28 Saturday Apr 2012
Posted in Food Prep, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, What's For Dinner?
Actually, this was a great dinner on this cold and stormy night. The rains may be over, but the mountains got snow.
Basamati Rice
with
Knorr Spinach Dip, sour cream, light mayo, cucumber and hard cooked eggs
Red Cabbage Slaw and Tomatoes
27 Friday Apr 2012
Posted in Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?
Even though we woke up to snow on the mountain this morning – yup! 91 degrees last weekend and snow this weekend, 34 degrees over night – we want to congratulate Le Café de Paris on 10 years in Boise. And what an exciting epicurean trip it has been! Thank-You Mathieu and Thank-You to all of his staff who greet us, serve us and prepare fantastic meals for us. Tonight’s dinner was superb!!! Take a look.
Mathieu Choux, Owner of Le Café de Paris, with his party streamers.
Soraya and Olli. Soraya is the Manager of Le Café de Paris
Proud Mama!
Two of the wines we bought to share. Don’t ever say that a white wine, in this case a Chardonnay, won’t cellar well. This one, from 1974, was great and, in my humble opinion, out performed the French wine!!
And we also brought an good Cabernet Sauvignon. We are happy that we were able to share our wines with the folks at Le Café de Paris.
HOR d’OEVRES
Plateau de Charcuterie
Fois Gras
with
Cherry Gastrique
Pâté and Rilette
Fresh Baked Bread
Escargots de Bourgogne
escargot sauteed in maitre-d butter, served in voul-au-vents
Escargots de Bourgogne
escargot sauteed in maitre-d butter, served in voul-au-vents
Fois Gras
with
Cherry Gastrique
SOUPE et SALADE
Salade de Chèvre Chaud
field greens, confit tomatoes, mustard vinaigrette, baked goat cheese on crostini
Potage Paysan
creamy provençal soup made with potato, onion and swiss
(This soup was awesome!)
POISSONS
Duo de Poissons
Braided Salmon and Halibut Fillets
with
beurre blanc
Bar aux Herbes
thyme encrusted seabass, served with rice pilaf
VIANDES
Steak Frites
Medium Rare Tri-Tip
green peppercorn brandy sauce,
served with Handcut Fries
Poulet aux Ecrevisses
Local Free Range Chicken
Crawfish
sauce nantua
Handcut Fries
DESSERT
Crêpe Suzette
delicious crepe served with buerre suzette, flambéed with Grand Marnier
Crème Brulée
pistachio custard with topped with burnt sugar
And this is specially for Mathieu. We were talking about the Shrimpcargot from The Buzz and how great an appetizer this is. Enjoy this Mathieu!
Thank-You all for a fantastic and fabulous meal and dining experience. You are still the best! Cheers and see you next time.
26 Thursday Apr 2012
Posted in Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, What's For Dinner?, Wild Rice
Here is another fantastic dinner we had. Yes, we do eat well!!
Wild Rice
with
Mint and Walnuts
Carrot Salad with Green Olives
What you say? Carrots and green olives? The steamed carrots are sweet. The olives add a tartness to the salad. The dressing is olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar. Have you ever had a Green Olive Soup? Olives are a surprisingly wonderful addition to some dishes.
25 Wednesday Apr 2012
Posted in Mushrooms, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Shrimpcargot, What's For Dinner?
Grilled New York Strip Steak
with
Garlic Sauteed Crimini Mushrooms
Fennel and Tomato Salad
Shrimpcargot
1988 Dolcetto D’Alba Cascina Bordino
22 Sunday Apr 2012
Posted in Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Salmon, Seafood, What's For Dinner?
 |
| Tommy’s Salmon. Hot off the grill! Yum-O!!! |
Wow! This is one awesome salmon recipe. Thanks to Tommy Takeda from The Buzz here in Boise for his recipe. Look how easy this is.
Ingredients:
2 T Brown Sugar
1 T Ginger, fresh grated
Soy Sauce – I used Mitoko Johsen Organic Shoyu Traditional Soy Sauce. Available at most Asian markets.
In the photo, 2 – 5oz Salmon Steaks. Enough for 2
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. You want just enough soy sauce to make a paste.
Let sit for 1 hour refrigerated.
Spread over salmon steaks and let sit for 30 minutes. Grill over med-high heat until done. Eat slowly to enjoy every, luscious bite!!
19 Thursday Apr 2012
I know, some of you do not like talapia, a very mild white fish. Replace it with sole or halibut. As for the sauce.Think of it like a beurre blanc (white butter) but without the butter.
Before I get to the recipe. look at the dinner plated.
Meyer Lemon Steamed Talapia In Marsala Sauce
Lemon Steamed Rice with Green Onion and Spinach
Winter Vegetable Medley
asparagus, Brussels sprouts, shallots
Lets start with the Meyer Lemon Steamed Talapia.
Ingredients: For the talapia
2 – 5 oz Talapia fillets or sole or halibut
4 T Vegetable oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 c Sauvignon Blanc
Juice of 1 Meyer lemon, reserving the peel
1 c Brown Basamati Rice
1/2 Meyers Lemon cut into pieces
2 c Spinach, chopped
2 Spring onions, diced
Ingredients: For the sauce
1/4 c Marsala
3 t Corn Starch
1/2 c Hot water
Directions:
Place the oil, salt and pepper and lemon juice along with the lemon peel that has been cut into pieces, in a saute pan. Bring to a low simmer. Add the fish fillets and the wine. Cover and steam until the fish flakes. You may have to turn the fish once.
Directions: for the sauce
Remove the fish from the liquid. Mix the sauce ingredients together until the corn starch is dissolved. Lower the heat to medium, if not already there. Add to the pan liquid and stir continually until thickened. Spoon about 2 T of the sauce over the fish.
Steam all of the vegetables together and add to the plate when done. Steam the rice along with the spinach, onion and the lemon until the rice is soft. Add to the plate.
This is really a yummy dinner and served with a Sauvignon Blanc – we had a 2011 Indian Creek Sauvignon Blanc that was awesome! It is also what we used in the sauce and to steam the fish. Enjoy!
18 Wednesday Apr 2012
This just in from the Idaho Statesman.
Boise City Council approves new rules for urban agriculture, but a vote on river jumping will wait
By ANNA WEBB — awebb@idahostatesman.com
Posted: 12:00am on Apr 18, 2012The issue has inspired lots of passion and plenty of discussion. During a Boise City Council public hearing, several members of the public spoke in favor of the urban agriculture ordinance. No one spoke in opposition.
• Urban farms are now allowed in all zoning districts, along with community supported agriculture (CSAs), where customers buy shares of produce for pick up during growing season. The new rules also allow such operations to sell small amounts of produce.
• Urban farming retail spaces are limited to 500 square feet. New parking and overhead lighting is prohibited. Business hours are restricted to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Produce stands have been operating with six month permits. Now, they’ll be able to apply for yearlong permits.Read more here: Urban Agriculture
11 Wednesday Apr 2012
Posted in Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food
Wow! What an exceptional wine dinner. Cristi you outdid yourself! The theme tonight for the April Wine Club was Social Media Wine Dinner. Cristi went through a fairly complete list of the social media that is available and the pluses and minuses of each. Interesting. The wines were very good also. With six wines presented, including Cristi’s Choice, the point spread was 1 point! A very close race. You will see my point spread as we progress through this post.
Cristi also had flowers and herbs that she has put into wine and beer bottle vases with a self-watering system. Here is Greek Oregano that I picked. It looks nice on our kitchen window.
Cristi’s Choice: 2010 La Cryma Christi Feudi di San Gregoro. A very pleasing and easy to drink wine. 12.5% alc, $20.00 [17]
Along with the wine, we have had folks who bring in one of theirs to share. Tonight was no exception as Joe brought in an Alaskan Blueberry and Merlot blend. I know, you say “Yuk!” But try this first. It is really surprising and not overpowering with blueberry. At least give it a try.
Appetizer
Crab Cakes
2010 Dry Creek Chenin Blanc
12.5% alc, great taste and finish, slightly lacking on aroma. [17] $14.00
Black Bean and Chorizo Soup
2008 Duragutti Bonardo
13.9% alc, full bodied and awesome taste. good finish [17] $16.00
Carrot and Ginger Salad
(loved these flavors!)
2010 Les Jemelles Viognier
13.1% alc, a wonderful Viognier, full of fruit and flavor that went very well with the salad. [18] $14.00
Brown Butter Sage with Ravioli
Chicken
2010 Fratelli Montepulciano
12.5% alc, another wonderful wine. easy to drink and was pared very well with the ravioli. [17] $14.00
Bourbon and Banana Crepe
Chocolate Cream
Morse Code Shiraz
great paring with the crepes [17] $14.00
Those scores are so very close. A great salute to Chisti’s ability to choose a wine that pairs well with any course. The wines were great and this was probably one of the top meals from the Buzz. Great job!!!
09 Monday Apr 2012
I can’t say that everyone had a fantastic Easter dinner, but we certainly did! It was great having Mac and Marnie, Sophia, Chris and Madison, Margaret and Robin. Family and friends always make for a great day. And Robin talked to her close friend, Nancy Bonney Chrissman in Florida and a nursing friend , Geisla, in Germany. Who can ask for more? The photo to the left is of our table center piece. I did not get the beautiful flowers Margaret brought, though.
Our table before “the gang” arrived.
Challah bread
Gremolata Roasted Lamb
Asparagus Mousse
Marnie’s Cake
So there you are. And I repeat. Who could ask for anything more? Thank-You one and all for making this day so very special. Cheers!
08 Sunday Apr 2012
This has really been an ethnically diverse weekend menu. Especially since Passover and Easter happened to be on the same weekend. It all started Friday with the Gefilte Fish meal. Although I don’t think gefilte fish with Bearnaise is Kosher. (See Good Friday Meal earlier on this blog.) But it has been fun. And it is particular rewarding and pleasing when one of our very special Jewish friends here in Boise reads this blog and then calls to get the recipe for the gefilte fish. It will be fun to see how he made out with the dinner and the recipe. In the meantime, here is what we had for dinner tonight. The above photo is an Asparagus Mousse that Robin is making for dinner tomorrow. We had a sample tonight and it is so awesome. Rich and smooth and the succulent flavor of asparagus.
Gremolata Popovers
Roasted Chicken
roasted root vegetables, rosemary, lemon
Plated dinner
Oven Roasted Chicken
Haroset Salad
apple, roasted walnuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, Manischewitz wine
Green Beans
Gremolata Popover
Oh what fun. Not only preparing these delights, but eating them and trying to understand what all this means. I may have to talk to Joe to get the significance of all of this. Cheers and tomorrow is the big meal. That will be fun, too!
Boise Foodie Guild 