Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

It is believed that potatoes were first grown in the Andes region of South America, in what is now known as both Peru and Bolivia, between 8000-5000 BC. Evidence is also showing that potatoes may have originally been a hybrid between tomato-like plants and potato relatives in South America that happened between 9-14 million years ago. Needless to say potatoes have been around for a very long time.

The Spanish Conquistadores introduced potatoes to Europe in the 16th century, and from there, potatoes have become a staple food all over the world. Lucky for me, because potatoes are some of my favorite foods. I can eat them any which way they are prepared, and they are endless possibilities on how to prepare them too.

When I made my Peruvian chicken Peruvian Chicken, I served it with some potatoes made with bacon and green beans, sticking with a Peruvian theme.

Dijon Potatoes with Bacon and Green Beans

This recipe is colorful, full of texture and all kinds of goodness.

Preheat the oven to 400*F or 204*C.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1 1/2 lbs baby potatoes, sliced

1/4 lb bacon, cooked

6 oz green beans, cut into pieces about 1 inch long, cooked

1/2 red bell pepper, medium diced

1/4 red onion, medium diced

5 TBSP olive oil

2-3 TBSP white wine vinegar or Prosecco vinegar – I used Prosecco vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

1 TBSP Dijon mustard

Cook the bacon then cut into pieces and set aside.

Cook the green beans in boiling water for about 5-7 minutes, or until cooked but still al dente. Mix with the bacon.

Slice the potatoes and toss with olive oil and salt & pepper. Place in the oven and cook for about 20-25 minutes.

After about 20 or so minutes, add the onions and peppers and toss together thoroughly and place back in the oven to continue cooking for an additional 20-30 minutes, or until the potatoes are completely cooked, checking every so often and turning if needed.

Combine the remaining olive oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard and more salt & pepper to make your vinaigrette.

When the potatoes and vegetables are cooked, toss them together with the green beans, bacon and as much of the vinaigrette as needed to season and flavor everything without drowning them out in dressing. Serve hot.

This is a great way to combine your starches and your vegetables all one dish. They came out so good. The potatoes were smooth and velvety and just melted in our mouths. We loved them, and they went very well with the Peruvian chicken too. Delicious!

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I never know what I am going to see on my walks. Sometimes I see a ton of stuff, and other times, not so much. But my camera is always with me, and always ready for whatever I see.

I was walking around my lakes. At first I didn’t see much. But at the bottom of the 3rd lake, I saw a Spotted Sandpiper having fun along the shore. At first he was being coy, and just as I would get my lens focused, he would hop away. Then he warmed up to me and let me get a few good shots.

I saw another Spotted Sandpiper resting on the trash cans near by too.

Always be ready for the unexpected. It just sneaks up on you and will pass you by it your are not prepared. 🙂

As I have always said, the sauce is what makes the meal. I started off with a Costco rotisserie chicken and added to it. Don’t me wrong. We love those. We eat them all the time. But I turned that good chicken into a great chicken dish, just by adding a delicious sauce.

This time, I went Peruvian. I actually was closer to the original recipe than I thought, since, in Peru they use rotisserie chickens too, or pollo la brasa. Peruvian chicken was first created near Lima, Peru, by a Swiss chicken farmer named Roger Schuler. Roger and his cook created the dish by marinating chickens in salt water and cooking them over coals. Schuler’s goal was to sell the chickens quickly, and he offered an all-you-can-eat deal for a small price. The dish became popular, and later, with the help of Franz Ulrich, a mechanical specialist, they created the “rotombo” oven (also known as “planetario” or “spiedo”) to cook the chickens. We call these rotisseries. The marinade, often including ingredients like garlic, cumin, paprika, soy sauce, and vinegar, is key to the dish’s distinctive flavor. Pollo la brasa has become a favorite Peruvian meal, eaten and enjoyed by all, with roughly 27 million people eating it everyday in Peru, but especially on the 3rd Sunday of July, which has been designated as polla la brasa day.

Peruvian chicken is first marinated in olive oil, lime juice, garlic and spices, and then oven-roasted until tender and juicy with super crispy skin. The accompanying green sauce, which gets its color from cilantro and jalapeño peppers, is spicy, creamy and downright delectable. If you are cooking a raw chicken, this is how your would prepare it Peruvian style. I eliminated this step since my chicken was already cooked.

I was inspired to make this delicious recipe by The Brook Cook at https://thebrookcook.wordpress.com/. Many thanks for this great idea. 🙂

Peruvian Chicken

1 whole chicken, cut into parts, or whatever pieces you like

5 TBSP olive oil

5 TBSP lime vinegar or red wine or sherry vinegar – I used lime balsamic vinegar

3 TBSP cumin

3 TBSP paprika

3 TBSP soy sauce

1 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup green onions

1 jalapeno

1/2 cup cilantro

4 TBSP lime juice

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup yogurt

1/4 red onion

Mix everything together with the exception of the yogurt in a food processor. I forgot to put the cilantro into my mix at first, but added it later. It’s all good. It all worked out just fine. Add the yogurt separately and fold in so the sauce stays nice and creamy and doesn’t separate.

Traditionally the sauce is green, but I followed the recipe and mine came out golden instead of green. Who cares though?! It tasted great, and that’s all that really matters.

Since my chicken was already cooked, I just topped it with sauce and reheated it in the oven, which I already had on for my potatoes. I reheated the chicken for about 20 minutes. When it was heated all throughout, I added more sauce on top right before serving.

I served it with some potatoes mixed with bacon and green beans, since potatoes too are Peruvian. More on the potatoes later though. I have to keep you coming back for more, right?! 🙂

Enjoy this delicious chicken with every bite. I know you will! 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Larry and I live in Westminster, CO, which is part of Adams County. The annual Adams Country Fair is taking place right now and this is the last weekend for this season. Larry and I decided to go pay a visit. We hadn’t been in years. It was a fun adventure and we both had a good time playing with and petting all the animals. We got there at kind of the in between time – the animal judging was done for the day and the night crowd hadn’t yet arrived. It was starting to get busy right when we left. We think we went at the perfect time.

The fair had all the things you would expect at a county fair – rides, games, music, souvenir kiosks, shows and entertainment, and of course, lots and lots of farm animals.

This was the course they were holding the pig races earlier in the day.

The band, the Velvet Daydreamers, was pretty good. They played a lot of old rock and Southern rock, with influences from The Doors to 38 Special, and many more.

We did NOT eat any of the fair food, but I just had to take some pictures. The portions are HUGE! OMG!!!!

If you wanted to, you could even try your skills on the mechanical bull. It was a hard pass for both of us. 🙂

Larry and I walked all around and saw everything, but we were there mostly to visit and play with the animals. There were lots of goats and sheep, as well as cows, bulls, and horses, and even some alpacas too.

This bull was a grand champion winner.

There were even a few Texas Longhorns, and man, their horns were LONG too.

There were horses, Clydesdale horses and ponies too.

There were a lot of 4H kids there too, and they were proudly showing off their animals. 4-H is a youth development organization with a focus on hands-on learning and leadership, operating as part of the Colorado State University Extension. In Colorado, it reaches over 110,000 youth annually, providing them with opportunities to develop into confident, independent, and compassionate leaders. 4-H’s core principle is “learning by doing,” with programs covering areas like agriculture, science, health, and citizenship.

Larry and I had so much fun in the petting pens. We were playing with the goats, sheep and alpacas. They loved anyone and everyone who had food for them.

And you can’t have farm animals with out geese and chickens.

It was a fun evening. We had a real good time. It was something different for both of us, since it had been many, many years since we last went to a county fair. We were so glad we did too. After we left the fair, we went out to dinner. It was a fun date night. 🙂

Have fun no matter what you do. Make every event a fun event if you can. Life is short. Enjoy it while you can. 🙂

Yesterday, I gave you a teaser about my beans that I served with my Puerco Latino, Puerco Latino. Beans have been a part of the Latino diet for for centuries. Beans are a part of their culture and is a way for many Latinos to connect with their roots and traditions, offering a sense of familiarity and comfort. In many Latin dishes, beans are a central component, often paired with rice, corn, or other grains to create complete proteins. Paired with rice, beans provide all the amino acids a body needs. They are a great, inexpensive source of protein and fiber, and multiple other vitamins and minerals as well.

Beans are eaten in every culture in South and Central America, with each country having their own particular favorite. For instance, the Cubans prefer frijoles negros, or black beans; Mexicans like their pinto beans and Puerto Ricans like their red kidney beans. Though you will find many different types and uses for all kinds of beans all throughout the various Latin communities and countries. I like them all, as well as many other types of beans too.

In the ancient Mesoamerican civilizations, beans were considered to be sacred and associated with fertility, sustenance, and the cycle of life. In Aztec mythology, the god Quetzalcoatl was believed to have stolen beans from the gods to provide nourishment to humans. Beans are an integral ingredient to all Latin American cultures and countries, and they go by different names depending on where you are, like frijoles, legumes, porotos or habichuelas.

Beans are NOT just important to the Latino diet. They are important and enjoyed all over the world, in almost every culture. Originally, I had something else in mind when making my bean dish. I was originally planning on making them Moroccan style, using the recipe from our very own Dolly, from koolkosherkitchen at https://wordpress.com/reader/users/koolkosherkitchen. Though Dolly and I have never actually met in person, yet, we have become very close friends. We both just know that when we actually do meet in person, it will be magic. But I digress. Back to the recipe. 🙂 I did not have chickpeas or garbanzo beans, like I thought I did, but I did have pinto beans. So instead of making everything Moroccan, I made it Latino instead. But I was definitely inspired by Dolly and her recipe from her cookbook Kool Kosher Kitchen, A Collection of Recipes, and will try her recipe again another time. However, I only made a couple of minor changes, and those minor changes switched the recipe from being Moroccan to Latino in seconds.

Three Beans Latino Style

Dolly’s beans used chickpeas or garbanzo beans and curry and were served room temperature. The only changes I made were that I substituted pinto beans for the garbanzo beans, omitted the curry and added some oregano and used red onions instead of white or yellow onion and added some red bell pepper. I also cooked them and served them hot. They were more like Cubano beans instead of Moroccan beans, but they were still delicious.

1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can pinto beans,drained and rinsed

1 jalapeno, diced fine,

1/2 red bell pepper, diced fine

1/2 red onion, diced fine

1 TBSP dried oregano

1 TBSP garlic

salt & pepper to taste

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp cinnamon

olive oil

Get a medium sized pot hot and add the olive oil, red peppers, jalapeno, onions, garlic and seasonings. Saute for about 1-2 minutes, or until the onions are translucent.

Add the beans and mix in thoroughly. Heat over a medium heat, for about 5 minutes, or until the beans are hot. Add most of the cilantro towards the end of the cooking process and mix together thoroughly once again.

Top with the remaining cilantro right before serving. !Esta mui rico! These colorful beans will dress up any dish you serve them next to. I promise you’re going to love them; either my version, or Dolly’s. 🙂 Thank you Dolly for everything you do and for just being you. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

We eat out on our beloved deck as much as we possibly can, and that is most every night between spring and early fall. We see so many birds and squirrels from this vantage point too. Almost every night we are greeted by hummingbirds, as well as many other types of birds. For whatever reason, they all seem to flock to our dead trees, and not the living ones. I guess that is one of the main reasons we don’t cut those trees down. Even though they appear dead to us, they are still very full of life.

We have quite a few different varieties of hummingbirds that call Colorado home, but the two we see most often are the Black-Chinned and the Calliope Hummingbirds. Last night, Larry got some great shots of the Calliope in the tree. These are tiny, tiny birds. They are the smallest birds in all of North America and some of the smallest birds in the world. They are just flying over us right now, heading to their next destination. They will be with us for just a short time before they are once again gone until next season.

Here are the Black-Chinned Hummingbirds we often see too.

Have a great weekend have fun living life. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Eating pork in Latin America has been a staple in the Latin American diet ever since the Spanish first came to the New World and Colonized Latin America. Pigs came to Mexico on Columbus’ second voyage, when they were introduced to this side of the world and eventually made their way to Mexico thanks to Hernan Cortes. Pork is a more affordable option than beef, and that is yet another reason why pork is so important and popular in Latin America. Currently, both Brazil and Mexico are the major pork producers in Spanish America, with Brazil being number one and Mexico number two.

It was time for some pork for dinner in our weekly meat rotation. I turned it into Puerco Latino, or pork Latin style, a la Jeanne of course. 🙂 Meat of any kind is just meat. It’s the sauce that really makes the meal. I made a delicious Latin style creamy sauce to top my pork and then served it over beans and rice. But my bean are special beans, inspired by a recipe of one of our very own, but more on them tomorrow. 🙂

Puerco Latino

I marinated my pork chops in the spicy cocoa rub we brought back from Belize and honey ginger balsamic vinegar for about 2-3 hours before searing it and cooking it to perfection.

When ready to cook, get a large skillet VERY HOT, then add olive oil and butter. These were thick chops, so I seared them for about 4 minutes per side, until they formed a nice crust all the way around. When the pork has a nice crust all over, remove it from the heat and keep warm.

The Sauce

1-2 TBSP lime juice

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/4 red onion, diced fine

2 cups corn

1-1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

2-3 TBSP butter

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

salt & pepper to taste

Deglaze the pan with lime juice and add the vegetables. Saute for about 5-7 minutes, stirring often.

Add the cream and incorporate thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper. Then add the butter and mix in.

Re -add the pork, reduce the heat to a simmer and let cook until the pork is thoroughly cooked, with an internal temperature of 160*F or 71*C. Add about 1/2 of the cilantro and mix in and reserve the remaining cilantro for topping.

I served it over beans and rice and spooned the sauce over the top. I served it with an Argentine Malbec, since it was a heavier, darker sauce. The pork was very tasty and super tender and juicy. It just melted in our mouths and went perfectly with the rice and beans too. Esta mui rico. Delicioso!

You can use this same sauce for either chicken or steak too. It is a versatile sauce.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I am still seeing my egrets all around. Soon, they will be leaving me, flying off to other destinations. But I am enjoying them for as long as I can before they depart. They are such elegant looking birds. I think they are gorgeous. I love how they call our lakes home for the spring and summer months.

Zucchini is a perfect summer time vegetable, though it can be enjoyed year round too. Zucchini, also known as courgette, is a summer squash, harvested when the fruit’s seeds and epicarp (outer layer) are still soft and edible. While often treated as a vegetable in the kitchen, technically, zucchini is a fruit, as it develops from the flower of the plant and contains seeds. Zucchini are low in calories and rich in vitamins, minerals, and plant compounds. A 1-cup serving of cooked zucchini contains approximately 27 calories, 2g of protein, 5g of carbohydrates, and 2g of fiber. They are also loaded with other nutrients as well, such as Vitamin C, Magnesium, Folate and Potassium. You can cook them in an endless variety of ways , since they lend themselves very well to all kinds of recipes.

Most of the world call zucchini courgettes, because that is what the French call them, and we all know how the French have inspired great cooking to chefs around the world. But in the United States, we call them zucchini, because of the Italian connection. It is believed that Italians were the first to grow zucchini.

We were just having leftovers for dinner; Larry had one thing and I had something else. But we still needed a vegetable to go with our meal. I made some stuffed zucchini boats that went well with what we were both eating.

I love zucchini and was raised eating it all the time. Larry normally is not a big fan of it, but he is a good sport and eats it when I prepare it. That being said, he really liked these stuffed zucchini boats though.

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

These are very easy to make and look and taste great. They look fancy and hard to make, but we will keep it our little secret on how easy they really are to make. 🙂 I had the tiny tomatoes I used. if you are using grape or cherry tomatoes, cut them in 1/4 or in 1/2.

Preheat the oven to 475* F or 246* C.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3 zucchini, sliced in half, with centers scooped out

1 egg

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano or Peccorino cheese

2-3 tsp garlic

2/3 cup cherry, grape or tiny tomatoes

1/4 cup basil chiffonade, divided

1/4 cup pistachios, chopped

salt to taste

1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

olive oil

Cut the zucchini in 1/2 lengthwise and scoop out most of the “meat”. Chop the zucchini and add to the filling mix. Brush the zucchini boats, inside and outside with olive oil.

Combine all the ingredients together with the zucchini and mix together well, reserving about 1/2 the basil for topping after they come out of the oven.

Fill the zucchini boats as full as you can with the filling, and firmly press into the zucchini boats.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the filling is crispy and golden brown. Top them with the remaining chopped basil right before serving.

These healthy and tasty zucchini boats will dress up any dish you serve them with. Enjoy.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Since I have been doing some deep dives into the importance of proper nutrition, I learned so much and have reaffirmed a lot of what I already know. Thank you all for your support and comments with these deep dive posts too. One of you was stunned to learn that doctors really are NOT trained in nutrition at all (all of us should be). NOPE! It’s sad when a chef and a sports trainer knows more about nutrition than our health care providers, but that is where we are in society today.

My quest continues. I am continuing my own quest for information, and as I do, I learn more and more everyday. Here is what I uncovered today.

While the amount of required nutrition education for doctors varies, the general recommendation is for 25 hours of nutrition training during medical school. However, a significant number of medical schools fall short of this recommendation. Many schools do not meet this recommendation. Studies show that the average nutrition training hours are often much lower, with some surveys indicating an average of only 11 hours across the entire medical program. Less than 20 percent of medical schools have a single required course in nutrition. Most physicians do not understand nutrition well enough to teach it, and if they can’t teach it, then how can they treat their patients, especially when so many diseases and disorders can be prevented by good nutrition and dietary habits? I find this to be very scary, and very unprofessional. I also find it to be a form of malpractice. Nutrition courses should be MANDATORY for all medical professionals. They should at least be required at a minimum, to have has much training as a chef or a sports trainer. But sadly, they are not.