French Wines At The Buzz

11 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Boise Adventures, Classics, Croissant, Dinner With Friends, French Foods, French Wines, Friends, Healthy Eating, Locavore, Party Time, Pasta, Photos By: Bob Young, Quiche Lorraine, Salads, Special Events, Traditional Food, What's For Dinner?, Wine and Food

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food, quiche lorraine, salad nicoise

Another in a series of good wine dinners at the Buzz last night. Some very interesting wines, presented blind, and good food. Our friend Maggie, pictured here, came along with us and it was great to see that she was feeling chipper enough to join us. We always like to have her join us in these adventures. I
This was a good meal. Not particularly the best I have had at the Buzz, but very good. I am very salt conscious, and there were two dishes that could have had a little more salt and/or pepper. I will list those dishes below. All in all ….. a fun night with good friends and good food. Glad to hear and see that Bailey is doing OK after her bike fall. Enjoy these photos of the dinner and the commentary. Cheers! Left-Click any of these photos to see them larger.

Robin is studying the wines and the dinner menu.

Quiche Lorraine
2009 Baron de Hoer Alsase Riesling
12.5% alc. went well with this appetizer, but light. [15] $14.00

Salad Nicoise
(Could have used a little cracked pepper and olives. But still good.)
2012 Sable d’Azure
12.5% alc blend of grenache, mouvedre and petite syrah. this went well with the salad [17] $13.00

Vegetable Trimbale
(Needs a very light sprinkle of Sea Salt)
2011 Chat du Pape Cote de Rhone
14.5% alc. big wine but went well with the trimbale. [15] $13.00

Beef Bourgogne
(This was the best part of the dinner. Full of flavor and seasoned perfectly!)
2010 Gigondas
14.5% alc. a big red that went very well with the beef and onions. [17] $22.00

Cream Puff and Apple Crepe
(Good job on the cream puffs, Cristi!)
Veuve du Vernay Sparkling Chardonnay
11.0% alc. a great choice to pair with this dessert. [18] $12.00

This review may sound harsh to some. It is not. Cristi and I talked about some of these comments and I think she accepted them as positive. Like I stated at the start, I really try to watch our salt intake, even if the food seems to need additional salt. And I know Cristi tries very hard to limit the amount of salt in her dishes. This was just one of those times when a little more would have enhanced the dishes. It was still a good dinner. Hope to see you at the next one. Cheers!!!

WHIP Nite at The Buzz and September Events

30 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Finger Foods, Main Dish, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Special Events, Tapas, What's For Dinner?

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food, photography questions, wine flights

The first WHIP Night at the Buzz was a good success. There were about 15 people there with all types of camera questions. I hope they all got answered to their satisfaction. The pasta salad pictured here was part of the dinner menu with appetizers. (None are left on this plate – they were that good!) The WHIP program will be held the last Thursday of each month from 5:00pm – 8:00pm. Each program will have someone in to talk about or explain about a specific topic.

For August and the first in the series, Cristi explains the event as, “Buzz Coffee and Wine is hosting our WHIP night each month on the last Thursday of the month. This is a time where We Help Inspire People (WHIP). This is a come and go event where each month we will have a guest that is very knowledgeable about a certain subject here at the Buzz to answer questions. This month we are pleased to have Bob Young coming to help us with our photography questions. Bob authors several blogs and has published a book with photographs of birds. Bring your questions and join us anytime between 5 and 8 on Thursday August 29. We will have flights of wine featuring women winemakers and food specials, no reservations required. Tell your friends and stop by.”

The September schedule of events at the Buzz is as follows.
“Buzz Coffee and Wine
September Events
Contact Us
2999 N Lakeharbor Lane
Boise, Idaho 83703

Whip Night
Bring your friends and your photography questions down to the Buzz August 29 from 5-8 (drop in anytime); and meet Bob Young and ask him questions about photography. We will have wine flights featuring women wine makers and food specials throughout the evening. Come any time, no reservations required.
We Help Inspire People.

Wine Club
We are focusing on France this month. Wine club is September 10 or 11 at 6:30 PM. Reservations required. Cost is $15.00 per person, includes dinner and wine tasting. Featured wines are 10% off after dinner. Please let us know of food allergies or intolerance with your reservation; buzzwine@cableone.net or 344-4321.

Bounty of the Harvest
On September 29 at 6:30 we will have our quarterly wine dinner. This quarters theme is the bounty of the harvest. This is a five course dinner with two different wines chosen to go with each course. The cost is only $30.00 per person and includes dinner and wine. All wines will be on sale 10% off after dinner. Reservations are required. Please let us know of food allergies or intolerance with your reservation; buzzwine@cableone.net or 344-4321.

Music in September
Music on Fridays from 7-9. Wine tasting and dinner specials each night.

8/30 Wendy Matson
9/6 Blaze and Kelly
9/13 Pat Foulkner
9/20 Wayne White
9/27 John Cazaan

No reservations required just come and enjoy.

Thank you for your patronage and we hope to see you soon

Sincerely,
Cristi and Tommy Takeda
Buzz Coffee and Wine

(Coupon)
————————————————————————————————————————————
Save 20% Order a case of wine (12 bottles) can be a mixed case, and get 20% off our regular shelf price. Case orders can be picked up the next evening.
Offer Expires: September 30, 2013
————————————————————————————————————————————

Another Good Cooking Seminar At Williams-Sonoma

21 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Appetizers, Brunch, Classes, Cooking Classes, Dessert, Food Photos, Fruits, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Locavore, Mahi Mahi, Photos By: Bob Young, Salads, Special Events, What's For Dinner?

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food, ground mustard, mission figs, Williams Sonoma, yummy dessert

A good seminar with Chef Chad entitled Farm To Table. It was good to have Robin with me at this event too. In keeping with the theme, Chef Chad emphasized the use of local and fresh products from local farmer’s markets and vegetable stands. He did a good job in using these local products where ever possible. Black Mission Figs don’t grow in the Treasure Valley! Here are some photos of the dishes that Chef Chad showed us this evening. Cheers and enjoy! There are recipes available if you would like one. Just let me know.

Fig and Fromage Blanc Crostini

A great appetizer. The recipe says to use ciabatta, but Chef Chad changed it to sourdough which worked very well.

Baby Arugula Salad with Berries and Gorgonzola

Gorgonzola is not one of my favorite cheeses, but the combinations in the salad worked very well with the cheese. It was suggested to add some toasted nuts to the salad. Try adding fresh thyme and stone ground mustard to the vinaigrette. You can also make this into a main dish by adding marinated red onions and thinly sliced grilled steak.

Rolled Eggplant with Sausage and Mascarpone Reday for the oven to bake at 450 degrees for 4-7 minutes.

Rolled Eggplant with Sausage and Ricotta

Ready for the oven to bake at 450 degrees for 4-7 minutes.

Rolled Eggplant with Sausage and Ricotta

Sauteed Pluots with Mascarpone and Almonds

Ok. What are “pluots”? Good question. They are a cross between apricots and red plums. Also known in some places as Red Apricots. Slightly sweet. Slightly tart. A yummy dessert!

So as you can see, a delicious and wonderful seminar/class. We will not be able to make the September event, but will try to make the October class. Most of these recipes come from the Williams-Sonoma Cooking from the Farmers’ Market by Tasha DeSerio and Jodi Liano (Weldon Owen, Inc. 2010). Cheers and Bon Appetite!

New Boise Farmer’s Market

17 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bake Shop, Acme Bake Shop Breads, Baking, Boise Farmers Market, Bread, Buy Idaho, Local Farmers Markets, Local Markets, Locavore, Photos By: Bob Young, Potato Bread, Sourdough Bread, What's For Dinner?

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Acme Bake Shop, food, fresh eggs, Goat Cheese, potato bread, sourdough bread

Yup, it’s Saturday and time to stop at the market. We needed some fresh vegetables and eggs. And I always stop at Rollingstone Chevre (see the link in the sidebar) and talk to Karen for a moment or two. My other routine is to stop in at Acme Bake Shop booth and get some their fresh baked sourdough. And Soraya said, “Bob. You must try this Potato Bread.” Now, Soraya has never misled us …. never. So I accepted her challenge and bought a loaf, and a loaf of sourdough also. Robin and I don’t normally eat white bread, but the Potato Bread is really good. Here are some photos of the bread this morning after I took it home and sliced it. Enjoy!

Acme Bake Shop Potato Bread

This is a new item, I think. It is a light potato bread that will make a great substitute for your “everyday” white, doughy, pasty white bread. This Potato Bread is definitely not that!

Acme Bake Shop Sourdough Bread

This is an amazing sourdough bread. It toasts wonderfully and has a unique sour taste that a sourdough must have. In my opinion, this is the best sourdough in Boise, right up there with the Acme Bake Shop Rye.

I did pick up some fresh vegetables. Turnips, garlic, beets, herbed goat cheese and fresh eggs. So it was not just a “bread run”, although my shopping bag looked that way. A good time at the market. I will hate to see it close later this fall.

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!

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.

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.

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.

One can really get hooked on this dip. It is that good!! Cheers and enjoy! Thanks Marge for sharing this so many years ago.

Chicken Tagine and Mushrooms with Moroccan Green Olives Revisited

28 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Acme Bakery, Captain's Shack, Cooking Styles, Ethnic Foods, Food Photos, Herbs and Spices, Main Dish, Moroccan Food, Moroccan Spices, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipes, Slow Cooking, Sourdough Bread, Special Dinners, Special Information, Spices of Morocco, Tagine, Tagine of Chicken, What's For Dinner?

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chicken tagine, cloves garlic, dinner, food, vegetarian

Yup! Here it is. We tweaked it a little. Added some carrots and green beans. But that is all. The recipe was adjusted a little too, from the original, but only a little more turmeric and ginger. See what you think.
To the left, is the plated tagine. As you can see, we served it on a bed of lemon infused rice. Probably not traditional, but it added another dimension. We really liked it this way. Overall – We would grade it probably a 4 out of 5. But I think with the additional turmeric, it will be better, possible that 5 out of 5 elusive rating. Also, there is a lot of garlic in here, but it seems to be hidden. Just some of our comments. Try it and see what you think and please let us know. Just remember if you use Spanish olives, rinse them well to remove the vinegar. The preserved lemon may also need to be rinsed. There is a lot of salt in both of these ingredients. Left-Click any of these photos to see enlarged. Cheers.

Chermoula – Marinade. See recipe below.

Ready for the oven.

Adding the mushrooms and the preserved lemon. See recipe below.

The completed chicken tagine.

Here is the adjusted recipe. Thank you Roni Spilios-Kinane for the recipe. Enjoy. This could be used as a basic taagine recipe. Try it, for instance, with lamb shanks.

Chicken Tagine with Mushrooms and Moroccan Green Olives

Source: Roni Spilios-Kinane, Morocco
Oven Temp: 325°F
Cooking Time: 2+ hour
Serves: 3
Note: It really is good! It is my Moroccan Mother-in-Law’s recipe..

Ingredients:
1 lemon cut into wedges
Kosher Salt
¾ c Olive Oil
1 T White Pepper
5 cloves Garlic, chopped
1 preserved lemon, sliced
1½ t ground Ginger
2 t Turmeric
2 T Parsley, chopped
2 T Cilantro, chopped
5 Chicken Thighs, or any chicken parts you want to use
3 med Red Onion
Moroccan Green Olives
Mushrooms

Directions:
First you make your chermoula (marinade) olive oil, salt, white pepper, garlic (to your liking) 3-5 cloves, cilantro, parsley, ground ginger, and turmeric. Mix that all together.

Place your cleaned (with lemon wedges and salt) chicken and let it absorb the chermoula as you massage it into and under the skin (some people use smin (ghee, clarified butter) I sometimes do)

Chop finely about 3 medium onions (or more if you have a lot of chicken pieces or a large chicken) let the onions sweat a bit and then add your chermoula drenched chicken and pour any remaining chermoula over the top. Place the tagine cover.

After about 30 minutes, add some preserved lemon slices and the mushrooms.
When you have about 10 minutes left to cook, add the green olives and let all the flavors incorporate.

You CAN!
a) remove the chicken from the tagine and place it in the oven to get crispy if you like!
b) and/or
c) stuff your chicken with a stuffing of chopped mushrooms, cilantro, parley and vermicelli! This is absolutely delicious!

Chicken Tagine with Mushrooms and Moroccan Green Olives

26 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by Bob and Robin in Anthropology of Food, Captain's Shack, Chicken, Classics, Cooking Styles, Ethnic Foods, Healthy Eating, Main Dish, Moroccan Food, Moroccan Spices, Mushrooms, Spice Blends, Spices of Morocco, Tagine, Tagine of Chicken, What's For Dinner?

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chicken tagine, food, moroccan cooking, moroccan food

The completed chicken tagine.

This Chicken Tagine with Mushrooms and Moroccan Green Olives just looks so good! We do like the tagine style of cooking as it concentrates flavors and makes items so very tender. I got this from a Facebook group, Moroccan Cooking. Now I need the recipe. I have requested it, and we’ll see if I get it. At the very least, we can “wing it”. (No pun intended!) There is also a well recommended cookbook on Moroccan food called The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert. It is available on Amazon for about $39.00. You can also find it on her webpage at Paula Wolfert. Can’t wait to try this!! Enjoy!!