome dinner on a cold, winter’s night. Enjoy the chowder. We did! Cheers. (Wonder if my Dad would have put Sherry in it. Hmmmm.)
31 Tuesday Dec 2013
Posted in What's For Dinner?
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 17,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Click here to see the complete report.
Thank-You every one who made this possible and for your support. Happy 2014!!
28 Saturday Dec 2013
On December 28, the Boise Foodie Meet-Up group – see their link in the sidebar – visited Bodovino Wine Bar (an excellent website!) and the experience was a good one. Good food, really good service and a unique venue. You purchase a “card” with some dollar amount, and then you can visit up to 144 different wines (see photos below) and get whatever wine you desire and whatever amount you wish, 1oz, 3oz or 5oz. Each wine and each amount has a different price and they range from $1.00 to $12.00 (the highest I found).
The tapas that we had was very good. A nice selection of cheese, pasta (pizza) and antipasti. They have a full selection of menu items, including salads and sliders, and all seem to be reasonably priced. Overall – a good experience. I will rate them 4-Stars out of 5-Stars. The room that we were in, there are several, was very noisy and loud. Otherwise, good. We will probably return. Please enjoy these photos. You will get some idea of the ambiance and of the tapas. Cheers!!
“Still Life”
Wine Bar overview.
Some of the 144 available wines. A unique idea for dispensing the wine.
French Cheese Flight
Charcuterie Plate
“Baguette and Cheese”
North End Flatbread
26 Thursday Dec 2013
Posted in Beef, Boise Farmers Market, Buy Idaho, Captain's Shack, Cuts of Beef, Dinner With Friends, Dried Corn, Friends, Local Farmers Markets, Local Markets, Locavore, Main Dish, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipes, Rib-Eye, Special Dinners, Special Events, Things To Do, Twice Baked Potatoes, What's For Dinner?
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Linder torte, pear and almond tarte, prime rib dinner, raspberry and walnut torte, rib-eye, rib-eye roast, torte
It’s not as if there was not enough for everyone to eat. There was plenty!! In a previous post on this blog, Christmas 2013 Dinner Prep, I posted some photos of the Rib-Eye being prepared and I also posted the recipe for the roast. This was not a standard cooking time. But it turned out terrific! Look at the recipe. And check out this “neat” tree ornament that Sophia made for Marnie and Mac. Great idea, as we are all Ravenswood Winery enthusiasts, as Robin helped to start it back in the mid 1970’s. Here are some photos of the dinner. Enjoy ….. We did!
Rib-Eye Roast. It was awesome. Done to perfection, tender and juicy. Thank you Homestead Farms for such a great roast!!
Ready to be served.
Dried Corn and Twice Baked Potatoes. Marnie did a great job on the variation to the potatoes.
Marnie and Mac enjoy the dinner.
Sophia and Chris
Margaret and Robin. It looks like everyone liked what they were eating. I did!
Robin’s first time at making marshmallow. These were terrific!!
Marnie made this great Pear and Almond Tarte. Beautiful colors.
Robin made the Linder Walnut Raspberry Torte. Another yummy!
And the candle started to go dim and the tree lights are subdued. The end of the day and a very great Christmas. Thank-You one and all! Cheers!
Boise Foodie Guild 