A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Winter weather is here. It is cold and gloomy out, which means it is perfect weather for a thick, warm, chunky chowder. I love chowders too. All kinds. They are probably my favorite types of soups.

What is the difference between a soup and a chowder? While soups can be thin and light, a chowder is characterized by being rich and thick. Like stew, it contains large chunks of meat or seafood and vegetables, notably potatoes. It also almost always has either bacon, ham or pork added as well. What is the difference between a chowder and a stew? They are both filled with big chunks of meats or fish and/or vegetables, but a chowder, for the most part has a milky or creamy base with butter and is often thickened by a roux, whereas most stews do not and do not contain thickeners either. And lastly, what is the difference between a chowder and a bisque? They are both creamy, but a bisque is usually smooth and silky and is a lighter soup, whereas a chowder is chunky and meaty (or fishy) and can often be a meal in and of itself.

The word chowder is a corruption of the French word chaudière (“cauldron”), and chowder may have originated among Breton fishermen who brought the custom to Newfoundland, whence it spread to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and New England.

Larry wanted a ham for his birthday dinner, so I cooked a big ham. Well, there are only the two of us, so a big ham goes a long way, and many other things are made with the leftovers. This time, it was a big pot of ham, leek and vegetable chowder. I served it with my roasted vegetable galette and it was perfect for a cold night. Roasted Vegetable Galette

I loaded this delicious chowder with ham, leeks, potatoes and vegetables. I like to cut them all into nice, big bite-sized chunks too so you can see what you are getting in every spoonful.

Ham, Leek and Vegetable Chowder

Look at this carrot. It looks like it’s alive.

4-5 cups cooked ham, diced medium

2 large potatoes, diced

4-5 carrots, diced

1 large onion, diced

2 cups broccoli florets

4-5 celery stalks, diced

1-1 1/2 cups leeks, sliced thin

2 TBSP garlic

salt & pepper to taste

6 TBSP butter

olive oil

1 cup flour

6-8 cups ham or chicken stock

2 cups heavy whipping cream

Make a roux in a large pot with the butter, oil and flour. You want the roux to be a fairly light colored roux. Do not burn it or get it too dark. Stir constantly until it thickens.

Cook for about 2-3 minutes, or until the roux is the color and consistency you want, then add the onions, celery and carrots and continue to cook, stirring frequently, for an additional 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Add the ham, broccoli, stock and seasonings, cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and add the cream and the leeks. Continue to cook for an additional 30-40 minutes, stirring often. Adjust the seasonings as needed.

When it is ready, you can make a meal of it all on its own, or pair it up with something else on the side. A galette or your favorite bread is a perfect accompaniment to this delicious chowder. It will definitely stick to your ribs and help warm you up from the inside out. It is the perfect comfort food for a cold winter’s night.

Stay warm, stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

It’s been awhile since I last made a roasted vegetable galette. In fact, it was long over due. So it was definitely time to make one again. YouTube Video #3 – Making a Vegetable Galette

We had our friend Bryan over for a simple dinner, and I remembered how much he liked this he last time he was over for dinner, so I thought I would surprise him with one of his many favorites of mine. 🙂

A galette is an open pie or tart that can be either sweet or savory. It is a close cousin of the tart, but like with any similar dishes, there are differences too. A tart only has a thick bottom crust and is made in a tart pan, just like a pie is made in a specific pie dish. A galette, though similar, is also different.

A galette is a free form tart that does not use a special pan or dish. All it requires is a flat baking surface. The dough is rolled out to a circle then is wrapped or folded over the sides to hold in whatever filling is used. They can also be used with any kind of pastry dough, which makes them very versatile. I usually use my basic go-to dough. It is so light and flaky and just melts in your mouth.

Usually galettes are filled with either fruits or meats and/or vegetables. You can use any kind of vegetable that will hold up to be being roasted in the oven. This time I used yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, shallots, garlic, bell peppers, dried oregano and dried basil, salt & pepper and some baby tomatoes.

I sauteed the vegetables first in olive oil and butter just until they were tender.

Preheat the oven to about 375* F or 190* C.

Next I rolled the dough into as much of a circle as I could, about 1/4 inch in thickness. Then added a generous sprinkling of mozzarella cheese, followed by the vegetables. I added the tomatoes and the pine nuts at the very end, and did not cook them first. Leave about an inch around the edges to fold over. To fold the dough, I folded it in little waves and pinched them together, all the way around. Then I brushed the sides with a simple egg wash and put it in the oven for about 30-40 minutes or until the dough was a nice golden brown.

When the galette is done, let it cool for a few minutes before slicing, then slice like you would a tart or a piece of pie. I served it with a big bowl of delicious soup and a glass or two of chardonnay for a simple, rustic meal. You will hear about the soup later. 🙂

There is nothing wrong with having a simple meal. Simple can still be delicious. Stay well and stay safe Everyone. ‘Til next time.

I was bringing the dogs in and to my great surprise, I saw this guy flying in. So I rushed to get my camera in hopes of capturing him before he flew away. This is my second very late season Heron I’ve seen in my ponds this season. I’m not sure why I am seeing late season herons, but they are always welcome anytime they choose to visit. These pictures were taken from my deck, and he must been about 150 yards or more away from me. I think they still turned out pretty good, all things considering.

Have a great day Everyone. Always be prepared for the unexpected. Life is full of so many great surprises. Enjoy as many as you can.

Cookies! My absolute favorite sweet to eat. My problem is that there are too many great cookies out there and not nearly enough time to eat them all. In a perfect world, where calories didn’t count, I would eat cookies all the time.

My latest cookie tray featured the classic chocolate crinkle cookies. They are always a favorite, no matter what time of year, but especially during the holidays. Maybe it’s because they look like they are covered in snow, and those of us who live in the northern hemisphere always associate snow with the holidays. I don’t know, but they just seem like perfect holiday cookies. They were certainly a HUGE hit with everyone at church. One minute they were there, the next minute they were gone. That is always a good sign that they were thoroughly enjoyed. 🙂

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

These cookies came from my Martha Stewart Cookie Book. You can tell it is one of my favorites because it is becoming tattered and torn and all the pages are beginning to fall out. Now I have to treat the book with a lot of TLC so I don’t loose any of the treasured recipes.

8 oz of finely chopped bittersweet chocolate, or chocolate chips, melted

3 cups flour

1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup or 1 stick softened butter

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

Mix the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Mix the butter and sugar together until creamy. Then add the eggs, beating in between each addition. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla. Add 1/2 the flour and chocolate mixture and mix, then add the milk, mix again, then add the remaining flour and chocolate mixture and mix just until everything is blended together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for abut 2 hours before baking.

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

Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.

Form the dough into balls about 1 TBSP each. Completely roll the dough ball into the granulated sugar, completely coating it, then roll and completely coat in the powdered sugar. Slightly press the dough ball to flatten just a bit on the baking pan. Rolling the dough balls into the granulated sugar first will enable the powdered sugar to stick ore efficiently onto the cookie dough. Once again, the yield was completely off. The recipe states you will get about 5 dozen. I got 4. Best guestimate, you will get somewhere between 4-5 dozen cookies.

Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the baking pan.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until the surfaces crack and the cookies are set.

After my cookies were completely cooled, I added a dusting of more powdered sugar too, but this is optional. All that is left to do is to share with friends and enjoy. And to try to not eat them all at once. For me, that’s the hard part. 🙂

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

Larry celebrated another birthday this weekend and to celebrate, he wanted friends and family to watch him play hockey with his team, The Slapshots. It was a special birthday after all, ending in a 5.

I apologize for the poor quality of these pictures. They were taken behind a very dirty and beaten up shield around the ice, and at a distance at that. I love my zoom.

Larry in action.

We had a good time and cheered for the Boys in Blue, and especially #4, Larry.

And Larry taking one for the team, in the box.

A team meeting.

Bryan, the team Captain, showing the Boys how it’s done.

They put up a good fight, and it was a fun time and a good game, but The Slapshots still lost, 5-3. I always love seeing this at the end of every game. Win or lose, both teams do a skate-by and congratulate each other on a game well played.

After the game, we went out to dinner, where the fun and good times continued.

Lauren even made some hockey themed cupcakes. They disappeared quickly.

Wendy thoroughly enjoyed the cupcakes too.

Happy Birthday Larry, from your #1 fan. Love you always and forever.

Tis the season for all kinds of parties and fun holidays foods. I love both; fun parties and fun festive foods. In the spirit of the season, I came across this idea for a Santa Claus cake that I just couldn’t wait to try. Of course I changed it from the original recipe. Would expect anything less?

The original recipe called for walnuts, but I am not a big walnut fan, so I changed it to pistachios instead, which I think are far more festive anyway. 🙂 Also, because I was making the cake for a large group of people, and wanted the highest yield possible, I turned it into a sheet cake rather than a round cake. But obviously, you can make it whatever size you like. The cooking times may need to be adjusted though. I also cheated on the frosting, since I had white frosting that needed to be used, instead of making a cream cheese frosting that the recipe called for. Maybe next time. 🙂

There is absolutely nothing wrong with saving time and using a cake mix. Today, most of the mixes are pretty perfect, and don’t require a lot of time or effort, and the cakes come out delicious.

Santa Clause Cake

1 box of white cake mix

2 eggs

1 cup water

1/2 cup cooking oil

1 TBSP orange zest

2 cups dried cranberries, reconstituted in water

1-1 1/2 cup pistachios, chopped

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

Spray your cake pan, whatever pan you are using, with cooking spray.

Make the cake according to the directions on the package and then fold in about 1/2 of the cranberries (discard the water) and the chopped pistachios. Reserve the rest for the topping.

Evenly spread the batter into your pan(s) and bake. If you are using a 9×13 baking pan, it will take about 30-35 minutes, or until it is golden brown and a toothpick that is inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let the cake cool completely before adding the frosting. Then generously sprinkle the remaining pistachios and cranberries on the top of the frosting.

Slice and serve.

Tis the season to be jolly and merry, and to share the holiday cheer with everyone you meet. Have a great holiday season. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I didn’t have to go very far for this little gem of a bird. We were watching TV and I was distracted by a beautiful new little bird that was twittering around in the tree just out by our big window. In fact, there were quite a few of these little Red Breasted Nuthatches playing around in the tree. I had never seen them before, but I am sure glad I have discovered them now. They are beautiful little birds.

These pictures are not the greatest quality since they were literally taken by looking through the window. And the little nuthatches twitted around so fast that it was hard to get them too. So I apologize for the poor quality of the shots. Sometimes you just have to go with what you can get. 🙂

I am always prepared for the unexpected. Sometimes, that’s all we get. Have a great day.

One just never knows what is going to come our of my kitchen on any given day. It is always a mystery, sometimes even to myself. Often I know a basic food item I will be cooking, but I never know just how I am going to cook it until I do. Sometimes it is like cooking from a mystery box. It keeps life in my kitchen fun, interesting and challenging. You just never know what to expect, and I like it that way. 🙂

Such was the case with my latest batch of pork chops. I knew I was going to be cooking pork chops, but I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them. Then I decided to bread them. And the rest you already know. I served it on top of a bed of couscous with my pumpkin and spinach mixture on top More Leafy Greens and my olive bread Tuscan Herbed Olive Bread on the side. Normally I am not much of a rose drinker, but we had some leftover from our party and I paired that with the dinner. It was actually pretty good and made for a good pairing. It wasn’t sweet, but was a dry rose. The sweetness is the part I am not fond of with roses or blush wines.

I coated my pork chops in an egg/milk dip first, then completely coated them in seasoned bread crumbs.

I seared them just like I would sear a steak, in a very hot skillet with a combination of butter and olive oil. I cooked them for about 3 minutes per side, or until the breadcrumbs were golden and I had a nice crust surrounding my pork.

After the crust was formed and was a nice golden brown, I popped them into the oven to finish cooking. I had the oven set at 400* F or about 200* C and continued to cook them for about 20-30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reached 165*F or 75*C.

While the pork was cooking, I made a simple creamy garlic sauce. I had a little bit leftover from before, so that was my base, then I added more cream, garlic, salt and fresh ground black pepper and parsley to make my sauce.

and Voila! Dinner is served. It was delicious. The pork was crusty on the outside and juicy and tender on the inside. In a word – PERFECT!

As I always say, play with your food. You just might surprise yourself. 🙂

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

Apparently it is goose season around my house. The Canadian geese are out by the 1000’s. They are everywhere. I guess they are all gathering together for the holidays. Everywhere I go, there is a gaggle of geese there too.

This is the back of my house.

Make your day a goosey day and make the most of of all your days.

Yesterday, Larry and I both had to go to the eye doctor. One of the things the eye doctor told us was to eat our leafy greens. I almost burst out laughing. Does she know how many leafy greens, and vegetables in general, we actually do eat? I laugh when people tell me to eat my vegetables. We actually eat more and a much larger selection of vegetables than many vegetarians and/or vegans. But listening to the doctor’s orders, I did cook up spinach for dinner. I cooked it with pumpkin, onions, garlic and mushrooms too. We always eat a ton of vegetables, and yes, we eat a lot of leafy greens as well. 🙂

Leafy greens, which includes, spinach, kale, collard greens, chard, turnip greens, arugula, and watercress are known as super foods. They are full of nutrients and do wonders for the body. They are loaded with  high levels of fiber, iron, magnesium, potassium and calcium. They also contain very little carbohydrates, sodium and cholesterol. The dark greens supply a significant amount of folate, a B vitamin that promotes heart health and helps prevent certain birth defects. Apparently leafy greens are good health foods for your eyes as well because of the lutein and zeaxanthin they contain. 

I sauteed all of my vegetables together in a combination of olive oil and butter and salt & pepper.

I served them with some breaded pork chops over couscous and topped it all with a creamy garlic sauce, with my Tuscan olive bread on the side. Tuscan Herbed Olive Bread Delicious!

See. Sometimes I actually do follow directions. I just rework them to meet my needs. 🙂

Have a great day Everyone. Stay safe and stay well, and eat your leafy greens. ‘Til next time.