Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

Fusion cooking is always fun. I get to mix and match all kinds of things and that opens up a lot of new and interesting possibilities. As you would imagine, a traditional pesto is Italian, and is traditionally made with fresh basil and roasted pine nuts. But today, anything goes, and it is up to your imagination. Shrimp is the most popular seafood used in Chinese cooking, although shrimp is universal. I made my Asian pesto with macadamia nuts, which are often associated with Hawai’i, instead of using the pine nuts and spiced it up with some Asian flavors to give it a whole new perspective. So in this one dish, I combined some Italian, Chinese and Hawaiian influences to make a uniquely delicious meal of Shrimp with an Asian pesto sauce. I served it over lemon rice, which has Indian influences, as well as my green vegetable salad and pita bread and red pepper hummus, that are Middle Eastern. It’s All About Being Green, A Taste of Morocco This one dish had many international influences, which in a way makes it very American too.

Macadamia nuts are known as the “king of nuts” because they are labor intensive and costly to produce. But they are worth every penny spent on them. If you have never eaten a macadamia nut, you really need to. You are in for a real treat! They are soft, crunchy and buttery all at the same time. No other nut compares. Originally, macadamia nuts hailed from Australia, and were introduced to Hawai’i in the early 19th century, but today they are grown in high rainfall, subtropical regions around the world from Australia, Hawai’i, and South and East Africa.

Part of what makes macadamia nuts so expensive is that it takes roughly seven months for the nuts to mature enough to dry and process. Then they are harvested by hand once they fall to the ground from the trees and are dried before they are ready to go to market. The drying process takes about three weeks. When the nuts are first harvested, they have a moisture content of about 30%. When they are fully dried the kernel shrinks away from the inside of the shell, which allows the shell to be cracked in a way that does not damage the kernel. When the drying process is complete, the moisture content is now at 1.5%, which gives the nuts a light and crunchy texture. Once you start munching on them, it is very hard to stop at just one.

Asian Pesto Sauce

3/4 cup roasted macadamia nuts or peanuts if you prefer

2 jalapenos, seeded

1 red chili, seeded

1 1/2-2 TBSP garlic

1 TBSP ginger

2 TBSP lime juice

2 TBSP Sambal sauce

1 TBSP sugar

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves or about 1 TBSP dried mint

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup olive or peanut oil

Roast the nuts first until they are lightly browned and fragrant. Then combine everything together in a food processor and blend together until you have a liquidy sauce.

I used some of my fleur de sel that I got for my birthday. You only need a little bit. Another Birthday Surprise

Once the sauce is made, peel the shrimp and mix into the sauce. Let the shrimp marinate for about 3o-45 minutes before skewering them up and grilling, so they get nice and flavorful. Reserve some of the sauce for later.

When the shrimp are cooked, it is time to dish them up and serve them with your favorite side dishes. Top the shrimp with more of the sauce. A dry white wine is the best wine to go with this dish to really bring out the flavors of the sauce. This dish is Ono brah!

You can use this same sauce for either chicken or pork too, or if you would like to try it with tofu, that would work as well.

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

In case you haven’t already noticed, my favorite things to cook are things that are pretty easy-peasy to make, with basic, everyday ingredients. The other day, I was supposed to get together with my friend Janet for afternoon wine and nibblies. I asked her what she wanted me to bring, and she said chicken salad. Great! Easy-peasy. Our plans changed, which actually worked out for the better because the boys could join us too, and we had an early dinner instead. So the chicken salad I made for the day has already been eaten. I will make just have to another batch of chicken salad for another day.

There are endless possibilities on how to make chicken salad. This is just one of an infinite amount of ways to make it. I based it on the Sprouts Market version, which I have to say, I eat quite a bit. I love their chicken salad and especially on sandwiches made with their multi-grain bread.

Quick and Easy-Peasy Chicken Salad

As you can see, I only a used a few basic ingredients. I didn’t even cook my own chicken this time. I started off by using 2 cans of Costco chunked chicken.

2 cans of cooked, chunked chicken, drained and chopped

2-3 celery ribs, diced fine

1/2 red bell pepper, diced fine

1 carrot, peeled and shredded

3-4 green onions, sliced very thin

1 cup mayonnaise

salt & white pepper to taste

Mix everything together and chill in the refrigerator until ready to eat. That’s it. Quick and easy-peasy, simple and delicious. It goes great in sandwiches or as an appetizer with crackers. You can easily buy chicken salad that is already made, but if you can and if have about 10 minutes, fresh is always best, and better for you too.

Things don’t always have to complicated in order to taste good. Often times, the good, old fashioned, easy-peasy comfort food is the best. We all get busy and life happens to all of us, so why stress yourself out in the kitchen if you don’t have to, especially when life gets crazy and hectic. Follow the K.I.S.S. rule and keep it simple, especially when time is of the essence and life keeps you busy.

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

The weather is beginning to warm up, which means our meals are beginning to lighten up and are not nearly as heavy as they are in the colder weather. This also means more salads and veggies. Here is a salad that is also mostly green vegetables that will knock your socks off. It just looked so yummy and sounded so fresh, I just had to make it. We loved it. If you like a wide variety of “green” vegetables, you will love it too. It will definitely make it onto our regular to-do list and would be perfect for both Spring and Summer. I already have it on the menu once again for the very something I am planning for the very near future.

Green Veggie Salad

8 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

1 lb Brussels sprouts, cut in half and cooked

1 lb asparagus, blanched

1 lb green beans, ends trimmed and blanched

1/4 cup red onions or shallots sliced very thin

1 cup roasted pecan or walnut halves, cut into pieces

The Dressing

1/4 cup champagne vinegar

2 tsp Dijon mustard

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tsp sugar

Combine all the ingredients for the dressing and whisk together thoroughly. Set aside until ready to use. I actually used some of my exotic peppercorns that I got for my birthday. Another Birthday Surprise I thought the Brazilian Pink peppercorns would go very well with this dressing, so those are what I used this time.

Because my pepper grinders broke and got thrown away, I crushed my peppercorns the old fashioned way, by crushing them with a heavy skillet. Believe it or not, I was actually taught to crush them this way in culinary school.

Cook the bacon completely, then once it has cooled, crumble it. You do not have to use bacon at all if you do not want to, but I love bacon in salads, so for me, it was a must.

Blanche the green beans and the asparagus in boiling water for about 5-7 m minutes then cool immediately in a cold ice bath, so they do not continue to cook. Once they are cooled, cut them into pieces about 1 inch in size.

Cut the Brussels sprouts in half and cook them in the bacon grease, along with the red onions or shallots, for about 5-7 minutes as well.

Combine all the veggies, nuts and bacon together, then toss in just enough dressing to coat the vegetables thoroughly.

Eat immediately after tossing in the dressing and enjoy. This salad is crisp and crunchy and is full of zesty, tangy flavors. You’re going to love it. I promise!

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

When I made my marinara sauce, Making Marinara I had no idea I was going to get so much use out of one batch. But I did. I made quite a few good meals and dishes from just one round of marinara sauce. I made a small pizza with it; I used it for my caramelized onion tart Olive and Caramelized Onion Tart; I used it with my gnocchis Channeling the Italian Nonnas when I made my herbed Italian pork chops Herbed Italian Pork Chops; and last but not least, I just finished it off and made some sausage pasta with it. See how versatile one sauce can be? This versatility with food is one of things that makes cooking so much fun for me. That’s why I always say “Be creative and play with your food”. You just never know what you can do with it, and if you use enough imagination and creativity, you just never know what you will come up with. 🙂

I used the rest of my marinara sauce, and added some more tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic and olive oil, as well as some red wine.

I cooked the sausage cooked completely, then I removed it from the pan to allow it to cool for a bit, before slicing it.

I deglazed the pan with the wine I added to the skillet and scraped all the bottom drippings left from the sausage. Next I added the mushrooms, garlic and tomatoes and sauteed them in some olive oil for about 5-7 minutes.

I added the rest of the marinara sauce and the sausage and allowed it all to continue to cook for an additional 7-10 minutes, stirring frequently, to make it nice and saucy.

When everything was done, I served it over some leftover angel hair pasta and topped it all off with some fresh basil and served it with my garlic cheese bread, and of course, more red wine.

The results … !Deliziosa! See what happens when you play with your food? Play with it. Have fun. But most of all, ENJOY!

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

The other day my neighbor, who is originally from Lebanon, brought over some fresh, homemade red pepper hummus. She gave us so much that there was no way we could eat it all at once. So I made a dinner that would go with and accompany Hanaa’s delicious hummus. I poured through all my Middle Eastern cookbooks and decided upon Moroccan chicken and veggies. I made enough Moroccan chicken that I returned the favor, and gave some to Hanaa and Aziz, her husband, as well. Hanaa called me the next day and was so excited. She couldn’t believe I could cook Middle Eastern foods too. She said “When did you start cooking like this? It was so good and the house smelled so wonderful”. I think that means I did a pretty good job. 🙂

Morocco is known for all of its fabulous spices from around the world. Morocco was on the route between Europe, the Middle East and Asia and so acquired a number of spices as Portuguese and Spanish enclaves and ports were established along the Moroccan coast. Arab traders controlled the spice trade between Europe and the East, like China, Indonesia, India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka, my third stop), for almost 5,000 years until Europeans started looking for a new route to the Far East. Spices were so important because they helped mask the flavor of not-so-fresh food. Spices were prized goods in the Middle Ages and the quest for spices saw the development of an early model of globalization. Desired for their culinary, medicinal and cosmetic properties, spices fueled European colonial empires to create political, military and commercial networks to capitalize on the trade. Spices are still valued in today’s world as well, though today, they are much more easily attained than they were back in the days of the ancient spice traders.

Moroccan Chicken and Vegetables

1 1/2-2 lbs chicken pieces

salt & pepper to taste for the chicken

4 TBSP olive oil, divided

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 TBSP garlic

2-3 large carrots, cut into large chunks

1 onion, cut into large chunks

1 can garbanzo beans or chick peas, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup olives, sliced

1 1/2 cups mushrooms, quartered

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 450* F or 230* C.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Rub the chicken with salt, pepper and olive oil and place it on the foil.

Combine all the ingredients together and toss together adding the rest of the olive oil and more salt & pepper as needed. Once everything is coated with the spices and olive oil, place it on the foil along with the chicken.

Bake for about 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to about 400* F or 200* C and continue to cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165* F or about 90* C. The house will smell so good with the combination of all the spices.

When the chicken is cooked and at temperature and the vegetables are tender, it is done. I served this over couscous, but you can also serve it over rice as well. I also added some warmed pitas and Hanaa’s red pepper hummus, completing the meal with a dry pinot gris on the side. It was so good and full of bold, zesty flavors. It was a very warm and comforting meal from the inside out.

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

What a beautiful day. Technically, it is still winter, but not for too much longer. Most of the snow has melted and the ice is thawing. The skies are blue, the sun is shining brightly, and the temperature was just perfect. I couldn’t ask for a more beautiful day. The lakes are still quiet, but it won’t be to long and they will once again be full of life and full of activity.

The geese were out, but then they always are.

There were a few ducks, both mallards and a few common goldeneyes. It won’t be too long and we should start seeing some “duckalings” as our friend’s daughter used to call them.

There was one lone bunny just chilling out in the grass.

and a squirrel playing hide and seek in the tree.

Make the most out of each and every day. Carpe diem!

Larry is a Kansas boy, and Kansas is beef country. In fact we have some cattle farmers in the family. One of Larry’s sisters and her husband and their sons, our nephews, raise cattle. I think Larry could eat beef, and particularly steak, everyday if I would let him. But I make him eat a wide variety of foods all the time. He doesn’t really complain though. In fact, he knows he gets fed real well all the time. Anyway, it was yet another steak night. I had a lot more of my caramelized onions leftover from when I made my caramelized onion tart Olive and Caramelized Onion Tart so I put them to good use as a steak topper.

I added mushrooms, red and orange bell peppers and garlic, then I just sauteed them up and added them to the onions.

I have always liked stuff on my stuff. Why just have steak when I can have steak with pizzazz, right????? Besides, by mixing all these vegetables together, I make sure we get enough vegetables in our diet too. I topped both the steak and my green beans with this delicious vegetable medley. So we had 1) onions, 2) mushrooms, 3) red and orange belle peppers and 4) green beans, 5) garlic + the roasted potatoes I served on the side all in one meal. And of course I served red wine on the side, so do the grapes used in the wine count as my fruit intake too? I think so. I think we met our fruit and vegetable requirements for the day. 🙂

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

I have really been missing my mom lately. Maybe it is because I am coming up on the 15th anniversary of her passing, although, in reality, I really lost my mom about 25 years ago. She had a massive stroke and had dementia, and for the last 10 years of her life she was in a nursing home. My mom and I were very close. We were good friends and we did a lot of things together. She and I had a completely different close relationship than my dad and I had, but we were still very close. My mom, Evelyn Theresa Wood Jones, was 76, just a couple of months shy of turning 77 and just a few months short of her 56th wedding anniversary with my dad, when she passed away. My dad went to visit her everyday when he wasn’t out here with us. My mom and my dad moved out to Pasadena, California in 1955, where they stayed for the rest of their lives.

This was Mom’s baby picture. She was born May 4, 1929, in Port Arthur, Texas. She was the 2nd born and the only girl, with 3 brothers.

Mom on a pony. She was about 4 years old.

Here, she is about 14.

The Hula Girl, when she was around 16 years old.

A young pin-up girl on the beach. As a red-head, with tons of freckles and very fair skin, this was a rarity. My mom and the beach were NOT the best of friends, unlike my my dad and I. My dad and I have always shared our love for the beach and the oceans around the world.

Her high school graduation picture.

Wedding Day to my dad, June 24, 1950.

After 14 years of just the two of them, I came along.

My college graduation day.

I was a bridesmaid at a friend’s wedding. We really didn’t take too many pictures of the 3 of us, and especially not all dressed up.

Getting Glamorized.

I miss you Mom. I hope you are at peace. I love you always and forever.

Pork is the most popular meat eaten in Italy. It is made in many different ways, from sausages to salamis to pork medallions. So because is so popular in Italy, that means there are many, many different and delicious recipes for it. One such recipe is “Costoletta di Maiale alle Erbe” or herbed pork chops in a wine sauce. It always sounds so much better in Italian than it does in English. HMMMM. We need to work on that. 🙂

Italian Herbed Pork Chops

1 TBSP garlic

1 TBSP fresh rosemary, chopped fine

1 TBSP fresh thyme, chopped fine

1 TBSP fresh marjoram, chopped fine

1/2 TBSP fresh sage, chopped fine

2 lbs pork chops

salt & pepper to taste

3 TBSP olive oil + more for cooking

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup chicken stock

1 TBSP corn starch

butter for cooking

Pat the pork chops dry with a paper towel. Add salt and pepper on both sides. Mix all the herbs, garlic and olive oil together. Generously coat both sides with the herbed mixture and let set in the refrigerator for at least an hour before cooking.

When ready to cook the pork, completely coat it in the flour and shake off all the excess flour.

In a large skillet, get the olive oil mixed with a little butter nice and hot and brown the pork on all sides for about 4-5 minutes per side.

When the meat is completely browned, remove it from the heat and keep warm. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Be careful for flareups when adding the wine. The flareups only last for less than a minute, so nothing to be worried about, just stay clear of the flames and keep everything else out of range of the flames as well.

Mix the cornstarch into the chicken stock. When the flames die down, add the chicken stock and cornstarch mixture to the wine. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and continue to cook for another couple of minutes. Add the pork chops back into the sauce to warm them up,

When everything is cooked, dish it up and top the pork chops with the wine sauce or gravy. I served it with gnocchi marinara Channeling the Italian Nonnas, Making Marinara and sauteed squash and mushrooms and some toasted ciabiatta, with some more of the dry chardonnay I used for the sauce to make the meal complete. Deliziosa!

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

Scones started off in Scotland as a type of quick bread in the early 1500’s. They are very popular in all of the “British Colonies” and have been for centuries. Scones became popular and an essential part of the fashionable ritual of taking tea in England when Anna, the Duchess of Bedford (1788 – 1861), one late afternoon, ordered the servants to bring tea and some sweet breads, which included scones. She was so delighted by this, that she ordered it every afternoon and what now has become an English tradition is the “Afternoon Tea Time” (precisely at 4:00 p.m.). They are still served daily with the traditional clotted cream topping in Britain. When they made their way “across the pond” to the US, they had a slower start because we like our biscuits over here. Biscuits and scones are very similar, yet just like any “cousins”, they are different too. The differences between biscuits and scones are that scones typically have eggs in them whereas biscuits do not. Scones tend to be a little denser, drier, and not as flaky as biscuits. Just adding oats, fruit, herbs or anything else to a biscuit dough and cutting them in triangles does not make them a scone.

My dad was from Melbourne, Australia and my mother was from Port Arthur, Texas. My dad was used to scones and my mother was used to biscuits. When they first got married, my dad really wanted scones. My mom tried and tried to make them but they just never turned out right. They just weren’t what my dad was used to. So one day, my mom got fed up with trying to make scones and just decided to make biscuits instead. My dad said “Yes! That’s what I’ve been wanting all along”. Fortunately for me, I can easily make both. I have both the scones and the biscuits gene in me. 🙂

I made some blueberry scones to share with friends. They are so light and flaky. YUM! I am going to serve them with a little creme fraiche on the side. A creme fraiche is very similar to a Devonshire cream or clotted cream, which is what they are served with traditionally in England and her “colonies”. Both Devonshire cream and creme fraiche are similar to a soft butter, but are usually a bit tangier and not as sweet as butter. They also tend to be very thick and rich and velvety too. A perfect match for these light and flaky scones.

Blueberry Scones

2 cups flour

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 TBSP baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

4 TBSP cold butter, cubed

1 cup blueberries, coated in flour

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 egg

1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

Preheat the oven to 375* F or 190* C.

Mix the flour, dry ingredients and butter together. To make the scones really light and flaky, use either a pastry cutter of your hands and mash the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles course sand. Then add the blueberries.

Mix the egg cream and lemon peel together.

Add the egg mixture to the flour and blueberries and mix just until a soft dough forms. DO NOT overmix or you will have tough, chewy scones instead of light, flaky ones.

On a lightly floured surface, form the dough into a round ball, then flatten out slightly, either by pressing it with your hands or with a rolling pin, until it is about 1/2 inch thick, then cut into wedges.

Place the wedges on a baking sheet. Coat the scones with an egg wash and sprinkle a little sugar on top of each scone.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until the scones are lightly golden.

Enjoy the scones with either Devonshire cream, clotted cream or creme fraiche or a little butter, and you can even add some lemon curd if you like as well. These light, flaky scones will disappear very quickly, so don’t wait to eat them.

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