Western Cherry Fruit Fly

Sadly, it looks like the western cherry fruit fly is back in town. I spotted a few of these on my cherry tree today:

Barn Owl in Winter

Estofado de Carne de Toro

An Idaho adaptation of a beef stew from the Basque territory:

2 lbs. Kelso Farms beef neck bones - thawed, rinsed, and patted dry
2 T olive oil
1 lg onion - chopped
3 cloves garlic - minced
Salt
Pepper
1 T flour
2 carrots - chopped
1/2 c Snake River Winery 2010 GSM Arena Valley Vineyard red wine
2 T Sherry vinegar
2 bay leaves
2 whole cloves
1 large jalapeno - seeded and chopped
1 large red bell pepper - seeded and chopped
2 c low sodium beef broth
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 T parsley - chopped

In a 6 quart stock pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil and brown the meat on both sides. Add the onion and sautee until they begin to turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots and peppers, and sautee for another 5 minutes/until the vegetables start to soften.  Add the garlic and sautee for 30 sec./until fragrant.  Sprinkle everything with salt, pepper, and the flour and cook for another 1 minute.  Stir in the red wine and the vinegar, scraping the bottom of the pan to remove any browned bits of meat or vegetables. Then add the bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, and beef broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer covered for 2 hours/until meat is tender and falling off the bones. Remove the bones, add parsley, and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Serve with mashed potatoes. Alternatively, add a few peeled, chopped potatoes to the stew for the last 30 minutes of cooking.

Busters Restaurant

Busters Restaurant

1396 East State Street
Eagle, ID 83616‎
(208) 938-1800

 

Definitely interested in drawing the sports viewing crowd (lots of banners about the games, plenty of TVs), but mostly setup as a sit-down restaurant with not as much bar space or bar tables as one might expect.

The prime rib (available Fri and Sat) was very tender, served rare (as requested), and relatively good overall.  The accompanying horseradish cream had a decent kick, and the jus was well seasoned.  The fries were nicely crunchy, and the fry sauce better than average, but the side salad was very disappointing (something out of a '70s diner, with an overly acidic Italian dressing).

The chicken taco salad (hold the sour cream) was passable, but the salsa was another weak spot.

The 3 Picket Porter from Crooked Fence brewing needed just more body and depth to be a real winner (and to merit the "porter" label).

The restaurant was packed on Friday night, with most of the crowd dining (not just there to watch bowl games).

Winterscape

Perks of Life

Perks of Life
1540 E. Iron Eagle Dr.
Eagle, ID 83616

Tucked in a small strip mall where State St. turns into Edgewood Dr, just before intersecting ... State St!  They've done a decent job of warming up a stark building, and managed to get a passable coffee house flair into it.

The breakfast burrito with sausage, egg, potato and cheese was decent but would have been far better with the salsa that I discovered at the bottom of my paper bag after finishing the burrito.  Perhaps a little more seasoning and less cheese would help, too.

The brewed coffee is from Dawson Taylor, which is also just ok.  The Full Circle coffee at Rembrandts, or Doma at Salt Tears are generally more to my liking.

If you get there at a reasonable hour (9:00-ish), the boysenberry white chocolate scones are still warm from the oven. Good texture, and plenty of tangy boysenberries - almost worth going just for the scones.

Brewforia

Brewforia
78 Eagle River St.  Suite 165
Eagle, ID 83616
(208) 938-6261

Stunning variety of beers available by the bottle (they claim something like 350 different beers available), covering pretty much any style or region one could imagine.  10 beers on tap, with the selection chaging frequently and drawing heavily from craft-ish brewers of the western states like Stone, 21st Amendment, Firestone Walker, Salmon, Grand Teton. Seasonal brews from larger houses like Sierra Nevada also in the mix.

On a recent visit, tried the Westmalle Trappist Dubbel (33cl) and the Ninkasi Oatis Oatmeal Stout.  The Westmalle is a fairly straightforward representation of a Belgian dubbel, with good malty flavor and creamy head, but seemed to lack the distinctive Belgian yeast character that makes Trappist ales so interesting.  Perhaps that's partially a result of the smaller bottle - would be interesting to try it side-by-side with a 75cl to compare.  The Ninkasi is a very rich, dark oatmeal stout, very smooth and slightly sweet.

The belly burger is an interesting combination of beef and a little pork belly, giving the burger a nice soft texture despite being cooked well-done.  A nice solution for folks that don't like their burgers rare but still want something tender and jucy.

The old south pork sandwich is one of the better pulled pork sandwiches in the area, with good but not overpowering smoky flavor, and the pork isn't dried out or tough (always difficult to get the right balance ).

The red chili was somewhat disappointing.  The texture and flavor are not far from canned tomato paste.  Maybe it would be ok on chips/nachos, but not something to try by itself.  The green chili on the other hand was much more of a success.  Very good roasted chili flavor, tender pork.  No real heat to it.

The soft shell crab po-boy had two expertly fried crabs - nice light crunch, very tender.  Great flavor overall.



The flatbreads are also generally winners, although the crust was a little undercooked and tough on one of the flatbreads we tried.

Decor is very minimalist and industrial.  Definitely not a cozy corner pub but, with the stunning beer selection in the wall of fridges, the decor is likely to not get noticed all that much.

Ahi Sushi Bar

Ahi Sushi Bar

1193 E. Winding Creek Drive #104

Eagle, Idaho 83616

A much shorter menu than some of the other sushi places we've tried, but also a much better result.  Started with the pork gyoza, which had a nice thin wrapper that was cooked just slightly crispy, and a tender filling with decent flavor.  The we sampled a few rolls:

Rainbow roll: The fish on top was fresh and tasty, and the "crab" was at least a relatively decent version of the fake stuff.  Unfortunately, they forgot the avocado which made for slightly disappointed first few bites.  We got the waitress to bring a few slices, and that definitely helped get the expected flavor and texture.

Firecracker roll: The seared ahi on top could have been seared a little more, and the garlic wasn't evident in the ponzu sauce. The jalepeno only gave it a small bit of heat that didn't really live up to the name, but overall still a nice roll. 

Spicy yellowtail roll:  Again, didn't really live up to the "spicy" in the name.  Would say this was just a straightforward rendition of a yellowtail roll.

The fish (especially the ahi) was better here than at other places we've tried in the area. Not stunning, but it's definitely worth going back.  Their prices are fairly reasonable, and the happy hour specials look like a fairly good deal if they keep up the quality.

Sakura Sushi, revisit

Sakura Sushi
3210 East Chinden Boulevard 
Eagle, ID 83616‎
(208) 938-1599

Tried the Sushi Delux and the Maguro+Hamachi dinner, again take-out.  This certainly avoided the too much fake crab issue we ran into last time with the Sakura Special.  Again, the fish was ok but not fantastic.  The seaweed they use has a somewhat different flavor (reminiscent of anise, or some raw shellfish) and was a little too chewy for our taste. Have yet to try the cooked dishes, or dine in, so there's still hope that we'll find something that stands out on the menu.  But so far, there really hasn't been anything compelling or memorable enough to make us excited to go back.

Doug's Burger Den

Doug's Burger Den
231 East State Street
Eagle, ID 83616
(208) 939-3300

A somewhat dated looking burger joint, but the food is reasonably good for what it is.  Good basic burgers and sweet potato fries (not on the permanent menu).  Choice of regular or curly fries also, but haven't tried those yet.  Will have to go back for those and perhaps one of their hot sandwiches (Philly, steak, chicken, etc).

Drive-thru service isn't terribly fast, but presumably they're making the burgers to order so can't really complain about that.  Skip the McDonalds around the corner and go to Doug's instead.

Los Betos

Los Betos
6906 West State Street, Boise, ID
(208) 853-1494

Classic hole-in-the wall taqueria reminiscent of all the *bertos (Roberto's, Robiberto's, Alberto's, Aliberto's, etc) in San Diego. Grilled tortillas for the burritos (not steamed!; What's with steaming the tortillas in San Francisco??), short list of ingredients for most burritos - meat, guac, pico de gallo - and generous serving sizes. Tacos are also generously sized, with more ingredients, making them tasty but a bit difficult to eat without a fork.

They have several other locations in the area (one more in Boise, 2 in Nampa, one on Eagle Road in Meridian). And, most importantly, some locations are open 24 hours!

Not high cuisine, but if you need a quick burrito fix in the Treasure Valley, Los Betos is the place to go.

Ye Olde Sweet Shoppe

Ye Olde Sweet Shoppe
99 E State St
Eagle, ID 83616

Great selection of "old time" candies, candy bars, classic sodas, etc. plus plenty of newer choices (including sugar-free candies) and locally made chocolates. Definitely worth a visit for anybody with a sweet tooth.

Sakura Sushi

Sakura Sushi
3210 East Chinden Boulevard 
Eagle, ID 83616‎
(208) 938-1599

Tried a take-out sushi combination dinner for two.  Presentation was nice, especially for take-out.  The nigiri were decent but not spectacular, and the rolls relied too heavily on imitation crab.  The salad was the typical iceberg with a few bits of tomato and cucumber, with a better-than-average ginger soy dressing.  Overall, the food was passable but not inspired.  Will have to try dining in at some point, preferably at the sushi bar, and see if that makes a difference.  Will also have to try some of the cooked entrees to see how those rate.