January At “The Buzz”

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13Aug2013_1_Buzz-Chile-Wines_CounterHere 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 Cardena

Weekend 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

Statehouse Oyster Chowder on a Cold Day

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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.
03Jan2014_1_Captains-Shack_Oyster-Chowder_Plated 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.)

2013 Boise Foodie Blog In Review

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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!!

Boise Foodie Meet-Up: Bodovino Wine Bar

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28Dec2013_1_Foodie-MeetUp-Bonovino_Card-FrontOn 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"

“Still Life”

Wine Bar overview.

Wine Bar overview.

Some of the 144 available wines. A unique idea for dispensing the wine.

Some of the 144 available wines. A unique idea for dispensing the wine.

French Cheese Selection

French Cheese Flight

Charcuterie Plate

Charcuterie Plate

"Baguette and Cheese"

“Baguette and Cheese”

Northend Pizza

North End Flatbread

Unique – Not New – Recipe Holders

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Some where on FaceBook a while ago, I saw this unique idea for holding a recipe “out of the way” while you are trying to create a dish. Easy enough to do and as you can see here, we have more than one in our kitchen. Give it a try. You’ll like it. (Mikey did!)

Recipe holder made from "skirt" hangers. Hang them where you are working and they are out of the way.

Recipe holder made from “skirt” hangers. Hang them where you are working and they are out of the way.

The Rib-Eye Christmas Dinner

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25Dec2013_3b_Christmas_Rib-Eye-People_Ornament-By-SophiaIt’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!!

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.

Ready to be served.

Rib-Eye Roast Twice Baked Potato (Marnie) Dried Corn

Rib-Eye Roast
Twice Baked Potato (Marnie)
Dried Corn

Dried Corn and Twice Baked Potatoes. Marnie did a great job on the variation to the potatoes.

Dried Corn and Twice Baked Potatoes. Marnie did a great job on the variation to the potatoes.

Marnie and Mac enjoy the dinner.

Marnie and Mac enjoy the dinner.

Sophia and Chris

Sophia and Chris

Margaret and Robin. It looks like everyone liked what they were eating. I did!

Margaret and Robin. It looks like everyone liked what they were eating. I did!

Robin's first time at making marshmallow. These were terrific!!

Robin’s first time at making marshmallow. These were terrific!!

Marnie made this great Pear and Almond Tarte. Beautiful colors.

Marnie made this great Pear and Almond Tarte. Beautiful colors.

Robin made the Linder Walnut Raspberry Torte. Another yummy!

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!

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!

Christmas 2013 Dinner Prep

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25Dec2013_1a_Christmas_Rib-Eye-Roast-PrepWell, at least our part. This Rib-Eye Roast, 12 lbs, will – should – serve the group of us. Eight? This does not cook long, just at a high temperature. 500 degrees for 1 hour. I have put the recipe below. The beef is from Homestead Farms. A local producer and there is a link to them in the sidebar. The house smells so wonderful! The stove heat is high enough that the fire alarms went off. Just checking them! To see the photos enlarged, Left-Click. There will be more photos posted here later. But for now ……….

Rib-Eye Roast with thee rub on it and getting happy!

Rib-Eye Roast with thee rub on it and getting happy!

And of course, there is  always a well chosen wine for dinner, too. Here are some from our cellar. Cheers!!

And of course, there is always a well chosen wine for dinner, too. Here are some from our cellar. Cheers!!

And of course, as promised, here is the recipe that I promised. Enjoy it!

Roast Prime Rib of Beef

Source: Chef Ron Luck, http://chefronlock.com/recipes/roast-prime-rib-of-beef/

Step 1: So, my roast is 5.75 lbs. x 5 minutes = 28.75 minutes. I will round up to 29 minutes and add 1 minute for the heat lost when opening the oven door. Keep this in the back of your mind for future reference.

Ingredients:
1 5.75 pound prime rib roast of beef (2 bones)

The rub. There are no measurements here. Just generous amounts of the following:
Butter at room temperature
Herbs de Provence
Fresh cracked pepper
Kosher salt – a generous amount
Chef Ron Lock’s Spicy Horseradish Sauce – See below

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (this MUST be an accurate temp)

Put roast, rib side down in roasting pan. Mix the pepper and herbs in the butter until well combined. Spread the butter mixture over the entire surface of the prime rib. The more the better.

Put the kosher salt over the entire surface of the butter. Be very GENEROUS. Use more than you think you should here. Most of the salt will run off and very little will remain on the meat. I can’t stress the “generous” enough.

Put the roast in the 500 degree oven for 30 minutes as outlined in step 1. The time will be according to the size of your roast. After the 30 minutes, simply turn the oven off and walk away from it for 2 hours. Yup, just walk away. Do NOT open the door, fiddle with it or anything else. Pretend the roast does not exist.

After 2 hours, remove the roast and LET SIT at least 15 min to allow it to rest before carving!

Slice and serve. You can remove the rib bones for easier slicing and it also makes it easier to get 4 generous servings from the roast. Save the bones! Serve with au jus or Chef Ron Lock’s Spicy Horseradish Sauce. Whatever you like. You will surely love this method. You will get a succulent, moist roast between rare and medium rare. Perfect!

Chef Ron Lock’s Spicy Horseradish Sauce

Ingredients:
2 T Prepared Horseradish
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t dry Mustard
3 T Mayonnaise
½ c Sour Cream

Directions:
Combine all ingredients until well blended. Taste and adjust as necessary. Chill until ready to use.

5 Hour Roasted Goose

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22Dec2013_1_Captains-Shack-5Hour-Goose_Just-Out-Of-OvenYup! We’ve done it again! We have now done 5 Hour Roasted Duck, 5 Hour Roasted Chicken and this 5 Hour Roasted Goose. Of the three, we like best the duck, then the goose and finally the chicken. I think it all depends on the amount of fat in the bird. And it looks like water fowl do the best in this style of preparation. All are done essentially the same way, which is why we only have one recipe as linked above. Just change the type of fowl, not the process. The duck, chicken and goose are all Idaho products as is the polenta. Eat Local! Remember: Eat 20% Local foods by 2020. Enjoy these photos and be sure to Rate this blog post above. Cheers!

Roasting is complete and the goose is now resting.

Roasting is complete and the goose is now resting.

Idaho Florini Polenta Housemade Cranberry Sauce 5 Hour Roasted Goose Layered Russian Salad (the recipe will be posted above) 2002 Ridge California Dynamite Hill Petite Sirah

Idaho Floriani Polenta
Housemade Cranberry Sauce
5 Hour Roasted Goose
Layered Russian Salad

(the recipe will be posted above)
2002 Ridge California Dynamite Hill Petite Sirah

Boise Foodies Party On!

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20Dec2013_1b_Boise-Foodie-Meetup-Party_Tina-Tree-RobinAnd a great party it was! Great to see so many people there and to talk to them. Thanks Kat for opening your home to all of us. And the decorations, as in this tree where Robin and Tina are chatting, were marvelous. And the food that everyone shared was fabulous. And if you are in search of Heirloom seeds, here is a list of Heirloom Seed Suppliers. Enjoy the following photos and Left-Click any of them to see enlarged. And while you are at it, please rate this article above and Follow us on this blog – there is a place to do so in the sidebar. Cheers!

Kat, Rick and Tina are chatting on the couch.

Kat, Rick and Tina are chatting on the couch.

Cathy

Cathy

Lance, The Elevated On, and Bernadette

Lance, The Elevated One, and Bernadette

Krista and "Louie's Pizza Maker"

Krista and “Louie’s Pizza Maker”

Kitchen workers

Kitchen workers

I don't know what to say here.

I don’t know what to say here.

Layered Russian Salad that Robin brought. I will have the recipe posted in the Recipe File above later today.

Seven-Layer Russian Salad that Robin brought. I will have the recipe posted in the Boise Foodie Blog Recipe page, listed at the very top of this page, later today. (Seven-Layer Russian Salad Recipe – PDF format)

Turkey Meatballs. Here is the recipe:

Turkey Meatballs. Here is the recipe: Cranberry Turkey Meatballs (This is a PDF file)

Curry, Thai food, different types of rice, chicken, pasta and much, much more. No one went away hungry!! There are some awesome cooks in this group. I like this type of Meet-Up just as well as visiting our local restaurants. As my Supervisor at the duPont Company would say many years ago, "Atta boy!!"

Curry, Thai food, different types of rice, chicken, pasta, chocolate bacon, egg salad bruchetta and much, much more. No one went away hungry!! There are some awesome cooks in this group. I like this type of Meet-Up just as well as visiting our local restaurants. As my Supervisor at the duPont Company would say many years ago, “Atta boy!!” A job well done.

Last Day For 2013 For the Boise Farmers Market

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26Oct2013_1_New-Boise-Farmers-Market_VeggiesCan’t say that we have not been expecting this – All good things must come to an end. The New Boise Farmers Market closed today. But don’t weep! They will be back in 2014. To be exact – The market will open again on April 5, 2014 at the 10th Street and Grove location. Yea! We look forward to this date! It can not come quick enough. We thank some of the vendors that we frequented: Acme Bake Shop, Meadow Lark Farms, Homestead Farms, Purple Sage Farms, Rollingstone Chevre and I know there are some that I have missed. You gave us such great products. We did pick up fresh eggs, an awesome Rib-Eye roast for 10 people for Christmas and a goose that we will make tomorrow in the 5-hour fashion and our weekly supply of Acme Bake Shop Sourdough bread. We are set! The photo above was taken at the market earlier this year. Today, we have 3″ of snow on the ground and it is 33 degrees right now.
But do enjoy the photos and remember:

The Boise Farmers Market re-opens on April 5, 2014
at
10th Street and Grove
in
downtown Boise!

Mark your calendars. Cheers.

Boise snowfall this morning.

Boise snowfall this morning.

21Dec2013_1a_Last-Farmer4s-Market_3in-Snowfall_B&W-Good