Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

I was not able to cook much while we were out in California.  We were there for a funeral, but we were also able to visit with quite a few friends while we were out there.  I was able to play in my friend’s kitchen for a bit.  My dear friend Leslie, whom I have known since I was in the 7th grade,  had said she wanted her own personal “Jeanne in the Kitchen”, so I granted her that wish.  I raided her kitchen and used what she had to create a delicious curried chicken salad that we took with us for a fun picnic at the beach.   Our curried chicken salad was served on a fabulous baguette, with fresh snap peas and a light and crisp Sauvignon Blanc that complimented the green apples and grapes in the salad very well.  Things don’t have to be fancy to be delicious.  The most important ingredient in any recipe is love.  Anytime I am either cooking for or with friends, the love is always there, and magical moments just happen.  Don’t be afraid to use your imagination and be creative, and you’ll be amazed at the results.   Who cares if you have exactly what you need.  Change things up a bit and add what you have.  Just let the good times flow and let the magic happen.

Leslie’s Curried Chicken Salad

We did not purchase anything.  We simply used ingredients that Leslie had in her kitchen.  I mixed and matched until we came up with a delicious combination for the salad.  She did not have enough mayonnaise, so we mixed what she had with Greek yogurt, which gave the salad a nice little tangy, zippy flavor.  Our creation passed her family’s taste test, and it was enjoyed by all.

cooked chicken

2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and diced

yogurt or mayonnaise

grapes, cut in half

chopped walnuts

ginger

fresh ground black pepper

curry powder

fresh basil, chiffonade

Cutting the apples and chopping the basil.

Adding the grapes and walnuts.

Scooter was my personal assistant for the day.  He was my special Sous Chef, just hoping we would drop something he could try.

I have been out of the kitchen and out of town for a funeral.  Jeanne will be back in the kitchen in a couple of days. I apologize for the sudden break.  Thank you all for your patience and continued support.

Yesterday, Denver tied a record for our area, with a temperature of 105*F.  WOW!!!!  That is hot, hot, hot.  There have only been three other times since 1898 that we have reached temperatures this hot in the Denver area.  If the temperature had been only one degree hotter, we would have broken that record and set a new one.  When it is this hot, I am not going to lie, I do not want to be cooking over a hot stove.  I want something cool and refreshing and easy-peasy.

When the mercury is rising and the temperatures soar, this is the best place to be.  Besides cooking and writing for my blog, I am also an aqua aerobics instructor and a swim coach.  So this is my office.   I also swim with the Masters.  I am trying my best to get back into the competitive mode after my injuries, but so far, I am still very much a work in progress.  I am also an avid scuba diver/rescue diver, and I dive anywhere and anytime I can.  When I am not in the kitchen, I am in the water.   This is my M-W-F Mermaid Club.  These beautiful ladies are all so much fun to work with.  I get paid to play.  I love it.  I am the one directly in front of the lady with the yellow hat.  But I am distracted …… Back to food.

When the thermometer outside reads this ….

This is what you eat ….

This cool, refreshing Tex-Mex salad was perfect for the sizzling temperatures outside.

Tex-Mex Salad

lettuce – I used red leaf, but you can use whatever lettuce you like

red onions, sliced very thin

cowboy beans (you have seen this recipe before on an earlier blog post)

corn

cucumbers, sliced thin

tomatoes – whatever kind you like, or you can mix and match, using different kinds of tomatoes

chicken, cooked – I used some of our left over smoked chicken

cheese – you choice (optional)

avocado

green onions, sliced thin

choice of dressing – my husband used A Catalina dressing and I had my salad with a chili lime dressing

I layered my salad and I tied to list the ingredients in the order I layered them, but it really does not matter at all.  What matters is the taste.  This salad is full of color and different textures and is very, very tasty.  Enjoy and try to stay cool in these dog days of summer.

These last few days have been real scorchers, and today is expected to be even worse.  So again, I want to minimalize my time in the kitchen and at the stove.  I put my thinking cap on to come with with a tasty, easy-peasy dish that would also be cool and refreshing on this blistering hot day.  Steak pita sandwiches was my thought for the day.  Besides, I had left over Romanian garlic steak that needed to be used, so this was a perfect choice.  I made some garlic fries and opened a bottle of a smooth red blend, and dinner was served.  I think my husband put to much sauce on his pita, but that’s the way he likes it, so who am I to say any different. And I have to admit, I like my food pretty saucy as well.  Other than frying the French fries in our mini- deep fryer and heating up the meat in the microwave, there was no additional cooking at all today, which is just perfect when the temperature soars and the mercury rises too high.   We added  garlic French fries, and voila, a simple, tasty, easy-peasy meal was served.  We love garlic French fries.  They are super easy to make as well.  Once they are fried, toss them together with minced garlic, salt and parsley while they are still hot.  Make them as garlicky as you dare.  These were an inspiration from the Gott’s restaurants found in Northern California.

Making the cucumber-tomato yogurt sauce.

Assembling the pita sandwiches.

These pitas were meant to be stuffed.  There are different kinds of pita breads, so make sure you purchase the “pocket pitas”.  Cut them in half, and fill them with your filling of choice.  I used red leaf lettuce, but you can use whatever type of lettuce you like.  Our pitas were stuffed with the red leaf lettuce, sliced tomatoes, red onions sliced very thin, the steak that I cut into small strips (it was a little under done even for me, and I love a good rare steak, but when we microwaved it, it cooked a bit more as well) and the cucumber-tomato-yogurt sauce.  I also added sliced avocado to mine.  If you like cheese, add cheese.  For this sandwich, and sticking to a Greek or Mediterranean theme, I would recommend using feta cheese, but again, use what you like.

Cucumber-Tomato-Yogurt Sauce

I did not have enough yogurt today, so I used a combination of yogurt and mayonnaise.  Don’t use miracle whip for this, just regular mayonnaise.  When cooking, yogurt and mayonnaise are often interchangeable in recipes.  If you don’t have one, use the other, or use a combination like I did.

3/4 cup yogurt

tomatoes, small dice

cucumber, small dice

1 TBSP garlic

red onion, small dice

1 TBSP lemon juice

black pepper to taste

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1-2 tsp paprika

fresh parsley, chopped fine

lemon verbena, chopped fine (optional)

Mix everything together and chill before serving.

Today, when I was coming home from work, my car thermometer read 101* F.  Man, it is HOT, HOT, HOT!  That old saying, “if you can’t stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen” could not be applicable than it is right now.  Thank goodness for grills and smokers, where you can do the bulk of the cooking, if not all of it, depending on what you are making, outside, while keeping your kitchen a bit cooler and more tolerable during these dog days of summer.  As much as I love to cook and to bake, I am going to be honest with you, I don’t enjoy it nearly as much when I am standing over a hot stove or by a hot oven, melting into a giant puddle as the mercury is rising to the boiling point.   So we got some whole chickens, put a spicy Cajun rub over them, put them in the smoker and walked away as they cooked.  We had them in the smoker for about 1 1/2 hours.  When they came out, they were so flavorful and tender.  Delicious!

Before putting the spicy rub on the chickens, I patted them dry with a paper towel to absorb all the excess liquid and extra moisture.  I removed the gizzards and neck, which I will add to “the kids” food, later.  (They love them.  I hate them).  Then I rubbed olive oil all over the chickens and applied my spicy Cajun run.  I made my rub with cayenne pepper, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, salt, black pepper, and a little paprika.  Just mix everything together and generously apply to your meat.  You can use this same rub for any type of meat.  It is rich, bold and full of spice.  The more pepper you put in, the spicier it gets, so kick it up as many notches as you like.  This makes a delicious dinner with minimal effort and your kitchen is still cool.  It’s a great way to cook when the temperature starts to soar.

Every time I make custard I think of this question my dad would ask whenever he would come to visit,  “Jeanne Dear, can you make me some custard”.  True to his Australian roots and heritage, he loved his custard.   Although he loved all of his sweets, custard was by all means his favorite.  He could easily eat the whole batch in one sitting if I would let him.  It’s funny the things you think of when a loved one has passed on.  My dad has been gone 11 years, and I still think of this with both a smile and a tear.  So every time I make custard, I know my daddy is close by, just waiting with a big spoon in hand to help eat his favorite dessert.

Aside from the fact that custard was my dad’s favorite dessert, it is also a very versatile dessert.  You can enjoy it just plain or with strawberries and/or bananas, or you can dress it up in many different ways.  When I make it, I make a fairly large batch of it, so I can use it for other things as well.  The other day when I made it, I served it with the left over kourambiethes from when I made my rice pudding and added fresh strawberries and whipped cream, making it like a strawberry shortcake.  It is cool and refreshing and with the addition of fresh fruits of the season, it makes a perfect summer time dessert.   The Arias port is the port we brought back Mount Felix Winery, in Havre de Grace Maryland.

My recipe for custard is definitely tried and true.  I learned how to make it way back when I was in culinary school, from one of my favorite Chef Instructors, Rudy Rosier, a master pastry chef who was originally from Holland.  I have made it for many, many years ever since.  It always gets rave reviews.

All the things you need to make the custard.

Combine the sugar, milk, salt and butter in a big sauce pan and bring to a scald, making sure all the butter is melted and all the sugar is dissolved.  Don’t stir it.  Just let it cook on it’s own.

Whisk the eggs, corn starch and vanilla together separately.

Once the milk and butter mixture has come to a full scald, take about 1-2 cups of the hot mixture and add to the egg mixture, whisking it all together quickly as you pour the hot liquid into the cooler egg mixture, so the eggs don’t cook and scramble.   This is called tempering.

Add the cool tempered mixture to the rest of the milk and sugar mixture.  Continue to cook at a medium heat, whisking the whole time until the mixture thickens.  This should only take a few minutes.

Once the mixture has thickened, pour it all into a 9×13 baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray and immediately cover with plastic wrap to prevent a “skin” from developing.  Once it has cooled slightly, put the custard in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours to set.  Then use your custard however creatively you desire.  No matter how you decide to use it, the end result will always be the same – DELICIOUS!

I layered my dessert, starting with the kourambiethes or almond shortbread cookies, then topped them with the custard, sliced strawberries and whipped cream.  Dessert was a big hit.

Custard

2 sticks butter

6 cups milk

3 cups sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

1 cup corn starch

Part of why I love to cook so much is because I love to entertain and share the fruits of my labor with others.  Maybe it comes from working in restaurants and catering for as long as I did.  I love seeing people happy and having a good time.  I find when people open up their kitchens to others, they also open up their hearts.  My family all lovingly call me “a feeder”.  Yep.  I confess.  It’s true.  I love to feed people.  My husband always says stick with what you do best, and feeding people is definitely one of the things I do best.  We shared a good burger night with our very good friends Janet and Bob, and once again, had a fantastic evening filled with good food, good wine and a lot of good times. Life just doesn’t get much better than this.   We had 2-pepper gourmet burgers, Brussel sprout salad and a little of both the left over purple potato salad and the dill potato salad.  I had some left over sauce from when I made the steak au poivre, so we topped our burgers with that.  Delicious!   If I have leftovers, I always try to use them in a different way than they were used for the ” first overs”.  I just hate wasting food, so I really try my best to use everything.  The two peppers were the roasted hatch chilies and then the peppercorns in the au poivre sauce.  You have seen all three of the salads in previous posts, along with their recipes.  The burgers were spicy and full of bold flavors, so I served a Montafiossa Rosa that complimented the meal very well.   Dessert was a strawberry custard over almond shortbread cookies with the Arias port we bought when we were in Maryland awhile back.

Making the burgers.

I added roasted hatch chile peppers, garlic, onion, salt and pepper, about 1/3 -1/2 cup of bread crumbs and 1 egg to the ground beef mixture and molded it all together.  I find the best way to do it is to just use your hands and then just mash everything together.  Once everything is well mixed, I formed the burger patties.  I like my burgers nice and thick.  Each burger was about 1/3 of a lb.  I let them sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before putting them on the grill, but you do not need to.

Grilling them up.

We weren’t sure if we were eating inside or outside due to Mother Nature being so temperamental, but we were prepared either way.  The sun finally came out just in time for us to eat, so we all opted for dinner on the deck.  We much prefer that to being inside, and given the choice, we will always eat outside.

The inside option.

The outside option.

We all had a fantastic time and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.   Once again, great friends, great food, great wine and great times.  Those are my favorite things.

Come join the party and let’s exchange ideas. A Jeanne in the kitchen will be there. You can find me at ajeanneinthekitchen.com

All good chef’s, whether they be professional or just home chef’s, need good “toys” to play with.  These kitchen toys help us create our beautiful and delicious masterpieces from our kitchens.  I have tried many different gadgets and gizmos, but the ones I like best are the ones that are simple and practical.  I am a huge fan of all the Pampered Chef products and have many that I have had and used for years and years.  They are great quality, easy to use, not very expensive and last forever.   I had not been to a Pampered Chef party in quite some time until yesterday when my friend Kathy had one.   Her daughter Sarah has been a Pampered Chef  representative for quite a few years and put on a great presentation.  As usual, the products were fun, practical and very innovative.  We all bought a bunch of new items to add to our current collections.  I had to be careful and not go to wild though.  I  have run out of room for the things I already have, so buying new things has to be at a minimum.  It was tough not to come home with everything though.

This cool, fun piece is a granola maker.  I did not purchase this one (yet), but it is still very cool.  The granola came out wonderful; much better than store bought.

Some of the other items that were used for the presentation were a brownie pan that Sarah used to make little individual quiches out of; a mini chopper that one of the guests was demonstrating how to use; a slicer; an iced party tray holder and the water diffuser that can have fruit (or coffee) in the middle and then pour the water around it. (I did purchase the diffuser.  I like the idea of the fruited water).  All of these recipes, ideas and products can be found on Sarah’s facebook page Sarah Triebold and on the Pampered Chef website.

The mini quiches that were made in the brownie pan.  They were so delicious.

My own personal items from Pampered Chef that have been used on a daily basis for many years.  I absolutely love using my stoneware for baking.  As you can see, they are all very seasoned and well used.  I actually have six baking sheets, put I only put out two.  I also have two pizza stones that I forgot to put out.  I think stoneware is the best for baking because everything cooks nice and evenly and they come out of the pan really easily too.  Cleaning them is a breeze as well.

This is actually a strawberry corer, although I use it for tomatoes and many other things all the time as well.  This is probably my favorite kitchen gadget out of all the things I have and use.

More of my fun stuff from Pampered Chef.  I have a fun water pitcher, that looking at it now, I guess is similar to the diffuser, just bigger; a trifle cake dish; and a great can opener.  The can opener actually cuts from the top of the can rather than the sides, and leaves a much cleaner, smoother edge, which means you are less likely to cut yourself  from the edges of the can.  Believe me, I have done that and had to go to the hospital for stitches.  Cuts from cans are nasty, deep and jagged cuts, so I highly recommend using the Pampered Chef can opener instead.

If you are not currently an owner of Pampered Chef products, I definitely recommend trying them out.  I think you will love them as much as I do.   Just have fun in the kitchen.  That’s what it’s all about.

There is nothing better than getting together with good friends and sharing good food.  That is hands down my favorite way to spend my day.  And that is exactly what we did last night.  It was a great evening, as it always is when we get together with our dear friends Priscilla and Jonathon.  Regardless of who’s house we are at, we always end up sharing the kitchen duties, with each of us bringing about half the meal while the other one prepares other delectable dishes in her own kitchen.  Priscilla is a fabulous cook and is perfect at getting every last detail just right.  Last night, in between the rain and the sunshine, we enjoyed a simple, easy summer meal where we shared our friendship, great food and a fabulous bottle of wine, in Priscilla’s backyard.  Priscilla marinated a flank steak that we put on the grill.  She also had a nice crusty French bread that we dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  I made some grilled stuffed tomatoes and a purple potato salad.  Dessert was a delicious strawberry shortcak, made by Priscilla,  finished with a nice, tasty port.  Life is good!

You have all seen my recipe for my purple potato salad.  Here is the recipe and technique for stuffing and grilling the tomatoes.  Everything was delicious!  I just love tomatoes.  I cook with a lot of tomatoes, and we eat them a lot.  They are so tasty and so very good for you too.

large fresh, firm tomatoes

salt & pepper to taste

2 TBSP olive oil, plus more for drizzling on top after the tomatoes are done

2 TBSP ginger, minced

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

1 can garbonzo beans or chickpeas, drained

2 TBSP of each fresh mint and lemon verbena, cut into a chiffonade or shredded

Slice a small slice off the bottom of the tomatoes so they stand up straight.  Slice off a larger portion of the top and hollow the tomatoes out by cutting very carefully around the inside edges (about 1/4 ” from the edges) of the tomatoes and removing the center.  Discard the seeds and the bitter center, while keeping the fleshy, “meaty” center part.

Heat the olive oil in a medium sized skillet, and add the ginger until it is nice and fragrant, cooking for about 1-2 minutes.  Add the tomato pulp, with the juice, salt and pepper.  Add the rice, the garbonzo beans and herbs.  Cook down until all the excess liquid has evaporated.  Once the tomato-rice mixture is cooked, carefully stuff the tomatoes by spooning the mixture into the center of the cut tomatoes.  (This can be done ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator too until ready to grill for a few ours or even overnight).

I actually cooked my rice with the tomato and ginger mixture, so I added 2 cups of water with 1 cup of rice and then cooked it all down.

Place the stuffed tomatoes on the indirect heat portion of the grill and cook for about 15-25 minutes or until the skin begins to wrinkle and the filling is nice and hot.  You can served these hot, warm or at room temperature.  If you want a little more zest to these, serve them with lime wedges and squeeze the lime juice over the tomatoes.

*** We had a red blend called Ensemble from Bookcliff Winery in Boulder, CO

*** Our port was a chocolate cherry port from another local winery, InVINtions, a Creative Winery, located in Greenwood Village, CO.

We are very fond of both wineries and frequent them both as much as possible.