A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Casseroles from leftovers means more leftovers of the casseroles. Casseroles and leftovers are a perfect match. They just go together like peanut butter and jelly. The best leftovers make the best casseroles too.

The definition of a casserole is really pretty vague in and of itself. It is defined as “any mixture of foods cooked in a metal, glass or pottery baking dish”. HUH? But in reality, a casserole is a layered dish made with either potatoes, rice or pasta and other ingredients that are all combined to make a one-pot dish, that are cut or spooned onto the plate, rather than being self contained, such as an enchilada. The casserole fillings are endless, and as I mentioned above, more so than not, they are made with leftovers. By combining the ingredients together vs. serving them side by side, you change the arrangements and the structure of the ingredients, which also changes the tastes of the ingredients.

Dinner last night was a casserole I made from my New Year’s Eve leftovers, so it was a Caribbean casserole. Ringing in the New Year. I served it with a small salad and some warmed bread to make for a simple yet tasty meal.

Other than my jalapeno-cilantro cream sauce, the whole dish was from leftovers of this and leftovers of that. The main ingredients were the rice, some of my black-eyed peas and chicken, all from our New Year’s feast. I also added some leftover vegetables, then made a jalapeno-cilantro cream sauce to bind everything together and topped it all with breadcrumbs.

Because there was no actual recipe, and I was literally just making it up as I went along and just trying to use my leftovers, I am only going to walk you through the steps of how I made my casserole. The basic steps are the same, regardless of the ingredients you actually do use.

I cut my chicken into thin strips and mixed it with the rice and black-eyed peas. I diced the rest of my vegetables and sauteed them in olive oil for 7 minutes, then combined them with the rice and chicken.

Jalapeno-Cilantro Cream Sauce

2-3 TBPS lime juice

1 jalapeno, diced fine

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3-4 oz jalapeno jack cheese

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped fine

2-3 TBSP butter

Preheat the oven to 350-375* F or about 1170-190* C

Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray

Saute the jalapeno, then add the lime juice and cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Then add the cream, cheese and cilantro and combine well. Let it cook down for a few minutes, then add the butter towards the end and mix in for a good creamy finish.

Once the sauce is made, combine it with the rice, chicken and vegetable mixture. (Had I have known I was going to be photographed, I would have dolled myself up a bit. 🙂 )

Pour it all into a 9×13 baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Spread it out evenly.

Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top of the casserole and dollop with butter.

Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes, or until the breadcrumb topping turns golden brown. Remove from the oven and let set for about 5-10 minutes then spoon it up.

I made a little side salad that I served alongside the casserole. I had some leftover mango dressing that I topped the salad with, to really make the whole meal completely from leftovers and completely Caribbean. 🙂 It was a colorful Caribbean style meal.

Stay safe and stay well everyone. ‘Til next time.

Julia Child was an inspiration to the world in many ways. She most definitely has had a major influence on me and my career, plus we also have a lot in common. She and I are most definitely kindred spirits.

We all know about Julia Child’s culinary influences on the world, but I bet a lot of people don’t know how she also liked to offer words of wisdom through her fun little quips. She was always coming up with something fun and witty. “Julia herself loved to quip. She was even known to quote herself, sometimes changing her words just enough to leave the ‘original’ to each person’s memory”.

Over the holidays, I bought myself a cute little book called “People Who Love to Eat Are Always the Best People” by Julia Child. I could not agree with this statement more.

None of us just wakes up one day as a great cook or a great chef. It takes years and years of practice and hard work. It takes getting your hands dirty and doing the work. It takes trial and error. It takes just getting in there and doing it.

Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Mistakes are part of the process. You have to learn to fail before you can learn to succeed.

Go in there and give them all you’ve got. Go in there and say “what the hell”.

Hope you all have a great day. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

The lakes have been pretty quiet these days. It is after all, winter, so a lot of our feathered and furry friends have gone else where for the time being. But if you look up high in the trees or on the streetlamps, you just may see quite a few birds enjoying their birds’ eye views of the world.

The pigeons and the black birds liked the lamp posts and street lights.

Then there was an American tree sparrow up high in the pine tree.

But again, my favorite is the American Kestrel who was posing high up in the tree by one of our lakes.

Never take your days for granted. Enjoy them all and make the most of them. Tomorrow is never guaranteed.

Larry has been hungry for green chili and the weather was cool and crisp which is just perfect for green chili. And since it was video time again, I thought it was a perfect time to show you how to make green chili. We Coloradans LOVE our green chili. There are so many different recipes out there. This is just one of many, endless types and styles.

This video is a little longer than most of my other videos, but worth every minute of it, especially when you make it and enjoy it. You can substitute chicken for the pork too, if pork is not your thing. That would be very good too.

As always, if you like what you see, please subscribe to my YouTube page and share it with your family and friends too.

The “jerk” style of cooking that is found all throughout the Caribbean, especially in Jamaica, gets its roots from the Taino Natives who inhabited the Caribbean Islands before the European settlers came. It is estimated that this style of cooking dates back at least 2500 years. This cooking style was then taught to the African slaves who were brought over to the islands. The word “jerk” branches out from the Spanish word charqui, which means dried strips of meat, which is similar to today’s jerky styled meats. The “jerk” is both a sauce made from spicy peppers, herbs and spices that meats and vegetables are marinated in and it is also a cooking method. Today, we usually just grill the meats, but traditionally, they were slow cooked over coals that were made from fresh green wood, which was most traditionally wood from the pimento tree.

Right now, the only adventurous traveling we are doing is in our imaginations and in my kitchen. As much as I would LOVE to be actually be down diving in the Caribbean right now, it’s just not going to happen at the moment. As you know, we hosted a little get together for New Year’s Eve Ringing in the New Year and black-eyed peas were prominently featured in the meal. I made my whole portion of the meal Caribbean, and served the black-eyed peas with some jerk chicken.

This is supposed to be a spicy dish with a kick. So you can adjust the heat as much as you like. If you like it milder, add less of the peppers and don’t add the red pepper flakes. If you like it hot, add more and really kick it up. I tend to like things on the spicy side, but when I am cooking for others who do not like it so hot, I tone it down a bit.

Jerk Chicken

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup green onions,chopped fine

2 TBSP garlic

2 TBSP ginger

1 TBSP fresh thyme, chopped or 1 tsp dried thyme

2 TBSP fresh cilantro, chopped fine

2 jalapenos, diced fine

1/4 lime juice

salt & pepper to taste

red pepper flakes to taste

3-4 lbs chicken – either breasts or pieces

Mix all the ingredients together well and pour over the chicken pieces. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before grilling.

Grill it over a hot grill until the chicken is completely cooked. Reserve the marinate and heat it up in a skillet or pan, then top it over the cooked chicken when ready to serve.

Serve with your favorite Caribbean side dishes and soon you will be transported to the warm tropics of the Caribbean, even if only in mind and spirit, and certainly with your taste buds.

Happy New Year. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

As you know, I am always looking for something new and different to cook. Because we travel around the world so much, we love trying all different kinds of ethnic foods as well. I am lucky in that Larry is almost as an adventurous eater as I am, so he lets me experiment with all kinds of foods and recipes. Italian foods are so much a part of our culture now, that they rarely seem exotic any more. Don’t be fooled though. There are still tons and tons of new (and old) exciting Italian recipes out there, just waiting to be tried. This recipe for the chicken and sausage stew is one such recipe. But now that we’ve tried it, and love it, it will definitely be added to my ever growing and extensive reservoir of good foods to make. 🙂

I served this delicious chicken and sausage stew over some pan-fried potatoes with cheese bread on the side. I finished it off with a smooth merlot. It was the same merlot I used to make the sauce, which is what you are supposed to do, according to my fabulous mentor, the one and only, Julia Child. If you are vegan or vegetarian, this is most definitely NOT a dish for you. This dish is for the hearty meat-loving carnivores.

Traditionally, this dish is made with guinea fowl, but that is not something I find a lot of here in my neck of the woods, so I substituted chicken instead, which works just fine. In Italian, this dish is known as faraona al vino rosso or fowl in a red wine sauce. The Italian name sounds so much more romantic.

Chicken and Sausage in Red Wine Sauce

2 lbs chicken – I used breasts, but you can use pieces too

flour

salt & pepper to taste

olive oil and butter for cooking

2 oz pancetta or prosciutto, sliced

1 onion, diced fine

4 cups red wine

1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced

1/2-3/4 lb ground Italian sausage

3 tomatoes, cored and diced

1 TBSP garlic

dash nutmeg

1 TBSP each fresh basil, thyme, oregano and sage, chopped fine or 1 tsp each of dried herbs

mozzarella cheese for topping

Mix the flour, salt and pepper and coat the chicken with the flout mixture. Sear the chicken in a hot pan with the oil and butter, making sure it is browned on all sides. Once the chicken is browned, removed it from the pan and set aside.

Cook the sausage until it is completely cooked, then add the onions, garlic and mushrooms. Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes. Then add the tomatoes, wine and herbs. When the chicken is completely browned, add it to the sauce. Save some of the herbs, especially if using fresh herbs for the topping. Cover the pan, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, and continue to cook for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Once the chicken is completely cooked, it is time to serve it up. You can serve it over rice, pasta or potatoes. I liked it over potatoes, because it made it more like a hearty hunters’ stew. Then top the chicken with mozzarella cheese, immediately after removing it from the heat, so it is still hot and can melt the cheese. Next, add the prosciutto and the remaining fresh herbs on top. You can cook up the prosciutto or you can eat it as is. If you cook it, it will be more like bacon. !Buon Appetito y Mangia!

Happy New Year Everyone. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Well 2020 is finally over. It is now behind us FOREVER. Let’s hope 2021 is better for everyone.

We had a small New Year’s gathering at our house to make sure 2020 actually left and 2021 was really happening. Jonathan, Priscilla, Laura and Gabe all came over for dinner.

We are ready to eat and ready to celebrate.

As usual, Priscilla, Laura and I all made parts of the dinner. Being 1/2 Texan, black-eyed peas were definitely a focal point of the dinner. I served them Caribbean style this time, with some lemon rice and jerk chicken.

Laura made these fabulous spinach balls with an aioli sauce as an appetizer.

Priscilla made a delicious gingerbread cake for dessert. Everything was so good!!!!! And of course, we had lots of wine and champagne throughout the evening as well as plenty of good food food, good conversations and a lot of fun. After dinner, we all joined Janet and Bob for a ZOOM Farkle game. Everyone had a good time. There were lots of laughs and stories told, and we all made sure we stayed up to ring in the new year and kick 2020 to the curb.

We are all set up and ready to let the Farkle games begin. May the best person win. (I won this time). 🙂

Black-eyed peas are a Southern tradition for New Years. They are believed to bring good luck to all those who eat them at New Years. New Year’s Good Luck with Black-Eyed Peas and Ham Soup. I made a BIG batch of the black-eyes peas too. I wanted to make sure we all had A LOT of good luck for 2021 to make up for how bad 2020 was. It was fun to make them Caribbean style too.

Caribbean Style Black-Eyed Peas

1 lb dried black-eyed peas

2 TBSP olive oil

1 onion, diced fine

1/2 small pumpkin cut into chunks

2 celery stalks, diced fine

1-2 TBSP garlic

1 red bell pepper, diced fine

3-4 jalapenos, diced fine

salt & pepper to taste

red pepper flakes to taste, optional

4 bay leaves

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp thyme

8 oz of fresh spinach, kale or greens, chopped rough

4-5 cups chicken, vegetable or ham stock

green onions for topping

Soak the black-eyed peas in water, enough to completely cover them for at least 6-12 hours. Then drain and rinse them.

In a large pot, heat the oil, then add the vegetables and spices and cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until the onions become translucent.

Add the beans and mix everything together well.

Add the stock. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 1 hour, stirring frequently.

Add the spinach and thoroughly mix into the mixture, just until it becomes wilted throughout, then remove from the heat and serve.

Serve it with either white, yellow, or lemon rice and top with chopped green onions. I served mine with Caribbean jerk chicken, but ham or pork would go well with this dish too. Champagne, Proseco, or a sparkling white wine or a crispy, citrusy white wine would be a very nice accompaniment for this dish. It is very colorful and very festive, and full of Caribbean flavor and warmth.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2021 brings you all lots of good luck, health and happiness. Cheers!

Well 2021 is not even here yet, and already, I can tell it is going to be a much better year than 2020. As you all know, we lost our beautiful big girl Lucie this year. This was devastating. We looked through all the doggie adoption services, both near and far, but no one was available to us. But my sister-in-law came to the rescue. We used to have a malamute, and absolutely love that breed too. My sister-in-law found a malamute breeder with puppies in Goodland, Kansas. Today, we put a down payment of one of the babies. We will get her in mid to late January. Meet our new baby girl, Juneau or Junie Bug.

I think we can all say goodbye and good riddance to 2020. Let’s hope 2021 is much, much better for everyone.

I am to the point where I just need to have my camera with me at all times. There is so much going on all around me, all the time, and if I don’t have my camera with me, I am going to miss out. These are some fun shots of the squirrels and robins I took from my office window, while working away.

The red robin.

Squirrels at play. From the rooftop.

Squirrels in the tree. There about 4 of them in the trees. Two were playing on the same branch. You can just barely see the second squirrel’s tail on the bottom of the branch, hidden behind the pines.

There is always so much to see. You just have to open your eyes and beauty and nature are all around.