Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

Have you ever come across recipes that sound so much better than they really are? This was one such recipe. Larry picked this one out, thinking it sounded so good. I mean after all, it has bacon in the sauce, so it’s got to be good right? MMMM, not so much. When I read the ingredients, before even making it, I shrugged my shoulders and said ‘Meh”. It sounded really boring to me, but Larry is so good and lets me experiment all the time, I really had to give it a shot.

This recipe was very tender and juicy, but other than that, I wasn’t all that impressed with it. I mean, it was good, but as predicted, boring. I liked my side dishes much better than I liked the pork recipe. I used the rest of my gnocchi, which wasn’t much, topped with marinara sauce and green beans with tomatoes, garlic and mushrooms. But here is the recipe for the pork. I will let you decide what you think about it. I would love to hear your thoughts too.

Pork Chops with Bacon Cider Sauce

4 slices bacon, crumbled

3 TBSP butter

1 1/-2 lbs pork chops

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup shallots, sliced very thin

1 cup apple cider, plus more for marinating the pork

1/2 cup chicken broth

Add salt & pepper to the pork chops and marinate in some of the apple cider for at least 2 hours before cooking. This will add some flavor and will help tenderize the meat.

Cook the crumbled bacon in a hot skillet until it is crispy.

Once the bacon is cooked, remove it and let it drain on a paper towel. Add the butter to the pan. Then add the pork chops and cook for about 3-4 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the chops, or until they are browned on both sides. Once they are browned, remove and set aside.

Add the shallots to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the broth and the bacon to the skillet and continue to cook for about 5-7 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Re-add the pork chops and continue to cook for an additional 2-3 minutes to heat the pork chops thoroughly. Then serve, adding the sauce on top of the pork chops.

I am cooking up the whole, colorful meal on top of the stove.

There was certainly nothing wrong with this recipe, but it needed a lot more pizzazz and flavor. I just thought it was really kind of bland and boring. I LOVE big, bold flavors. None of this bland stuff for me. No, no. But, you decide and please share your thoughts.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

I am seeing a lot of robins out and about these days. Some are small and some, well they are just plain fat. Either way, I love seeing them. They just seem like such happy birds to me. Here is one posing in a tree. He loved being the center of attention. As you can see, he is one of the fat ones. He lives a very good life indeed.

Be like the robin, and live the good life.

Larry and his friend Mark are both German, from Hays, Kansas. As I have mentioned in the past, Hays is primarily a German region. When Mark came over for dinner Walking on the Wild Side, I wanted to make a German dessert to take the boys “back home for a bit”. Apples and cinnamon play very prominent roles in German baking, so it was only fitting that I make a German dessert featuring apples and cinnamon. I made a German Apfelkuchen or a apple crisp cake. The boys both wanted it with ice cream too.

Apple Crisp Cake

Just the basics for the cake part.

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

dash of salt

3/4 cup cold butter, cubed

1 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

1 TBSP sour cream

Combine the flour, salt, butter, cinnamon and baking powder in food processor and pulse until it all resembles a course sand. Then add the eggs, sour cream and sugar and blend again until it all forms together into a ball. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours before using.

The Apple Filling

1- 1 1/2 lbs apples, peeled and sliced thin

1/4 cup sugar

1 TBSP cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 TBSP ginger liqueur or something similar – I used some honey ginger balsamic vinegar -This is optional.

1-2 TBSP butter

Cook the apples with the sugar, cinnamon and butter in a hot skillet for about 10 minutes, or until softened, at a medium-high heat. Combine the water and cornstarch and mix well, then add to the apple mixture, along with the liqueur, if using. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, and continue to cook for an additional 10 minutes or until it has thickened. Allow it to cool.

The Icing

2 eggs whites

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp lemon juice

chopped pecans for the topping

Beat the egg whites for about 10 minutes or until frothy. Gradually add the powered sugar and beat again until glossy, again, for about 10 minutes. Then add the lemon juice and beat once more for an additional 2 minutes, or until it forms soft peaks.

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 180* C.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator a few minutes before you are ready to press it into the 9×13 baking dish. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangle then add it to the baking dish. Completely press it into the pan and up around the sides. Crimp the edges.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown, then allow to cool for a few minutes before adding the apples and icing.

When ready, spread the apple filling evenly over the crust.

Then pour the icing over the apples and spread evenly to cover them. Sprinkle the chopped pecans evenly over the icing. Bake again for an addition al 10-15 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting and serving. It goes great with some ice cream on the side.

This is a traditional German dessert. Germans love to bake and they like to eat their sweets. They are known for their cakes, doughnuts, tortes, cookies and pastries. Many are filled with all kinds of fruits, but especially apples, nuts and creams, or any combination thereof. An old German proverb says ” May your introduction be short and sweet”. So you have now been introduced. Let’s eat.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

There were three egrets out on the lakes today. By their actions, two of them must have been males, with one female. She was just letting the boys do their thing, while they were actually going after each other. They were squawking and fighting. There were a lot of ruffled feathers all about. I don’t know if the ruffled feathers were because of a potential love triangle or because of the wind, since it was a very blustery day.

Tempers are flaring. You can see it in their eyes.

I think this one is the female. She was just sitting back watching the boys ruffle their feathers. She seemed to be enjoying the show. Doesn’t she look much calmer than the other two?

Finally one of the boys decided he had enough, and flew away.

Don’t get your feathers all ruffled. It’s not worth the bad hair day. Instead, just fly away.

Last night, Larry had an old friend from high school visit us and I wanted to cook up something that was a true Colorado meal. Larry’s friend Mark lives in Austin, TX so it was a bit challenging because Texas, like Colorado, is known for its beef and good Mexican and Southwestern foods. So I went with some wild game. I know, Texas has wild game too, but as far as I know, they don’t have elk. I decided on making some elk steaks with a port reduction sauce with mushrooms and peppers, roasted rosemary and garlic potatoes and grilled asparagus. I decided on making a true Colorado meal that focused on our natural wild side.

I marinated the elk steaks in red wine, big game spices and pepper all day. Then we grilled them up when we were ready to eat. Elk is very lean, so it doesn’t need long to cook. it is best when served medium rare. If you over cook it, it will become very tough very quickly.

As the steaks were grilling up, I made a port reduction sauce and added some mushrooms and red peppers as well.

Port Reduction Sauce

1 cup port

1 cup beef broth

1 shallot, minced fine

1/4 cup butter

salt & pepper to taste

Cook the shallots in the wine and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Be careful when adding the port to the pan though. There will be a big surge of flames that will last for about a minute when you add the port.

Once most of the liquid has evaporated, add the beef broth, and once again reduce it to about 1/3 of the liquid.

Then add the butter and incorporate it into the sauce.

You can easily leave it just like this if you want. Some chefs will strain it, but I like rich sauces with lots of stuff, so I left the minced shallots in the sauce and added some sliced mushrooms and peppers as well.

While my sauce was cooking I was also using my inside grill to grill up the asparagus. Before putting it on the grill, I tossed it in olive oil, salt & pepper and a dash of lemon balsamic vinegar. I grilled it for about 5-7 minutes, rotating it a couple of times to make sure it all cooked evenly.

Once everything was ready, I topped the elk steaks with the sauce and served it all along side a big bold red wine. It all came together beautifully. Mark was wowed and dinner was yet another big success.

A general rule of thumb for cooking wild game is to add big bold flavors that will compliment the meat. If you have soft delicate flavors, they will get lost with the boldness and gaminess of the meats. I was also taught that if you are serving wild game, think of things that would grow in the wild to serve with it. Don’t be afraid to walk on the wild side. Instead, embrace it.

Stay safe and stay well everyone. And every now and then, let your wild side come out. Let yourself roar every now and then. ‘Til next time.

Easter is quickly coming, and the animals know it too. This year, rather than looking for Easter eggs from the Easter Bunny, I have a duck who is looking for his own eggs. He knows he will be in BIG trouble with the Mrs. if he doesn’t find those eggs; and SOON!

I know they’re close.

HMMMM! They weren’t there. I’ll look over here.

Nope. Not there either.

Still looking.

Maybe she put them in the grass.

When I left poor Mr. Mallard, he was still searching for those eggs. I hope he found them, or there will be HELL to pay from Mrs. Mallard.

Once again it was time to go through the fridge and use up the leftovers. The Queen and I went Indian this time. I had some leftover tikka sauce Chicken Tikka Night that needed to be used, but of course I couldn’t serve it the same way I had served it before, so I came up with a different twist. I used it with shrimp and pasta. Once again, it was a big hit. So when you are making your own tikka sauce, now you know it goes very well with both shrimp and chicken.

I sauteed the shrimp in some of my leftover olive oil dipping sauce from our gnocchi night Making Gnocchi, which gave the shrimp a little extra flavor and pizzazz.

Then I added some green beans and campari tomatoes and served it all over linguini. It was definitely a little Indian and Italian fusion going on, but it all worked beautifully.

All that was needed to complete the meal was some warmed pita bread and a buttery chardonnay on the side. Delicious! I used up my leftovers, created something new, and it was a quick, easy-peasy kind of meal. That’s what I’m talking about. YEAH!!!!!

Be bold. Be adventurous. Walk on the wild side. Mix and match and make all kinds of new creations. You just never know what you’ll come up with. 🙂

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

There were not a lot of ducks out today, but there were a lot of different kinds of ducks out. It was so fun to see so many different varieties out on the lakes all at once.

There were Mallards,

Common Goldeneyes and Ringnecks,

Buffleheads,

Barrow’s Goldeneyes,

And Hooded Mergansers.

It was most definitely a ducky kind of day. Make all your days just ducky and all will be good.

I am always trying to come up with fresh new ideas for my coffee cart. I try to give a wide range and variety of goodies every week. I also like to re-use and repurpose things as much as I possible too. I have been offering a lot of fruit as well as pastries for the past few weeks, but unfortunately, fruit does not have a long shelf life. So rather than throwing away fruits unnecessarily, I try my best to incorporate it into my pastries whenever I can. This week, I was re-using some grapes and made mini grape clafoutis. They were partnered with some mini brownies and donut holes too. By the end of the day, they were all gone. My platter was left with nothing but the flowers and and light dusting of powdered sugar when it was time to clean up after everyone had left for the day. I will take this as a very good sign indeed. I think they were a hit. Ironically, I almost didn’t use them because I was not happy with how they turned out. But what do I know? I was very pleasantly surprised to see they had all completely disappeared.

Clafoutis originated in a rural region in south-central France called Limousin. Its name comes from the Occitan word “clafir,” meaning “to fill.” So popular was it “to fill” a dish with fruit and batter, that by the 19th century, clafoutis’ renown had spread from Limousin to other regions of France and bordering countries.

Clafoutis is a baked French dessert of fruit, traditionally with black cherries arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter. When baked, the finished product is somewhere between a cake and a custard dessert. Purists will call this dessert a flaugnarde if it is made with any other type of fruit besides cherries, but for those of us who are less discerning, they are all clafoutis to us. You can make them with any kind of fruit. It is a great way to savor the flavors of the fruits and to savor the flavors of the season as well. So I say be creative. Make your best clafoutis with whatever type of fruits you like – cherries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, pears, grapes, or whatever else tickles your fancy. One of our guests said they tasted like fruited German pancakes.

Mini Grape Clafoutis

1 lb grapes – I used red and green

1 3/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

1/4 cup melted butter

1 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

powdered sugar for dusting when they are completely cooled

Preheat the oven to 375* F or 200* C.

I used my mini muffin pans, but you can use a springform cakepan too. Add a little of the melted butter to the bottom of the pan and coat the sides. Place the grapes all around the bottom. Since I used my mini muffin pans, I added one grape per section.

In either a blender or a food processor, blend all your remaining ingredients together until it makes a thin, batter.

Pour the batter over the grapes and bake for about 1 hour, or slightly less if making them as minis.

When the clafoutis are done, allow them to cool for a few minutes in the pan, then remove and allow to cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar and serving. As I mentioned above, these were a big hit and completely disappeared. Bon Appetit!

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

I have been trying to get some good shots of the beautiful little black-capped chickadees for quite some time now, but every time I try, and just as I get them into focus, they fly away. But today, I got lucky. And I didn’t even have to leave the comfort of my own family room either. I got some great shots just by looking out of my big window. There were a couple of little chickadees that were having so much fun, and they allowed me to get some great shots of them too. FINALLY!

My moral of the story is to never give up. Good things come to you when you least expect them sometimes.