Arriving in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

We're heading out on a road trip to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National Park, passing through Idaho on our way to Montana and Wyoming and travelling around 2400 miles (3860 km) as we visit the parks and return.  We make one stop on our way to Yellowstone in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, 30 miles (48 km) east of Spokane, Washington, just across the border.

Coeur d'Alene

We check into our hotel on Lake Coeur d'Alene and stroll into town.

Lake Coeur d'Alene

Coeur d'Alene is the largest city in North Idaho and is known as the "Lake City" for its location on the north shore ot the 25-mile (40-km) Lake Coeur d'Alene.  The city is named after the Coeur d'Alene people, a Native American tribe that originally occupied a territory of 4,000,000 acres (16,000 sq. km) stretching from eastern Washington through Idaho to Montana.  The local economy has gone through stages of mining, logging, and now tourism with its abundant resources and beautiful location.  

Walking down the main street, East Front Avenue, we find lots of intriguing public art.

Street art

Returning to the shore of lake Coeur d'Alene, we find more artwork and beautiful views across the water.

Art at the lake

At the Coeur d'Alene Resort, on the edge of the lake, we walk over the world's longest floating boardwalk encircling the marina and the hotel's water shuttle docks, complete with spiral staircases up to a pedestrian overpass under which boats can enter and leave the marina.

Seaplane dock

Coeur d'Alene Resort

World's longest floating bordwalk

As we walk back toward the resort, we are approached by a group of young people who hand us a bouquet of flowers.  We inquire why they don't want them and they tell us that this is a random act of kindness and move on to present flowers to other couples in the area.  What a great idea!

Random act of kindnsss

It's been a long day driving (with many more to come) and we enjoy dinner at the hotel looking out at the lake:  fish and chips and fish tacos (corn tortilla, cilantro-lime coleslaw, mango salsa, chili lime aioli, cilantro, and lime cotija cheese).

Dinner

We'll spend the next day in Coeur d'Alene before getting back on the road to Yellowstone National Park.

Linguini with Zucchini, Corn, and Shrimp

We're still focusing on meals that make use of the summer fruit and vegetables in the market and spot an interesting pasta dish:  linguini with zucchini, corn, and shrimp.

We start with an appetizer of grilled peach crostini, grilling baguette slices and peaches and assembling them with ricotta and a topping of prosciutto on half and arugula on the other half.

Appetizer ingredients, grilling

Grilled peach crostini

For the main course, we slice a zucchini, cut the kernels off ears of corn, and mince a red onion.  We peel and devein shrimp, remove the tails, and cook them in a single layer in butter and olive oil, about two minutes each side.

Preparing the vegetables

Cooking the shrimp

After removing the cooked shrimp from the pan, we add garlic, minced shallot, salt, and pepper, stirring until the garlic is fragrant and the shallot is translucent, about 3 minutes.  We then add the sliced zucchini and cook about 4 more minutes, followed by the corn kernels, along with additional olive oil and a pinch of salt.  The complete mixture is cooked until the corn is warm and bright yellow.

Cooking the vegetables

We next add one pound of linguini (cooked to al dente) to the vegetables, along with the shrimp, a little reserved pasta water, and additional butter.  We stir to combine and reheat the shrimp, remove from the heat, and add chopped mint and basil, continuing to stir.

Adding the linquini and shrimp

We plate and serve with a simple green salad.

Salad

Dinner is served

Another summer treat!

Summer Minestrone

We've made our favorite winter minstrone soup many times, but now that warmer weather has arrived, we search for a more summer-vegetable-inspired recipe and find summer minstrone with fresh basil in the New York Times food collection.  It looks good and we make it.

First, a period of chopping onion, carrots, celery, garlic, tomatoes turnip, and zucchini.

Chopped

We heat olive oil in a Dutch oven, add the onion, carrots, and celery, and cook, stirring until tender.  We then add the garlic, stir together for about a minute, followed by the chopped tomatoes, and continue cooking until the tomatoes have cooked down and smell fragrant.

Starting the cooking

We add two quarts of stock and the chopped turnip and zucchini, along with a bouquet garni of Parmesan rind, bay leaf, parsley, and thyme, all wrapped and tied in cheesecloth.  We simmer this for about 45 minutes.

Add the turnip and zucchini

We remove the bouquet garni and add a can of cannellini beans, drained and  rinsed, and a soup pasta (we use broken spaghetti this time, next time we'll try penne or mezzi rigatoni).  We cook until the pasta is al dente, then add cooked green beans cut into 1-inch lengths.

Add beans and pasta

At the end, we serve with sliced basil leaves and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, accompanied by a small salad of arugula dressed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, buratta, tomato jam, and prosciutto, topped with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Salad

Dinner is served

Another great meal!

Fresh Corn and Black Bean Salsa with Corn Chips Accompanying Grilled Pork Chops with Cherry Sauce;

Fresh summer fruit and vegetables are arriving daily in the market and we decide to use some of them with recipes we've recently run across, starting with a corn and black bean salsa accompanying grilled pork chops with cherry sauce.

At the market

For our salad, we prepare a dressing of lime juice, garlic, cumin, sugar, crushed red pepper, olive oil, salt, and pepper, whisking to combine.  We then add fresh corn kernels just sliced off the cob, black beans, and chopped cliantro.  Just before serving, we add diced avacado and lightly crushed corn chips.

For the dressing

Preparing the salad

Ready to serve

While preparing the salad, we treat ourselves to a little ahi poke snack.

Ahi poke

We rub the pork chops with a mixture of rosemary, salt, pepper, and garlic, cover and marinate for up to 2 hours at room temperature.  After marinating, we cook the pork over the hot side of a grill until well seared on both sides, then move them to a cooler side, cover, and cook until done (firm to the touch, juices slightly pink, and meat rosy in the center, around 135°F (57°C).  We then transfer the pork chops to a platter, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and let them rest while we make the sauce.

Marinating the pork

On the grill

We melt a tablespoon of butter in a skillet, then add minced shallot and cook until soft.  We then add a cup of fresh sweet cherries, pitted and halved, 1/2 cup of red wine (we use pinot noir), and any juices that have leaked from the pork chops.  We continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the liquid reduces to a thin syrup, slowly stir in two more tablespoons of butter, and season with salt and pepper.  The pork chops are served with the cherry sauce on top.

Ingredients

Preparing the sauce

Serving

Dinner is ready

We have a lot of leftover corn and black bean salsa and serve it again the next day, this time with grilled steelhead trout, for which it is also well matched.

Salsa and steelhead trout

More great sumer meals!