Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

We saw our first goslings today. They are still very little and need mom’s help and guidance, but they are so darn cute. Hopefully we will start seeing a lot more very soon too.

I love Spanish foods, especially Spain’s national dish of paella. Paella Con Camarones, Jamon y Chorizo; Paella vs Jambalaya; Chicken Paella Casserole; Paella Made Simple As you can see by how many posts I have posted about paella, it a most definitely a favorite of mine.

It was another paella night again last night. I had little bits of this and that, and turned them all into a delicious meal for four. Our friends Mike and Lauren joined us, and as always, we had yet another great evening. The boys had been playing gold earlier and Lauren and I went to the zoo. So a nice paella with a cool crisp chardonnay and some warmed ciabatta enjoyed out on the deck was a perfect way to end a beautiful day.

This paella was similar to many other paellas I make. It was loaded with all kinds of good things; Andouille sausage, chicken, shrimp and ham, along with lots of vegetables and, of course, rice.

All my meats except the shrimp were already cooked, which made this dish even easier to make. So, first thing to cook was the shrimp. I cooked it in a combination of olive oil and lemon olive oil.

Once the shrimp was cooked, I removed it from the heat and cooked the vegetables. Then I added red and green bell peppers, onions, corn, garlic and a very large yellow heirloom tomato. MMMMMM! I love heirlooms. They are my FAVORITE tomatoes, but I digress. 🙂

I added the rice and the seasonings after about five minutes and sauteed it in with the vegetables.

Next came all the meat, about 1 cup of chicken broth and 1 cup of dry white wine.

I brought it all to a boil, then covered it and reduced the heat to a simmer and cooked it until most of the liquid had evaporated and the rice was cooked. Of course, I stirred it along the way and scraped up the rice from the bottom, to get the flavors of the socarrat or the crispy fried rice at the bottom of the pan.

One of the key components to paella is the crispy rice that forms on the bottom of the pan. This crispy rice is called socarrat and it is one of the things that makes paella so special. When the rice is cooked just right, it will form a crispy, golden brown crust on the bottom of the pan. This crust is packed with flavor and is one of the best parts of the dish. The key to getting the perfect socarrat is to use a good quality rice and to cook it over a high heat. Once the rice is cooked, it is important to let it sit for a few minutes so that the socarrat can form.

It was yet another dinner that was simply delicioso! I like simple rustic dishes that come from the heart. And when they are shared with good friends, there is nothing better. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and satay well. ’til next time.

I’ve learned to take a camera of some kind with me everywhere I go. I don’t always carry my good camera with me, especially if I am only running errands or am just out and about, but I getting better about having my cell phone with me (better, not great). I am glad I had it with me yesterday though. The tulips were in full bloom and it looked like a sea of brightly colored tulips. So beautiful.

There were also some bright and beautiful hyacinths popping up for a little variety too.

Beauty is all around. We just have to open our eyes to see it. Have a great day. make everyday bright and colorful.

Every spring and summer our lakes are filled with these beautiful red-winged blackbirds. I just love them. I fell in love with these colorful little birds when I first moved to Colorado. I love seeing them all around our lakes. They love lakes and marshes and wetlands.

This one is a female. The females are never as colorful as the males.

Have a beautiful, brightly colored day.

Chefs cook because we are called to cook and we are called to feed the hungry and to feed the masses. It is not something we necessarily choose, but more something that has been chosen for, us by the higher powers that be. I will share some culinary truths from the kitchen with you today. These are things that go on in the back of the house that most people don’t see. We have learned how to cover these up so you will never know. And we hold these truths to be self evident. 🙂

Passion for what we do is the driving force behind every recipe.

I think most of us in kitchens can agree to this one. This was certainly true for Julia Child. 🙂

We can also agree with this statement. We can always find something to make that will satisfy our hunger.

And this is most definitely true. Real kitchens get very messy, and quite often. I cannot tell how many times I have worn half a recipe.

Also very true.

NEVER trust a skinny chef! We taste everything, many times. That’s how we perfect our dishes. They say it takes roughly 10,000 hours to master a skill. So does that mean it takes 10,000 tastes to perfect a recipe?

We can fix everything, especially with enough butter or garlic!

I have made this mistake many times. Have I forgotten ALL the long hours I spent in training, perfecting my craft? I will never call myself an ex-chef again!

I hope you enjoy all these kitchen insights.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Even though it is still very early in the season, I have already seen a lot of cormorants on our lakes. Most of the time, I see one, and only one at a time, but now I am seeing more and more, and even a few couples as well. It would be nice to one day see little baby cormorants too.

I love seeing the cormorants no matter what. And I am enamored with their beautiful jade green eyes. But I really love it when they spread their wings to dry out. They just look so majestic. There is this one rock in our first lake that seems to be one particular cormorant’s favorite spot. It’s like it’s his throne or his place of power.

Be the king or queen of your own castle, even if that castle is a rock. Make it your own and be proud.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I guess I have been thinking of summer and the tropics a lot lately, since I have been making a few things with macadamia nuts. Rumor has it that macadamia nuts are the most perfect nut there is, so that may have something to do with why I have been using them a lot lately too. 🙂

I made a very moist and tender butter rum cake that had a very definite tropical vibe to it. It had some rum, lime zest, lime juice and of course, macadamia nuts. YUMMY!

Butter Rum Snack Cake

You can use any kind of rum you like, but I used Malibu Rum this time, to give the cake an even more tropical taste. It is so moist and is full of flavor. You’ll want to go back for more and more.

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 190* C.

Spray an 8 inch square baking dish with cooking spray.

1/2 cup or 1 stick of butter

6 TBSP sugar

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3 TBSP crystalized ginger, finely chopped

2 TBSP fresh ginger, minced

1 egg

2 tsp lime zest

1 tsp vanilla or lime extract – I used lime extract

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Combine the flour and baking soda together and set a side.

Melt the sugars and butter together in a saucepan.

Once the butter is melted and most of the sugar is melted, remove the butter from the heat and allow to cool a bit. Add the gingers and mix together well. Then whisk in the egg, rum, lime zest and lime extract.

Fold in the flour and baking soda and mix thoroughly. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.

Evenly scatter the chopped macadamia nuts over the top of the batter and gently press into the batter.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the cake is set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely before slicing it and sharing it with friends.

Once again, this cake is a winner and will disappear quickly. Get some while you can, ‘cuz it won’t last long.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Cowboys are the ranchers who tend to the herds of cows that are on the ranch. Wranglers are the ultimate cowboys. They are the people who wrangle the horses, cows and other livestock together and are out on the open range, not in the pastures. Wranglers are often out on the range for long periods of time while in the process of herding all the livestock. Since wranglers are out on the range, they eat what they can and tend to make a lot of stews. The stews and “grub” will be different all the time, depending on what they have on hand at the time.

I had just a little ground beef left, and it wasn’t enough to make a full meal for both us. That is until I converted it into a wrangler’s stew that was filled with all kind of down-home goodness. Then, I had enough and then some. I served it with some warmed bread and a rich, fruity, medium-bodied red blend. Delicious! I served it as is, but it would also be good served over rice too. Either way, I know you’re going to love it. 🙂

Wrangler’s Stew

I used bits and pieces of what I had and just threw it all together in the slow cooker. I thought for sure I had corn, but I checked both freezers, and none was to be found. Oh well. These things happen. 🙂 I did have some delicata squash though, which was a good addition to the stew.

1 lb ground beef

1 lb sausage – I used Andouille this time

1 onion, diced

1 lb baby or red potatoes, sliced in rounds

1 green bell pepper, diced

2 cups tomatoes, diced

2 cups corn

1/2 delicata squash, diced, optional

1 TBSP garlic

1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

hot sauce to taste

salt & pepper tot taste

1 TBSP chili powder

1/2 cup beef broth

top with any or all of the above – cheese, sour cream, cilantro

Cook the sausage, ground beef and onions together for about 5-7 minutes, or until browned. Drain the excess fat when it is cooked. Add to the slow cooker.

Combine all the rest of the ingredients and mix in with the meat.

Cover the slow cooker, turn it onto high for 3-5 hours or to low for a slower cook, that will take about 7 hours, and forget about it until it is done. Easy-peasy and delicious! I cooked it on high. The whole house was smelling so good as it was cooking. I couldn’t wait to dig in and start eating it all up. We made a dent, but we did not eat it all. There is more for a another day. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Life around the lakes is getting very colorful these days. Many of the the spring flowers are beginning to pop up and bloom. In case you haven’t noticed, I just love flowers, flowers of all kinds. They always brighten up my day. I try my best to always have fresh flowers of some sort around the house for that very reason too. It never ceases to amaze me how something so small, yet so bright and colorful, can lift my spirits so much.

We have lots of bright yellow daffodils popping up all over the place.

The tulips are springing up too.

And even some pinkish/purple mountain flowers are coming to life.

They all look so pretty and colorful. They brighten my day. I hope they brighten your day too.

Mmmmmmm! Raspberries and blackberries. I love them any way I can get them. I love them in savory dishes. I love them as desserts. I love them in salads. And I love to eat them all by themselves.

Both raspberries and blackberries are packed with vitamins and nutrients. One cup of fresh berries provides30 milligrams of Vitamin C as well as 8 grams of fiber. These little berries really know how to pack a punch. 🙂

I am always buying both raspberries and blackberries (blackberries being slightly preferable to me) but Larry won’t eat them at all. So either I eat them all, which I have no problem doing, or I use them in recipes and dishes to share with others. My most recent raspberry treat was made to share, and I used them to make raspberry lemon cream bars. Once again, they were gone in a flash and everyone loved them. 🙂

Raspberry Lemon Cream Bars

Once again, these tasty treats only used a few basic ingredients. They were simple to make and simply delicious to eat.

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 190* C.

Spray cooking spray in a 9×13 baking pan.

Crust

3/4 cup softened butter

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup quick oats

1 1/3 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

Mix everything together well, making sure there are no butter clumps and everything sticks together. Spread about 3/4 of the mixture into the prepared pan, making sure to completely cover the bottom. Press it firmly into place, which will also help spread it out evenly.

Filling

1 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp lemon extract, optional

1 egg

1 package of raspberries, cut in 1/2

1 TBSP flour

2 TBSP sugar

Gently mix the flour and sugar in with the raspberries to coat them. Not only does this help flavor them, but it also helps to prevent the raspberries from “bleeding” into the custard. Then evenly distribute the berry mixture over the top of the crust.

Combine the rest of the ingredients together and evenly pour over the raspberries. Top with the remaining crumble mixture and spread evenly over the top of the custard.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and the custard filling is set.

Once the pan has cooled completely, place it in the refrigerator for about 1-2 hours before slicing. Be prepared though, once you slice them, they won’t be around for long. The lemon and raspberries celebrate each other and the flavors of each one just really pop and come to life. Enjoy. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.