Tomatillo Gazpacho


Facebook really is good for communicating and getting recipes. Here is one I asked for and received from Kevin Holland, from, I believe, Greenville, NC. This looks wonderful!

Tomatillo Gazpacho

Source: Kevin Holland, Greenville, NC and Facebook

Ingredients:
1 (14 ounce) can Chicken Broth
1 lb Tomatillo, quartered
1 lg clove Garlic, minced
2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 med Avocados, finely diced
1 sm Cucumber, seeded and finely diced
1 lg Red Bell Pepper, finely diced
¼ sm Red Onion, finely diced
2 T fresh Cilantro, chopped
1 T fresh Lime juice
kosher Salt, to taste
fresh ground Black Pepper, to taste

Directions:
1).
Heat broth over medium-high heat. Add tomatillos and garlic; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until tomatillos are cooked through but still hold their shape, about 1 minute. Let cool slightly, about 5 minutes, then carefully puree mixture in blender along with olive oil.

2). Cool completely, then stir in remaining ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving.”

An Awesome Dip and Tomatillo Sauce


Tomatillo Green Sauce and Mexican Corn DipThere are still vegetables to use coming from the garden. Tomatillo Green Sauce for one. You know, those little green, sticky “thingys” that are very bitter when eaten raw. But slightly cooked, they make an awesome verde sauce. Great on sliced pork or eggs for breakfast. Try too with chicken. This verde can be used with a lot of dishes.
And then, we have a Mexican Corn Dip. Great with tortilla chips, crackers or on a tomato salad as pictured. Great little story goes with this one. The first time I had some was at an open house at the Idaho Wine Merchant – it was an appetizer. Ed Robertson introduced me to the Chef that made the dip, Rachael Hurd of The Season’s Bistro, 1117 E Winding Creek Dr, Eagle, Idaho. Rachael would not give me the recipe and she still will not. But if I told her I was coming to the Bistro tomorrow, she would have some for me. So, if I want any at home, I had to find a similar recipe and I did!! Even if this recipe is not completely the same as Rachael’s, it is pretty close! It just took me about 6 months or so to make this recipe.
So, there in a nutshell is “… my story and I’m stickin’ to it!” Fun things to make. Fun things to eat. Cheers!

Green Tomato Relish


Green Tomato RelishWell, it is that time of year. Parts of Idaho and not far from Boise, have already had their first frost – The elderberries are ready for picking! And the historical first frost in Boise is October 6. Not far away. And with that first frost, we loose our tomatoes. Ours were really good this year and a full crop. But now the evenings are in the low 40’s here and the tomatoes will not do anything but wait for the killing freeze. Time to pick them all and make some Green Tomato Relish. Click the link for the recipe. Thanks Margaret for the green tomatoes you gave us. I picked all that we had and there were many. Green Zebra, Roma, and several different slicing tomatoes. I made a double recipe. The photo is of three out of 35 pints. Fun to do, but far more fun to eat later in the year. Great in Tuna Fish and on Hamburgers. My next task will be to find 7 pounds of cabbage from the Boise Saturday Market and make some Sauerkraut. Yum-O! Pork, Mashed Potatoes and Homemade Kraut. I can taste it now! Cheers!

Harvest Under The Stars


I received this information from Wes Malvini and he asked me to post it. Looks like it could really be fun.

Harvest Under The Stars

Visit us for a magical, night under the stars where innocence and imagination take you back to the time of being a child! Event organizer, Wes Malvini has brought together Idaho’s finest agricultural producers, local restaurants, businesses, citizens, musicians, and wineries to support the adoption of children from foster care! The event begins in the early parts of the day as a “Family Fun Day”–with games and booths to celebr…ate Idaho’s harvest. Get your children’s photos taken in the pumpkin patch or shop for local produce as your kids jump in the fun house and paint pumpkins! If you’re just passing by, come on in and eat some lunch from Brenda’s Foods and other local, fresh, and organic producers!

Later in the evening come back down and listen to the “joyful melodies, funky grooves, (and) soaring harmonies”* of Finn Riggins and rythmic, acoustic blues by The Quartertons. Fill your stomach muscles with laughter and eye sockets with wonderment as local comedian Heath Harmison and Mentalist, Mental Wes take you down a new kind of rabbit hole.

But that’s not all! The night is catered by Idaho’s Bounty delicious selection of local and sustainable foods! Also Idaho wineries such as Holesinsky Organic Winery, Davis Creek Cellars, and Woodriver Cellars!

Forget your adult shoes at home and become a kid again! All proceeds for A New Beginning Adoption Agency which is a non-profit, private adoption agency licensed in Idaho, Oregon, and Utah. They have been providing adoption services in Idaho for six years and have been involved with the placement of 250 children placed into adoptive families.

The mission of A New Beginning is to create healthy adoptive parents, children, and birth parents through education, preparation, and support throughout and after the adoption process. They have developed pre-placement adoptive training that all adoptive parents are required to complete. They have also developed support groups for birth parents and offered counseling to every birth mother that enters their doors.

When: October 23rd, 2010 from 12:00-4:00 (for children and parents) and 6:00-9:30 (adults ONLY)

Where: North End Nursery North End Nursery, North End Organic Nursery, 2350 Hill Road, Boise, ID

Cost: $20.00 in advance (email Wes Malvini) $25.00 at the door. Or enter our COSTUME PARTY and receive $5 off your tickets a the door and enter to win great prizes!

Sponsors: Idaho’s Bounty, North End Organic Nursery, Holesinsky Winery, Davis Creek Cellars, Woodriver Cellars, Brenda’s Foods, Heath Harmison, Mental Wes, Domestic Jones, BC-Creative.

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This looks like it might be a really interesting and fun affair. Cheers!

Thunder Mountain Line Locavore Dinner


Robijn on the TML Train

For Robin’s Birthday, Marnie gave her a Locavore Dinner on the Thunder Mountain Train. This train goes along the Payette River from Horseshoe Bend to Banks, Idaho. Thank you Marnie – It was well worth it. They had a table reserved for us and balloons over the table. It was really a lot of fun to ride the train again and to “get out” with Robin for even a short time. When we reached Banks after riding through the back country and along the river, we had this awesome meal totally produced from locally grown foods and prepared locally. Enjoy these photos of our sojourn! Cheers!

Robin and BobRobin and Bob onboard the Thunder Mountain Line

The Payette River. There are Class 5 rapids on this river.

Kayaking

Kayaking

Kayaking

Kayaking

The Payette River Valley

The Thunder Mountain LineThe Thunder Mountain Line

Banks by trainArrival at Banks!

Dinner tableIn Banks and getting some food.

Dinner PlatedHam, Bread, Apple Crisp, Potato Salad and Squash

Dinner PlatedPasta with Chorizo, Salmon, Gnoche and Lamb Meatballs

The crowdSome of the dinner crowd

The crowd

I hope you enjoyed the photos. We sure did enjoy getting them for you. Here’s to the next sojourn!

Gameday At "The Buzz"


BSU Blue and Orange Sky
It was a beautiful fall day/evening in Boise, except for the Oregon State fans. Even the sky reflected its support of BSU. Look at those colors! BSU won the football game 37 – 24. But it was a hard fought game for both sides. BSU is now 3 – 0 on the season. Normally, we would watch the game at home. But the hype started at 7:00am here in Boise and went right through 9:00pm. ESPN had the Gameday Program here. So, we decided to watch the game at one of the local bistros.

The Invitationthe Buzz
The Invitation Sign

The cakeBSU Cake

Cup cakesBSU Cup Cakes

Sausage appetizerSausage Appetizer

2007 Petite Sirah2007 Peltier Station Petite Sirah

Tailgate PlatterTailgate Platter

Good food; Good company; Good game! Such a fun time. Hope to see you at the next one! Cheers!

Delightful Friday Lunch


Life's Kitchen

Such a beautiful Fall, Friday noontime experience. 74 degrees F, 36% humidity and winds NNW@5 mph. And then lunch at Life’s Kitchen. If you ever get the chance to go here, do so. Support these kids in their endeavor to create their own life experience. And then, go with friends as we did.

Dwain and Debbie Courson Smith

Dwain and Debbie Courson Smith

Susan and Roger Courson

Susan and Roger Courson.
From Seattle via Arizona to visit their daughter. It was a pleasure to meet them!!

Clam ChowderClam Chowder

Garden SaladFresh Garden Salad

Waffle WitchWaffle Witch Sandwich
Ham and Cheese on a Waffle

Treasure Valley PastaTreasure Valley Pasta
Fresh Vegetables on Pasta
with
Garlic and White Wine Sauce

Greenbelt Trumpet Vine

And then, one must always do some exercise after such a delightful lunch. How about along the Greenbelt for another 9.52 miles (39.38 total for this week) and see the beautiful

Trumpet Vine

Cheers and thanks Debbie for bringing your parents to meet us. It was delightful! We’ll do it again.

Red Quinoa


Robin is on Dr Weil’s email list and she receives these recipes quite often. She worked with Dr Weil in San Francisco. This recipe for Red Quinoa looks interesting, easy to make and good. Give it a try.

Red Quinoa

Source: Dr Andrew Weil, U of AZ at Tuscon, Director of Integrative Medicine

Food as Medicine: Not only is quinoa a nutritional powerhouse, but it has a delightful nutty flavor that is delicious on its own, or with mild seasoning and simple vegetables, such as this recipe. Be sure to wash your quinoa well, as its natural saponin coating is quite bitter, and is not always fully removed during processing. Quinoa is high in protein, and the protein it contains is complete, which means it includes all nine essential amino acids.

Ingredients:
4 c Red Quinoa
1 c Yellow Onion, diced
1 c Celery, diced
8 c Water
2 T Sea Salt (or to taste)
3 sprigs fresh Oregano

Directions:
Sauté onions and celery. Season with salt, pepper and oregano. Add quinoa and water. Cover and boil on medium heat for about 25 minutes until cooked and fluffy.

Oven Fried Zucchini Sticks


Actually, this is very good. Robin adapted this from a recipe she found on the web. She also added some tomatoes. Here is what she did and some photos. Cheers and Enjoy!

Oven Fried Zucchini Sticks

I used a whole egg, some ~ tsp garlic Evoo and ~ water – blended with a fork.
Dipped sicks in the egg mix then rolled them in the panko / oregano mix. Sprinkled grated Parmesan on top and a small drizzle of EVOO.

otherwise – the recipe is http://www.cooking.com/recipes-and-more/recipes/Oven-Fried-Zucchini-Sticks-recipe-9434.aspx

used the same panko mix on tomato halves … Cheese, Evoo … baked at 450 – I am afraid of 475!

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Le Menu

Romaine Lettuce Salad

Maniccotti

Oven Fried Zucchini Sticks

2007 Parducci Petite Syrah

Here are some photos.

Oven Fried Zucchini Sticks headed for the oven

Oven Fried Zucchini Sticks after “frying”

Parducci Winery Petite Syrah – Great with this dinner

Chicken Dinner With A Twist


Ah yes, another good chicken dinner. I wen to the store today and they had roasting chicken on sale – $0.69 per pound. I got two right around 5 3/4 pounds and froze one. Here is what we did with the other one. Actually a really good baked chicken. I added the onions to the potatoes and mushrooms.

Roasted Chicken and Roasted Red Potatoes

Recipe Adapted From: Melissa d’Arabian. Food Network
Serves: 4
Cooking Time: 1½ hours
Oven Temperature: 425 ºF, 325 ºF

Ingredients:
½ c Dried Mushroom Mix rehydrated
2 T Oyster Sauce
2 c warm Water
1(3 to 4 pound) Chicken, rinsed and patted dry
6 T Unsalted butter, softened
2 T Rosemary, minced and fresh
2 T Thyme, minced and fresh
1 clove Garlic, minced
Kosher Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
¾ c White Wine – 2009 Syringa Winery Fume Blanc
1½ lbs Red Potatoes
1 med Onions, cut into 1/8 pieces. Walla Walla Sweet or Vidalia
2 T Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Juice of ½ Lemon

Directions:
Allow the chicken to rest at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes. Rehydrate the mushrooms in the warm water mixed with the oyster sauce. Do not discard the liquid.
Preheat the oven to 425 ºF.

Dice the mushrooms into small pieces. In a small bowl or mini prep, mix together the butter with the rosemary, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper. Add the diced mushrooms and blend by hand. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, and then rub the chicken all over with 3 tablespoons of the herbed butter.

Cook’s Note: Make sure chicken is dry. Slide some of the butter underneath the breast skin. Tie the chicken legs together with kitchen string.

In a small roasting pan, pour in the white wine and place the chicken breast side down. Roast for 15 minutes. In a medium bowl, season the potatoes with salt, and pepper and drizzle with oil to coat. Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Remove the chicken to a plate turning it breast-side up. Brush the rest of the herbed butter on top of the chicken. Add the potatoes and onions to the bottom of the pan and place the chicken on top. Adjust the liquid with some of the reserved mushroom water or white wine.

Lower the oven temperature to 325 ºF, and return the chicken to the oven to finish roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the inner thigh, not touching the bone, reaches 160 degrees F, about 1 hour more. Once done, remove the chicken to a carving board and let rest 10 minutes before carving. Remove the potatoes to a serving bowl.

Return the roasting pan to the stove top over high heat. Deglaze the pan with the lemon juice, scraping up the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.

To serve: Place slices of chicken on plate with potatoes and drizzle the pan sauce over both. Serve with a good Fume Blanc wine. We served an Idaho 2009 Syringa Winery Fume Blanc. It really went quite well with the dinner.

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Garlicky Sauteed Swiss Chard

Recipe Adapted From: Melissa d’Arabian, Food Network

Ingredients:
2 T Olive Oil
3 cloves Garlic, smashed
1 t Red Pepper Flakes. Use as much as you like.
1 lg bunch Swiss Chard, ribs removed and chopped. Leaves roughly chopped.
Sea salt and fresh ground White Pepper
Splash of Red Wine Vinegar

Directions:
Add the oil to a large saute pan with the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat until the garlic turns golden brown. Remove the garlic and discard.

Add the chopped Swiss chard ribs and saute until soft, about 4 minutes.

Add the Swiss chard leaves and season with the salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the leaves are wilted. Stir in the vinegar. Serve immediately.

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There is a good dinner. Price for the dinner per serving for Robin and I? About $3.00. Cheers and enjoy!