A Jeanne in the Kitchen

The pound cake first got its name because when it was first created, it had a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour, and it took considerable effort to make.  Luckily today, things have changed; a lot!  We no longer use a pound of each of those ingredients and fortunately, they are pretty easy to make today, but the name remains the same.  Whether they be the pound cakes of yesterday or the more efficient, slightly healthier versions of today, we still love our pound cakes, in all varieties.  Adding lemon and poppy seeds makes this cake an even more delicious and desirable dessert, at least to me, and I think by adding both the lemon and the poppy seeds it makes this the perfect light Spring treat, that can be eaten at any time of the day.

Before baking.

The finished lemony treat.

Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake

2 cups flour

2 TBSP poppy seeds

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 TBSP lemon juice

3/4 cups or 1 1/3 sticks of softened butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 tsp lemon extract

1/2 cup of either plain yogurt or sour cream

Preheat the oven to 325*F Spray your baking loaf pan with cooking spray.

Mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside.  Blend the butter and sugar together for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs 1 at a time, and blend.  Add the lemon juice, lemon extract and yogurt or sour cream until well blended.  Add the flour mixture 1/2 at a time and blend well.  Pour the batter into your prepared baking loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and it is golden brown.

Let the cake cool completely then spread with lemon glaze.

Lemon Glaze

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 TBSP softened butter

3 TBSP heavy whipping cream

1 tsp lemon extract

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

pinch of salt

Combine everything together in a mixer and mix thoroughly.  It will be a thick glaze.  Immediately spread over the cake.  There is a delicious bit of spring in every bite.  Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

I love garlic.  Garlic is one of my staples that goes in just about everything I cook.  So it should come as no surprise that I love anything with a pesto sauce, since garlic is one of it’s main ingredients, and it is so easy to make.  Most people who know of pesto only know of it being made with basil, which is the traditional pesto, however, I have also made it with spinach, cilantro, sundried tomatoes, and a whole host of other ingredients as well.  In the summer, lemon verbena grows wild in my backyard, so I often use that as well as the basil.  Again, most people think pasta when they think of pesto, which is how most people use it.  But I use pesto in a lot of other dishes as well, such as pizza, or with potatoes, although, I did a traditional pesto served over pasta and chicken with sauteed vegetables this time, which I served with the bacon and onion fougasse and a light, crisp viognier.    I chose a lighter wine so it would not compete with the fresh, bold flavors of the pesto.  I love to play around and try new things, but the traditional and original versions of foods are just as good.  Mixing and fusing different foods is like art.  You have to know the basics before you can change things around.

 

Traditional Pesto

fresh basil

garlic

toasted pine nuts

Parmagiano cheese

olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

 

Blend all the ingredients together in a food processor until well blended and to the consistency you like, and voila, you are done.  Super easy and super delicious.  Feel free to experiment with different nuts and different herbs too.  I use different nuts and different herbs all the time.  They are all good and sometimes it is fun to try a new twist on an old classic.

 

 

 

Every now we just have to have a good, special steak dinner.  Steak Oscar is one of our favorites and definitely fits the bill for being a special, elegant dinner.   It is a simple dinner to prepare.  It is surf and turf with flair.

Steak Oscar

Steak seasoned and prepared how you like it, served over mashed potatoes, then topped with cooked asparagus and crab. It is all finished with a hollandaise sauce.  Simple and elegant, but a fusion of deliciousness.

I served it with the onion and bacon fougasse and the olive dip  and a rich bold cab franc.

 

Hollandaise Sauce

2-3 egg yolks

1 tsp Dijon mustard

a pinch of nutmeg

a pinch of cayenne pepper

a splash of water

2/3-1 stick of melted butter

Whisk all the ingredients together except the butter.  In a stainless steel or glass bowl, directly over the flame, and over a pan of boiling water, whisk the egg mixture continuously while slowly pouring the melted butter and incorporating it in.  You must keep whisking the egg mixture or it will cook.  This whole process does not take very long at all; only a couple of minutes.

 

 

 

Fougasse is a traditional French flat bread that is very similar to it’s Italian cousin foccacia.  And just like it’s Italian cousin, there are many different varieties of fougasse.  This is just one of many, and believe me, it is fabulous.  It is wonderful on it’s own, but even better dipped in an olive oil and flavored dip.  For anyone who knows me, they know patience is not one of my virtues, although it is one I am learning and learning to appreciate more and more as I make more and more breads.  This was not difficult to make at all, but it had 3 risings, so it took the better part of the day to make, but it is definitely worth the wait. C’est bon!

The second rise, after I added the bacon and onion.

The third rise, before putting in the oven.

 

Le produit fin!

 

2 1/2 cups flour, separated, plus more for dusting and rolling

2 TBSP dry active yeast

1 cup water

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 onion, peeled and chopped fine

bacon, cooked and chopped

1/3-1/2 cup olive oil

 

Put 1 1/2 cups flour, all the yeast and about 3/4 cups of water into a mixing bowl and beat together for about 3 minutes or until it makes a thick dough.  Let it rise for about 3-4 hours.  This is your first rise.

Cook the bacon to your desired doneness and remove.  Saute the onion in the bacon grease until it is translucent.  Add both the bacon and onion, as well as the rest of the flour, salt and about 1/4 cup of the olive oil.  Mix all the ingredients together and let rise again, for about 1 more hour.

Divide the dough.  I made 2 larger loaves, but you can make 3 smaller loaves if you prefer.  Roll each piece to a roundish shape to about 1 ” thickness (this is supposed to be rustic, so perfection is actually not what you are looking for).  Slice some diagonal cuts down the sides and the middle of the dough and brush with remaining olive oil.  Place on baking sheets and let rise once more for about 1 more hour.

Bake at 450* F/230*C for 15-20 minutes or until it is golden brown.

I love to dip my breads in olive oil mixed with a little bit of each garlic, fried onions, red pepper flakes, black pepper and balsamic vinegar.  Bon apetite!

 

As I am looking out my window right now, it is snowing again, which means it is perfect soup weather, even though it is officially spring.  One of my favorites is a thick split pea soup, filled with all kinds of warmth and deliciousness.   The ham from the other day became the soup of today.  And there is nothing better than a rich, hearty soup to help warm you up from the inside out to remove all the chills.  My dad used to say that “it would warm the cockles of your heart”, and that it does.  I’ll serve this with the left over bierocks from the other day and we will have a perfect light dinner.

Hearty Split Pea Soup

I start with making the ham stock by boiling the ham bone in water, making sure I can get all the ham off the bone.

cooked ham, cut into chunks (I like bigger chunks, but cut them into whatever size you like)

onions, diced small

carrots, diced small

celery, diced small

dried split peas

frozen peas (optional)

green onions

thyme

oregano

salt & pepper to taste

ham or chicken stock

olive oil

 

Saute the onions, carrots and celery in olive oil until soft and translucent.  Then add the dried split peas and saute them for a couple of minutes.  Add your stock and bring to a boil.  Once the liquid has come to a rapid boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook until the lentils have become soft and almost mushy.  I usually cook mine down for at least an hour or more.  Feel free to add more stock as needed.  Add the ham, frozen peas (if using), oregano and thyme and continue cooking.  Top with chopped green onions right before serving.  Delicious!

 

 

A large part of how this blog came to be is through a dear friend of mine who was so impressed with how I can take a little of this and a little of that, stir my magic spoon and come up with something totally new, using leftovers that look look nothing at all like the first-overs.  I do this all the time.  I always have, but I really mastered this skill while running commercial kitchens and through my catering career.  My chef (who worked under me) and myself prided ourselves on starting with a full refrigerator on Monday and by Friday it was empty again, and whatever we had left over was turned into something completely new, but just as delicious.  This was a great skill to have in the restaurant business because it really helps your bottom line and the budget.

My Italian cinnamon mascarpone rolls are a prime example of how my magic spoon works.  When I made my bierocks and sausage rolls, I used all my filling and sausages, but still had some dough left over.  I also had some left over mascarpone mixture with cinnamon, pistachios and chocolate from my Italian mascarpone cheesecake, as well as some left over lemon glaze from my lemon-rosemary cookies.  I was trying to figure out what to do with all of them when the idea struck me to combine them all and see what I come up with.  And voila; my Italian cinnamon mascarpone rolls were created.   I also added more cinnamon and some turbinado sugar.  They were a huge hit too.   I believe the most important ingredients in any kitchen are imagination and creativity, mixed with love and passion.  Manja!

 

 

My husband is German-American and tonight, I paid a little tribute to his German roots by cooking some of his favorite foods that he grew up with for our company who was visiting from California.  My mother-in-law is “famous” for her sausage rolls and bierocks, as they are known in Kansas, but they are also known as runzas or cabbage burgers  in other parts of the mid-west.  Bierocks are delicious meat pockets that look like a stuffed hamburger, with everything baked right inside the bun.  I can show you pictures, but because it is a family heirloom and treasure, and the recipe is heavily guarded, and I cannot divulge the actual recipe.

The filling – Ground beef, cabbage, onions, garlic and mushrooms.  One is vegetarian, made with vegan sausage, but otherwise the same.  One of our guests was vegetarian, so I made her some as well.  Cooking vegetarian isn’t any more difficult or challenging than  cooking non-vegetarian.

The Dough

The filled pockets, both meat and vegetarian, and the vegetarian sausage rolls as well before baking.  I used 2 types of vegetarian sausages.  One kind was a ground sausage that I used for the “meat” pockets, and then I used vegetarian sausage links for the sausage rolls.  I cooked them both the same way I cooked all the actual meat products, but of course I cooked them separately.

The finished bierocks and sausage rolls

Our welcoming spread that warmed our California guests who are not used to our wacky, unpredictable Colorado Spring weather.  Our complete meal consisted of both the bierocks and the sausage rolls; a corn, tomato, onion and basil salad; a red potato salad with a dill-mustard vinaigrette; the hazelnut brownies (you’ve seen them before); and a totally new creation for dessert (I will tell you more about that in my next post).    We also served a variety of wines and ports to round off the meal.  We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and of course, we all ate too much; again.

As I mentioned yesterday, Spring in Colorado is really unpredictable.  We had unseasonably warm weather a couple of days ago, and today it is snowing.   We have a saying here, “if you don’t like the weather here, just wait 5 minutes, and it will change”.  This is so true too.  The way we cook here also varies just as much as our weather does.  Yesterday’s post was a Seared Ahi Tuna salad, perfect for warmer weather.  Today’s post is of a baked ham with a honey-mustard-tarragon sauce.   I needed to keep the oven on for a couple of hours to help us warm up the house, plus we also needed something a little more hardy to stick to our ribs.  I have company coming from California today, and they are not quite sure what to make of our wonderful, unpredictable weather.  I will treat them to some delicious, warming foods during their stay, and hopefully that will help them adjust a bit.  But you will have to stay tuned for that one; that is yet to come.  In fact, I am off to the kitchen to start preparing right now.

You can see one of my assistants, Lucie, in the background.  She is supervising, desperately hoping I drop some on the floor for her to clean up.  She is such a big help!

 

When I make a salad, I really make a salad.  I like all different colors and textures mixed in with my salads.  I use a lot of different vegetables and nuts, seeds, or tortilla strips to add to the variety.  Most of the time, I make my own dressings too.  As the weather gets warmer, we eat more and more salads.  We eat the heavier foods when the weather gets colder.  Spring is just getting started though and right now our weather is hitting all four seasons in any given day.  So a salad today and maybe something cooked in the oven tomorrow.  Who knows?  This is Spring in Colorado and it is always very unpredictable.

Seared Ahi Tuna Salad

Seared ahi tuna, leaving the center nice and pink and tender

chopped romaine lettuce

shredded red cabbage

shredded carrot

cucumber slices

hard boiled egg

red onion, sliced very thin

cooked asparagus

red bell pepper strips

sliced avocado

green onions

fried tortilla strips (optional)

 

Today, I used my cherry vinaigrette, which paired nicely with the tuna and was very tasty.  My husband likes cheese on everything, but hates avocado.   Be creative.  Use what you like.  By adding a lot of color and texture, you are not only getting a lot of variety, but you are also getting a lot of nutrients from various sources, as well as getting in your servings of at least 5 fruits or vegetables.  Eat healthy and enjoy (especially after my indulgence of the decadent hazelnut brownie earlier).

 

 

 

 

We all love brownies, and it seems the more ooey and gooey they are, the better we like them.  These brownies definitely fit the bill of being ooey and gooey and they are most definitely delicious.  These are eat with a fork or spoon brownies.  Counting calories is completely obsolete so don’t even bother.  All I can say is I am glad I am having salad for dinner tonight.  I think I blew my calorie count for the day, or maybe even possibly the week,  with my first bite.  Oh well.  Life is short.  Eat the brownies, walk on the wild side.

I cannot take credit for creating these decadent treats, but I would most definitely like to meet Ms. Candace Braun Davison, the creator of these treats and thank her.  I found the recipe on delish.

Before baking, I layered the brownies, starting with the brownie mix, then the hazelnut spread, and topped them off with more brownie mix.

The finished, melt-in-your-mouth brownie.  They are both Heaven sent and decadent at the same time.

Hazelnut Brownies

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup flour

1 cup cocoa powder

4 large eggs

1 13 oz jar of hazelnut spread or Nutella

Ferrero Rocher candies,  crumbled

 

Preheat oven to 350*F.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and the sugar.  Remove from the heat and add the flour, salt, cocoa powder and mix together.  Then whisk in the eggs.

Spray your baking pan with cooking spray.  I used a 9×13 pan, but if you want them even more decadent, use a smaller pan.  That will make them thicker.  Spoon 1/2 the brownie mix into the pan, then add your hazelnut spread with a spoon and gently spread over the chocolate mixture.  Gently spoon the rest of the chocolate mixture over the hazelnut layer and bake  for about 25-30 minutes.  You do not want to over bake the brownies.  The desired result is to have them soft and ooey-gooey.

Let them cool for at least 20 or so minutes before adding another layer of hazelnut spread.  Crumble some Ferrero Rocher candies on top, and be prepared for a few bites of pure bliss.