I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
Author: ajeanneinthekitchen
I have worked in the restaurant and catering industry for over 35 years. I attended 2 culinary schools in Southern California, and have a degree in culinary arts from the Southern California School of Culinary Arts, as well as a few other degrees in other areas. I love to cook and I love to feed people.
This will be our first plane trip in over a year, due to all this COVID mess. Even though we are just going to Texas for a few days to visit with my family, it feels like a big trip. We have been cooped up for way too long and we are more than ready for a break. I will try my best to post my on blog while we are gone, but I make no promises. I will only be gone for a few days. Try not to miss me too much. π
I will be in the Houston/Beaumont area, in Southeast Texas, near the Gulf Coast. This is where my mother was from and I still have a lot of relatives in the area.
See y’all soon. Be good. Stay safe and stay well Everyone.
Here it is is mid-October, and the weather is still warm and very comfortable. In fact, during the days it is still a bit on the hot side. Last year at this time, we had a ton of snow. Colorado weather … you just never know what to expect. This means I have been taking my walks in the early evening or late afternoons rather than during the heat of the day. It’s interesting how you see different things and different animals at different times of the day. It seems most of the animals like the cooler weather too.
The is snow in the mountains, but down in the foothills, there is nothing but sunshine and the beautiful colors of fall.
Birds are still singing in the trees.
Ducks and geese are still out on the ponds.
If you are lucky, you can still see a turtle or two.
Stir fryingΒ (Chinese: η; pinyin: chΗo) is a Chinese cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred in a wok. The techniqueΒ originatedΒ in China during the Han Dynasty, and in recent centuries has spread into other parts of Asia and the West. Today, it is a very popular style of cooking the world over. The method of stir frying is probably the most popular way of cooking and we just don’t realize it because we tend to think of stir frying as cooking something that is only Chinese or Asian, when in reality, every time we saute something, we are basically stir frying it. The main purpose of stir frying foods is to bring out and evaporate the moisture from the foods. Stir-fryingΒ is a fast and fresh way to cook. Simply toss and turn bite-sized pieces of food in a little hot oil in a wok or a skillet over high heat, and in just a few minutes, the work isΒ done. Vegetables emerge crisp and bright and meats come out nice and tender. Stir frying and sauteeing are very similar cooking methods, only there is usually a higher heat and a higher fat content used when stir frying than there is for sauteeing foods. Because stir fry cooking is a fast method of cooking, you want everything prepared before you start the cooking process, which I do anyway. This is called mis-en-place, or everything in its place and ready to go.
I did a stir fry/saute with garlic, rosemary, pork that I served over rice with sundried tomatoes, green onions and lemon zest. It was very tasty, and though I usually think of lemon as something for spring and summer, it was a very satisfying and tasty fall dish too. I finished it off with some potstickers and a nice buttery chardonnay.
Pork with Garlic and Rosemary
1-1 1/2 lbs pork cut into thin strips
1 zucchini or crookneck squash sliced thin, or 1/2 of each
1 1/2 TBSP garlic
1/4 red onion, sliced very thin
1-1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
2 TBSP sherry or brandy
2 TBSP water
1 TBSP lemon juice
2 tsp corn starch
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped fine
salt & pepper to taste
1 TBSP lemon zest
peanut, canola or olive oil for cooking
I did not have enough pork to make this on its own, so I added some leftover chicken as well. I know in the picture it shows some sliced sausage. I was going to use that, but at the last minute, Larry decided he wanted to add the chicken instead. So as you can see, this dish lends itself to many different types of meat, and/or combinations. It is good with all of them too.
Combine the sherry, water, rosemary and cornstarch. I also added a bit more lemon juice to the mixture as well, to make it nice and lemony.
Get the oil very hot and cook the meat first. Then add the vegetables, garlic and onions and continue to cook until the vegetables are done. You want them to be slightly crisp. Then add the lemon juice and cook for about 1-2 more minutes.
Add the sherry and cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently.
While the stir fry is cooking, cook your rice. You can use white rice, brown rice or even wild rice. I added chopped sundried tomatoes, with their oil, green onions, parsley and lemon zest to the rice once it was cooked.
Once everything is cooked, plate it up serving the stir fry pork over the rice. I also served it with some potstickers on the side as well.
It doesn’t matter if you call this dish a stir fry or a saute, either way, you are going to call it delicious. And as you can see, it is very versatile as well. Enjoy!
Sweet potatoes and regular potatoes are not as closely related to each other as we would think. They are from different families and have different qualities. They also have different nutrients as well. A potato is a tuber, whereas a sweet potato is actually a large root or a thickened stem, although they both grow under ground. Sweet potatoes grow best in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. At first it was believed they were native to South and Central America, but now evidence is showing that sweet potatoes have been in Polynesia and Asia since about 1000 A.D. They range in colors, coming in white, yellow, orange, red and purple. There is not much difference in the flavors and nutritionally they are all about the same too, however the white sweet potatoes are a little drier and a bit less sweet than the other options and colors.
Fall is very colorful time of year, and I love all the colors of the season. I like to play with the fall colors when I am cooking too. This time I was mixing both my sweet potatoes and my colors. I used white, orange and purple sweet potatoes to make a colorful and tasty new dish that accompanied my honey, mustard and tarragon roasted chicken and my stuffed mushrooms with artichokes, peppers and sausage. Video #13 β Making StuffedΒ Mushrooms, Spicy Artichoke and SausageΒ Dip. It was a very good combination. I finished it with a dry, slightly sparkling Argentine chardonnay too.
This dish has a slight Moroccan flavor to it because of the exotic spices I used.
Tri Colored Sweet Potatoes with Pomegranate Glaze
3 medium sized sweet potatoes, 1 of each color, peeled and either cut into thin matchsticks or spiraled
1/3 cup pomegranate juice or orange juice
1/3 cup honey
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cardamom
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp orange pepper seasoning, optional
1/2 tsp nutmeg
black pepper to taste
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
fresh cilantro, chopped for topping
I do not have a spiral cutter so I cut my sweet potatoes into thin matchsticks, or julienned them instead.
Add the sweet potatoes into a pot of boiling water and boil for about 3-5 minutes, then drain.
In a hot skillet, combine the butter, honey, all the spices and seasonings and the pomegranate juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until the sauce thickens a bit.
Once the sweet potatoes and the sauce are done, toss them together, using only as much sauce as needed to coat the sweet potatoes without drowning them in sauce.
Before serving, top the sweet potatoes with pomegranate seeds and chopped cilantro and you will have a beautifully colored and exotic dish in no time.
This dish looks even more exotic if you have a spiral maker, but it still comes out very pretty even if you don’t. Either way, you are really going to enjoy it. This dish goes very well with either chicken, turkey or pork.
It was video time again, and this one was a very simple recipe, using, you guessed it, more leftovers. I just love showing you how creative I can be with my leftovers. I would love to see some of your creative leftover uses too.
This video shows you how to make some quick and easy stuffed mushrooms, using my leftover artichoke, pepper and sausage dip as the filling. Spicy Artichoke and SausageΒ Dip The beauty about making stuffed mushrooms is that you can use anything you like as the filling. There are no rules. They are also super easy to make as well, and they are always a big hit, no matter how or where you serve them.
Two of my 3 (currently) fur babies decided to make a cameo appearance as well. Nicky (Nicodemus) even had a “speaking” role. Does that mean I need to start paying her now?
If you like what you see, please subscribe to my YouTube page and share it with your family and friends too.
Well, once again, I am trying to whittle away some of our leftovers. We are also going out of town for a few days, so I want to clean out the fridge as much as possible before we go, which means I haven’t been cooking as much again lately. So I thought I would leave you with some thoughts of what we “really” say say in the kitchen, behind closed doors and away from the public’s ear. Back when I was running professional kitchens, I used to tell my staff they could come into my office and yell, kick, scream, and do whatever they needed to do to vent. But as soon as they walked out those doors and were back with the public, they needed to be calm, cool and collected once again, and that smile needed to be ever present to the public, regardless of what was going on either privately or publicly. The public can never see us sweat. That smile to the public is part of your uniform and it needs to be worn daily, at all times and it needs to be worn with pride.
Today so many people think the Chef’s life is the glamorous life. Oh NO, NO , NO !!!!!!!! When working in a commercial kitchen, be prepared for LONG hours, and working NIGHTS, WEEKENDS, and HOLIDAYS. When your friends and families are out partying and enjoying themselves, you are behind a hot stove working your butt off. Colorful curse words and expletives are loud and abundant. The “F” word is one of our favorite words in the professional kitchen. Believe me, it is said A LOT!!!!! All of that, and more so than not, you are usually vastly underpaid too. You have to do it because you LOVE IT! Working in a kitchen and being a chef is either in your blood or it’s not. It is most definitely NOT for the faint of heart or the weak.
Sadly, I have worked with many people who fit this category.
Fortunately, I have worked with many people who fall into this category as well.
And believe me, I have made more than my share of mistakes.
So if you have any dreams of making it as a Professional Chef, you’ve got to work hard and surround yourself with great talent. You’ve got to pay your dues and make a lot of sacrifices. Be creative and dare to dream. And just maybe, if you are one of the lucky ones, you will make it to the top too. But you won’t get there if you don’t put in lots and of blood, sweat and tears. In order to make it, you’ve got to WANT it and you’ve got to EARN it, and even then, there is no guarantee.
It is a gorgeous fall day. The colors are vibrant and bright. The sun is shining brightly, and their were lots of animals out enjoying their day. We took Vinnie on a nice long walk through our open space and this is what we saw.
This is our tree in our front yard. It’s about time to get out the rake.
We actually saw a couple of turtles today, even though it is kind of late in the season for them. But there was one big snapping turtle that lifted his head to say hi.
We saw a lot of prairie dogs out and about today too.
While we we walking, I told Larry I wanted to see a coyote or two, since it’s been awhile. We did not see any on our walk, but we did see one from our deck while we were having lunch.
I wanted to see coyotes today, and that we did, and right from our very own deck too.
Nature’s beauty. Mother Nature always does her best. It just doesn’t get any better.
No matter how much you think you know about something, there is always more to learn. Thanks to our very own AMERICA ON COFFEE, I learned some new things about the hats or toques worn by chefs. I never knew that the number of pleats in a toque represented how much a chef new about different ways of cooking. Here are some more fun food facts I bet most people didn’t know.
The best way to sweeten white onions is by caramelizing them.
2. Freezing a cake before spreading the frosting on it will make it easier and less crumbly.
3. If you place a wooden spoon on the top of a boiling pot it stops the liquid from boiling over because it relieves the pressure and pops the bubbles.
4. 3 tsp = 1 TBSP
5. Throwing spaghetti against a wall is a good, throw dramatic, way of determining if it is cooked enough. If it sticks, it’s done.
I just thought these were things we all needed to know. Have fun, play with your food and learn something new.
In case you haven’t noticed already, I am a saucy kind of girl, and my favorite sauces are cream sauces. I know they are NOT the healthiest choice and I know they are laden with fat and calories, but I just can’t help myself. One of the first things I learned in culinary school was “fat tastes good”. Well, duh! I already knew that. π
Pork chops were next in line for cooking, and I had tomatoes that needed to be used so, I pan fried my pork chops and cooked them in a creamy tomato basil sauce. I served them with my leftover Spanish rice Chipotle Lime Chicken and some green beans, making the whole meal yet another simple Spanish themed meal.
I think I love cooking Spanish style dishes so much because of the simplicity and the freshness of the ingredients. Plus, I love their big, bold flavors. Most things I cook are simple and have their roots from humble beginnings. Yes, of course I can cook and prepare fancy, complicated dishes, and I do quite often, but my favorites are always the more simple, rustic, downhome dishes.
Pork Chops with Creamy Tomato Sauce
Flour
salt & pepper
1-1 1/2 lbs pork chops
Mix the flour, salt & pepper together. Pat the pork chops dry with a paper towel then coat them with the flour mixture. Cook them until browned, for about 5-7 minutes per side, in a hot skillet or pan with a combination of butter and olive oil. Once they are browned, removed them and set aside.
3-4 medium sized tomatoes, diced
1 TBSP dried basil
1 cup red wine
1 TBSP garlic
1 cup heavy whipping cream
salt & pepper to taste
Saute the garlic in the same pan and oil/butter combination as the pork for about 1-2 minutes. Carefully add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to gather up all the drippings.
After the liquid has evaporated, add the tomatoes, cream and seasonings and combine well.
Mix everything together well, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Re-add the pork chops and continue to cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently. This is to allow the pork to cook completely while flavoring it and tenderizing it with the sauce as well.
Once everything is done, plate it up. You can serve it with/over potatoes rice or pasta. I chose to use my leftover Spanish rice.
!Enjoy! Mangia! Bon Appetit! and Desfruitas! Make life exciting and sauce it up.
Today, while out on my walk, I thought I wasn’t going to see anything. The lakes were beautiful, but they were very quiet and still. At first, I thought all I was going to see were rocks.
I would have enjoyed my walk either way, but seeing my “friends” come out certainly made my day. When I least expected it, a blue heron flew right beside me. I almost didn’t get this shot. I was more than a little surprised to see him fly by and didn’t have my camera ready. You don’t realize how big they are until you see their wingspan.
This is how I see the herons most of the time, although this guy looks a bit angry. Maybe he was just as surprised to see me too. I guess I invaded his space.
Maybe if I just close my eyes, she will go away.
Here, he seems to be smiling again.
The tall wild grasses always looks so pretty as they dance in the breeze.
There were even a few friendly squirrels who came out to play today too.
A Jeanne in the Kitchen 