A Jeanne in the Kitchen

It’s been a while since I have featured a guest chef.  I am always looking for someone to share their recipes with me, and therefore share them with all of us.  But sadly, not many people have been sending me their recipes and their photos lately, so there hasn’t been anyone to feature.  But guess what ….  We have a new guest chef now.

Our new guest chef is ……. Asha Batchelor.  We know Asha from her blog site sports, food,actives,life.  Asha is a little camera shy, and did not send a picture of herself, but she did send us a family recipe for Malaysian Fried Noodles with Shrimp, from Malaysia, where her grandmother still lives and still enjoys making this traditional dish.

In Malaysia, fried noodles and shrimp is known as Hokkien mee.  This dish is popular all throughout Southeast Asia, but especially so in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.  The dish originated back in China’s Fujian or Hokkien region.  There are three distinct types of Hokkien Mee. The Singaporean variant consists of egg noodles and rice noodles stir-fried with egg, slices of pork, prawns and squid, and served and garnished with vegetables, small pieces of lard, sambal sauce and lime (for adding the lime juice to the dish).

Here is Asha and her grandmother’s recipe for Malaysian Fried Noodles and Shrimp.

The other day Larry and a friend were playing golf down in Castle Pines, which is about an hour south of us.  They had a special visitor watching them play.  They had a deer out on the golf course with them, cheering them on.  Although, I think they were much more impressed with their visitor than she was of them.  I apologize for the poor quality of these pictures.  Larry took them on his cell phone.  They are very grainy and blurry, but sometimes, you just have to work with what you have at the time and not worry about the rest.

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

Green onion or scallion pancakes are an ancient Chinese dish that was actually one of Marco Polo’s favorite dishes.  When he returned back to Italy from his far Eastern travels, he had a chef try to recreate these delicious pancakes for him.  The result did not come out as remembered them in China, but instead was the beginnings of modern day pizza, although an older, different version of pizza was around long before the days of Marco Polo.

Green onion or scallion pancakes are known as cong you bing in Chinese.  They are savory pancakes or Chinese flatbreads.  You can find them as Chinese street foods or at restaurants, or you can make them at home like I did.  They are very easy to make and only call for a handful of everyday, simple ingredients, and they go with just about anything.  You don’t have to serve them with other Asian foods, but they certainly go very well with other Asian dishes.

Green Onion Pancakes

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 egg white

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 cup water

2-3 TBSP canola or peanut oil

4-5 green onions, sliced thin

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped fine

Mix all the dry ingredients together, including the green onions and cilantro.

Mix the egg, egg white, sesame oil and water together, then add to the flour mixture.

Combine everything together, mixing well, then allow to set in the refrigerator for about an hour before cooking.  Some people prefer to add the green onions and cilantro immediately after the batter is already in the hot skillet, but I found it works better to mix them into the batter.  Play around with it, and do what works best for you.

Heat the oil to about 350-375* F and add 1/2 cup of the batter into the hot oil.  Cook the pancake for about 2 minutes per side, or until it is golden brown on each side.  Remove the pancake from the pan and repeat until the batter is all cooked.

Cut the pancakes into wedges and serve immediately.  These are best when served hot.

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

The other day when I made my Thai green curry fish Something Thai I also made some Asian side dishes to go with the fish.  One of those dishes was an Asian cucumber and carrot salad.  Once again, it was very easy to make with just a few simple ingredients, which is perfect, especially in these dog days of summer.  This salad was refreshingly cool and colorful on a hot summer’s day.

Some basic ingredients that are almost always found in Thai cooking are cilantro, coconut milk, garlic, ginger, limes, curries or curry pastes (Even in Thailand, most people use pre-made curry pastes rather than making their own, although they are easy enough to make.), peppers of all kinds and chiles.  Nuts are also widely used in Thai cooking and Thai recipes.  Most commonly, you will find peanuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts and pumpkin seeds or pepitas.  This salad had quite of few of these ingredients in the mix, as you would expect when making a Thai or Asian salad, since a lot of the same ingredients are prevalent in many other Asian recipes from different cultures and countries.

Cucumber and Carrot Salad

1 1/2 cups of cucumbers, seeded

1/4 cup carrots, cut into thin, small matchstick size strips

1/4 cup red onion, sliced very thin

1/2 cup shredded lettuce or wakame salad

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 TBSP garlic

1 TBSP ginger

1 TBSP sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp Thai green chili paste

1 TBSP sesame oil

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped, + more for topping

Mix all the ingredients together to make the sauce and set aside.

Toss the carrots, cucumbers and onions together, then add the dressing and toss again to combine everything together well.  I kept the skins on my cucumbers and cut them in thin matchsticks like I did my carrots, but these are optional.  If you prefer to skin the cucumbers, that’s fine too.

Once everything has been combined, line your serving dish with the lettuce or salad and then top the carrot and cucumber mixture on top.  Add a little cilantro on top and chill or at least one hour before serving, but no more than 3-4 hours or everything will get soggy and mushy.  If you like, you can also add some toasted sesame seeds on top as part of the garnish as well.

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

InVINtions, A Creative Winery Pour It Forward is open and is back in business.  They have been open through this whole ordeal, but they were only open for pick-ups.  Now, they have opened the doors to members allowing them to enjoy their wines inside.  At the moment, InVINtions is only open to members, but they are hoping to open the doors to the general public once again very soon.  InVINtions is in full compliance with the governor’s COVID-19 guidelines, and they keep everything spotlessly clean and well sanitized for everyone’s protection.  All the tables are 6 feet+ apart, and at the moment, you have to make reservations, and can have no more than 8 people in your party.  The staff wore their masks the whole time and everything is sanitized in between reservations and time slots.

It was so sad to see INVintions like this, when it was only open for pick-ups,

especially since it usually looks like this.  It was so nice to see happy, smiling faces back at InVINtions.

As always, the wonderful staff is ready to help out however they can.  They are smiling beneath their masks.  You can just see it in their eyes.

Even through our masks, you can tell we are all smiling once again too.  It was so good to be reunited with “family”.  The Gang of 4 with Marcus and Cory Tipton, the owners and creative geniuses of InVINtions, A Creative Winery.

InVintions, A Creative Winery is located at 9608 E Arapahoe Rd, Greenwood Village, CO 80112.  You can call them at (303) 799-9463 or visit their website Info@InVINtionsWinery.com.

Thank you Marcus, Cory, and your wonderful staff for everything you do.  We love being part of the “family”.

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

All of the irises have already lost their colors and are probably done blooming for the season. Even though the irises may be out of bloom, other flowers are just now starting.  Their colors are all so vibrant and varied.  I just love flowers.  I love flowers of all kinds and all colors.

Lots of sunshine for the sunflowers.

To most of us, these are just “weeds” that take over our yards, but did you know that dandelions are actually part of the sunflower family?

Flowers on the vines.

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

Great news EAT! fans!!!!!!!  EAT! Food & Drink is once again open for business, and they are better than ever.  They have new hours and new menu items too.  Before COVID, EAT! Food & Drink was a breakfast and lunch restaurant, When You’re Hungry – Go Out to EAT! but now they offer dinner items too.  EAT!‘s new temporary hours are now from 10:00 AM-7:00 PM, but soon they will be reopening for the early morning hours, and will continue with the extended dinner hours as well.

General Manager Brittany and her wonderful staff are doing everything they can to keep everyone well fed and safe.  Because of the limited capacity rules at the moment, due to the Governor’s COVID guidelines, it is best to make a reservation to make sure you will be well taken care of and won’t miss out on any of their great food and service.  EAT! Food & Drink has always been spotlessly clean, but now if you can imagine it, it is even more so.

Ever since we discovered EAT! Food & Drink we have been bragging about it to friends.  Today, we were able to take Janet and Bob with us and they became instant fans as well.  The weather was windy, but otherwise, very pleasant, so we were able to enjoy our delicious lunch outside on the patio.  This is the patio in calmer days.  Though the sun was shining brightly, the umbrellas were dancing all around today.

Almost as soon as we sat down, we had some fabulous appetizers on the table.  I am always up for trying new things, so there is always a wide variety of delectables on the table to sample.  We started off with an order of a Sweet & Savory Bacon Flight that was a combination of home made maple brown sugar bacon and jalapeno bacon and an order of Loaded Pork and Green Chile Cheese Fries. 

OMG!!!!!  These could have easily been our meal all by themselves, but we had more great menu items to try.

Janet and Bob decided to split a Large and In Charge Carnitas Burrito.  LARGE is definitely an under statement.  The chefs swore they split the burrito in half but the plates were filled to the brim.  By the time Janet and Bob put down their forks, it still looked like they barely ate anything.

Larry opted for one of the new dinner items.  He chose the Not Your Mama’s Fried Chicken platter.  Holy cow!!!!!  That was a feast.  It came with rolls and salad as well.  The chicken was fried up to crispy, crunchy perfection.

I enjoyed the Colorado Cowboy Wrap with blackened chicken.

As expected, everything was out-of-this-world DELICIOUS and FABULOUS!  Needless to say, we all brought plenty of food home too for us to enjoy again later.

EAT! Food & Drink is an absolutely scrumptious dining experience.  No matter what you order, you are going to be completely WOWED!!!!!  The food is fabulous and the staff is terrific.  They are open and ready, just waiting for you to come on in and EAT!

Eat! Food & Drink is located at 520 Zang Street, Unit N, Broomfield, CO 80021.  I would call for reservations, just to make sure you don’t get left out, at (303) 728-9990 or you can contact them at http://www.EATatEAT.COM.  Bring your appetite and bring your friends.  This culinary experience is best when shared with others.

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

We have not been out on out walk-abouts as much lately because it has been so hot.  We tried to walk Vinnie earlier in the morning, when it wasn’t so hot, but there were way to many other dogs out then, and Vinnie does not do so well with other dogs.   Plus Larry has been working from home again all week, which really throws things out of whack too.

These are some fun shots of things we don’t normally see on our walks.  That’s what makes them so unique.  They were completely out of the blue and unexpected.

Bits of Clothing and Accessories

The Gloves

And dinosaurs too

You just never know what you’re going to see.  You just have to be prepared for whatever comes your way and enjoy the moment.

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

We hadn’t had Thai food in awhile and I just felt like something Thai for dinner.   Though I am not Catholic and as Larry says, he is a “recovering Catholic”, for the most part, we have been eating fish on Fridays since Lent.  We had some swai fish, which is an Asian fish, so I thought an Asian style meal would be a perfect choice.

Swai fish is a fresh water fish, similar to tilapia, that is usually farmed in Vietnam.  Originally, it comes from the Mekong River.  Swai fish is a Catfish from Vietnam which has a milder taste and more delicate texture than our native Channel Catfish and may therefore be more approachable for people who do not normally care for catfish. Swai are moist, sweet and mild flavored with beige colored flesh which turns white after cooking.

I made a green curry sauce for the fish and marinated it for a bit before grilling it up.  I served the fish with an Asian carrot and cucumber salad and some green scallion or green onion pancakes.  The meal paired perfectly with a crisp, citrusy white blend to make for a cool meal for a hot summer night.

Green Curried Thai Swai

This curry sauce can be used for any white fish, or even chicken too, if you want to try it on that.

1 TBSP garlic

1 TBSP ginger

2 TBSP Thai green curry paste

1 TBSP sesame oil

1/2 tsp honey

1 tsp soy sauce

1 TBSP lime juice

Mix everything together and coat the fish on both sides with it.  Let it marinate for about 30 minutes before cooking.  I grilled the fish and it only took about 7 minutes.

This was a simple dinner that did not take long at all.  On those dog days of summer, I DO NOT want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen over a hot stove, so simple and quick is best for me for the summer.  Once my fish was cooked, I topped it with a few toasted almonds.

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

This has been a very busy social week for us.  We have been getting together with friends all week, making up for lost time.  Sharing good foods and desserts with good friends just makes getting together that much more fun.  Janet had made some tabbouleh and asked if we wanted any, since she had made a whole bunch.  Ironically, we were going to use up our leftover steak as gyros for dinner, Quick and Easy Gyros so I just told Janet and Bob and to come on over and we could all enjoy everything together.  I made some tsaziki sauce, heated everything up, and pulled out the chips and hummus.  For dessert I made a cherry custard tart.  Success yet again.  I love it when a plan comes together.

Cherry Custard Tart

Pate Sucre Dough Honey and Pine Nut Tart

Cherry Custard Filling

4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 TBSP cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup heavy cream

1 TBSP sweet liqueur – I used pomegranate liqueur

2 1/2-3 cups cherries, sweet or tart, cut in half and pitted

powdered sugar for dusting.

Preheat the oven to 350* F or about 180* C.

Once the dough has been chilled, roll it out to fit a 10″ tart pan and firmly press the dough into the pan.  Arrange the cherry halves around the dough.

Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch.  Then add the rest of the ingredients and whisk everything together well.  Carefully pour the custard over the cherries.  Place the tart in the oven and bake for at least 40 minutes, or until the center is completely set and the crust is lightly golden.

When the tart is done, let it cool completely before removing from the tart pan and dusting with powdered sugar.

You can definitely enjoy the tart as it, but it is much better when served either warm or at room temperature with some fresh whipped cream or ice cream.

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