I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
We took Vinnie on a long walk, totaling about 5 miles. We live in Westminster, and Broomfield is just a hop, skip and a jump away. From our house to Broomfield is about 1 1/2 miles, but we went all around yet another nearby lake/pond and then back. It was a beautiful day and we all needed the walk. There were lots of prairie dogs out and about and quite a few squirrels and magpies too.
The prairie dogs were playful and curious, yet still a bit cautious too.
A new lake/pond that we never knew about, literally just across the way from us.
The big, long walk. One side of the bridge was in Westminster and the other in Broomfield.
The magpies were out in numbers today as well, although I only got a few good shots of them. They were a bit elusive.
But there were lots and lots of playful squirrels all around.
Hope you liked our “Nature Walk”. They are plenty more in store.
It’s video time again. This time I made some lamb sliders, Colorado style. They were bold and spicy and filled with lots of Colorado attitude. And they were very good too. This is just one of countless ways you can make sliders. Sliders are fun “little burgers” that have a personality all their own. They are all the rage right now, just about everywhere you go too.
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As much as I pride myself on making most everything from scratch most of the time, there are times when even I don’t feel like it. Granted, these days are few and far between, but they do happen. Last night was one of those nights when I just really didn’t feel like cooking up a storm, so I made an easy-peasy meal combining leftovers, and God forbid, even using something from a box. Scary thought, I know, coming from Jeanne, from “A Jeanne in the Kitchen“, but it does happen. Rarely, but it does happen. 🙂
I have a knack for being able to dress up even the simplest of dishes so they don’t look like they are either leftovers or that they came from a box. It’s a gift. 🙂
I had some leftover squash butter Crostini with Squash Butter and Ricotta Cheese and Caramelized Shallots that I wanted to use, but I wasn’t quite sure how. I decided to use it as a base that I put my pork chops on top of, then added some of vegetables and a bit of Parmigiano cheese. I do actually have a little bit leftover, yet again, that I already have another fantastic idea in mind for. Stay tuned. You will soon see how creative I can be, if you haven’t already. I made a boxed pasta (a very rare thing) but again, you would never know it, because I sauteed some vegetables and added them to the pasta. All of this was finished off with a light white blend on the side, and it made for a simple, easy-peasy delicious dinner in a flash.
I coated my pork pieces (they were not pork chops) in flour mixed with salt, pepper and Cajun spices, then seared them until they were browned and crusty. I finished them in the oven until they were completely cooked.
For the vegetables and pasta mix I sauteed some green beans, garlic, onions and red peppers along with salt and pepper in some olive oil and butter and just added those to my boxed pasta. Simple, but dressed up.
And that, added with a bit of bread, the last of my crusty cob bread, and wine, was dinner. A Crusty Cob
Did you know it was partially from leftovers or some of it came from a box? If the answer is “NO”, then that means I did my job well. If the answer is “YES” then I still have some work to do. 🙂
Chilies of all kinds have been grown and cultivated in Mexico for about 3500 years. According to many accounts, cultivated chile peppers were introduced to the United States by Captain General Juan de Onate, the founder of Santa Fe, in 1609, when the Spanish first came to this region. However, they may have been introduced to the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico by the Antonio Espejo, during his expedition of 1582 – 1583.
Hatch chilies are a special kind of chili, because they are an ideal balance of heat and sweet, though they come in a wide range of spiciness and heat too. When these chilis are roasted, they have a smoky, earthy, almost buttery taste to them, as well as those varying degrees of heat. These chilies are always roasted or cooked because they will be nothing but pure fire otherwise. Roasting, or blistering, is the application of heat to the surface resulting in blistering of the skin, which then separates from the chili flesh, making the skin easier to remove. There are several ways to blister pepper skin for easy removal. When doing big batches, they are placed in a special roaster. When I do small batches at home, I just put them directly over an open flame or grill. These chilies are called Hatch chilies because they are grown in the Hatch Valley of New Mexico, which stretches north and south along the Rio Grande, from Arrey to Tonuco.
It is Hatch chili season here in Colorado, (we Coloradans love our chilies) and just about everywhere you go, you can find little street vendors roasting and selling chilies. You can certainly buy Hatch chilies individually, or by the pound, which will give you about 8 chilies, but they are most often sold in units of either a sack or a bushel. A sack is about 35 lbs and a bushel is about 20-22 lbs. Either way it is a lot of chilies. Luckily, they freeze well. Often these street vendors will run a special, two bushels for the price of one. We learned just how many chilies were in a bushel the last time we bought them this way, so this year we decided to go in with our friends Janet and Bob and we each brought home one bushel’s worth of chilies instead of two. One bushel of chilies is still a lot of chilies though. Last year, we did not peel them and seed them before freezing them, which made them a big pain in the neck to work with. We quickly learned our lesson, and learned to peel them and seed them first, then freeze them.
The peeling and seeding process.
Our final result was eight sandwich bags filled completely. This will go a long way, since I normally use anywhere from 4-6 chilies per recipe.
A few weeks ago, when I went to our local farmer’s market, I picked up a delicious looking bison steak. The Farmer’s Market I put it in the freezer until I was ready to cook it up and make something special with it. When cooking wild game, I like big, bold flavors (even more than usual) to go with it. You want something strong enough to accompany the big, bold flavors of the game meat without getting drowned out or over powering it. I made a cream sauce with Grand Marnier, onions, peppers, and mushrooms. It topped the bison perfectly. To accompany the bison, I served it over some creamy mashed potatoes and served it with hearty roasted vegetables and my crusty cob bread A Crusty Cob and a hearty red blend to complete the meal. It was a true Colorado meal, finished with a great Colorado wine. The wine was from Bookcliff Vineyards, one of our local wineries. Bookcliff Vineyards in Boulder
I started off by marinating the bison in my Big Game Rub from Traegar, which I marinated for about 8 hours before grilling it up. This also gave me plenty of time to think about what I wanted to top it with too.
I love creamy sauces. They are a weakness of mine. So I decided to make my sauce a bold, creamy sauce, full of big, hearty flavors. I sauteed mushrooms, onions, red bell peppers and roasted Hatch chilies for the base, then added the Grand Marnier and cream to finish it off.
Creamy Grand Marnier Sauce with Vegetables
1 cup mushrooms, sliced in thick slices
1/2 onion, sliced in thick slices
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced in thick slices
3-4 roasted Hatch chilies, skinned and seeded, chopped in a medium dice
1 TBSP garlic
salt and pepper to taste
butter and olive oil to cook
2-3 TBPS Grand Marnier
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2-3 TBPS butter to finish the sauce
Cook the all the vegetables with the salt and pepper, except the roasted peppers, in a combination of both olive oil and butter until the onions are translucent, for about 5-7 minutes.
Add the Grand Marnier, carefully and slowly, and let it flambe. Be VERY careful with this. If you ARE NOT comfortable with it, DON’T do it. The flames will die off in about 1 minute. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Once the flames have died down and most of the liquid has evaporated, add the cream and the roasted Hatch chilies. Mix everything together well and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 7-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Turn off the heat and add the rest of the butter to mix into the sauce.
Once the bison is cooked, top it with the sauce. Bison is a very lean meat, so you do not want to over cook it or it will be tough and chewy, and will taste like shoe leather. It is best when served medium rare.
The bison came out so tender and flavorful and the sauce was the perfect topping for it too. Proof positive you can still walk on the wild side and be civilized at the same time. 🙂
Many of you might already know about the problems I have been having with my internet/blogging connections. I have been unable to receive any of your blogs or notifications, and many of you have not been able to receive mine either. This has gone on for about 2 months. I have sent many nastygrams to CenturyLink, to no avail, and have been in contact with WordPress the whole time too. I found WordPress to be very helpful. CenturyLink, on the other hand, not so much. I even switched my email provider for my blogs to my other account. They now come in through my gmail account. But I was still not able to receive your blogs and notifications. Well, it turns our that somehow, my email notification button had been turned off. I did not do this, and I don’t know why this was never brought to my attention sooner. But … long story short, all has now been fixed (I hope), and everything should be running smoothly once again. Thank you all for your patience and understanding while I was going through a rough spot of nothing but technical difficulties. I was not ignoring you. I wasn’t getting your notifications.
I have told you many times I could easily make a meal out of nothing but bread and be a very happy camper. I LOVE breads of all kinds. I love making breads too. I find it very relaxing to work with and knead the dough. My most recent bread making experience was this “crusty cob” bread. It is actually like a very crusty sourdough, made with only five ingredients.
A crusty cob bread is a very old bread with its roots coming from England during the medieval times. It was known as bottom bread because it was cooked at the bottom of the stone ovens. A cob bread is known as a round loaf of bread in England and in all the British colonies. Today, these cob breads are made with both white and wheat flours, but traditionally, they were made with wheat flour.
Crusty Cob Bread
4 cups of flour + extra for dusting
1 TBSP salt
1 oz or 2 TBSP dry active yeast
1/2 stick of butter, softened
1 1/4 cups warm water
Mix the flour, salt, yeast and butter together. Then add most of the water and mix it in to the mixture. Mix until the dough starts to form.
Add the rest of the water and combine thoroughly to make your dough. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until the dough forms into a ball.
Place the dough back into the bowl, cover it and let it rise for 2 hours. I like to oil my bowl so the dough does not stick to it.
After the dough has risen for the first rise, reshape it back into a ball and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover it once again. and let it rise again for another hour.
Preheat the oven to 425* F or 220* C.
With a sharp, serrated knife, score the top of the bread. This helps release the gasses from the bread while baking. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the bread. The flour on top prevents the dough from sticking to any surfaces while rising.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the bread is golden and hollow when tapping on it from the bottom.
This bread is best served when hot with soft, creamy butter smeared on top. YUM! I could easily live on bread and butter. Marie Antoinette may have said “let them eat cake”, but I say let them eat bread.
I know I said I would post this recipe a few days ago, and I am late in posting it, but you know, life happens, and it’s all good. When we had our fried chicken, I decided to make some good old downhome sides to go with it. A Downhome Kind of Meal – Part 1 – The Vegetables Now, I am finally getting around to the sweet potatoes. Anticipation. It’s good for us. 🙂
I used the same Cajun/Creole spice mix for the sweet potatoes that I did for my Creole zucchini and tomatoes, and also for my jambalaya, and also added a red onion and some bacon. That’s it. That’s all that was needed to turn these sweet potatoes from plain to exciting. Video #11 – Making Jambalaya Creole Style These sweet potatoes are so easy and simple to make, but they taste great.
Sweet Potatoes with Bacon and Onions
The Cajun/Creole Spice Mix
4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 red onion, sliced very thin or diced fine
6 pieces of bacon, cubed
2 TBSP Cajun/Creole mix
olive oil and/or butter for cooking
Cook the bacon until crisp. Then remove the bacon and set aside. Add the oil and/or butter and the sweet potatoes. Stir often so they don’t burn. Cook until the sweet potatoes are browned and crispy. Then add the spices and the onions and re-add the bacon.
Cover and cook for about 5-10 minutes, then serve next to your favorite entre. You’re going to love it. I garr-un-tee it!
I love sweet potatoes anyway, and they are very healthy for you, but they are even better when cooked with bacon, though I have to admit, not nearly as healthy. We all know EVRYTHING is better with bacon. 🙂
We love doing our little monthly drives, exploring all the beauty Colorado has to offer. And Colorado is most definitely a beautiful state too. This time, we took our big boy, Vinnie, with us as well. Usually we go on our own, but this time we thought Vinnie needed a break. Vinnie was all too excited about his big bye-bye trip.
We drove up through the Squaw Pass, and came home down through Evergreen. Squaw Pass is up there, with the elevation at 9,790 feet. There were times when we were literally driving through the clouds to reach the top. It was so cool and surreal, and even a bit mystical.
Once we got through the clouds, it was bright blue skies. It was a bit deceiving though, because it looks like it would be nice and warm, but at the highest point, the temperature was 32* F or 0*C. It got warmer as we got further down, but it was still a nice cool and chilly fall day.
It is also the perfect time of year to go leafing, or seeing the colors of the aspens change. The colors were in bright golds and orange, with hints of red, and were just breathtaking.
Whenever we take these drives, I am always on the lookout for critters. Today, the only critter we saw other than our own big boy, was a small black-tailed ground squirrel. He was just so darn cute.
Vinnie thoroughly enjoyed his big day out. We haven’t been able to take the dogs much lately, because Lucie couldn’t do it, and we didn’t think it was fair to take Vinnie and leave Lucie at home. So this was a special treat for Vinnie. He was king of the rock.
Then he became the leader of our wildlife expedition and trek through the mountains. He was totally loving it, leaving his mark at every tree and sniffing out all the new smells and scents.
Vinnie lead us on a trail that was about 1-1 1/2 miles in each direction. He was a good lead and scout too; until there was another dog. Then he felt like he had to prove he was the lead dog.
It was out 17th wedding anniversary yesterday. We celebrated the day with a beautiful drive up through the mountains with our big boy Vinnie. After dropping him off at home, we freshened up a bit and went to Carrabba’s Italian Grill for a delicious Italian dinner. Larry wanted me to cook, and when I refused, he said he would cook, and serve up some leftovers. UMMMMM, NO!!!!!!!! I cook everyday, I was NOT going to cook on our anniversary, nor did I want leftovers either. So we chose to go to Carrabba’s instead. That was indeed a very good choice. We don’t go out to eat all that often, unless we are traveling, but every now and then we do. We always love our dinners at Carrabba’s Italian Grill. The food is always fresh and delicious and there is always so much of it too.
Carrabba’s is a chain restaurant, and usually I try to write about the smaller, independent restaurants instead of the chain restaurants, but good food deserves a shout out regardless of where it comes from, and this was most definitely very good food. Carrabba’s Italian Grill is owned by Bloomin’ Brands, Inc., the same company that owns a lot of other national restaurant chains, like Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill, and Flemings Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar. Carrabba’s is an Italian-American restaurant best known for its wood-burning grill, that is the inspiration for so many great Italian dishes and recipes.
When we first sat down, we were greeted with some delicious warm bread and a pesto dipping sauce. I could very easily make a meal just on the bread alone, and all too often I fill up on bread and then don’t have room for my dinner when it comes. Although I was good this time, and did not fill up on bread, I was still too full to finish my dinner.
For our main meals, Larry ordered lasagna. Lasagna is one dish I don’t cook all that often at home because I am not a big cheese fan, and particularly not ricotta cheese. Both of our meals came with the choice of soup or salad. Larry ordered a salad to go with his meal. I was cold and soup just seemed to hit the spot, so I ordered the sausage and lentil soup as my starter. Both were very good.
Larry’s lasagna was just what he was hoping it would be and he ate every bite. It was loaded with with both pomodoro sauce and meat sauce, and ricotta, Pargmigiano, romano and mozzarella cheese.
Being the seafood lover that I am, particularly when it comes to shrimp and/or scallops, I ordered the Spiedino di Mare, or breaded shrimp and scallops topped with lemon butter, with fettuccine Alfredo as my side dish. I only ate half of my dinner, so I get to enjoy it once again for lunch. Both the shrimp and the scallops were grilled to perfection and the pasta was very light and filled with flavor.
Once again, we left very full and very satisfied. We went to the Carrabba’s Italian Grill in Westminster, CO, located at 7401 W. 92nd Avenue. Look for the Carrabba’s near you for a delicious Italian-American meal. !Mangia!
A Jeanne in the Kitchen 