Yummy Beef Short Rib Borscht

Tags

beets, borscht, Carrots

You say you don’t like borscht? Or beets? The addition of the beef short ribs and the carrots, sure does sweeten the flavor of the shredded beets. The red color is still there for the soup, but the beet flavor is very mild. Robin and I think it is a superb alternative to an “official” borscht. Here is the recipe, if you want to try this – Beef Short Rib Borscht. Print one out. It takes a while to cook, we use the CrockPot, but it is well worth the effort. Left-Click any of the following photos to see them enlarged. Enjoy and let us know how you liked it. Notice that there is no cabbage in this borscht. Cheers!

Onions are caramelizing in the beef fat.

Braised – caramelized – beef short ribs, beet stems and potatoes are waiting for the beet cooking liquid.

Oh my. The finished product! And as the recipe says, “Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the scallions, dill and a dollop of crème fraîche [or sour cream]. Serve with spicy mustard and slices of dark bread.” The diced scallions and dill or fennel will really add to the flavors.

Two Super Breakfasts!

Tags

Acme Bake Shop Sourdough, Meadowlark Farms, Poached eggs

Potato Latkes
Apple Sauce
Sour Cream

Mostly all Idaho products. Yummers!

Basil Poached Meadowlark Farms Eggs
Toasted Acme Bake Shop Sourdough
Ham

A Thankful and Traditional Thanksgiving!

Tags

cranberry, pecan pie recipe, stuffing, traditional dinners, turkey

Yes it was! A very good Thanksgiving with family. (Sorry you had to work, Chris. There’s a platter waiting for you.) Mac, Marnie, Sophia, Robin, Buddy and me. That made a good group. Mac may have a new Holiday Dinner job – The “Making of the Rolls“. They were super! The stuffing did not turn out so good. (Pictured here to the left) I think next time I will leave it in the turkey. It dried out too much. Crunchy. Difficult to eat. The turkey, though, was delicious and there is some leftover. Yea!! Dried corn was off, for some reason. Even with those drawbacks, we had a good time. Here are some photos. Enjoy! To see any of these photos enlarged, Left-Click the picture.

The wines for dinner.

Good start to the stuffing – making our own – just a not so good ending.

Tried to make individual Stuffing Cakes. I will work on this.

Herb butter is getting “Happy”. Dried corn is soaking.

Robin made this super good appetizer dish from fresh veggies and dips and roll-ups. Delicious and fun!

Mac’s new job – Making of the Rolls!

Buddy watches and waits for any tidbits that may end up on the floor. He was patient!!

The table is set and full!

Sophia brought the delicious ham.

The turkey was worth waiting for. The drippings made super gravy! Smooth, rich and wonderful.

Plated meal: Green Bean Casserole, Dried Corn, Apple Stuffing, Cranberry, turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy.

And finish off dinner with Bourbon Ginger Pecan Pie that Marnie made. Here is the Recipe. Enjoy!

Here’s a Different Breakfast

Tags

beurre blanc

Last night I made an Icelandic Flounder with Beurre Blanc, a great Mother Sauce for white fish and other delights, and Green Peas and a Brussels Slaw with Heirloom Rainbow Carrots. A super dinner. But I had some sauce left over so here is what I made this morning utilizing the Beurre Blanc.

Eggs Beurre Blanc on Toasted Acme Bakeshop Brioche
on a bed of
Baby Spinach, Baby Arugula and Bean Sprouts

Fresh Raspberries and Blueberries

Winter At The Boise Farmers Market

Tags

BFM, Boise

The “Spoon”

It’s winter! Snow in the mountains where it should be. In the high 20’s at night. And the Boise Farmers Market has moved inside at 8th and Fulton in the Linen Building. Free parking for the first hour, but you will need to get a receipt for that hour at the pay booth. They are open each Saturday now, through December 19th, from 9am – 2pm. Then we go through “Produce Withdrawl”. You can follow the BFM on their website at Boise Farmers Market. Be sure to sign up for their newsletter on their web page. Here are two photos that I took this morning at The Market. I have my specific vendors who I look for: Meadowlark Farms, Purple Sage Produce, Rollingstone Chevre, Acme Bakeshop, Desert Mountain Farms, True Roots Produce, Gaston’s Bakery, Next Generation Organics, The Mushroom Farm and Neckar Coffee, to name a few. There are more. Left-Click any of the photos to see them enlarged. These are panoramic photos and quite large.

The Boise Farmers Market

I was asked this morning, “Why do you come to the market?” I told him: I go to see the people. To visit with the farmers. To support our local farmers as much as possible. To make “my rounds” at the above listed farmers. And I miss the Market between December 20th and March 1st. I totally believe in Buying Local and I support that philosophy as much as possible.

The Boise Farmers Market open indoors now through Dec 19th.

Breakfast and Dinner

Tags

eggplant, fennel, fresh pasta, Scallops, squash

Fun times, again, in the kitchen! Fun making our own pasta, and better than some of the store bought “stuff”. Pasta dishes can take all forms and so can breakfast. Here we made two different breakfasts – two days – and a really good pasta dinner. Let’s look at breakfast first. Left-Click any of these photos to see enlarged.

Eggs in Pockets

Spray cup cake pan with Pam. Shave – slice thin -potatoes and line cups. Bake off to lightly brown at 350 degrees F. Scramble several eggs and add whatever you want to the mix. Pour into cups. Bake at 350 degrees F until eggs are set. Remove from oven and cool. Remove Pockets and serve.

Eggs in Potato Pockets
Fresh Peaches and Blueberries

Homemade Lox and Cream Cheese
Acme Bake Shop Sourdough Bread, cream cheese, red lettuce, shaved red onion, sliced tomato, homemade lox, capers

Here is the recipe for Robin’s Homemade Lox. In the photo above, I added fennel fronds to the process in the refrigerator. You can add any herb you wish.

Homemade Pasta
in
White Wine Reduction
with
braised squash, eggplant, shaved fennel, scallops

Here is the recipe for the White Wine Reduction. This is really a wonderful and rich dinner. We do like to make our own pasta.

Baked Potato
with
Chives

Braised Fresh Green Beans, Carrots and Roasted Peppers

Fresh Green Salad
with
Fresh Tomatoes, Fennel and Celery

Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin
with
Bearnaise Sauce

This was our dinner tonight

“State and Lemp” – Awesome

Tags

State and Lemp

I could, and probably should, fill up this page with the word awesome, but that would be boring! If you are in Boise and have been here for awhile, do you remember Andrae’s? That definitely was a 5-Star restaurant. And so is State and Lemp. It is every bit as good as Andrea’s was; If not better. But I can only give 5-Stars and State and Lemp earned every one of those stars. From the local art on the wall, as pictured here, to the outstanding service. Also outstanding was the plating of the different food offerings. We eat with our eyes first, and as you will see, the presentations were super good! The seating is limited to about 28 people, so call for a reservation. We did like the way they have the tables set, it gave us time to chat with our table “neighbors”. Here are some photos from the evening. Enjoy! We will return for another special celebration, whatever that may be!

Robin at our seating.

The seating arrangements.

The menu and our place card. Yes, it is that formal!

It is great to see that they use as much local products as possible. Here is Acme Bake Shop Sourdough Bread. For a complete list of their local farmer suppliers, check their web site.

Sardine
with
Micro Greens and Flowers

Strawberry and Cucumber
Scallop. Cilantro. Shiso
Patrick Bottex – “La Cueille” Gamay / Poulsard

Summer Squash and Fava Beans
Black Cod. Sea Beans. Nasturtium
Taft Street Chardonnay

Carrot and Apricot
Goat. Sesame. Fried Rice
Maxime Magnon – “La Démarrante” Carignan/Cinsault

Intermezzo – Huckleberry Sorbet

Beets & New Potato
Pork. Gooseberry. Sorrel
Domaine Gayda – “Flying Solo” Grenache/Syrah

Currants and Cherry
Ginger Ale. Vanilla Cream. Mochi
Taylor Fladgate – “LBV” Port

Those little ginger ale “balloons” just “popped” flavor in your mouth. I intentionally did not pick a “favorite” dish – they were all superior. The wines also were paired perfectly. Here is a little more about State and Lemp from their web site.

In our effort to showcase local and regional farmers, ranchers, and artisans we have utilized the following…
Purple Sage Farms /purplesagefarms.com – Waterwheel Gardens /waterwheelgardens.com – Rice Family Farms / ricefamilyfarms.com – Sweet Valley Organics / sweetvalleyorganics.com – Peaceful Belly / peacefulbelly.com – Dawson Taylor Coffee Roasters / dawsontaylor.com – Malheur River Meats / malheurrivermeats.com – Ohana Farm Inc. Frostenson Farms – Acme Bread Co. – Double R Honey Farm – Cloverleaf Creamery …. Ownership and management will maintain a constant presence on the floor as we interact with guests to ensure an unforgettable experience. We provide continuing education and training for all team members in order to better enable them as they assist guests with decisions. Additionally, we seek to advance all team members and enable their growth as hospitality professionals.

Boise Farmers Market is Busy!

Tags

Boise Farmers Market, bone in pork chops, Homestead Natural Foods, indian creek winery, pork

Maybe some beets? If not, fresh tomatoes are available. It is really great to see such activity at the Boise Farmers Market. Full of busy, busy people all looking at the wonderful farm fresh products available to the shopper. Fruits are in … leafy greens seem to be on the decline, except, of course, for kale. But, buy some great beets or turnips and you can prepare the tops as greens. Carrot tops? Make a soup from them. So one does have options. Did you say corn? Yup! It is here and from Emmett. Enjoy these photos of the Market this morning. And as a note, the photo in the header I took this morning. Love the colors! It was great to see Indian Creek Winery in a booth this morning. Good to see you Mike McClure, winemaker.

A busy market just before nine o’clock this morning.

Even as unseasonably hot as it has been, the heirloom carrots are great!

Same photo as in the header, but delightful colors and products. Love those blue potatoes. Now all we need are some orange colored spuds!

Buy some awesome bread from the Acme Bake Shop! Super good Old World Rye and Sourdough.

No! These are not rib-eye steaks! These are Homestead Farms Pork Chops!!! Oh yum!

Breakfast – Fresh Morel Mushroom Omelet

Tags

garlic, garlic infused olive oil, morel mushrooms, morel omelet, omelet, wild mushrooms

Yup! ‘Tis the season and it looks like it is going to be a good one! East facing slope in a burn out area. These wild mushrooms are so delicious. Woody and earthy. Great just sauteed in garlic, in salads, in stuffing or sauteed in butter and garlic infused olive oil and made into an omelet. Pictured here are some fresh picked morels – from the Boise Farmers Market yesterday – getting ready to be “omeletized”. The eggs are from Meadowlark Farms in Nampa and the toast is from Acme Bake Shop and their sourdough. Bacon is from Twin Falls, Idaho. Cheers!

Fresh Morel Mushroom Omelet
Strawberry and Blueberry Fruit Mix
Toasted Acme Bake Shop Sourdough
Twin Falls Bacon

Potato Basket Eggs – Idaho Blossoms

Tags

potato baskets, ramekins

No, it’s not Easter. But this is an interesting way to make eggs.
Idaho Blossoms – Put the egg mixture in a paper thin sliced potato basket and bake them for 45 minutes at 375 degrees F.
Be sure to butter the ramekin before you put the potato slices in and they will not stick.
I used 3 eggs per ramekin and added (all to taste) leaves of fresh thyme, chopped fresh chives, chopped ham and a mixed Mexican cheese. Salt and pepper. Bake them off in the oven in a shallow water bath and you’ve got a different breakfast.
Add some fresh fruit to the plate, and it has eye appeal. Here are some photos of what I did. Enjoy! Here might be a better recipe format to follow Idaho Blossoms Recipe. This recipe has also been corrected. Left-Click any of these photos to see them enlarged.

The potatoes are in the ramekins and the ramekins are filled.

Close up of the filled ramekins.

Idaho Blossoms
Acme Bake Shop Toasted Sourdough
Fresh Fruit Compote