Robin’s Pineapple Upside Down Cake

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Robin found and made this awesome Pineapple Upside Down Cake, after she “tweaked” it a little bit. The original recipe says that the run is “optional”. Yea! right! She also added pecans in between the pineapple rings. I remember growing up (that assumes that the goal was net), my Aunt Peggy making this cake. Robin’s is just as good if not better! This was an awesome finish to a good BBQ Ribs dinner. Enjoy!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Source (Adapted): Robin Young
Ingredients:
¼ c Butter
¾ c Light Brown Sugar
2 T Pineapple Juice
3 T Dark Rum
½ small fresh Pineapple, peeled, cored, and sliced
½ c Butter
1½ c All-Purpose Flour
⅛ t ground Cardamom
½ t Salt
2 t Baking Powder
½ c White Sugar
1 egg
½ c cold Milk

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C)
  2. Melt ¼ cup butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in brown sugar, pineapple juice, and dark rum. Cook over medium-low heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is bubbling, about 5 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat and spread pineapple slices in a layer over the brown sugar mixture, completely covering the mixture. Set skillet aside.
  4. Melt ½ cup butter in small skillet over low heat until the butter begins to brown and release a nutty fragrance, about 5 minutes. Watch carefully, butter burns easily. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
  5. Whisk together flour, cardamom, salt, baking powder, and white sugar in a large bowl. Whisk in egg and cold milk until just combined. Pour in melted butter and stir to mix thoroughly.
  6. Pour batter over the pineapple slices in the skillet; spread evenly to cover. Optional maraschino cherries and/or pecan halves between pineapple slices. Bake in preheated oven until the cake begins to bubble around the edges, the top is browned, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in the skillet for 10 minutes.
  7. Loosen the cake from the skillet by running a knife around the inside edge of the cake. Invert a large plate over the top of the skillet and flip over, releasing the cake to show the pineapple slices on top.

Entertaining at The Buzz In Boise

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Such a great dinner at The Buzz for the November Wine Club Dinner. Cristi did an awesome job in presenting wines that went along with the theme of The Art of Entertaining. Here are some photos from last night and the wines that we had. Really a super dinner and wine selection. Be sure to look at the photos full screen and grab a fork. Enjoy! We did. See you at the next event. Use the link above and call The Buzz for reservations. The best $15.00 you’ll ever spend!

BLT Slaw
Simple Stromboli
2010 Franco Serra
13.0% alc. superfine wine with these dishes, went best with the slaw [19]
This was a great opening dish and wine. Great choices!

Beef and Barley Stew
2011 Les Trois Couronnes Cotes du Rhone
14.0% alc another good pairing of wine and food. [19]

Chicken Wellington
Cranberry Cabbage (delicious!)
Broccoli (Yum-O!)
2010 Meadowcroft Chardonnay
14.5% alc. In my opinion – the best wine of the evening. It went so very well with everything on the plate. [19]

Chocolate Walnut Bread Pudding
Honeybun Cake
NV Renwood Port
I did not particularly like this port as well as some otheres I have had [17]
NV Almond Sparkling Wine of Veuve du Vernay
awesome with tyhese desserts. Loved it! [19]

One of the wines we had tonight.

Another wine we had.

Whole Foods Media Tour, Boise

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On November 12, Robin and I were invited to attend the Whole Foods Media Tour by Glenda Catron. Thank you, Glenda, it was informative and interesting. The public tour, also held on the 12th, was well attended and filled up quickly. The “Ribbon Cutting”. also know by Whole Foods fans as the “Break Bread Ceremony” where a giant loaf of bread will be shared, will be at 9:30 am on Wednesday, November 14. Here are some interesting facts that Ben Friedland, District Manager of Whole Foods, pointed out to us. There are 342 stores in the US, Canada and United Kingdom and all of them are designed differently to reflect the community where they are located. As he said, “When you walk through the doors, it’s like walking into your kitchen pantry. We want you to feel at home.”
It is really great to see all of the local, Idaho Produced and Grown items. Some of the Idaho businesses represented are: Gaston’s Bakery, Zeppoles Bakery, Rollingstone Chevre Cheese, Ballard Family Cheese, and Homestead Natural Foods. All of the meats at this store are 30-40% locally produced. This is by no means the total list.
And Idaho wineries are also represented and I think the Idaho breweries are too.
Non-GMO products and quality products will be found here. Read the labels and be familiar with the PLU codes. (GMO products start with an 8. 80000 would be a GMO. 90000 products are organic.) Here are some photos of the tour. You can pause the slideshow at any time and you can go back or forwards. Enjoy!

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PS: As a late post from Glenda Catron,
About Whole Foods Market®
Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market ( www.wholefoodsmarket.com ) is the leading retailer of natural and organic foods and America’s first national “Certified Organic” grocer. In fiscal year 2012, the Company had sales of approximately $12 billion and currently has 342 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods Market employs approximately 73,000 Team Members and has been ranked for 15 consecutive years as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by Fortune magazine.”

BSU Football Tailgate Food

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Watching the BSU – Hawaii game. BSU leads at Halftime 35-7. But we made this comfort food “tailgate” food.

Gameday Menu
Adjusted Baked Beans
Nathan Hotdogs
green tomato relish, diced onion, mustard
Belhaven Scottish Ale

If you have never tried this ale, I strongly recommend it. This was a Yum-O comfort food dinner. Cheers!

Boise Food Truck Rally and Dolly’s Bar Grand Opening


An exciting time tonight with, at least for me, two special events going on. First was the November Boise Food Truck Rally held in the parking lot of the brand new Whole Foods Store, that is actually not open until next Wednesday, November 14. Here is some of the crowd that fought the cold winds and light snow. Yes, it did snow lightly! Enjoy these photos! It was good to see my friend, Yvonne, at the Brown Shuga Soul Food truck.

The Whole Foods booth. Glad to have you in Boise!

Great to see Tammy and Mike McClure of Indian Creek Winery. Their spiced wine was great. Glad to hear that harvest went well for you Mike.

 

Then there was the Grand Opening of Dolly’s Bar at 1108 Front Street in Boise. Small, but cozy! Thanks Karyn for inviting me to attend your opening. I do hope the business goes well and grows. Here is the sign that was out front along Front Street. Rather difficult to see at night. It should stand out during the day.

This is the patio at Dolly’s Bar.

Quail and Sausage with Grape Sauce

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Such a good dinner last night. We finally got to use some of the chukar that Dr Mofid gave us. Thank-You, Afshin, it was delicious. We still have some left along with the pheasant. To the left is the plated dinner and below is what was on the menu. If you want the recipe, Click Here. You can also use Cornish Game Hens or chicken. Enjoy these photos of the process. Be sure to view the photos in full screen.

Quail and Sausage with Grape Sauce

Black Rice with Carrot and Celery
Lamb Sausage with Grape Sauce
Chukar with Grape Sauce
2011 Panul Cabernet Sauvignon

Chukar breasts resting with salt and pepper.

Grapes being reduced to make the sauce.

Chukar, sausage and grape sauce cooking and blending the flavors. Cook slowly and covered.

Stu Smith, Smith-Madrone Winery, Visits Boise

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On November 6, Stu Smith from Smith-Madrone Winery and Vineyards, visited Boise and we were honored to go to dinner with him at the Cottonwood Grille. From the Smith-Madrone website, there is a link Here, we read that “Brothers Stuart and Charles Smith are the vineyard managers and winemakers of Smith-Madrone Winery. Their family lineage includes the Fetherolf family, German farmers from the Palatinate region, who came to America on the Good Ship Thistle in 1730 … He is an active member of the G.O.N.A.D.S. (the Gastronomical Order for Nonsensical and Dissipatory Society), founded in the early 1980s by a group of Napa vintners who meet for lively monthly lunches, chronicled in James Conaway’s books Napa: An American Eden and Napa: The Far Side of Eden … He enjoys barbecuing for guests at the winery; favorites are the (Smith-Madrone) Cabernet-marinated butterflied barbecued lamb and (Smith-Madrone) Cabernet Risotto (made on a camp stove as people gather around).” Here are some photos from the evening. Enjoy! We did. Be sure to Left-Click the photos to see enlarged. The photo here is the hearth at the Cottonwood Grille. Cheers!

Stu Smith and Robin

Cristi Takeda from The Buzz in Boise, joined us for dinner and a lively discussion. Thank-You, Cristi for being there.

Also joining us for the special event, were Peggy and Eric Behrens. Peggy helps out at The Buzz at their Monthly Wine Dinners. Glad you and Eric could make it, Peggy.

Stu was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the 2006 Fraser Vineyards (ID) Cabernet Sauvignon. We pulled these three from our cellar to have a comparison tasting with the Smith-Madrone 2010 Cab. All of these wines were awesome.

Stu brought with him the 2011 Smith-Madrone Riesling and the 2012 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon. These were two excellent wines. Thank-You for sharing, Stu.

For appetizers, we each selected an appetizer we wanted and then shared it with the wines. Here is a cheese plate, CG Cheese Plate. An assortment of cheeses served with crostini, fruit, candied walnuts and crackers

And Crab Cakes, Fresh Pacific crab mixed with shallots and Pernod, cooked
crisp and served with lemon beurre blanc. We also had Croquetas, Traditional Basque fritters made with creamed béchamel and served with rumescu sauce

One of us had this Tomahawk Chop. Yum!

We also had North American Elk, Premium elk loin, sautéed, sliced and served with a green peppercorn sauce; Northwest Premium Buffalo, Fresh buffalo sirloin sautéed, sliced, and served with a rich Cabernet Sauce. It was over cooked. Lemon Roasted Chicken, All natural chicken roasted with rosemary and lemon pepper, served with a lemon scallion cream sauce. Different soups were also on out table. Overall, a good dinner, with few exceptions, and some terrific wines. Oh, almost forgot to mention. We opened the evening with a 2010 Pend d’Oreille Chardonnay from the Vickers Vineyard at Sunny Slope.

BBQ Sauce for Chicken

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Robin had been asking – in her soft and gentle way – for chicken wings. And believe it or not, I don’t know where to find any in Boise where one can purchase a “bucket” of them. I know there has to be a place, I just don’t know where. I can see another assignment coming up. Anyway, I decide to make some. And here is the Recipe that I came up with. This recipe is also posted in the Recipe File as listed above. Try it and see what you think. It is really easy to do. The photo here is the end result. Left-Click and view this full screen. And the casserole dish? A Pampered Chef. They are awesome baking dishes and they carry a Lifetime Warrantee. Don’t be in the kitchen without one … or two …. or three. Enjoy!

Dinner At Maggie’s Place

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A perfectly delightful evening at Maggie’s Place on Sunday night. Chef Maggie did an awesome job with the Chicken and Dumplings, again! And as always, she served up the perfect chalice of Stella Artois. And Robin chipped in with a great Huckleberry Pie. I feel so lucky to have two super-duper Chefs. Well here, you be the judge and look at these photos. Be sure to Left-Click on the photos and see a larger view. Cheers and Goot Essen!

A good German Sekt wine to go with the chicken. Not too sweet and a little frizant – bubbly.

A super great and delicious salad. Who would have thought that avocado and sweet red onion would go so well together. (Go full screen on this one. The colors are so delicious.)

And the star of the show! Maggie’s Chicken and Dumplings. Yum-O!!!!

Huckleberry Pie fresh out of the oven. Another gastronomic delight! It is not often that one can get huckleberries.

Yum!!!

So there you are. Such a treat. Such a joy! And if you clean your computer screen and go Full Screen to enlarge the photos, you could probably eat right off the screen. Try it. You’ll like it! Mikey would, if we could find him.

Great Fall, Oktober Fest Dinner

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A very typical Fall day. Cool. Rain. Snow – in the mountains where it belongs. Good football games:U of Delaware lost, but a good game. Boise State University beat Wyoming 45-14. They are now 7-1 and Coach Peterson is 80-7. But better than that, is this meal we had after the games. Delicious! Enjoy.

Brats
Fresh Made Sauerkraut with Apples
Masher Blend
Plockman’s Mustard
Fat Tire Belgian Beer