Cinco de Mayo BBQ Turkey Quesadillo and Papaya Salsa


BBQ Turkey Quesadillo and Papaya Salsa
Papaya Salsa

Source: Robin Young

Ingredients:
1 Papaya, seeded, scooped and cut
1 inch Cucumber chopped
1 T Red Onion, chopped
1 Radish, chopped
2 T Cilantro, chopped
Juice of ½ lime
1 t Jalepeno, chopped

Directions:
Mix all together and set aside to marry flavors.

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Barbecued Turkey Quesadilla

by Sheila Lukins
Ingredients:
8 flour tortillas (7 1/2-inch diameter)
4 ounces grated Monterey Jack cheese
8 ounces (1 cup) shredded cooked turkey
1/2 cup prepared barbecue sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
4 scallions (3 inches of green left on), thinly sliced
12 to 14 fresh spinach leaves (stems discarded)
4 ounces grated cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Place 4 tortillas on a work surface; sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese. Combine the turkey and barbecue sauce in a small bowl. Scatter the mixture evenly over the cheese, along with the parsley and scallions.

2. Lay spinach leaves flat over entire surface to cover. Sprinkle with cheddar. Place a second tortilla over each, creating a sandwich; press down on the ingredients.

3. Heat a dry, nonstick skillet over medium heat until very hot. Using a large spatula, place a quesadilla in the skillet and cook, pressing down with the spatula and turning once, until the cheese melts and the tortillas brown slightly, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove to a low oven (250°F) to keep warm. Repeat with remaining quesadillas.

4. To serve, cut each quesadilla into quarters and serve hot. Serve with a bowl of whole cranberry sauce or prepared salsa alongside.

Serves 4. Per serving: 575 calories, 24g fat, 98mg cholesterol.

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This was a delicious lunch and somewhat easy to prepare. And the salsa that Robin came up with is really great. I love the lingering taste of papaya. Left-Click the photo to see full screen. Cheers and Enjoy!!

Le Cafe de Paris Tapas Night


After going to the DotDotDot program, BSU Graphic Artists present their Senior work, we drifted down to Le Cafe de Paris and had an awesome Tapas night dinner. Congratulations to our friend Shawn Carman for a successful showing. You are one talented young man. Both events were in the Adelmann building pictured here.And now, our dinner in pictures. Enjoy the photos. We enjoyed the dinner!

Choripan Bites
chorizo, sweet pepper and onion, chimichurri bruschetta

Vegetable Gratin
tomato, zucchini, red bell pepper, gruyere, parmesan, cream

Springtime Hearts of Palm Salad
(Ensalada de Palmitos de Primavera)
lettuce, boiled egg, hearts of palm, tomato, pickled beet, dijon vinaigrette

Ancho Rubbed Tri Tip
fire-roasted tomato salsa, medium rare tri tip

Argentine Mussel Soup
green-lipped mussels, saffron, lemon juice, vegetable stock, rice

Calamari

Seafood and Sausage Paella
andouille sausage, crayfish and saffron rice

Dulce de Leche Pionono
sponge cake roulade, dulce de leche creme filling, caramel icing

Bacon and Egg Muffin Cups


Here is a recipe that you can make in about 20 minutes and feed a host – many – people. Really easy to do. I got the recipe from one of the many food/recipe blogs that I subscribe to. In this case, Secret Recipe Club. It’s free to join. Enjoy this breakfast! The first photo is when I took them out of the oven. The second, the cups are plated.

Bacon and Egg Muffin Cups
Bacon and Egg Muffin Cups {SRC}

Source: Secret Recipe Club – 
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 8 Breakfast Cups

Note: These are so very easy to make and you can feed a crowd fairly easy. And yes, they are good!

Ingredients:
4 slices of bread
8 eggs
8 slices of bacon
shredded cheese

Bacon and Egg Muffin Cups plated

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat a skillet on medium-high heat, cook the bacon and only allow it to cook for about 4-5 minutes. You are looking for flexible but not raw. While the bacon is cooking, cut two circles out of each slice of bread. I used a circle cookie cutter to make it easier.
Now take that extra bread and either save it for french toast casserole or go tear it apart and feed it to the birds {what we did}.

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Next, lay a circle of bread into the bottom of each muffin cup. Wrap the bacon around the edge of each muffin cup. (I did this part backwards – we did the cheese before the bacon – it made absolutely no difference) Sprinkle cheese on top of the bread slices.

Now carefully, crack an egg into each cup. Megan suggested cracking the egg carefully into a bowl first and then sliding it into the muffin cup. I just did it right into the pan.
Bake them for 10-15 minutes or until the whites have set and the yolk is cooked to your liking (less for a runny yolk, more for a cooked yolk)

Serve with pancakes and fresh fruit – well, we did. And by the way, you cannot eat just one. I don’t care what anyone says, you can’t. It’s impossible.

If you want the original recipe, Click Here. You can see more bacon recipes at Food On Friday. Enjoy!

City Market – Boise Saturday Market #2


It’s 9:30! Ring the bell. And she did and the second week of the Saturday market was opened! I talked for a short while with Garrett Goldberg, Square Companies, a wine storage company, and he said the Guy was supposed to be coming to the Market. Guy Hand from NPR. I told him I know Guy and to tell him he is late and that I had already been here and gotten some great photos. Here are just some of the vegies that are available. The new header photo was taken at the Market just this morning. I also get our eggs here from Meadow Lark Farms, Janie Burns. Great source for local eggs, lamb and chicken. Cheers!

Radishes and carrots from the City Market. This is also the new header photo.

Wow! Tomatoes that are not “hard as rocks”. That smell like tomatoes and best yet: They Taste Like Tomatoes!

Meatless Friday – High Fiber Dinner


Actually, this was a great dinner on this cold and stormy night. The rains may be over, but the mountains got snow.

Wild Rice
with
walnuts and dried fruit

Basamati Rice
with
Knorr Spinach Dip, sour cream, light mayo, cucumber and hard cooked eggs

Red Cabbage Slaw and Tomatoes

Happy 10th Birthday Le Café de Paris in Boise


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.

Another Great and Different Dinner


Here is another fantastic dinner we had. Yes, we do eat well!!

Sauteed Crimini Mushrooms
with
Beef

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.

Grilled New York Strip Steak


What a super dinner. It’s been a while since we had a good grilled steak. Here’s what we had tonight.

Grilled New York Strip Steak
with
Garlic Sauteed Crimini Mushrooms

Fennel and Tomato Salad

Shrimpcargot

1988 Dolcetto D’Alba Cascina Bordino

Tommy’s Salmon Marinade


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.

Tommy’s Salmon Marinade

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!!

Friday Nite Buzz And 1st Saturday Market








The first day of the Boise Saturday Market!!! Yea. It looks like there was going to be a good sized crowd today. This photo was taken at about 10:00am, thirty minutes after opening, and it looks full. The market has grown this year, too. It’s bigger and Better! Enjoy these photos of the activities this weekend, at least some of the activities. The Buzz and the Boise Saturday Market are a great way to start this weekend. Plus great weather – clear skies, gentle breeze and 76 degrees!

Malbecs were featured on the Friday Night Tasting at the Buzz. Good selection! We just might make this a regular. Good wines. Good food and Good friends.

This was a super, awesome appetizer that Cristi came up with – Shrimpcargot Shrimp in a crimini mushroom cap with green onion, cheese and a garlic butter sauce.

Gnocchi, Baked Sweet Potato Fries and Green Salad. Great bistro food.

Great crisp with coffee ice cream

Our friends Geno and Debra who are back in Boise for a while after being in Arizona and Alabama. Welcome back!

Eggs Benedict from the Red Feather Lounge at the Saturday Market. The food was good … can’t really say that about the service. Maybe because it was very busy at the market. We’ll give them another chance.

Some of the people at the market. It was getting crowded.

And just to prove that it is Spring in the Treasure Valley, here are Gennieve’s flowers. Wisteria, and red and yellow tulips.