A Jeanne in the Kitchen

As you know I am always trying out new, delicious recipes for my church coffee cart. Anything goes, as long as it is delicious. Since our services are in the mornings, I like breakfast type foods and or cookies. Just something light that people can pick up an munch on within a couple of bites or so. This week, we had some cookies (no I didn’t make those this time), chocolate chip banana bread Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, some gluten free cupcakes that were donated by a friend of a friend and my raspberry orange muffins. I did not get a chance to try the cupcakes, but they all disappeared within a blink of an eye, as did everything else. Always a good sign. 🙂

Raspberry Orange Muffins

The Muffins

2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cardamom

1.2 cup or 1 stick melted butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp orange extract

1/2 cup yogurt

1/2 cup milk

2 TBSP orange zest

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

Spray muffin tins with cooking spray and/or use paper muffin cups inserted into the pans.

2 cups raspberries, cut in 1/2 and mixed with about 1/2 cup of flour. Gently coat the raspberries with the flour and set aside. Make the streusel topping and set aside as well.

Streusel Topping

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup flour

dash of salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cardamon

6 TBSP melted butter

Mix everything together until crumbly.

Mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Combine the butter and sugar together until creamy, then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between each addition. Add the orange extract and mix. Add 1/2 the flour mixture and mix, then 1/2 of the milk and mix, and repeat until everyhing is all combined together.

Once the batter is made, gently fold in the raspberries and the orange zest. You do not want to go to fast or you will break the raspberries and they will “bleed” into the batter.

Fill the muffin cups to about 3/4 full, then top with the streusel topping.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until they are golden brown and a toothpick that is inserted in the middle comes out clean.

I love the combination of raspberry and orange. Delicious. The only complaint, and it is the same complaint I often have with recipes in general, is that the recipe was supposed to make about 2 dozen muffins, and I only got 18 out of mine. Other than that, they were a huge hit and everyone loved them.

Have a beautiful and great day Everyone. Say well and stay safe. ‘Til next time.

I can’t deny it. I love presents and gifts. The unexpected ones are the ones I like best too. Today, I got not one, but two fabulous gifts from two different friends. One is a belated Christmas gift from my best friend Andrea, out in CA, and the other one was a fabulously fun gift from my friend Katelyn. Both are so very much appreciated and will definitely be put to deliciously good use. 🙂

My dear friend Andrea and I go way, way, way back and have known each other our whole lives. We have been through it all together; lots and lots of good times, and unfortunately a few sad times as well, but we have always been there to support each other and that will never change. This morning, as I was leaving for church, I noticed a big box out on the front porch. I brought it in and then had to run. I didn’t get a chance to open it until after I returned home. When I did open the box, I was totally amazed at what was inside. There were four absolutely gorgeous, iridescent champagne flutes. I can’t wait to properly try them out and initiate them with some good bubbly to celebrate more good times.

!Te amo mucho Chica!

But the fun and excitement didn’t end there. Everyone knows how much I love to cook. No secrets there, right?! 🙂 My friend Katelyn gave me a delicious box of spices today too. There are great spices used for a lot of Indian and Middle Eastern foods, and I use them all the time. I think I see some more Indian and/or Middle Eastern foods coming my way in the very near future. WHOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!

HMMMMM!!!! I think champagne and Indian foods go well together. But I just might have to do a little research to be sure. 🙂 Thank you both Andrea and Katelyn for your love, friendship and generosity. I am a very lucky girl indeed.

Make everyday special. Every day is a gift. And the gifts of love and friendship are the best gifts anyone can ever have. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. “Til next time.

Yesterday, Lauren and I had a girl’s day out. We strolled through the Denver Botanic Gardens. Even though there was still a ton of snow, the sun was shining brightly and it was a beautiful day. The outside gardens were hibernating for winter, but the inside gardens, and especially the orchids, were amazingly beautiful. We always have so much fun together, regardless of what we do.

Here is just a small sampling of some of the gorgeous plants and flowers we saw. As usual, I took a ton of pictures, so I won’t share them all with you.

There is a photo contest taking place for the orchids, since it is their annual orchid show. Photographers can submit up to three and three only pictures for the contest. Here are my submissions. We’ll see what they think. There were a lot of photographers out and about with really fancy cameras, so who knows how mine will rate. But I liked them, and that is really all that counts; that, and whether or not you like them too.

And a runner up that I thought about too, but if more than three were submitted, then all of them were DQed so it was not submitted. I was looking for things that maybe someone else might not have picked up on.

There were so many beautiful, exotic and interesting plans and flowers though. Needless to say, we had a great day together and saw so much beauty.

This Hibiscus was HUGE. By far, the largest one I have ever seen.

These were all taken inside. Here are some of the photos I captured outside.

Every season has its beauty.

After strolling through the gardens, we went out for a late lunch of small Greek tapas at Chef Zorba’s. A Golden Day

Enjoy all the beauty in your world and make everyday beautiful. Stay safe and stay well. “Til next time.

As usual, I am always busy baking towards the end of the week, getting things prepared for my Sunday morning coffee cart. I do my best to provide different goodies every week, so I am always on the lookout for new, tasty treats to make. I already have a couple of things prepared, including a loaf of chocolate chip banana bread. I topped it with a chocolate ganache because I just hate serving “naked foods”. To me, foods just aren’t complete unless they have some kind of sauce. 🙂

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

This is just a basic banana bread recipe with some chocolate chips mixed in. As you all know, I like stuff in my stuff.

Preheat the oven to 325* F or about 165* C.

Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and dust it with a little flour.

2 cups or 4 ripe bananas, mashed

2 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp banana extract or vanilla

1/2 cup or 1 stick of softened butter,

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

about 1-1 1/2 cups chocolate chips,

Combine the dry ingredients together and mix well.

Mix the butter and sugars together, beating until creamy. Add the eggs and banana or vanilla extract, beating in between each addition. Add the mashed bananas and mix again. I used banana extract to really give it a good banana flavor.

Larry had eaten my ripe bananas that I was saving for making this bread. So since I didn’t have really ripe bananas on hand, I added a dash of cream to my bananas to help them mash a bit easier. Ordinarily, you want really ripe bananas that are soft and full of freckles.

Add the flour mixture, 1/2 at a time, mixing in between each addition. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Evenly spread the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

You can easily serve it plain if you like. You can also add chopped nuts too. Allow the cake to cool completely before removing from the pan and slicing.

Since I added chocolate chips to the batter though, I decided to top it with a chocolate ganache as well. A chocolate ganache is super easy to make. It is just equal portions of heavy whipping cream and chocolate melted together until it is smooth and creamy. Stir constantly to prevent burning.

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

it was a beautiful sunny day, despite the fact that there is still a lot of snow around. This is typical for Colorado though. Even though we have a ton of snow, we also have a lot of sunshine. So when the sun is shining, even if there is snow, it is still a beautiful day out.

I didn’t see many birds today, but I did a Northern Flicker sitting up high in a tree. Apparently he thought it was a beautiful day out too.

Yes, these shots will be available to purchase too, under the name of “Photos by Jeanne”. I am still just getting everything started. 🙂

Make everyday a beautiful day.

Paella vs Jambalaya. What’s the difference between the two? Not much really. They are close kissing cousins to each other. Jambalaya and paella are both one pot rice dishes loaded with medleys of meat, seafood, and vegetables. To me, the main differences are in the spices that are used. Spices differentiate jambalaya and paella. Saffron is the main spice flavoring paella, but it is not in jambalaya. Cayenne pepper gives jambalaya a bolder flavor profile than paella. Jambalaya is more French and paella is Spanish. Again, very similar, yet with subtle differences.

I very rarely actually use the real saffron, which means I guess I make more of a jambalaya than a paella. But considering I have strong southern roots and I am not Spanish, I guess that makes sense. Besides saffron is way too expensive for my tastes and if Larry really knew how much saffron was, he would NEVER allow me to use it under any circumstances. The name of the dish doesn’t really matter though. The taste of a dish is really all that counts.

My latest jambalaya/paella dish was loaded with shrimp, sausage and pork loin. Both the sausage and pork loin were leftovers from other dishes, which made me even happier. I got to use up my leftovers while cooking up something else completely different. This is a win/win for me, as you all very well know. I almost added mussels too, which would have made this dish even meatier, but there was so much meat already the dish didn’t need anything more.

I added all kinds of goodness to this recipe. Shrimp, sausage, pork loin, tomatoes, onions, garlic, pumpkin, olives, Peruvian peppers, rice and a dry white wine. My recipe was kind of a paella jambalaya fusion. I used parts of each and mixed and matched them until the flavors were just right, as well as adding my own personal touches too.

There are so many different and delicious versions of both paella and jambalaya available, so I am not really going to give a specific recipe, but instead will give you the cooking methods. Both paella and jambalaya are traditionally “poor man’s” food, and they are made with whatever you have on hand, and vary from region to region, as well as from household to household. You can add whatever you like and discard what you don’t like. You can also change it everytime you make it too. There are no rules.

In a very hot skillet, with olive oil and some lemon olive oil (optional), I cooked the shrimp first until they were done. Then removed them from the heat until later.

Once the shrimp were cooked, the onions, garlic, pumpkin and red pepper flakes were next. I cooked them for about 7-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until they were tender and the onions were translucent.

Next came 1 1/2 cups of rice and about 1 cup of dry white wine. I sauteed the rice for a few minutes, then added the rest of the ingredients, including about 3 cups of chicken broth.

Bring everything to a full, rapid boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, add your spices and seasoning and continue to cook for about 30-40 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated, stirring often to make sure the rice doesn’t stick. Although, a true Spanish paella is cooked with the rice sticking and forming a slight crust on the pan. It even has its own special name – arroz crujiente, or a socarrat, which means to lightly toast. This happens when the rice is not cooked evenly and it crusts onto the pan. This is more of a Spanish layering and cooking technique, that can take years to master. However, most Americans prefer their rice to be cooked more evenly, so we tend not to use this method as much. I like the arroz crujiente, but Larry does not.

I re-added the shrimp towards the very end, just to reheat it and not to overcook it. Over cooked shrimp is very rubbery and tough. Once everything was cooked and mixed together, a final touch was to add some lemon juice on top of everything, to really enhance the flavors.

Sticking with Spanish tradition, of course I served it with a warmed bread and some dry white wine on the side. !Deliciosa!

Que tengas un lindo dia or have a great day Everyone. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

As you all know, I love to do things with my hands and love to be creative. I appreciate creative projects of all kinds and have many different interests. My talents are ever-growing and expanding. I love exploring all areas, both new and old. I love to do all kinds of crafty projects too. My mother and I used to do them all the time, so in a way, when I do things like this, it is like having my mom around with me too.

I was in Hobby Lobby the other day and saw these little sunflowers that looked like they needed some color. So I brought them home and colored them up.

To me, they looked like sunflowers, at least this time. Who knows? Maybe next time, they will look like a different kind of flower. 🙂

My sunflowers have bloomed and blossomed. I am just waiting for the paint to dry then my flowers will be rearranged.

Hopefully these will help brighten up your day a bit. Have a great one. Make it colorful.

Rustic cooking is one of my favorite ways to cook. I like things big and bold and chunky, so you can actually see and taste what’s in your dish. Then I like it topped with a nice sauce that compliments all the flavors. To me, that is a prefect dish.

I made yet another rustic dish last night that was a perfect warm and comforting dish for a cold and chilly night. It was rustic roasted chicken and vegetables with a creamy Dijon and tarragon sauce. Everything was cooked together all on one pan too. It was most definitely my kind of meal – easy-peasy and delicious. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Roasted Chicken and Vegetables with Creamy Dijon and Tarragon Sauce

I used chicken breasts that I cut into large pieces, but you can also use drumsticks or other parts of cut chicken too.

Preheat the oven to 425* F or about 220*C.

1 1/2-2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into large pieces

1 zucchini, sliced into thick rounds

1 crookneck, sliced into thick rounds

3 carrots, peeled and sliced into thick pieces

1/2-3/4 red onion, diced medium

1 1/2-2 lbs red potatoes quartered

1-2 TBSP garlic

olive oil

lemon olive oil, optional

salt & pepper to taste

Creamy Dijon Tarragon Dressing

1 cup dry white wine

2 tsp dried tarragon or 1 TBSP fresh tarrogon, chopped

1- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 TBSP Dijon mustard

1-2 TBSP flour

fresh ground black pepper to taste

2 TBSP butter

Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel, then season with salt & pepper and drizzle the lemon olive oil over it. Place it on a baking sheet, with plenty of room left for the vegetables.

Toss all the vegetables together with olive oil and lemon olive oil, and salt and pepper. Then add to the baking sheet with the chicken.

Place the pan in the oven and cook for about 25-30 minutes, then stir the vegetables and turn them so they cook evenly, and place back into the oven for another 25-30 minutes, or until they are slightly charred and tender and the chicken is completely cooked.

While the chicken and vegetables are cooking, prepare the sauce. Start by reducing the wine to about 1/2 of what it was when you started, along with the tarragon.

Add the cream, the Dijon mustard and some more fresh ground black pepper, plus 1-2 TBSP of flour to thicken the sauce. Mix everything together completely, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently. Make sure all the lumps of flour are broken down.

Add the butter right at the end to make a smooth, creamy finish to the sauce.

Once everything is ready, serve it up and top with the Dijon tarragon sauce, with a cool crisp dry white wine on the side, preferably the same wine you used for the sauce. Delicious!

Have a great day Everyone. Stay safe, stay warm and stay well. ‘Til next time.

When Larry smokes, he smokes. He fills up the smoker with all kinds of meats and just goes crazy. The last time he pulled out the smoker was for Christmas Eve, and once again, his smoker was filled with all kinds of meat, including a pork loin. Once it was smoked, we put it in the freezer to pull out again and use later. And later just came. I prepared it in a Mediterranean style, or as I call it, Puerca Mediterranea.

Basically the pork was cooked with a reverse sear. Larry smoked it first, so it was already cooked, and then I seared it in a combination of butter and olive oil in a very hot skillet for 3 minutes per side to give it a nice crust. After searing it, I put in the oven at 375* F for about 20 minutes to make sure it was hot all through the center. Oh it was so good too. It was crispy on the outside and juicy, tender and moist on the inside, and loaded with flavor.

Let the pork set for a few minutes before slicing.

I couldn’t just serve pork and nothing else though, could I? Of course not. And again, I had some leftovers that needed to be used, so I did what I do best, and recreated with them. While the pork was resting, I made my topping.

I had some leftover Insalada Mediterranea from when I made my calzones. Un Insalada Mediterannea I added some more onions, garlic, red bell pepper, sweet Peruvian peppers, white wine, lemon balsamic vinegar, lemon and regular olive oil and fresh ground black pepper and salt and used that as my topping for the pork.

Once the pork was seared, and in the oven to make sure it was completely cooked, I deglazed the pan with about 1 cup of dry white wine, then added the onions, peppers and garlic and cooked until they were tender, or about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

I added the rest of the vegetables with some more olive oil, and the lemon olive oil and lemon balsamic vinegar and continued to cook for about 5 more minutes, again, stirring frequently.

When the pork had set and was ready to slice, I sliced it into thin slices, served it over couscous and then topped it all with my Mediterranean vegetable mixture. I served it all with a chilled chardonnay on the side, but a light or medium bodied red would have also gone nicely with this dish too.

Delicious or should I say Delicioza! As I always say, play with your food. Leftovers never have to be boring, nor do they have to be the same old same old. They can be just as fun and exciting as the firstovers. You just have to be creative and use your imagination a bit. 🙂

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

Cakes have been a part of world’s diet since the 13th century. However, hack then, they were nothing like we know them today. When cakes were first introduced, they were more of a sweet bread, than the velvety sweet cakes of today. Many times, people would put dried fruits and nuts in their cake recipes. As a result, the desserts were rough and had an abrasive texture. It wasn’t until 500 years later when bakers began to make dessert more appealing. They were able to find ways to break down the flour in the recipes so cakes could be softer and tastier.

Velvet cakes first came about in England’s Victorian era, with the introduction of cocoa powder into the cakes. The cocoa would help break down the coarse flour. As a result, the flour was softer and the cake was velvety, hence the name of a velvet cake. Often times, the cakes had a red tint as well, due to the chemical reaction between the cocoa and acid that give the cakes their red color. Natural cocoa has a lot of acidities and works well with the baking soda and buttermilk. Cocoa powders have become better over the years. Now, most of the cocoa powder you buy has to undergo special processing. During the production phases, the cocoa interacts with an alkalizing agent. The base (alkalizing agent) causes the cocoa’s acidity to neutralize. As a result, the other cake ingredients no longer have a chemical reaction with the cocoa. Today, because of the neutralizing agents, often red coloring is used to make the cakes turn red. The red color of the cake isn’t nearly as important as the flavor and texture of the cakes though. A cream cheese frosting is a nice accent to adorn the “red velvet” cakes and has become a popular topping for them.

The actual “red velvet cake” wasn’t made popular until 1943, by Irma Rombauer, author of The Joy of Cooking. During WWII, rations were in place, and sugar wasn’t readily available, so beet root was often used as a sweetener. The beet root made the cake batter red in color, as well as making the cakes more flavorful and moist.

Today, red velvet cakes are known by many different names, some of which include red carpet cake, red mystery cake, flame cake, authentic red velvet cake and Waldorf Astoria cake.

I turned my “red velvet cake” into brownies. And yes, I topped them with a cream cheese frosting as well. They were very popular indeed, and they all disappeared in no time.

I admit I cheated though, and sometimes, there is absolutely nothing wrong with cheating by starting off with a cake or brownie mix. I did not make these entirely from scratch. I started off with Ghirardelli’s packaged brownie mix and then created from that. There are so many fantastic cake and brownie mixes available today, that sometimes it is just smarter, and cheaper, to use those than to always make everything from scratch. Many years ago, when I was first in culinary school, my pastry instructor was a master pastry chef, originally from Holland. His name was Chef Rudy Rosier, or Chef Rudy as we lovingly called him. He actually created and perfected many of the pre-packaged cake recipes that are available today. So if you get a known, major brand, chances are, they are going to be very good indeed. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, or in this case, the cake.

Red Velvet Brownies

2 packages of Ghirardelli brownie mix

2 eggs

2/3 cup water

2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 oz red food coloring

1/2 package of cherry chips, optional

1/2 cup softened or whipped cream cheese

2 egg whites

1/4 cup sugar

2 TBSP flour

1 tsp vanilla

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

Spray a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray.

Follow the directions on the package for the brownies, then add the food coloring and cherry chips, and carefully fold into the mixture.

Mix together the cream cheese, sugar, egg whites, vanilla and flour with a mixer until well blended and smooth.

Spread the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan, then add the cream cheese topping, making sure to completely cover the brownie mixture. Gently swirl the cream cheese mixture into the brownie mixture with a knife.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes. Let cool completely before removing from the pan and slicing.

Share with friends and enjoy. These delicious treats will be gone before you know it. Everything is always better with chocolate, and especially with a rich, velvety chocolate. 🙂

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