Joe's Breakfast

Let's just call it "Joe's Breakfast". Why? Probably because he is the one who showed us how to make latkes ...... properly. I don't know, however, if he would have seafood with them. This was delicious!

Fillet of Sole
Fresh Made Criterion Apple Sauce
Latkes with Sour Cream

Broiled Swai For Dinner

Such a different, but good dinner tonight!

Steamed Broccoli and Sugar Snap Peas

Corn Pie

Potato Salad on Fresh Greens

Broiled Swain in Lemon Butter

That's nice, you say. But just what is Swai? Various sources on the inter net gave us these answers.

Swai are farmed river catfish native to Southeast Asia. They are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, and they are naturally low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Much like the American catfish, Swai are light, sweet and flaky. Often compared to the mild cod and sole, Swai can be used in pretty much any recipe calling for basic fish

Swai fish is a fish native to South East Asia and especially Vietnam but also Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Given the excellent cuisines from these countries it certainly seems worthwhile investigating what Swai fish is. Another advantage of the Swai fish is its cost. As fish prices continue to rise, Swai is at a huge advantage as it is plentiful and retails somewhere in the region of under $5 a pound which is an excellent price. (http://www.ask.com/questions-about/Swai-Fillets)

So, what is Swai fish like to eat? Well, it is a delicately flavoured white flesh with a somewhat flaky texture that is perhaps best grilled or broiled. Whilst it can be cooked quite simply and has a delicate taste, it is also excellent with sauces.  (http://charliegrumples.hubpages.com/hub/What-is-Swai-Fish)

Swai is a fish with white-beige flesh that you can find in fillet form. It is light and flaky, and has a mild sweet flavor. The fish is found in Southeast Asia mainly along the Mekong River in Cambodia and Vietnam. A 3.5 ounce fillet has 90 calories, 4 grams of fat (1.5 saturated), 45 milligrams of cholesterol, and 50 mg of sodium. Experts say you can bake, broil, coat with bread crumbs and fry, grill or sauté the fish. (http://www.kgbanswers.com/what-is-swai-fillet-its-a-fish-where-does-it-come-from/4726416)

We broiled our very simply. 1 T Butter, unsalted, Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon. Sprinkle of Paprika. Broiled for 8 minutes at 550 degrees F. That's it. Pretty straight forward and easy. We got ours at WinCo, but I suppose you can purchase it almost any place. Enjoy!

Pulled Pork Sandwich

So what happens to the BBQ Pork Ribs that are left over? (We had 3 giant slabs!!!) You make

Pulled Pork Sandwiches
with
Sliced Tomato and a little BBQ Sauce

either Trader Joe's Bold and Smoky Kansas City Style or KC Masterpiece Original - Robin likes the KC best on pork. You just can't go wrong with this. Enjoy!!

Lamb Dinner

A super good dinner tonight!

Saffron Rice and Pearled Barley


Tagine Lamb Shanks


Vegetable Medley


Dockside Peanut Butter Pie

Really a good and delicious dinner. And all in one pot. Easy to make and clean up. After Two and a Half hours at 350 degrees F, the lamb just falls apart. We generously rubbed the shanks with Ras El Hanout Spice Mix, a Moroccan style spice blend. And one half cup of wine for steam. Enjoy! Tagine is a very Mediterranean type of cooking. The meal is cooked slowly over medium heat and sealed in the tagine.

Here is the vegetable medley layered in the bottom of the tagine with the lamb placed on top of the vegetables. Notice some of the Ras El Hanout on the shanks.

The lamb shanks, or you can use pork or beef shanks, too, placed on the vegetables in the tagine. Notice the top of the tagine. It is cone shaped to allow the steam to swirl around the shanks. The steam port is visible on the top left of the top.

Bone In Pork Chops with Hawaiian Marinade

Robin found this bone-in pork chop recipe from the National Pork Board. I like pork. Anyway you prepare it. But this is by far some of the best I have ever eaten. It is delicious!! Here is the recipe for Bone In Pork Chops with Hawaiian Marinade. The recipe serves 4. She only likes the bone in pork. Bone in anything, makes for a more flavorful meal. Our meal is pictured here. This recipe is also in the Master Recipe List.

Bone In Pork Chop with Hawaiian Marinade

Scalloped Potatoes

Spiced Apples

And when you are grilling these, remember they are thick. Grill them over very medium heat, slowly. And be sure to let us know how you like these. Cheers! 

NW Rib Fest

Whoa, Tiger! Mark you calendars for this one! From the Help Idaho web site, "... For 2 days, Meridian will explode into life with non-stop cooking and family-friendly events that are sure to bring a smile to every face. The event is sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society and will feature some of the nation's top barbeque teams. They will be competing for a huge $10,000 purse and the chance to claim the title of Grand Champion.

In addition to the barbeque competition, there will be live music, hot air balloons, beer and wine gardens and a whole lot more. Admission to the event is FREE! Don't miss out on this hot opportunity to be a part of the most delicious event Idaho will see this year!"

Dockside's Peanut Butter Pie

This is an awesome peanut butter pie and so very easy to make. No cooking. Just mix it together, place in the freezer and wait - if you can - until it sets up. This is the original recipe from the Dockside Yacht Club in South Chesapeake City, Maryland. You can either go full screen and save the graphic below, or see the recipe by Clicking Here. There is also a copy in the Master Recipe List on this blog. (See above) The graphics displayed here are the original copies of the recipe handed out by the Dockside Yacht Club. I don't know if you can still get them. The recipe as scanned here is at least 30 years old. I scanned these from the original. Enjoy!

Tomato Blossoms

Well now, isn't this a state of affairs. I just noticed a tomato blossom on our Pallet Garden. Look close at the plant on the top "shelf" and on the left. (Left-Click to enlarge if necessary.)

This is a close-up of that plant. I even see another blossom or two forming. I never expected to see the blossoms this early in May. This is a Roma tomato. The other large plant, with blossoms also, is a Moscow.

Miner's Lettuce Information and Salad Recipe

I posted a photo of our Miner's Lettuce on FB and received some interesting comments. The main comment was - What is Miner's Lettuce? The photo to the left is Miner's Lettuce in our alley garden. I gathered the following information from Specialty Produce on the web. Here is what they say.

Seasons/Availability - Miner's lettuce is usually found in spring time.
Current Facts - Miners lettuce, scientific name, Claytonia perfoliata, is a trailing annual vine that grows wild more than it is cultivated. It is a greater source of food for animals than it is for humans, providing a grazing source for gophers, flocking birds, quail, doves and cattle, while seed-eating birds eat the plant's fruits allowing for the plant to continue to flourish in the wild for centuries. Miner's lettuce is sometimes confused with purslane (Portulaca oleracea) which is also a cool season wild growing crop.
Description/Taste - Miners lettuce is petite and delicate in appearance and on the palate. Its composed of thin, succulent lemon lime stems that support kelly green colored basal leaves. The flavor is mild and sweet, with a subtle earthiness. At its height of maturity, miners lettuce produces numerous edible flowers from its stems.
Nutritional Value - Miners lettuce is high in vitamin C, beta carotene and protein.
Applications - Rinse freshly picked Miner's lettuce in cold water. Drain and chill in the refrigerator a few hours to crisp. For a delicious salad, toss together leaves, flowers and stems. Combine three parts Miner's lettuce with one part watercress and one part sheep sorrel and add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkle of sugar. For flavor variation, drizzle with vinaigrette or other favorite dressing. It may be boiled or steamed like spinach. To store, wrap in a perforated plastic bag; refrigerate in crisper drawer. Use within a few days as this plant tends to deteriorate quickly.
Ethnic/Cultural Info - Miners Lettuce gets its name from the California Gold Rush Years. Gold miners ate the plant in abundance and it is widely known that its nutritive properties prevented scurvy.
Geography/History - Miners Lettuce lettuce is native to the Western Coastal and Mountain regions of North America, where it now also grows wild in California from Sacramento to the San Joaquin Valley. It sprouts most commonly in the spring, preferring cool, damp conditions. It appears in sunlit areas after the first heavy rains of the season. The most prevalent abound in shaded forest areas among fir, pine and oak trees. Miners lettuce colonizes disturbed areas, especially those that experienced fires in previous seasons. It also can be found growing in virgin fields of wheatgrass and bluegrass. Much like most lettuce varieties, when summer heats up so does the lettuce, finding its leaves red and dried out in extreme heat conditions.

.
And from Matti Kaarts Blog Page, I got this recipe. Enjoy the recipe and this article!

Miners Lettuce Salad 

with 

baby beets, beet greens, rapini, spring garlic 1 bunch of miners lettuce

Ingredients:
1 bunch of baby beets, with greens still attached
1 bunch of rapini
1 bunch of spring garlic
10 sage leaves, really thinly sliced across the leaf (chiffonade)
2 pinches of sugar
olive oil
butter
lemon juice

Directions:
Cut the beets from the beet greens. Put the beets in a deep sided saute pan, and fill with enough water to just cover the beets. Add the pinches of sugar to the water, along with a small knob of butter. Put a lid on the pan, and get it boiling. Remove the lid slightly, so that some steam can release, and the water can reduce. Cooking time depends upon the size of the beets – with small ones like this it will be about 15 minutes – possibly 20. They are cooked when you can just push a knife through one pretty easily. The idea here is that they are just cooked through when you have almost no liquid in the pan – just enough for a glaze. If they are cooked before a lot of water is reduced, remove the beets from the liquid, reduce it to a glaze, then put them back in. If you need to add more water, do so. Snip the miners lettuce stalks about 1/2″ from the leaves. Discard the stalks.

When the beets are cooked, allow them to cool and rub with a paper towel to peel. Toss them back into the glaze.

Cut the beet greens across the leaf into thin strips (1/2″ wide). Do the same for the rapini leaf. Trim off any excess stem. Slice the spring garlic diagonally across the stalk, discarding the dark green section.

In a large pan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. When pretty hot toss in half of the garlic and half of the sage leaves. Cook for 30 seconds, then toss in the beet greens. Gently toss these in the butter/oil, and allow to wilt. This will only take a couple of minutes. When they are just wilted, remove them from the pan. Wipe the pan out.

Add another tablespoon of oil and butter to the pan. When hot, toss in the rest of the sage and garlic. Again, cook this for 30 seconds. Toss in the rapini leaves. Cook this till it is just wilted. This will cook through much faster – maybe 30 seconds.

To compose the dish put a small pile of the beet greens in the center of a plate. Top this with the rapini greens. On top of this put a pretty little pile of the miners lettuce. Scatter the beets throughout the dish. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the salad. This will help brighten and lift the flavors.

What Is The Difference Between Trout and Salmon?

OK. That is the question. And from the Big Site of Amazing Facts, we find this information.

What Is the Difference Between Trout and Salmon, How Are They Related, and How Do You Tell Them Apart?

Trout and Salmon are so closely related that some fishermen and scientists have trouble classifying the individual species. Technically, Trout is a species of freshwater and saltwater fish. Salmon belong to some of the same family as trout but, unlike most trout, most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water. Both Trout and Salmon are classified as an oily fish.

The steelhead and rainbow “trout” are actually the same fish. The name steelhead is used if the fish is able to make it to the ocean, and rainbow refers to those that are landlocked away from saltwater.

In 1989, when DNA tests showed that the rainbow or steelhead isn’t really a trout after all, the fish was reclassified as a salmon. Likewise, the Atlantic salmon was determined not to be a salmon after all, but a trout.

As another example, the sockeye salmon is called the kokanee or silver trout when it resides in fresh waterways.

And then from Trout Fishing Help we find,

Most people know that trout and salmon are the same family (salmonid). Char, grayling and whitefish also belong to the salmonid family. One of the things that distinguishes fish in the salmonid family from other fish is that salmonids (trout, salmon, char, grayling and whitefish) need clean, cool water and a healthy habitat to live in. This why invasive species and plants are such a big deal when found in these environments - they threaten the population of salmonids.

Of the salmonids, trout and salmon are very closely related and most trout anglers enjoy catching salmon and vice versa. Just as there are many different species of trout (rainbow, brown, brook, lake, apache, gila, steelhead, etc.), there are different species of salmon (coho, chinook, Atlantic, sockeye, and chum). And to the untrained eye, it can sometimes be difficult identifying your catch (especially since these fish have a lot of similar characteristics).

The easiest way to to tell the difference between salmon and trout (when in doubt) is to count the number of rays on the anal fin. All trout have 12 or less rays in this fin, whereas salmon have 13 or more rays. This rule is an interesting bit of trivia, it can be useful in helping you identify the difference between trout and salmon.

So there you have some information. So what brought this up? This morning we had trout for breakfast - at least that is the way it was presented. It was pink. So I just had to ask the question. Robin said, "Google it." I did and you have just read the results. Cheers!

Comfort Breakfasts

Here are two different comfort breakfasts. One in the traditional biscuits and gravy. The other, a real Idaho and Big Sky treat, is trout and eggs. Just look at these entrees. Enjoy!

Biscuits and Gravy
Eggs Florentine
Bacon
From our kitchen to yours .....

Trout
Hashbrowns
Eggs
Rye Toast
The Plaza Grill, Boise

Seafood For the Preakness Stakes Race

Seeing as how the Preakness Stakes are in Baltimore, it is only fitting to have seafood for the party. (Thank-You Margaret for joining us!) I bought 8 nice and fresh medium oysters from Reel Foods here in town. After shucking them without leaving my DNA all over the place, we had them with a wonderful Champagne vinegar, cracked Tellicherry Pepper and Green Onion. Wonderful! Then we also had some fine diced cucumber, too. These turned out really great.

The crab cakes, on the other hand, tasted great, but they fell apart. The mayo, chili sauce, green tomato relish and Cholula  pepper sauce was good and made the crab cakes awesome. The party went fine and we all enjoyed ourselves. We even opened some of our 1995, well aged, dark beer that we made. Now for the Belmont. Can we get Coneys? and grill them? with sauerkraut and mustard? Hmmmm.

Pallet Garden Update

Here are two photos of the pallet garden. The first is right after I built it and planted it on April 28. The second photo was taken today, May 19, and shows the growth. Left-Click to see full screen.

This is really an interesting process and experiment. It looks like it is working. What will I do with the tomatoes on the top? Keep them trimmed to the make-shift cages. Should be interesting.

Baked Salmon and Cumin Sour Cream Sauce

They may be calling for snow in the mountains tonight, but we had this awesome salmon for dinner.

Baked Copper River Salmon
with
cumin/sour cream sauce, capers, sauteed crimini mushrooms and spring onions

Buttered Corn

Spinach and Romaine Salad
with
sliced strawberries and pear/gorganzola dressing

2010 Shy Chenin Chennin Blanc

You just can not go wrong with a dinner like this. Fun to prep, cook, serve and especially eat. Can't beat that salmon. Cheers!

Rhone Night at Le Café de Paris

Wow! Another fabulous dinner at Le Café de Paris last night. We were treated to Dinner In The Rhone. A wonderful meal and Café de Paris still holds their 5-Star (out of 5) rating. If you would like to see more detail on the restaurant, please look at . The service tonight was more relaxed than I have seen it in some time. There are also some new faces. And the food was again, wonderful! Here are some photos of our meal. Enjoy! We did.

These are the two wines that we chose. Out of these two, we picked one.

This is the one we picked. A Rhone blend that went very well with our meal. 14% alcohol made it somewhat "hot", but it was fruity enough to blend well with the meal. Besides, it has a great label.

Caviar des Canutes
Saucisson Brioché
traditional lyonnaise style lentil salad, with brioche wrapped garlic saucisson sausage

Salade Verte
field greens, roquefort bleu cheese crumbles, house vinaigrette

Poulet Farcis aux Morilles
sauce mercière, spring onion gratin, seasonal vegetable
(Out of the two entrees, we liked this best.)

Quenelles de Brochet
chardonnay braised river pike, watercress sayboyon, sautéed butter beans
(Loved those butter beans)

Bugnes Lyonnaise
Poire au Beaujolais
lyonnaise style beignet, red wine poached pears