Buffelshoek Trust

Buffelshoek Trust

Shared via AddThis

Bistro Jeanty Tomato Soup

Now this is almost as good as Tom's Cove Clam Chowder! You say you have far to many tomatoes in your garden? You say you don't know what to do with about 2 1/2 pounds? Well, try this tomato soup. It is awesome!!

Bistro Jeanty Tomato Soup
Bistro Jeanty is a French restaurant.
6510 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599
(707) 944-0103

This is a published recipe from their web site, Bistro Jeanty

Ingredients:
· 2 1/2 lb. tomatoes - ripe, cored and quartered
· 1/2 cup butter - unsalted
· 1/2 lb. yellow onions - sliced
· 6 ea. garlic cloves
· 1/4 cup tomato paste
· 1 ea. bay leaf
· 1/2 tbl. whole black peppercorns
· 1 tsp. dried thyme
· 1 cup water (use only if tomatoes are not ripe and juicy)
· 4 cups heavy cream
· 1-2 tbl. butter
· salt - to taste
· 1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
· 1 lb. puff pastry - defrosted if frozen
· 1 ea. egg - beaten with 1 tbl. water

Directions:
1. Melt the 1/2 cup butter in a large stockpot over medium-low heat. Add the onions, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Do not let the onions color. Add the tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste, bay leaf, peppercorns, thyme and water if needed. Simmer over low heat for 30-40 minutes, until the tomatoes and onions are very soft. Puree in a blender (working in batches) or use a hand-held immersion blender; strain. Return the soup to the pot. Add the cream, salt, white pepper and the remaining 1-2 tbl. of butter to taste. Bring soup back to boil.

2. Let the soup cool for 2 hours or overnight (in the refrigerator).

3. Divide among six 8-ounce soup cups or bowls. Roll out the puff pastry to 1/4 inch. Cut 6 rounds slightly larger than your cups or bowls. Paint the dough with the egg wash and turn the circles egg-wash side down over the tops of the cups, pulling lightly on the sides to make the dough tight like a drum.

4. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

5. Lightly paint the top of the dough rounds with egg wash without pushing the dough down. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the dough is golden brown. Do not open the oven door in the first few minutes or the dough will fall.

6. Serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings.

Ah, no one said it was healthy. Just said it is awesomely good! Cheers! Here is an Instructional Video or a How-To Video on making the soup. Enjoy!

Market Fresh Dinner

The summer in Boise is just sooooo delicious! The Saturday Market is the most popular, but there also a Thursday Market in Boise. Other towns around Boise also have their market where one can pick up some really good and fresh vegetables and other products: Meridian, Nampa, Kuna to name a few. It's important that we support these "local markets" - Think Local - Buy Local.

Dinner with some of the Market products -

Fresh Orange Beet and Cantaloupe Salad

Grilled Tomato with Basil and Parmesan Cheese

Grilled Squash

Grilled Salmon

Fun to make, fun to look at with all the colors and definitely fun to eat.

The next generation

I am happy to announce we have a new generation in the Young family. Baby Henry Dimas Portillo was born August 13, 2009 at 5:13AM to Jessica Elizabeth Miller Portillo (great granddaughter of Milton G. Young also know as grandpa-great and Elizabeth W. Young - grandma-great) and husband Tony.

If I can figure out how to post a picture, I will!

Beth- (also known as Nana B)

Boise Beer Fest, August 2009

Well really, it does have something to do with food! Beer does have grain in it. And vegetables. And it is cooked. And it is persevered. I guess that makes it a "one pot meal". So, this afternoon, Mac calls me and asks, "Do you want to go to the Beer Festival at Ann Morrison Park this afternoon?" Who am I to turn down a crafted beer. But, I had to explain to him that I had an Apple Honey Challah to bake - pictured here - and that I probably could not go before early afternoon. He said that was Ok. I had to hurry to get the second and third rises done; the bread baked and cooled and coated with a honey/butter mixture. (I never said it was low calorie) OK, I made it! The bread was complete and 8 minutes before I was to meet him, I was on the way. I should have taken some with me ... it would have gone quite well with some of the beers, and there were a lot of them. Here are some photos. Enjoy!

Cheers!

Apple Honey Challah

From Martha Stewart Living, September 2009, page 176, we get an awesome challah, the Jewish celebration bread! This is not extremely hard to do, let's just say moderately difficult. But it does take time. You might want to look at Apple Honey Challah for the slightly modified recipe. In the article, we learn that, "Apples and honey, Rosh Hashanah's symbols of a sweet new year, are perfect additions to a loaf of challah." I have made several challah's before, but not one with apples in it. I am using Pink Lady's - that's what I have - but the recipe calls for "... tart green apples, preferably Granny Smith ...". The sweetness of the Pink Lady and the red blush should be an interesting colorful streak of red.

Be adventuresome and try this bread. It is a real treat for the family and definitely a celebration bread. If anyone wants to comment on this bread and the tradition(s) behind it, please do. Can you add anything about the tradition of challah? I'd love to hear it. Cheers!

Mango Peach Reduction

Mango Peach Reduction

If you look at the previous post - or at the photo to the left - , you will see that I made Robin Scallops with a Mango Peach Reduction. This is not difficult to make and the recipe can be found at Click Here. We had it with seafood, but try it with anything that may need or call for a fruity and naturally sweet sauce. You can probably use any herb you want, but we like tarragon with most seafoods and with pork. But use your imagination. Have fun with this recipe and get inventive with it. If you come up with anything, please let us know. Cheers!!

Robin's First Dinner

Robin's First Real Dinner after her surgery, was fun to make. No Chef Boy-R-D here! Starting at the top - Sliced Tomato with Basil, Rice and Peas and then Braised Scallops in a Mango-Peach Reduction. And to help smooth it out, homemade Sourdough Bread. I think better than Denny's. Cheers!

Bacon Fest, Nampa, Idaho

I know, we have too much time on our hands!!

Yup! There really is a Bacon Fest! This one was held at Brick 29 in Nampa, Idaho. (If you have never eaten here, absolutely don't miss it!!) But this was a special event and I think sponsored by Vande Rose Farms, Iowa Duroc Heritage Breed Pork. You can reach them, and order products, from their website, Vande Rose Farms. Bacon, bacon, bacon! A bacon lovers event. You can try bacon any way you can think of it.

Eggs and Bacon on Bread Triangles
Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms
Bacon Dip
Bacon Wrapped Mushrooms
Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno
Bread stuffed with Swiss Cheese and Wrapped in Bacon
Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato Sandwiches (BLT)
Chocolate Covered Bacon

And then there is Bakon Vodka. Yup! You have not read it wrong ... Bakon Vodka. This vodka is from New West Spirits. The original spelling of bacon came from the "... Old German (bakkon) and Old French (bako). "Bacon" or "bacoun" first appeared in the English language around the twelfth century, initially to describe pork in general". (2009 Lauer, pg 20) So, what do you do with Bakon Vodka besides mix it with eggs and then scramble them? Try one of these:

1. Bakon Apple Martini
(Apple, Bakon and Rum)
2. Luau Martini
(Bakon, Pineapple and Butterscotch)
3. Irish Boar Martini
(Bakon, Kahlua, Baileys, Hazelnut and a splash of Cream)
4. Bakon Mary
(Killer Bloody Mary with Bakon)
5. Pemican Martini
(Bakon and Huckleberry Vodka. Robin came up with this one!)

It was nice to meet Heather Lauer author of Bacon: A Love Story and to have her sign her book. And there are some really nice looking recipes in the book like Bacon Frittata, page 116, and Hana Beach Breakfast Sandwich, page 118. But the book is not all recipes. There is really some delightful discussions of bacon folklore. And some lyrics from Bacon Love Songs, like in chapter 5, page 88. "A little bit of bacon, A little bit of life." Or, "Beer and bacon waitin' for my friends, They ain't comin' over, but I'm not stayin sober." But I know, you're waiting for a recipe. Well try this and it too, is a song lyric. "Bacon, lettuce and tomato ... Try it with some Mayo ... Fry it up, put the oil in a cup. Bacon." And, as Ms Lauer states in the header of her first chapter in Bacon: A Love Story, let us not forget that "On the eigth day, God created bacon." Hmmmm. Now where is the corn?

I know. Waaaay too much fun! But then good food, good drink and warm friends make it that way. Cheers all! (Oh. I almost forgot. I do have some photos coming after a while. My camera is in the shop - too many falcon photos - so one of the waiters at Brick 29 who was taking photos said he would send some.)