Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

We have had some more gorgeous visitors out on our ponds these days. More so than usual. One of our other gorgeous visitors was a Redhead duck. His bright red head really stands out and he just looks so impressive.

Most often, when it comes to making dinner, I never really know what I am going to make until an inspiration just comes to me. Most of the time, it happens at random, as I am looking through cookbooks, just looking at recipes and getting ideas. Sometimes, I have a general idea in mind, but more so than not, I don’t know until it comes time to making dinner. And then I check my pantry to see what I have on hand and what I need to get. And from this spark comes dinner. This time, I was inspired to do some Indian chicken tikka.

The inspiration for this dish actually came from 2 different sources. At first, I was thinking of something completely different, and then I kept flipping pages, this was what I wanted to make. And viola, this dish was created. The first recipe I found called for a jar of tikka sauce, but I try my best NOT to use store-bought items if I can help it, so I wanted to make it myself. I had to go to the store for some of the ingredients anyway, so I looked at the ingredient list on a jar of tikka sauce, and thought I can do better than this. So I did. 🙂

Chicken Tikka with Roasted Vegetables

I love big, bold flavors in almost all of my cooking. That may be why I have such an affinity for so many different ethnic foods. I started off by roasting some tomatoes and went from there.

3-4 tomatoes, roasted

1-2 jalapenos, seeded

2 TBSP garlic, divided

1 TBSP minced ginger

1/3 cup olive oil

4 tsp coriander

2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste

salt & pepper to taste

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp cardamom

1 TBSP lemon juice

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream or yogurt

2 lbs chicken pieces

1 cup broccoli florets

1 cup cauliflower florets

1 can chickpeas or garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 red onion, sliced thin

2-3 carrots, sliced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced medium

chopped cilantro, for topping

Roast the tomatoes for about 30 minutes at 425* F or about 220* C.

Allow the tomatoes to cool for a bit, then add to a food processor along with the jalapeno, spices, olive oil, 1/2 of the garlic, ginger and cream or yogurt and blend together until you have a creamy sauce.

Marinate the chicken in the sauce for at least 30 minutes before cooking. Reserve some of the sauce without the chicken for a topping once the meal is done.

Toss the vegetables, along with more olive oil, garbanzo beans, salt & pepper together, then arrange on a baking sheet lined with either parchment paper or aluminum foil. Spread the vegetables out so they make a single layer.

Arrange the chicken pieces into the pan as well.

Roast everything together for about 40-45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked completely. After about 20 minutes or so, mix up the vegetables so they cook evenly.

Once the chicken and vegetables are done, top them with more sauce and some of the fresh cilantro. You can serve over rice or potatoes. I served it with some roasted potatoes and warmed pita bread, and a cool, crispy, citrusy chardonnay on the side. Even a sweet white wine would go well with this dish. A sweeter wine will compliment the spiciness of the dish nicely.

This is a layered dish with so many great flavors and textures all blending together. It came out oh so good.

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

These last couple of years have been phenomenal as far the variety of ducks and wildlife we have had around our lakes. I have seen so many more duck species than I normally do, and a lot more of them too. Whatever the reason, I hope it continues. I love seeing so many different kinds of ducks on a daily basis. 🙂

This time, I am going to show you our Northern Shoveler. I have seen them before, but not nearly as often or so many. They are so pretty and colorful. You can easily see how he gets his name by his “shoveled” beak.

Depending on how the sun hits him, sometimes his head looks greenish or blue and sometimes it looks purple.

And he’s off. He has had enough of being in the spotlight for today. Off to other things and other parts of the ponds.

I can only speak for myself, but it is so peaceful and relaxing to be able to commune with nature. I try to do it as much as I possibly can. Nature is so full of so many beautiful wonders. All we have to do is keep our eyes open to see all the beauty that is all around us everyday.

Spring is definitely in the air. All the birds are pairing up, singing their love songs and making their nests. The buds are beginning to pop up, and the grass is beginning to green up once again. I have my camera always at the ready, just in case. Today was a fantastic day for photos. I saw so much beauty today and all kinds of wildlife.

Today, as I was out walking, I got lucky and got some great shots of a pair of Cassin’s Finches together. The male is gorgeous in his red attire. I just never know what I’m going to see.

First I saw the male, and I was very happy with seeing him.

Then I saw the female.

And then, I saw them together. This completely made my day. They were very photogenic. I am thinking there are going to be a few eggs before to long. I almost felt like a voyeur.

A few days ago we had snow and it was winter. Today, it is once again warm weather and I am in shorts. Only in Colorado do we have such extreme weather changes. I just love our Springs.

The last adventure Karen and I had while Karen was out visiting was to make some lemon almond scones. We made them based on a combination of a recipe I had found online as well as one from the beautiful family heirloom recipes from Karen’s great-great grandmother’s cookbook, “Mrs. Beeton’s Cookery Book”, published in 1936. Karen gifted this beautiful treasured cookbook to me, and it is now a treasured family heirloom in my home too. We also used Karen’s great aunt’s scone cutter to cut the scones. They were made with love and made from love.

We compared recipes from both “Mrs. Beeton’s Cookery Book” and the recipe I found on line. They were pretty similar, and believe it or not, I actually followed the recipe exactly; I know a rarity, but true. Though the flavor came out great, I was not all that impressed with the scones themselves. They came out more like lemon cookies rather than fluffy scones. They just didn’t rise like they were supposed to. But we still had fun making them, and they still taste great, so in the end, that is really all that matters.

Lemon Almond Scones

2 cups flour

8 TBSP cold butter, cubed

6 TBSP sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 TBSP lemon zest

8 TBSP heavy whipping cream

1 egg

2 TBSP lemon juice, or about 1/2 lemon

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp almond extract

slivered almonds for topping.

Preheat oven to 400* For 200* C.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put the flour, butter, sugar, salt, baking powder and lemon zest into a food processor and pulse until it all resembles coarse sand. Add the egg, lemon juice, vanilla, almond extract and heavy whipping cream and blend together until the dough forms into a ball.

Pat the dough out on a lightly floured surface and shape the dough into a circle or a rectangle about 3/4 of an inch thick, then cut and shape how you like. Sprinkle the top with the almond slivers and lightly press into the dough. Place on the prepared baking pans, and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the scones are are lightly golden and fluffy.

Let cool completely before adding the glaze.

Lemon Glaze

3 TBSP melted butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 TBSP lemon juice

1 tsp almond extract

Whisk everything together and drizzle over the cooled scones.

Karen and I did make a video too. I haven’t made a video in quite awhile and I almost forgot how to do it. I really don’t enjoy making the videos. I much prefer taking still shots. I can’t stand looking at myself on the videos because I have become so FAT, but it is what it is. This is a long, mostly unedited version, but it is up on YouTube, live and running.

Even when life gives you lemons, make lemon scones, or in this case, lemon scone/cookies. No matter what, with the right attitude, you can still turn things around and make them a positive experience instead of a negative experience.

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

Karen and I had yet another very busy day. It was her last full day here before returning home, back to Southern California. Larry opted not to join us since he had an early hockey game and there was no guarantee we would be home in time for his game. Good call, because we weren’t. We drove up to Estes Park and took in as many of the sights as we could. No elk this time, though. Again.

We took the longer, slightly more scenic route up to Estes Park, driving through the mountain town of Nederland. As always, it was a beautiful drive. On the way up to Estes Park, our first stop was this beautiful, quaint little mountain church. Larry and I love to stop here. It is a simple little church, that at least for me, is so peaceful. Its simplicity is what a church is about to me, and it reminds me of the little chapel I used to attend when I still lived in Pasadena, CA.

While up in Estes Park, we didn’t have time to really tour around since we took one of the historical tours of the Stanley Hotel. And it is not quite tourist season yet, so everything closed earlier too.

The Stanley Hotel is a beautiful hotel that has gained its fame and recognition in many different areas. It was one of the most luxurious hotels of its time, and was the most luxurious hotel west of the Mississippi River for a long time. It was built in 1907 as the “guest house” for F.O. Stanley’s guests. F.O. Stanley was the creator of the Stanley Steamer cars, along with his twin brother F.E. Stanley.

In modern times, the Stanley has earned its fame both from a lot of movies and TV shows being filmed there, but most importantly, as one of the most haunted hotels in America. It was almost torn down when author Stephen King stayed one (haunted) night. That one night was the inspiration for his hit novel, “The Shining”. This book was the transformation the hotel needed and was its saving grace. Today The Stanley is on the Historical list, so it has earned its forever place in history.

Our guide, Madison, or Maddy, was hilarious. She had the perfect personality for being an historical guide, and she really knew her stuff. We had to get a couple of pictures of her as well. We are in the theater, which is known for its spirited guests as much as it is known for its theatrical performances.

Karen and I experienced and felt the presence of one the Stanley’s permanent guests just at the last bit of our tour. You never know if or when their “permanent guests” will act up, but when they do, it is something you will never forget. Just as our tour was finishing up, and we were in “the tunnel”, a playful spirit decided to play with one of the guest’s phone and tried to take a picture of himself. The other tour guest was taking pictures, when all of a sudden, her phone started to act up and went live. It snapped a picture, that came out on her screen completely white and blank. All her other pictures were fine, except for that one.

This was my second encounter with friendly spirits while at the Stanley. My first one was a couple of years ago when Larry and I stayed overnight, and our room was on the 4th floor, which was known as the nursery. I heard a young nanny singing “You are my sunshine” while little kids were running down the hall way playing. When I looked out to see what was going on, no one was there. When I closed the door, the singing and playing resumed once again, and lasted for a few minutes. I LOVE this kind of stuff, though I know a lot of people are freaked out about it.

After our tour, we stopped in at the whisky shop. Neither of us are whiskey drinkers, but we thought it was apropos. We each took a tiny sample. The whiskey bar is beautiful and offers a wide selection of different high end whiskeys, if this is your thing. We were both more interested in the staff than we were in the whiskey though.

Taking a shot.

Our favorite part of the whiskey shop was this particular “staff member” and “manager”. He makes sure no one drinks to much or gets unruly.

After we had completed the tour, Karen and I both thought a toast to the Stanley and all its permanent guests was in order, so we celebrated with a drink at the hotel’s bar. Of course we had to sample some of the hotel’s specialty drinks. I had the “redrum punch”. For those of you familiar with “The Shining” you will know what this is in reference to.

We had been on the lookout for “critters” all day, and hadn’t seen any, other than the large crow that neither of us could capture with our cameras. On our way home, in Boulder, we did at last see some critters. We saw three white tailed mule deer on the side of the road. We were happy. At last we had seen some critters. That made our trip complete.

Once we got home, we fixed a simple shrimp scampi for dinner. Classic Shrimp Scampi. After dinner Karen and I made some lemon almond scones as well. More on that to follow.

You never know what life is going to throw at you. Life is full of mystery. Be open to it all and enjoy the experiences that come your way. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

My friend Priscilla is originally from Argentina. She knows how much I love to cook, and particularly all kinds of great ethnic foods from around the world. And as you have seen, we love to cook together too. So for my birthday, she gave me this fabulous new Argentine cookbook.

I was dying to try some of the mouthwatering recipes featured in this beautiful book, and I thought what better time to initiate it than when we have company over. After our busy day of touring around and taking in the sights of the southern Denver Metro area, A Very Busy Day, I cooked us all a delicious Argentine style dinner, using this fabulous cookbook as my guide.

Argentina is known for its great meats, and they love to grill everything up on open fires. The book “The Seven Fires” by Francis Mallman, explains the seven different “fires” used in Argentine cooking. They are:

• Parrilla – cooking meat over an open wood fire or grilling.
• Chapa – a method for quick cooking or searing to produce a crust without drying the meats out.
• Infiernillo – small inferno or little heat, usually with two heat sources, one from above and one from below.
• Horno de barro – cooking in a wood oven at the back of the oven.
• Rescoldo – cooking directly on hot hot embers
• Asador – cooking large, whole pieces of meat on an open spit.
• Caldero – cooking in a big iron pot or calderon.

Well since I do not have the capacities to do prepare foods in most of these traditional ways, I improvised, as any home cook would do. I grilled the steaks Parillo style, on the grill. Everything else I cooked on the stove, either Parillo or Chappa style, with my mini indoor grill, or Caldero style, with my cast iron skillet or Horno de barro style, in the oven. Who knew we all cooked in the Argentine way almost everyday? 🙂

Our menu for the evening was Steak Chimichurri, Steak Chimichurri, roasted potatoes, empanadas (due to lack of time, I purchased them from Rincon in Boulder, Empanadas de Rincon Argentino rather than making them myself), and a roasted vegetable salad with roasted peppers and asparagus, with some warmed bread and dipping sauces on the side. Priscilla brought a delicious ricotta genoise cake with strawberries tossed in Cara-Cara orange balsamic vinegar.

At some point, you have experienced my other Argentine flavors I prepared for this meal, but this particular salad is new to all of us. It is full of flavor and loaded with a lot of different layers and textures too.

Roasted Vegetable Salad

1 lb roasted asparagus

1/4 cup olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

4 roasted bell peppers – I used 2 red, 1 orange and 1 yellow, peeled and seeded

mixed greens

The Dressing

3 hard boiled eggs, diced

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1 TBSP Dijon mustard

1 TBSP crushed peppercorns

dash of salt

1/2 cup red onion, diced fine

1/2 cup parsley, chopped fine

toasted bread crumbs

Toss all the ingredients together well. The dressing is meant to be chunky and full of texture.

Roast the peppers directly on the fire, or Rescoldo style.

Coat the asparagus in the olive oil and salt and pepper, and place on a hot grill.

Grill the asparagus for a few minutes, or until it is softened and slightly charred. Then remove from the heat and set aside. I prefer the smaller asparagus spears to the larger ones. I think they are more tender and have more flavor.

Once everything is cooked and the dressing is made, lay a bed of mixed greens on a platter, then decoratively add the peppers and asparagus on the platter. Next, drizzle the dressing on top, and add the hard boiled eggs. Finish it all off with the toasted bread crumbs. I used some leftover crostini that I crushed up. The finished product was a gorgeous, delicious salad that was a treat for our taste buds. !Delicioso!

Make the most out of everyday, and spend time doing things with those you love and those who make you happy. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

My friend Karen was only here for a few days, but we wanted to show her the most the we could in the time that we had. Larry did not work on Saturday, so after he made breakfast burritos for all of us, we hit the road and headed to the mountains. We headed south, towards Evergreen.

Our first stop was the Adams Natural Meats Home of the Buffalo Seeing a huge herd of bison or buffalo is NOT something we all see everyday, and especially not for someone from Southern California, via England. Even if the herd is “domesticated” like these bison were, it is still not an everyday occurrence for most people. There were lots of bison/buffalo to see too.

Adams Natural Meats offers a wide selection of different cuts of buffalo meat as well as other types of game meat. If you’ve never eaten buffalo meat, it is very tasty and very lean, which makes it very healthy too. It is a bit gamey for those who are new to it, which can make it an acquired taste, but I love it. It is full of flavor. We bought some buffalo chorizo that I will make into something yummy very soon. Our lovely hostess, Karma gave us some delicious new recipes to try.

We are posing with Hank. Hank oversees all the operations at Adams Natural Meats and makes sure everything is done just right.

After paying a visit to the bison, we were on the road again. We we were still southbound. Our next stop was through the town of Evergreen. Evergreen is a southern suburb of Denver, but it is also a cute little mountain town that is far enough way from the city that it takes you away from the hustle and bustle of urban life. We walked around and stretched our legs a bit and took in the sights.

Evergreen gets its name from all the evergreen trees throughout the area. We were looking for the elk that normally hang out around the library. No elk this time though. Just some gorgeous scenery.

After a brief walk around in town, we headed back to the trails for some more beautiful scenery. Even though there was still plenty of snow all around, it was actually a beautiful, sunny and warm day. We couldn’t have asked for better weather.

A cool refreshing mountain swim.

Next stop, our favorite winery, InVINtions. to wet our whistle.

As we were enjoying our libations, Emily was busy making some wine in the background too. You can tell she is having fun while she works.

Our day was not finished though. Once we returned home, we were still celebrating and had Jonathan, Priscilla and Laura over for an Argentine dinner. I will stop here for now, and feature our Argentine dinner in a separate post. I want to tempt you a bit first. 🙂

Stay tuned. Don’t touch that dial. There is plenty more coming your way.

Our fun and fabulous girls’ day was a say spent in Boulder. We started off at Bookcliff Vineyards Mini Vacation is Over and then met up with the rest of the beautiful ladies at the Dushanbe Teahouse for an afternoon tea.

The Dushanbe Teahouse is an exotic, one-of-a-kind structure that is truly a gorgeous work of art, both inside and out. It is designed in the Persian style of art and architecture that has been artistically displayed for about 2000 years. It was designed and created as a gift from Dushanbe, the capitol of Tajikistan, which is the sister city of Boulder. The name Dushanbe, pronounced {doo-shan-bay’} means Monday. Mondays were the day of the week on which a bazaar was held in the village on the site. We went of a Friday, instead of a Monday, and it was a beautiful and delicious way to end the week and to start the weekend.

The outside of the Teahouse. We did NOT sit in the gardens, as it was pretty cold out and snow was still all around. But it would be a perfect place to dine in the warmer, sunnier times.

In Central Asia, teahouses serve as gathering places where friends meet to talk or play chess over a cup of tea. Many teahouses are traditionally decorated with Persian art, characterized by the use of motifs from nature – stellar, solar, and floral, by the repetition of patterns, by form over representation and pattern over detail, and by lavish decoration and color. It was crafted by more than 40 artisans in several cities of Tajikistan created the decorative elements [the] Teahouse, including its hand-carved and hand-painted ceiling, tables, stools, columns, and exterior ceramic panels. Often these skills are handed down from generation to generation within families. Lado Shanidze served as chief architect.

These handcrafted tiles are just gorgeous and the attention to detail is amazing.

In the 7th Century BC, the area we now know as Tajikistan was settled at the eastern periphery of the Persian Empire. Situated a bit south of the Silk Road trails, the area has seen invasions by Alexander the Great, Mongols, Arabs, Turks, and Russians. Today, Tajikistan, with a population of 7 million, is about the size of Iowa, and is bordered to the east by China, to the north by Uzbekistan and Kyrgystan, and to the south by Afghanistan. At the western end of the Himalayas, its terrain is 93% mountainous, with peaks towering to 24,000 feet. The Tajik language is like Persian.

The Dushanbe Teahouse offers a varied menu, for both lunch and dinner, but we opted for the high tea experience instead. It was a lot of fun. I have dined there for both lunch and dinner as well, and the food is exquisite. As you might guess, tea is the main attraction, and they feature teas from around the world.

The inside of the Teahouse is just as beautiful as the outside, with just as much, if not more attention to detail. These lovely ladies are known as the “seven beauties”. They represent social justice, morality, and appreciation of nature. In the middle ages, the number “SEVEN” was considered a sacred number. Both mythological and scientific beliefs of the day held that the world was divided into seven countries, there are seven planets, weeks are divided into seven days, and the spectrum is composed of seven colors.

The seven beauties were the seven wives of the Shah of Iran, Bahram, based on a famous Persian poem. On the proper day of the week, Bahram would dress himself in the appropriate color, and go to visit the wife that corresponded with the day. Each woman would relate to him a story from her native land and praise the attributes of her own color. All the tales are closely related to popular folklore and combine the scientific and philosophical views on the symbolic effects of the colors. The poem inspires honesty, virtue and kindness, while denouncing arrogance, villiany, greediness and treachery. And so, the princesses’ tales serve not only to entertain the Shah, but to ponder life and consider the secrets on the universe and human nature.

Our group for the day consisted of not seven beauties, but eight – starting from the left and working around, we have Lauren, Karen, Priscilla, me, Laura, Su Yeun, Linda and Janet. We also enjoyed some beautifully delicious foods as well.

We started off with some scrumptious samosas, with both a yogurt raita and a mango chutney.

Then our very fun and friendly server Carrie, started us off with our teas. We all ordered a different kind of tea. The teas were set on a timer to make them just right. When the sands of time had dropped, our teas were ready for us to enjoy.

Next, Carrie brought out some delicious butternut soup in little individual cups. Carrie was so full of personality and she really helped to make our day into a very fun and entertaining experience.

We all raved about how delicious the soup was.

And then came all the finger sandwiches and pastries, along with the clotted cream, lemon curd and strawberry jam, all served in the manner of a traditional English tea.

The entire tea experience was an absolute delight. This is not something we can do everyday, but it is sure fun to do for special occasions. The best part of our tea adventure though was getting together and visiting with so many wonderful ladies. We were old friends and new all joined together to celebrate each other.

The Dushanbe Teahouse is located at 1770 13th Street, Boulder, CO. I would definitely make reservations, since it is always a very popular place. You can either make reservations online at info@boulderteahouse.com or by phone. 303-442-4993. The Teahouse is closed on Mondays, but is open for tea Tuesday-Sunday.

Make the most of everyday, and celebrate life with friends and family, since after all, that’s what make everyday a celebration. Stay well and stay safe Everyone. ‘Til next time.