Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

Whenever we have cold, frigid weather, it is always a perfect time for soup or stew or chili. And believe me, it was COLD and very FRIGID, but not nearly as cold and frigid as I had originally thought. When I read the temperature on my phone it said the weather was -11* as a high and the low would get down to -20*. Though this is NOT unheard of here in Colorado, it is pretty rare. That just made me cold thinking about it. Silly me. I did not see that my phone was set for Celsius, not Fahrenheit. So instead of being in the negative numbers, it was a balmy +9* F for the high and about 0* for the low. Still VERY cold, but nothing like what I first thought. Either way, it was still a perfect night for a big pot of hot chili to warm us up from the inside out. Chili Con Carne

It was a simple dinner of chili served over a baked potato. That was all we needed to help take away the chills of the day.

We had some smoked brisket in the freezer that Larry took down, so it all got thrown into the chili, along with some red and green peppers, jalapeno peppers, garlic, onion, kidney beans, and all kinds of good chili seasoning. I like lots of stuff in my stuff, and I love good, hearty, meaty chilis and soups. I just cut it all up and threw it into the slow cooker for a few hours.

Many moons ago, when I was still out in California and working for a National Corporate food service provider, whenever we had leftovers of just about everything, at all got thrown into the soups and the chilis. They often became “kitchen sink” soups, stews or chilies, and they all disappeared everyday. Our customers loved it. We never threw anything away if we didn’t have to. I still do that today.

I combined all the seasonings, tomato paste and beef broth together, then tossed it with all my vegetables and beef before adding it all to the slow cooker. Once everything was in the slow cooker, I walked away for about 4-5 hours, only coming back to stir it all up occasionally.

The hot chili just hit the spot and warmed us from the cockles of our hearts down to the marrow of our bones. The hot chili definitely took the chill out of the air and warmed everything up nicely.

On the cold winter days, stay warm, stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

I only have a couple more Belizian flowers to share with you then that will be all for this trip. All the flowers are bright and colorful with their own unique personalities.

Sloppy joes are definitely an iconic American food, but the actual origins are up for debate. It seems everyone wants to lay claim to the invention of these American favorites. A sloppy joe is a “burger” made with ground beef, onions and tomato sauce. It’s kind of like spaghetti bolognase on a bun. They go by different names, such as Toasted Deviled Hamburgers, Chopped Meat Sandwiches, Spanish Hamburgers, Hamburg a la Creole, Beef Mironton, and Minced Beef Spanish Style, but they have been most famously called “Sloppy Joes” since the 1940’s. The term sloppy joe’s had an earlier definition too, long before they became an American tradition. It was a slang for any cheap restaurant or lunch counter serving cheap food quickly.

It was a cooking day for Noah, and with it being a cold, snowy day, I thought it would also be a perfect day for sloppy joes. They were a big hit with Noah too. He made sloppy joes and some grilled new potatoes.

For the potatoes, we just simply coated them with salt, pepper and olive oil, then grilled them on Noah’s little George Forman grill. It was his first experience with purple potatoes too. I did that on purpose, though there was only one purple potato in the bag. 🙂

Sloppy Joes

2 TBSP water, divided

1/2 tsp + 1/8 tsp baking soda, divided

1-1 1/2 lbs ground beef

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 onion, chopped fine

1 TBSP garlic

2 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes or to taste

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/3 cup ketchup

1 TBSP red wine vinegar

1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp cornstarch

vegetable or olive oil for cooking

hamburger buns

Combine 1 TBSP of water and 1/2 tsp of baking soda and mix well. Then add to the ground beef and mix it all in together.

Get a large skillet hot and add the oil, then add the onions, brown sugar, paprika and garlic, plus the remaining portion of the baking soda and cook for about 3-4 minutes.

Combine the ketchup, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and red wine vinegar, and set aside.

Add the ground beef, combine well and cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until the beef is cooked. Once the beef is thoroughly cooked, add the ketchup mixture and combine well.

Mix the cornstarch with 1 TBSP water and add to the meat mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Drain off the excess grease then spoon the mixture over warmed hamburger buns and enjoy. Noah gobbled up two in seemingly seconds and loved every bite. 🙂

Things don’t have to be complicated in order to taste good. Sometimes the simple things are the best things.

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

More bright, tropical flowers from Belize. Aren’t these unusual? I just love them.

Sometimes it’s hard to get together with everyone to celebrate birthdays and special occasions. We all lead really busy lives, and life happens. But when we do get together, those special occasions are all that much more special and are greatly appreciated. As usual, I have been extending the birthday celebrations for as long as I can. 🙂

We celebrated with our friends Jonathan, Priscilla and Laura the other day. Priscilla prepared a fabulous feast, and as usual, everything was beautiful and exquisite. Priscilla has a special knack for making everything very elegant and beautiful. She always pays attention to all the small details that make every occasion truly remarkable.

Our first course for the evening was a beautifully delicious charlotte, which was a baked encrusted little savory tart filled with duxelles or chopped and creamed mushrooms.

The main course was lamb cooked to perfection with chimichurri sauce Steak Chimichurri, green beans Video #19 – Green Beans with Caramelized Shallots, and baby roasted potatoes, along with some delicate and flaky Parmigiano twists made from puff pastry. OMG! Everything blended together perfectly and just melted in our mouths. Priscilla is an excellent cook. 🙂

We were all very full, but it was a special celebration after all, so we had to have dessert. We had a snickerdoodle bundt cake topped with a honey ice cream and blackberries, followed by presents.

The best gift is of course the gift of our beautiful, long friendships. Priscilla and I go back over 45+ years. We have known each other almost our whole lives. But both Priscilla and Laura gave me other beautiful presents as well. Priscilla, originally being from Argentina, gave me a gorgeous Argentine cookbook, that I am already salivating over. There are so many fabulous recipes or recetas in that book. I am already planning an Argentine feast, which of course will include Priscilla, Jonathan and Laura as well. Laura gave me a beautiful planter and an air plant to go inside. It is my favorite color too, teal. I just need to get some strong nails or hooks to hang it with, and then it will be proudly displayed in my kitchen.

We went out to dinner with our friends Wendy, Marc, Mike and Lauren on my actual birthday, and are planning on going out with Janet and Bob as well. We were supposed to go out last week, but we all decided since the weather was frightful to postpone until it was a bit more forgiving. So the birthday celebrations continue a bit longer. 🙂 Thank you all for always making me feel so special. I am truly blessed and life is very, very good indeed.

I hope you all have those special people in your lives that love and support you. The gift of friendship is truly one of the best gifts we can give and receive.

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

Despite all the snow and frigidly cold temperatures we have here at home (our high today is 5* F. When I was out earlier my car thermometer red 2* F), all I have to do is look upon this beautiful flower from Belize, and I know “it’s going to be a bright, bright, sunshiny day”.

Sometimes I plan ahead when making our meals, but most of the time I don’t. I usually only plan ahead when I am making something special, or when we are having guests over. The rest of the time, I kind of wing it. That’s just how I roll.

We had a lot of fresh, delicious seafood, cooked in a variety of ways while in Belize, but we hadn’t eaten much beef lately. We had a some London broil down, which is good when cooked as a casserole or a stir-fry or as fajitas, or something like that where it is cooked with something else and is not just the meat alone. This particular cut of meat lends itself best to these types of dishes. That being said, we hadn’t had a lot of Asian dishes in awhile either, so it was time to make an another Asian stir-fry, this time with beef.

Stir-fries are very easy to make and always taste good. We like potstickers a lot too, so we serve those a lot when doing Asian dishes. Like with anything, there is never just one way to make it. So much of how I cook depends on what I have in the refrigerator at the time. I usually use recipes as guides, and go from there. And often times, I have a general idea of what I want to do, and tweak and adjust as I go.

Asian Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry

1 1/2 lbs London Broil or skirt steak, cut into thin strips

1-1/2 cups mushrooms, either quartered or sliced

1-1 1/2 cups broccoli florets

1 TBSP garlic

1 TBSP ginger

1/4 cup green onions, sliced at an angle or Asian cut

2 TBSP oyster sauce

1 TBSP soy sauce

2 TBSP Hoisin sauce

2 TBSP sherry or red wine

2 tsp cornstarch

1-2 TBSP water

1/2-3/4 cup chicken broth

cooked angel hair pasta or spaghetti

peanut or sesame oil for cooking

Combine the oyster sauce, Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sherry or wine, water and cornstarch and set aside.

Get a skillet or wok nice and hot and add the oil. Then add the meat and cook until completely browned, then remove and set aside.

Once the meat is cooked, add the broccoli, mushrooms, garlic and ginger to the skillet and cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring constantly. Add more oil if needed.

Add the meat back in with the vegetables after they are cooked and add the sauce mixture and chicken broth as well. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for an additional 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I also decided to add some Peruvian peppers, for more some color and pizzazz, along with the green onions, right before serving. I served it over angel hair pasta. As I mentioned earlier, I tweak as I go, NOT to be confused with twerk as I go. That would take my cooking experiences to a whole new and different level, and would add quite a bit more personality as well. 🙂

Because it was beef, I served it with a smooth red blend, as well as a few potstickers on the side. Yet again, a delicious, colorful meal was served in no time.

Enjoy your days. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Just a little something pink to brighten your day.

I am having so much fun with the church coffee cart for so many reasons. One, I am helping people and helping the church doing what I love to do – feed people, an two, I also get to try so many different things that I might not otherwise make. These orange espresso brownies are one example of things I would not normally make unless I was either cooking them for others, or I was going to eat them all by myself. Larry does not like coffee or anything coffee flavored. I love coffee flavored foods, especially a good mocha, but I really DO NOT need to eat a tray full of brownies all by myself.

I am still using up my fruits, Strawberry-Kiwi Cake and I have almost used them all up. WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!! This time, I was using up some of my oranges. These were another big hit today. They all disappeared after church today, and that is always a good thing. 🙂

Orange Espresso Brownies

These brownies are decadently rich, but oh so full of flavor. The little hints of coffee and orange really brought out the chocolate flavor and added character and depth to the brownies. I doubled the recipe because I was making them for a lot of people.

Spray an 8×8 baking pan with cooking spray then add a light coating of flour.

Preheat the oven to 325* F or 170* C

1 cup dark cocoa powder or dark chocolate

1 stick + 6 TBSP melted butter

4 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 1/2 TBSP instant coffee of espresso granules

1 tsp orange extract

Mandarin or cutie orange slices, optional

If you are using chocolate, melt it with the butter over a double boiler until it is all melted and blended together. Stir constantly over a low-medium flame. If you are using cocoa powder, which I did, mix the cocoa powder in with the flour and the rest of the dry ingredients.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together for about 2 minutes with the whisk attachment or by hand. Then add the coffee and mix together again. Add the butter and flour mixture and mix again until just blended together. Do not over mix.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and spread evenly to cover the pan. Bake for about 25-30 minutes . Allow the brownies to cool before cutting.

I had some leftover orange frosting, so I added just a little dab to each brownie as “glue”. Next I added an orange slice on top of the frosting. And lastly, I gave the brownies a quick dusting with powdered sugar. The orange slices made them look very colorful and pretty, plus I was using up some more of my fruit. I was on a mission after all. 🙂

Life is short. Always make room for dessert, even if you have dessert first. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

Pretty in purple. These little flowers are all over the Caribbean. They are so pretty, especially when they are dancing in the wind.