Summer At Papa Byrd's

It has been a busy summer. I've been working six nights a week and as much as I love working it doesn't leave much time for other favorite endeavors, like blogging. I did, however, manage to get in a few words at my other blog since my son, Julian, was one of two pages from Idaho at the Democratic National Convention. He was also the youngest member of the Idaho delegation, and as the mom with subsequent bragging rights, I had to write about the convention.

But back to the kitchen, which these days seems to be Papa Byrd's kitchen instead of Linda's.... Maybe not, after all I do work there.... The summer has been interesting with live music, a belly dancer, and all sorts of delicious specials created by Mark. I've had a hand with several different desserts. I captured some of the specials and desserts on film so photos to follow! We've had some incredibly busy days and also some slower ones but in a restaurant's first year it seems no predictions can be made. Summer has been good because we're located adjacent to the city parking lot and just a few doors down from the Visitor Center. For those of you who have never heard of Bonners Ferry before, we are a gateway to both Montana and Canada and we have more than 30,000 tourists who pass through our county (pop. 10,000) every summer.

We only have ten tables at the restaurant plus four 2-tops outside. Tracy, one of the owners, can handle the entire place easily but some of the local help has more trouble. On the positive side, many people know all the local help so patience comes in full supply. All in all we have a very good crew although the college students will be sorely missed.

Of course my favorite working crew belongs in the kitchen and on Saturday nights three of us have a great time no matter how busy it gets. So meet Anita, Mark and myself, Linda:

I caught some of the desserts on camera, but please, I'm no photographer. One night I made a Chocolate-Dipped Financier Cake, served with sweet whipped cream and fresh raspberries:

On another I went for my Chocolate Mousse Cake (because of the lighting the filling looks to be different colors but it comes out solid chocolate):

A favorite is Tiramisu, made with real zabagloine, macarpone and whipped cream. Most people here have only experienced the American custard (or vanilla pudding at some places) mixed with cream cheese, but we have the real thing and it is appreciated:

And when berries were in season, we just served the zabaglione with fresh fruit:

The desserts are only a final compliment to Mark's excellent and delicious "specials." On the following occasion he created a roasted fennel and red pepper shrimp, served on top of a Gorgonzola potato galette and accompanied with garlic roasted fresh red and golden beets on top of their own garlic fried greens. It was so good that the staff as well as the customers demand it frequently! The food just keeps on coming! Unfortunately my camera has not caught all of our delicious specials, which leave staff and customers satiated! But I'm working on it because I want everyone to know why Papa Byrd's is THE hottest restaurant in Boundary County, Idaho!

Slow Food In Bonners Ferry

It was, indeed, a rather slow night for the restaurant, but our slowly made Bolognese Sauce was well worth the wait! I fell in love with Mark's version of it (he used Italian sausage) and could have eaten at least a pound of sauce and pappardelle. But I restrained myself and saved it for customers....

The entree included our caprese salad, so I shot a quick pic of the caprese salads and of our house salad (mixed greens, tomatoes, gorgonzola, and a balsamic vinaigrette) right before the waitress scooped it up to serve.

I took several more photos but didn't like some of them including the photo of Mark and myself (better luck next time). However, since I mentioned waitresses, we had two of our college students, Meadow and Betsy (left to right) with one of our dishwashers, Tony, who's always eager to pose between two beautiful girls.

More to come after I get used to taking photos while working....

It's About Time I Brought My Camera To Work....

We've been creating some very tasty and beautiful dishes this summer and I keep leaving my camera at home.... Every time I read some of my favorite food blogs I just cringe at my own negligence. I guess it's about time to bring that camera to work.

This morning I made a carrot/ginger soup. Pretty typical these days but it did contain lots of flavor. I think it was the nutmeg and cardamom that pushed it over the top. I also did a watermelon gazpacho, from a recipe supplied to me by my chef, Mark. It had a lot of flavors in it, including watermelon, cucumber, peppers, mint and several others, and when all those flavors finally married, it was really sensational! And perfect for a 90+ degree day.

Before leaving for the day, owner, Tracy, wanted a variation on her favorite Alfredo style sauce, "something with spinach," she said. I left her with a spinach cream sauce, made with the simple basics of spinach, white onion, salt, nutmeg, and cream, all blended in the food processor, and then mixed in a bit of Parmesan. I loved the flavor and in our "quality control" test, in which we finished it off with freshly ground pepper, we both decided the chicken raviolis were a terrific match.

Yum, another day of cooking all day. I just love it!

Papa Byrd's Bistro

The days all tumble into one on-going love affair with food. The people just keep coming and even when we're hit all at once, with almost every order having a special request, I still love it! From the desire to please to the desire to create, I feel I'm on top of the world, and I have only Papa Byrd's Bistro to thank. Well, and Mark and Tracy, owners, as well as to the great staff that also works there. Our grand opening isn't until June 28th, but the summer tide has already begun and I expect we'll be putting in lots of long hours through next fall.

Our menu is starting to really form, although it's more in our heads at the moment. Of course we'll be keeping all the pizzas but we're adding different salads and sandwiches, and Mark keeps creating the most delectable and delicious dinner specials. I still haven't gotten over the amazing Moroccan spiced ribs, served with couscous and tzatziki. Wow! I think that special should be available once a week all summer long! People also seem to crave different pasta dishes, so that will be fun. I've made a number of different desserts but the Tres Leches coconut cake and the Decadent Chocolate Cake seem to be keepers, at least for the summer. Homemade ice cream also offers both a great dessert complement as well as being delicious on its own. And soon we'll be adding Creme Brulee. Oh, the yummy quotient just keeps growing!

Every day I mean to bring in my camera, but who knows if I can find time to take a photo. I must try however, because Mark does such a beautiful plating, and the food looks as good as it tastes. Well, I'm off to work.... and work has never been so much fun!

How Do I Love Cooking....Let Me Count The Ways....

Ah yes, it has been a while, but now the semester has finished, and I have another job, for summer and beyond. Before the end of the school year, I did manage to make it to Emery's for several more lunches. These included a delicious Thai curry dish and on another day, some succulent roast pork; unfortunately my last meal there left me hungry.... My husband had a huge, scrumptious crab and shrimp salad. The lady next to me had a huge bowl of some kind of pasta. The guy to my left had a large, fat-dripping andouille sausage. I was served five little bay scallops and eight miniature gnocchi with tomato sauce. It all tasted good, but the forced diet-sized portion left me so hungry that I had to eat more at my favorite Coeur d'Alene latte stop, Bella Rose. Oh well, next semester my teaching will be in Sandpoint, ID, so I'll have an opportunity to find more interesting eateries and food hangouts.

Since I'm only a part-time instructor, I began thinking about a second or even summer job to keep me busy and supplement my income. Luck came my way right here in my little home town and I jumped at a local opportunity to work as a "chef." Recently returning to his hometown after many years' absence, my new "boss" took over a local pizza place and preceded to turn it into a delicious and cozy local bistro (keeping the pizza, of course). Several soups, a small variety of sandwiches, and specials dependent on seasonal foods make up the menu. He is also a self-trained chef and I think his food is wonderful. Together we try to cook food that will make the customers says "wow!" And I am having way too much fun. I have to pinch myself to make sure it's real.

I just love spending hours in the kitchen: prepping, cooking, creating new recipes. And my boss, Mark, is a delight: creative, humorous, genial, gracious, and just a dear person. He owns the place with his niece, Tracy, who is the front room person that everyone falls in love with. Indeed, the entire staff is great, but I think that's because Mark and Tracy set the tone to make this a hard-working but friendly place to be. And the food is excellent!

Although quite small, the location is town center. Originally they thought it would just be a family affair, but through local word-of-mouth people have flocked to the restaurant and its popularity has spurred quick growth. Besides meaning a necessity to hire more employees (lucky me!), this has also prompted the necessity for the menu to expand. Bringing my pastry skills to work, I have been allowed to present as well as create some of my European style desserts and I love doing it! From chocolate mousse cake to lemon gelato filled tuile cups to a coconut-inspired Tres Leches cake to an all chocolate-no flour cake served on raspberry coulis with a dollop of whipped cream, I am in dessert heaven. I also prep for lunch, am given free allowance to create soups of the day, and help with the specials. I never thought I would love the work this much. And when we have a really busy lunch or dinner, it just makes it all that much better.

So, if you ever make it up to the crown jewel of north Idaho, Bonners Ferry, visit us at Papa Byrd's Bistro (at the city parking lot, near the Visitor's Center), 11-8, Mon.-Sat. You'll eat well, appreciate views that include mountains, trees, rivers and blue skies, and then you can shop Main Street downtown for all sorts of great items, from used and rare books to dishes to clothes to crafts to art to stationery. We're a friendly bunch in this town and as the U.S. gateway to the Canadian Rockies we always welcome our visitors.

Loving What Is Rare....

I took a quick trip to Seattle last week. One of the best things about Seattle is that I can buy items that are just NEVER available where I live in north Idaho. Veal is one. Now the local supermarkets in Seattle (QFC) always have some sort of veal. And of course, Pike's Place Market always has big, luscious cuts of veal. But where I live, where people actually raise beef, nobody slaughters a calf! That is a waste to people around here. So, I have to buy my veal in Seattle....

I used to buy my veal just across the border in British Columbia, but now, because of mad cow disease, I cannot bring any beef, or veal, across the border. Pork is okay. Wild boar is okay. Even bird is now okay, but no beef. No venison or buffalo or lamb either. It's a hoof thing...

So, I did bring home a lovely "blade steak," which seems to be just a thin "blade roast." It's big enough for my husband and myself, however. I browned and then de-glazed it with Madiera, , browned up some mirepoix, added a bit of flour, some homemade veal stock, threw the veal back in and braised for an hour or so. Oh, and I added some dried (I dried them) morel mushrooms with the water from dehydrating them, some salt, pepper, thyme, and, I think, a bay leaf (from the bay tree that grows indoors in my sunroom, now almost five feet tall). I served it with mashed potatoes and parsnips and fresh chives (from my garden). For extra vegetable, I chunked up some of my friend, Marsha's, just dug carrots. And then I used my barely sprouting parsley as a garnish for the veal. It was soooo good.





First I put up a small plate to photo, and then, having forgotten the fresh parsley (my husband just wanted to eat....forget the photos), I ignored the guy almost passing out from lack of food and piled him up a big plate, with parsley, and then, made him wait for one more photo. I think it was all worth it....

Accompanied by a Trader Joe special red wine, we began the meal with a "Bon Appetit!" and ended with "Ich bin sat" (I am satiated). Life is good.

More Dining at Emery's

No, I haven't been around much lately - two hours to work and two hours return, three days a week, has seriously cut into my blogging time. But I do love teaching!

I've also had the opportunity to experience several more meals at Emery's, the restaurant of the North Idaho College Culinary Program. For my third visit to Emery's, I began with a "chicken with veggies" soup. It was okay. It seems to be a staple of the repertoire. For the main course, I settled on chicken marinated with sun-dried tomatoes and peppers, I was delighted to find it moist and flavorful, albeit having but a few diced peppers. Unfortunately it was accompanied by "rosemary, garlic roasted potatoes" which tasted like, yuk!, water. Either they had been over-boiled (my guess) or had spent several days in a steamer drawer.

On this visit the dessert was a chocolate cake with a chocolate buttercream frosting. I know I should have tasted it, but I was just too full (having eaten a croissant from the Pine Street Bakery in Sandpoint, one of the best croissants this side of Paris). The cake looked good, and although I'm not a big dessert eater, I love to make European style pastry (you know, all those yummy, multi-layered kuchen and torte (cakes) that you see in the window of a German or Austrian bakery, or the French cakes, which usually have a more sleek and uncomplicated appearance but still with a flavor to die for). And given how critical I am about buttercreams (I prefer a flavor that is not just butter) I should have tried the cake. Oh well, next time....

On my fifth visit, a friend joined me for lunch. We both had the sauteed shrimp, scallops and cod with a garlic butter sauce, served with rice. It arrived beautifully arranged on a square plate, rice perfectly mounded in the middle with the sauce and fish artfully arranged around the rice and several thinner-than-a-match strips of red and green pepper in two diagonal, off-corner places. It looked beautiful and tasted wonderful! Neither the butter nor the garlic overwhelmed and the fish flavor came through with perfect balance. I could have licked the plate clean.....shamelessly.

The dessert that day, yes, another round eclair, but this one tasted divine. Filled with a chocolate pastry cream that was light and not overly chocolate, it was served on a several lines of chocolate icing and topped with just a sprinkling of powdered sugar. I left wondering if the food was going to be that great from now on since the end of the program was drawing nearer.

And the following week, well, they were closed that week, but last week, I was not disappointed. The roasted garlic and winter squash soup had potential, but was too bland from lack of salt and the roasted garlic overwhelmed a bit. Still, it had promise. The main course, roast pork with mashed potatoes and broccoli was delicious! The pork was moist and had a flavorful herbed crust, mostly cumin, coriander and garlic. The potatoes were mashed with butter and chives and roasted garlic and were so moist that just a bit of the pork pan gravy served as additional, complementary flavor. The broccoli was cooked "al dente" but not too hard. I think I received them at just the right moment from hard to soft. The dessert was a Napoleon, but the crust was too soft, not enough pastry cream filling, and I wasn't crazy about the icing. Oh well, I only tried two bites, but it didn't tempt me further.

Now, before I go on, I have to state that these lunches only cost between $4-8. Yes, that's right, between four and eight dollars, most around the $5 range. Usually one has a choice amongst about 6-8 different items, usually two soups (one often being a "clear" broth) and only one dessert, although if dieting, a sorbet is frequently available. So, I don't really expect homemade sausage, organic ingredients, or grass-fed beef. But these students are doing very good work overall and more than just being a bargain, Emery's offers good food, some of it exceptional. I'm enjoying every lunch....