A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Spring is most definitely in the air, and all my little spring birds are now starting to show up and make their appearances as well. I saw my first Cassin’s finch of the season. He was so bright red, and was just posing for the camera. How could I resist?! I think he was happy to see me as I was to see him. 🙂

There is beauty in everyday. You just have to open your eyes to see it. It’s all around. Have a great, beautiful day.

The other day, when it came time to preparing dinner, I asked Larry what he was in the mood for, and he just simply said something with chicken and something Asian. OK! That’s is a pretty broad request, but no problem. I decided on some Indonesian chicken over lo mein noodles.

Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia that is nestled between the Pacific and Indian oceans. It is a country that is comprised of over 17,000 islands. Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic state and the 14th-largest country by area, at 1,904,569 square kilometres (735,358 square miles). With over 275 million people, Indonesia is the world’s fourth-most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority country. Java, the world’s most populous island, is home to more than half of the country’s population.

Indonesia is a mixed country that has many different cultural and religious influences. These influences are found in the Indonesian cooking as well. There are many different influences from China, the Middle East and from Europe, though for cooking, China has the most influence. Chinese ingredients like noodles and tofu are now an integral part of Indonesian cooking, and the Dutch left an abiding love for breads and cakes. Rice, coconut, banana, peanut and soya bean are the five pillars of Indonesian cuisine, and it is almost impossible to find a meal that does not include at least one of these items. Rice is the staple food on most of the islands, particularly the more fertile Sumatra, Java and Bali. Most Indonesian dishes use fresh herbs such as onion and garlic, spring onion, ginger roots, turmeric, galangal, candlenuts, lemon basil, lemon grass, and not to mention chilies. In addition to these fresh herbs, the inclusion of spices is at the heart of almost every Indonesian dish.

My Indonesian chicken was inspired by the restaurant Pei Wei, but of course, I made it into my own recipe. I substituted spinach for Swiss chard or bok choy. I thought I had peanuts, but didn’t, so I topped my dish with cashews instead. I like cashews better than peanuts anyway though. 🙂 The meal was yet again a success. In fact in Larry’s own words, “this is a definite do-over”. Good to know.

Indonesian Chicken

I made the sauce first and set it aside until I was ready to use it. You can also use shrimp or pork or tofu for this dish as well.

The Sauce

6 TBSP peanut butter

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 TBSP rice vinegar

1 TBSP packed brown sugar

1 TBSP siracha sauce

2 tsp ginger

2-3 tsp garlic

2 tsp sesame oil

Whisk everything together and set aside.

The Chicken Stir-Fry

1 package chow mein noodles, cooked according to package directions

1- 1 1/2 lbs chicken, cubed

1/2 cup cornstarch

3 TBSP oil

1 carrot, cut at an angle or Asian style

1 red bell pepper, cut into thin matchsticks

1/2 onion, sliced very thin

2-3 cups Spinach, chopped rough

Peanuts or cashews for topping

fresh cilantro for topping

Coat the chicken in the cornstarch. Get a large skillet or wok very hot. Add most of the oil, and cook the chicken for about 5 minutes, or until it is cooked through and is golden brown. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the heat and set aside.

In the same pan, add the remaining oil and cook all the vegetables, except for the spinach, for about 5 minutes, or until the onions and peppers are softened and the onions are translucent.

Add the spinach and continue to cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.

Re-add the chicken and mix thoroughly. Add a dash of water to the sauce and add the sauce as well.

Add the cooked noodles and toss together well, then serve. Top with chopped peanuts or cashews and cilantro.

Because of the spiciness of the dish, a chilled white wine, and even a sweeter wine like a Riesling or a Gewurztraminer, will pair very nicely with this dish.

This is a restaurant meal that you can prepare in the comfort of your own kitchen at about 1/2 the cost of going to the restaurant. As always, make it your own, and add or delete what you want. There are NO set rules when it comes to cooking. You get to reinvent the meal every time you cook it. 🙂

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

Lately our lakes have been seeing more and more variety of ducks than we have in past years. I LOVE IT!!!!! Some of the other ducks we have been seeing a lot more of are the Common Goldeneyes. They are beautiful. I see more males than females, but every now and then I see them both swimming around together.

A male Hooded Merganser sharing the lake with a Common Goldeneye.

A common Goldeneye and a female Mallard sharing the lake together.

And every now and then, I even see both the Common and the Barrow’s Goldeneyes swimming side by side.

Have a great and ducky day.

I think if Larry had his druthers, he would steak everyday of the week. He is most definitely a meat and potatoes kind of guy. And while we were in Cozumel, we didn’t eat any beef at all. I think he was going through some withdrawals. It was definitely time for some steak. I needed more vegetables. So, I combined the two and made a delicious dinner that satisfied us both. I seared some steak and added some blistered tomatoes and mushrooms on top.

I have cooked many steaks in my day, and still continue to do so all the time. My favorite way to prepare a good steak is to sear it and give it a nice crust, then roast it to perfection until it is cooked just right, at a perfect, juicy medium rare (for me, more towards the rare side). Or to make it easier, sear, flip and roast. Adding the mushrooms and tomatoes turned a very good steak into a gourmet steak.

Seared Steak with Blistered Tomatoes and Mushrooms

Preheat the oven to 450*f or 232* C.

2 lbs steak, about `1 1/2 inches thick

coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

4 TBSP olive oil

butter

1 TBSP garlic

1-1 1/2 cups tomatoes, either cherry or other small tomatoes

2 cups whole mushrooms, rinsed and stems removed

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 TBSP lemon olive oil, optional

2 TBSP white balsamic vinegar

1/4 small red onion, sliced very thin

1 jalapeno, diced fine, optional

Place a large skillet in the oven and get VERY hot. Add about 2 TBSP of olive oil long with about 2 TBSP of butter to the hot skillet. Add the steak and sear for about 3 minutes per side to give it a nice crust all around. The time will vary depending on the thickness of the steak. If need be, you can sear it again for 1-2 minutes per side after the 3 minutes and flips.

Combine the remaining olive oil, lemon olive oil, mushrooms rosemary, garlic, onions, tomatoes and jalapenos and toss together gently. I had some leftover jalapeno and garlic mixture from when I made my compound butter Yucatecan Pork, so I added that as well.

Spray a cooking pan with cooking spray, add the steak and top with the vegetables. Roast for about 4 minutes, then remove the steak to let it rest for about 5 minutes. While the steak is resting, place the vegetables back in the oven to continue to roast for an additional 5 or so minutes, or until the tomatoes start to break down. Blistering tomatoes is a quick, easy and delicious way to serve cherry tomatoes. They are good on their own, or as a topping for just about anything you like, but especially steak.

When everything is ready, serve the steak topped with the tomatoes and mushrooms, and Bon Appetite! I served it all over some mashed potatoes with some warmed ciabiatta and a glass or two of red wine on the side. DELICIOUS!

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

I love it when I see all my friends from the ales. I really love it when they are curious and playful too. The more engaging my “friends’ are, the more pictures I will take of them. Such was the case for my curious and playful little squirrel.

It’s OK to get squirrely every now and then. Be curious, play and have fun. And have a great day everyone. 🙂

I made yet another delicious Irish recipe for St. Patrick’s Day. This time it was an apple blackberry coffee cake with a streusel topping in honor of the day. This traditional rustic Irish cake is also knows as a Kerry apple cake in some parts of Ireland.

Blackberries are my favorite berries. Often I just eat them right out of the container. I start with a few and then before I know it, the whole container is empty and all the blackberries are gone. I also love apples. My favorites are Galas, but then I will eat any kind of apple. And I love the combination of the two flavors together too. Maybe my love for both apples and blackberries comes from my Irish and Celtic roots. Or maybe it’s just because they are two great flavors that just happen to taste great together. Who knows? 🙂

Both apples and blackberries have been a part of the Irish diet for centuries. If you are in Ireland from June through July, you will find blackberries growing wild along the roadsides. Blackberries are used in many different Irish recipes, and are cooked in many different ways, from jams and jellies to cakes, to sauces and oh so much more.

Apples have been a part of the Irish diet for over 3000 years, dating back to the times of the Ancient Romans. Though apples play a dominant role in Irish cooking, and have been a part of the Irish folklore, myths and legends for centuries, the only apples that are truly native to Ireland are the crab apples. Crab apples were known as wild apples in Ireland and were listed as one of the seven ‘Nobles of the Wood’, believed to be an important food source since the first humans set foot in the country. Traditionally, crab apples were made into wine, cider and juice, but were also used to flavor mead. They are still used in these ways today and grow in abundance on the roadside and in gardens and woodland. Today, however, there are many varieties of apples that are grown all over Ireland.

For this particular cake recipe, I borrowed bits and pieces from other recipes and combined them to make my own blackberry apple streusel cake. The result was yet another delicious cake that was a success on the coffee cart.

Blackberry Apple Coffee Cake

The Streusel

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

4 TBSP cold butter, cubed

Mix everything together either with your hands or with a pastry cutter until it resembles a coarse sand. Set aside until ready to use.

Coat the blackberries in flour so they don’t bleed.

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 190*C.

Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray then lightly coat with flour. You can also use a 9×13 baking dish as well if you prefer.

The Cake

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup or 1 stick softened butter

3 eggs

16 oz yogurt or sour cream

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 container blackberries

1 large apple, peeled and diced

Combine all the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Mix the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs 1 at a time, beating in between each addition. Add the vanilla. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture and beat again. Alternate between the flour and the yogurt or sour cream until it is all mixed together. I used yogurt this time, though I don’t notice much difference between the two, and interchange them all the time.

Gently fold in the apples and blackberries.

Evenly distribute 1/2 of the batter into the prepared pan. Add 1/2 of the streusel on top of the batter.

Add the remaining batter on top of the streusel then add the remaining streusel on top. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until it is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool completely before removing it from the pan, then slice it up and share with friends. Blasta! This cake showcases the flavors of tart, crisp apples and floral, juicy blackberries set under a buttery, streusel topping. It’s sweet, but not overly sweet, and is a nice treat to have at breakfast, afternoon tea, or dessert. With simple flavors, this light, tender, buttery cake has a hint of warm cinnamon flavor while its texture is a bit denser than that of a sponge cake and is more similar to a coffee cake.

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

I know since I will now be sharing two pork dishes in one week you are probably thinking that all we ate was pork since we’ve been home. Not true at all. It’s just how it all worked out. We did, however, just happen to have pork twice this week. The first time was the Yucatecan Pork Yucatecan Pork and then again for St. Patrick’s Day with Brussels sprouts and apples.

Pork has always been an important and key ingredient in the diet of the Irish people, dating back at least 12,000 years. In fact, pork constitutes about 34% of the Irish meat consumption. It is the second most popular meat eaten in Ireland. It is eaten in many different ways all over the country too, from sausages to bacon, to ham, and pork in many other, various forms and cooked in many different and delicious recipes.

Americans think that corned beef and cabbage is one of the national dishes of Ireland, and that it is what all the Irish people eat on St. Patrick’s Day. But it is in fact, more of an Irish American tradition than it is in Ireland itself. Personally, I am not a big corned beef and cabbage fan, so I purposely DON’T make it much for St. Patrick’s Day, though I do make it on occasion. Larry likes it much more than I do. I prefer to make other traditional Irish dishes instead. Sometimes I make fish or seafood dishes, sometimes beef dishes, or Guinness stew, or lamb. And sometimes, like this year, I cook pork.

This year’s Irish pork dish was made with Brussels sprouts, apples, onions and pecans. You can also make this dish with chicken too, if you prefer, which I have also done. It is very good with either chicken or pork, but I have to say, I think I actually prefer it with the pork.

Pork Chops With Brussels Sprouts, Apples and Pecans

I marinated my pork chops in lemon balsamic vinegar, olive oil and salt & pepper for about 3 hours before searing it. My chops were nice and thick, so I seared them for about 3 minutes per side to give a nice crust all around. You can finish cooking it in the oven for a bout 10-15 minutes if need be, to make sure it is fully cooked and has an internal temperature of 160-165*F.

2 lbs pork chops, cut thick

1 lb shaved Brussels sprouts

1 large red apple, sliced thin

1/2 onion, sliced thin

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced thin

1 TBSP garlic

2-3 TBSP white balsamic vinegar

2-3 TBSP lemon balsamic vinegar, optional

1 TBSP brown sugar

salt & pepper to taste

1/3 cup toasted pecans, chopped

olive oil and butter for cooking

While the pork is cooking, in another pan, cook the Brussels sprouts, apples, bell pepper, onions and garlic for about 6 minutes, stirring frequently. I seared the pork in a combination of both butter and olive oil and just olive oil for the vegetables.

Add the brown sugar, salt & pepper and white balsamic vinegar, and lemon balsamic vinegar if using, and cook for an additional minute or two. Then add the pecans and mix together thoroughly. Add the pork chops to the vegetable mixture and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.

The pork will be tender and flavorful. The lemon and white balsamic vinegars combined with the apples and the brown sugar will give a tart and tangy flavor that will really compliment the pork nicely. I served this alongside my Irish Fadge Irish Fadge and a glass or two of white wine as well to make for a traditional Irish dinner. Just perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, especially of you are looking for something other than corned beef and cabbage. Blasta, which is Irish for delicious!

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

I just love seeing all my birds and all the other creatures around my lakes. Yesterday my friend Lauren and I were taking a walk around our lakes when I looked up in the trees and spotted a Hairy Woodpecker. We don’t see too many of these, so they are always a treat when I do. At first there were two, but one flew away. I guess he was camera shy. But the other one posed for the camera long enough for me to get a few good shots.

Have a great day and make everyday great.

Fadge is a type of Irish and Scottish potato bread. It’s made like a lot of other potato breads with mashed potatoes and flour, except it contains no yeast. Fadge is also called Farls in some parts. Fadge or Farls, or whatever you like to call it, has been around since about the mid 1800’s. You will also hear this popular potato bread called slims, potato cakes or tatie bread too. Potatoes were used as either a replacement or as an enhancement to the flour when wheat was in short supply, thus making it too expensive for the poor people. Potatoes were also used in breads in both Ireland and Scotland because their climates are not known for being conducive for growing wheat, yet are perfect for growing potatoes.

Fadge is an Irish/Scottish potato bread that is very popular and can be cooked in a variety of different ways. It can be cooked on a griddle, or pan-fried or even baked in the oven. As with any dish that has been around for a long time, there are always different variations, such as the proportion of potatoes to flour. Some people prefer more potato to flour, while others like more flour to potato. Some people even like to add apples to their fadge.

I made fadge yesterday in honor of my Celtic roots, both Irish and Scottish. I made mine without apples, since I used apples in my main dish.

Before we left to go down to Cozumel, I had some mashed potatoes that I froze, knowing I was going to use them when we came home. I was pretty sure I was going to make some kind of potato bread with it, and sure enough I did. I made fadge.

Irish Fadge

2 lbs potaotes

1 egg, beaten

1/2 stick butter

3 TBSP flour

2 TBSP chopped parsley

2 TBSP chopped green onion or chives and/or lemon thyme

milk or heavy whipping cream

salt & pepper

bacon fat, or oil for frying

Boil the potatoes and mash them, just like you would with any other kind of mashed potatoes. I use heavy whipping cream in my mashed potatoes to make them extra creamy.

Add the flour, herbs and seasonings, and the egg and mix together well. If you like your bread a bit more stiff, add more flour.

Form the dough into a round and dip into a bit more flour.

My dough did not come quite out how I had intended at first, because my potatoes got a little watery from the freezing. Have no fear though. When there’s a will, there’s a way. I put my dough into an 8 inch springform cake pan, coated with cooking spray and lined with parchment paper. Then added some butter on top and baked it at 350* F or 190*C for about 30 minutes before pan-frying it to make it crispy and brown. This allowed for it to set so it would hold together to pay-fry it.

After baking it I placed it in hot oil and continued to cook it for about 4 minutes per side, until it was golden brown and crispy all around. After it has cooked for about 4 minutes on one side, carefully flip it over with 2 spatulas to continue cooking on the other side.

When the fadge is browned on both sides, remove it from the oil and cut it into 8 wedges. Then serve alongside your favorite Irish or Scottish foods and enjoy. Fadge is very much like a potato cake or a potato latke.

Whether you are Irish or Scottish by blood or just Irish for the day, I hope you all enjoyed your St. Paddy’s Day. Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.

As you know, we are home now, and I am back to cooking in my own kitchen once again. Even though we are back home in Denver, my taste buds seem to still be somewhere in the Yucatan regions of Mexico. I made some Yucatecan pork for dinner that rivaled many of the dishes we recently enjoyed in Cozumel.

First I marinated my pork chops in lime juice with some chili lime seasoning, garlic, cumin and cilantro for about 3 hours, to make it it juicy and tender and to let all the delicious Mexican flavors penetrate the meat.

Next I made a compound butter of jalapenos, garlic, lime juice, cilantro and more of the same seasonings, as well as a dash of cayenne pepper. Once the butter was made, I wrapped it in plastic wrap and let it set in the refrigerator until I was ready to use it.

Put all the ingredients together in the food processor except the butter. Once they are all chopped fine, mix it all into softened butter, then place it all on a piece of plastic wrap and roll. The tightly seal it and refrigerate.

I sliced some some onions, red bell pepper and delicato squash into thin slices. and sauteed them all in some olive oil with a dash of the compound butter and salt & pepper for about 5-7 minutes, or until they were tender and the onions were translucent.

As the vegetables were cooking, in another skillet, I seared the pork for about 3 minutes per side until it was crusted over. Get the skillet VERY hot, then add some olive oil and more of the compound butter to cook the pork (you can do the same for either chicken or steak too, just adjust the cooking times as needed).

Once the pork has a nice crust all around, place it in an oven at about 375-400*F for about 15-20 minutes, or until the pork is completely cooked, with an internal temperature of about 160-165*F.

When the pork is finished cooking, top it with the vegetables and sauce. I served this with roasted potatoes on the side, with a glass or two of chilled white wine. !Delicioso!

Just because I am at home now, it does not man I can’t still enjoy the flavors of Mexico. The beauty of cooking international styled foods is that you can still be on vacation even from the comforts of your own home and kitchen, any time. You don’t have to wait for vacation time to come around. You can recreate you vacation anytime you like in the comfort of your own kitchen. 🙂

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