Hake Dinner

16 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Captain's Shack, Hake, Healthy Eating, Herbs and Spices, Indian Cooking, Main Dish, Party Time, Quinoa and Grains, Recipes, Seafood, Special Dinners, What's For Dinner?

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food, hake, massachusetts division of marine fisheries, trash fish

That’s right – Hake. But what is it. I actually thought it was Oriental in nature. Wrong! Hake is a white fish that lives 200 – 300 meters below the surface of most oceans found here on Earth. Pacific Ocean, both the northern and southern oceans, Atlantic Ocean, both the northern and southern oceans, the Mediterrean and Black Seas. Off the coast of the USA, Argentina, Chile and South Africa to name a few. According to the Boston Globe in an article Sunday Super – Hake Goes From Trash Fish to Treasure, Hake has become a very popular seafood. In fact, it has been over-fished off the coast of Argentina. In the October 13, 2010 article, the Globe states that,

Hake, once called “trash fish,” because few people wanted it, may be the last bargain in the seafood case. “Yesterday’s trash fish may be tomorrow’s food fish,” says Mark Szymanski, assistant biologist at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. Carl Fantasia of New Deal Fish Market in East Cambridge sees a lot of hake when he goes to buy fish at the wholesale houses. “I recommend it quite often to people who are looking for a white, flaky alternative to cod or halibut,” says Fantasia. Gavin Egbert, seafood coordinator for the North Atlantic Region for Whole Foods Markets, says that hake has not been ranked by the Blue Ocean Institute, a scientific organization that collects data. No one is really certain whether there are sufficient stocks of this locally caught, sweet, white fish so that you can buy it guilt free.

Our supply, bought from Costco, comes from Namibia, South Africa. We are going to make a Coconut Milk Curry Hake with Roasted Couscous and Green Beans tonight. Here is a recipe link printed by the Boston Globe for Hake Wrapped in Prosciutto. The photo here comes from that recipe. Enjoy this “new found” seafood. Cheers!

Chilean Wines At The Buzz

14 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Carrots, Chicken, Chilean Food, Ethnic Foods, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Salads, Shrimp, Soup, Special Dinners, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

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butter scotch, shrimp soup, the Buzz, wine club

In spite of all the troubles this past month or so for Cristi, this was an exceptional Wine Club Dinner. (And all for $15 per person!!) Cristi had some superb support – Paul Colwell from BRJ Distributors did a great job in matching the wines with the dinner. And Peggy Hands-Behrens did an awesome job in finding the menu ingredients and preparing this feast. Thank-You both for helping Cristi.
With that in mind ….. The wines that Paul choose went well with the dinner. Cristi’s Choice, not chosen by Paul, was a malbec from Bodega Elena from Mendoza. A good red from the 2011 vintage with an alcohol level of 14.5. A little hot, but good. I rated this red an [18] out of [20]. You can get a bottle for $11.00. Here is what else we had. Enjoy! Left-Click any of these photos to see enlarged.

Pan Con Palta

An avocado breakfast dish in Chili. I don’t particularly care for avocado, but Peggy did a great job with this.
2012 Arenal Artnot Carmenere
14.0% alc. One of the better wines of the evening. Went very well with the avocado and the olives. [19] $13.00
(Robin and I both liked this appetizer. She even made it for breakfast this morning using Acme Bake Shop Sourdough.)

Ensalada Chilena
(This was a great salad.)

2011 Tabali Sauvignon Blanc
13.5% alc. Hints of celery, cedar. The cilantro in the salad overpowered the wine. [17] $14.00

South American Shrimp Soup
(I really liked this soup!)

2011 Iyzaguerre Cab/Merlot Blend
13.5% alc. full bodied and went well with the soup. [19] $12.00

Pollo Arvejado

2011 Tabali Chardonnay
13.5% alc. butter scotch and lemon. Not my favorite. I don’t think it went with the chicken. [16] #15.00

Torta De Hojas
(A good and different dessert.)

2011 Tabali Cab/Syrah
14.5% alc. French oak. full bodied and a great ending to the evening

As you can see, this was a great dinner and some great wines to go with it. If I were to give this event a rating, it would easily be 4 1/2 Stars out of 5. It was that good and the “Step Up Help” did an awesome job. I can not emphasize that enough. Thank-You one and all. Here are some of the wines that were served tonight.

Joesph Geist brought this to share.

These were Cristie’s Choice.

These were some of the wines that were served with dinner.

Chicken Bombs

12 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Captain's Shack, Chicken, Comfort Food, Main Dish, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe By: Robin Young, Recipes, What's For Dinner?

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colby jack, gin and tonic, skinless chicken breasts

Don’t be afraid! They will not explode. To the left is a photo of the chicken rolled and on the grill. Not very hard to do, but it does take a little time and a little care. Look at the recipe below. A fun and very good way to prepare chicken. Almost like a Cordon Bleu, at least for the stuffing practice. But do try it. Adjust the recipe as necessary and remember that the recipe as listed is for 10. No problem in cutting it in half. One Chicken Bomb is probably plenty for one person. Serve this with a great Hendrick’s Gin, Gin and Tonic. Enjoy!

Chicken Bomb plated with Baked Corn

Chicken Bombs

Makes 10 Chicken Bombs

Ingredients:
5 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
5 jalapeño peppers
20 strips of bacon
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup grated colby jack or cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup BBQ sauce (I look for low sugar — always )

Directions:
Slice chicken breasts in half width wise (Each half will make 1 Chicken Bomb). Place between two pieces of wax paper and pound to 1/4 inch thickness. *A rolling pin also does the trick. Season each with salt a pepper.

Slice jalapeños in half, length wise and remove seeds, ribs, and the end with the stem. In a small bowl, mix your softened
cream cheese with your grated Colby jack.

Fill each jalapeño half with about 1 Tbs cheese mixture. (Sometimes I use more)

Place 1 jalapeño half at the end of each pounded breast piece. Roll over and together. *It doesn’t always close the way you think it should. No worries! The bacon will pull it all together.

Wrap each breast piece with 2 slices of bacon. I do 1 at a time (obviously), and just sort of wrap tightly and tuck the
ends of the bacon under the strips. It all comes together in the cooking process. I promise you do not need toothpicks!

Preheat your grill to 350 degrees. Cook over indirect heat for 20-25 minutes; turning every 4-5 minutes. Baste chicken with BBQ sauce each time you turn it. Giving it one final basting right before it’s done. Chicken is ready when it reaches an internal temp of 165 degrees. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, pierce chicken with a fork. If juices run clear, it’s done!

The Chicken Bomb opened up to see the jalapeno stuffing.

This is not a hot – spicy – meal. I removed the ribs and the seeds to keep the heat low. If you want more heat, leave the ribs and seeds in. And I only used 1 piece of bacon per bomb. It held up very well. Cheers!

Sunday Night At “The Buzz” In Boise

12 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Beans, Bistro, Comfort Food, Finger Foods, Friends, Photos By: Bob Young, Special Events, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

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fire storm, great friends, pot luck, two fires, vegetable platter

Great food and great friends gathered at The Buzz in Boise to convey our condolences to Cristi and her family for her loss. We were sitting outside and the fire storm from about 50 miles east of Boise and 25 miles north, presented an imposing image of the vastness of the fire. This morning on NPR I heard were the combined two fires was about 120,000 acres. Yuk!
As we gathered, we shared food as a means of bonding our friendships. Everyone who attended, was asked to bring some type of pot luck. And, if you desired, bring a wine. We took a 2010 Fujishin Family Cellars Viognier, a corn pie and grilled fresh herbed zucchini. (Photos are below) Others brought all kinds of wines, BBQ pork, beans, soup, vegetable platter, hot artichoke dip, brownies and different breads. It was a good gathering to show the extent of our friendship for Cristi and her family. Here are a few more photos. Left-Click any of the photos to see enlarged.

Grilled Herbed Zucchini Strips

Corn Pie

Plated pulled pork, homemade beans and corn pie.

Stuffed Peppers for Maggie, Stuffed Squash and Stuffed Tomatoes for Robin

08 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bakery, Alley Gardens, Bread, Captain's Shack, Comfort Food, Dinner With Friends, Grilling, Heirloom Squash, Heirloom Tomatoes, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Main Dish, Photos By: Bob Young, Sourdough Bread, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?, Zebra Tomatoes

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food, garden tomatoes, stuffed heirloom squash, stuffed tomatoes, vegetarian

Mac and Marnie gave us two huge heirloom squash. I picked some tomatoes from out alley garden and sweet peppers are always great with a good stuffing. What a great couple of days working in the kitchen and coming up with a different stuffing blend and a heirloom Green Zebra Tomato Verde for the stuffing. The photo here is the squash getting ready to be put into the oven. I used an instant read thermometer to check the cooking process and took it out at 175 degrees F. This was very good, even if I do say so myself. The stuffed peppers were for Maggie and Trish whereas the stuffed tomatoes were for Robin. Here are some more photos. Left-Click to see the photos enlarged and don’t forget to Vote above. Enjoy!

Stuffed Heirloom Squash Cheese Bites Green Salad with Pomegranate Juice Dressing Acme Bake Shop Sourdough bread and Zucchini Rounds

Stuffed Heirloom Squash
Cheese Bites
Green Salad and Fresh Garden Tomatoes with Pomegranate Juice Dressing
Acme Bake Shop Sourdough Bread
Zucchini Rounds

Stuffed Fresh Alley Garden Tomato
Grilled Herbal Heirloom Squash

Robin can not handle green peppers or almost any peppers so I made her a stuffed tomato.

Stuffed Yellow and Orange Sweet Peppers
Grilled Heirloom Squash

This I made for Maggie and Trish tonight. I hope they enjoy it.

Happy Hour At Highlands Hollow Brewhouse

05 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Beer and Ale, Beer and Food, Beer Tasting, Comfort Food, Highlands Hollow Pub, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Pubs, Special Beers, What's For Dinner?

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dark ale, doolie, harrison hollow, star pub, vegetarian sandwiches

Highlands Hollow Brewhouse, formerly known as Harrison Hollow, was thee site of a Meet-Up group tonight. We only ordered appetizers, namely the Loaded Fries, which are really loaded, and the Black Bean Nachos which were very good! Both are pictured below. We also had a beer sampler of 10 samples. Personally, I liked the Doolie’s best. To copy from their menu, “Doolie’s is a dark ale with ruby overtones which show up if you hold it to the light. A slightly roasted flavor profile and the darker color comes from the use of three different specialty malts that are roasted in varying degrees, to stringent specifications.” The food was good, understanding that it was Happy Hour Fare and the service was good. It would be interesting to order something from their main menu. The food and the sampler that we got was $22.00 for the two of us. They have a full menu of salads, pasta, a variation of entrees, vegetarian, sandwiches burgers and desserts. Our visit here was good and we will probably return. Where 10 Barrel and Table Rock are 5-Star pubs, Highlands Hollow is a 4-Star pub. Enjoy the photos.

Black Bean Nachos

Loaded Fries

The sizes of these two appetizers is really quite large. We probably could have had just one between the two of us and shared it. You can visit their website at Highlands Hollow Brewhouse.

Grilled Meatloaf

05 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Bread, Captain's Shack, Comfort Food, Cooking Styles, Grillin' and Chillin', Grilling, Main Dish, Meatloaf, Orchard House, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Ravenswood Winery Zinfandel, Recipe By: Bob Young, Recipes, Sourdough Bread, Special Dinners, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

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forestville ca, garlic mashed potatoes, meatloaf, ravenswood winery, russian river valley

The late Joe Swan, winemaker Swan Vineyards, Forestville, CA in the Russian River Valley, once said that you can not get a good meatloaf away from home or in a restaurant. (The Orchard House in Marsing, ID makes an awesome meatloaf!!) After I made this meatloaf, Robin said, “Joe would have loved this!” That is the greatest compliment I could ever receive. The photo above, is the meatloaf on the grill cooking. It was not wrapped in the aluminium foil. The foil was just laid there to reduce the flare ups. It worked. First hour at 350 degrees F – low heat. The second 45 minutes to an hour, raise the temperature to 450 degrees F. Look for a probe temperature of 165 – 175 degrees F. Let rest before cutting. Here is the menu. Enjoy!

Grilled Meatloaf
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Green Salad with Fresh Garden Tomatoes
Lyonnaise Sauce
Fresh Acme Bake Shop Sourdough Bread
2009 Ravenswood Winery (Sonoma, CA), Old Hill Vineyards, Zinfandel

Yum-O!! If you would like the recipe, look here for Grilled Meatloaf. Cheers and enjoy!

Breakfast At Crooked Fence Barrelhouse

04 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in 10 Barrel Brewing, Breakfast, Brunch, Buy Idaho, Crooked Fence Barrelhouse, Eggs Benedict, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Special Beers, Special Events, What's For Dinner?

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bacon and eggs, brewers association, english muffin, food, passport program

Thought we would give this a try. Plus we signed up to be with the Meet-Up Group, but did not really see them. I think they were in another room. But we did have Marnie and Mac with us. Mac was a little upset that they did not honor his Idaho Brewers Association Passport Program. Can’t say that I really blame him because the program is supposed to cover all Idaho breweries. Can’t say that the visit was all that great either with service being somewhat slow and the food was not up to the standards of 10 Barrel Brew Pub in downtown Boise or Table Rock Brew Pub. (10 Barrel is the best of all three of these places in my opinion.) Here are some photos of our visit. I will rank this visit as a 2 1/2 Stars out of 5. Not a good showing.

The beer flight was good. Just the right size. Robin liked the Picket Porter best and I liked the Bonneville Brown best. Robin liked the Bonneville least and I liked the porter least. That’s not a real surprise. But we did rate the Rye Sing IPA even at 3rd place.

Bacon and eggs. This probably would have been good had the "toast" had more ofv a brown color to it. It was more like dried out bread. I didn't know that you had to request butter on the toast either. Not good and cost them serious points.

Bacon and eggs. This probably would have been good had the “toast” been a little more brown. It was more like dried out bread. I didn’t know that you had to request butter on the toast either. Not good and cost them serious points.

Eggs Benedict. The Hollandaise was pasty and the eggs probably should have been done a little more. The whites were close to being transparent. The English Muffin should have been toasted a little more, too. They seem to have a problem making toast and the food had an abundance of salt on it! We probably will not be back for another meal here.

Maggie’s Dinner – #3

02 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Blue Crab, Captain's Shack, Food, Fruits, Grilling, Healthy Eating, Main Dish, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Salads, Salmon, Special Dinners, What's For Dinner?

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cedar planks, copper river salmon, grilled pineapple

Maggie’s Summer Salmon Salad –

Grilled Cedar Plank Copper River Salmon
Sweet Red and Yellow Pepper Slices
Celery Slices
Grilled Pineapple and Grilled Apricot
Crab Dip – East Coast Style
Chopped Lettuce

Next week – probably stuffed peppers one day. Hope Maggie and Trish enjoy this plate. Cheers!

Close up photo of the Copper River salmon.

Copper River salmon on the cedar planks and ready for the grill. Salt, pepper and fresh tarragon and that’s all!

Hot off the grill.

Crab Dip – East Coast Style

01 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Blue Crab, Captain's Shack, Classics, Crab, Food, Food Photos, Horseradish, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes, Salads, Seafood, What's For Dinner?

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annapolis md, east coast style, food, yellow tomato

Ah yes! Costco does carry Blue Crab and it is pretty good. Robin wanted me to make some of this dip. I did, but it must rest a while before eating. She waited long enough. So I made her a small green salad with yellow tomato and the crab dip.

Crab Dip – East Coast Style

Author: Bob and Robin Young
Source: Marge Young, Annapolis, MD
Servings: 20
Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Comments: The Blue Crab can be bought from Charleston Seafood Company, http://www.charlestonseafood.com or use Phillips canned Blue Crab.
Author Notes: This recipe comes from Bob’s sister-in-law, Marge Young.

Ingredients:
1 lbs Crab Meat (Blue Crab)
1 lg Package (8oz) Cream Cheese, softened (No fat works fine)
½ cup Mayonaise …. more or less to taste
1 Tbs Horseradish …. more or less to taste (We like more. Like double the amount.)
½ Lemon, juiced

Procedure:
1. Beat the last four ingredients together …. fold in the crab meat. Hide the dip in the refrigerator until ready to use. (This is the hardest part.) Serve with crackers or small breads.

2. As you can see, this is not an exact science and the tasting part is important and the most fun.