A Jeanne in the Kitchen

“A Jeanne in the Kitchen” has been nominated for another award.  This time it is the Vincent Ehindero Award.  I am not sure exactly what I have been nominated for, but it is always very nice to be recognized by other bloggers.  It is very rewarding to know that others like and are inspired by what I do and what I write about.

I was nominated by MRS. T’S CORNER at https://www.tangietwoods.  Many, many thanks.  It is always very much appreciated, as are the rest of my fellow bloggers in our blogosphere.  Keep up the good work, now and always, but especially now in these tough, crazy and chaotic times in which we have all found ourselves to be a part of.  It definitely helps brighten up our days.  It helps knowing we are not alone.  Together, we can all get through this thing called life.

 

The Rules For Award:

1. Display the blog award log in your blog.
2. Thank the blogger who nominated you and add their blog website: https://tangietwoods.blog.
3. Answer the questions they have given you.
4. Nominate 7 to 10 bloggers of your choice and inform them on one of their blog post.
5. Ask them 7 questions.

 

Questions For Nominees If They Choose To Participate Are:

1. How were you inspired to start blogging?

I barely even knew what a blog was, let alone thought I would be writing one a couple of years ago.  But a friend of mine convinced me that I should start one to help others with my kitchen and culinary knowledge and experience.  So 2+ years later, here I am, with a thriving and growing blog, ” A Jeanne in the Kitchen”.

2.  How to you spend time relaxing?

Relax?????  What is that?  I don’t know the meaning of that word.  I like to go, go, go.

3.  What country to you live in?

I live in the Denver Metro area of Colorado, in the United States.

4.  What are two of your favorite blogging topics?

Well since mine is a food blog, I’d have to say food.  But I also write about living life outside of the kitchen too.

5.  What is your favorite food?

I have to choose just one?  Oh no, no , no.  There is way to much good food around the world to only choose one.

6.  How often do you blog?

I try my best to blog once a day, but sometimes life happens and I just can’t do it.  Consistency is the key though.

7.  Are you a great cook?

Good, most definitely, great, who knows? Though there are some who might say so.

 

Instead of nominating any specific bloggers and blog sites, this time, I am going to open it up to anyone and everyone who would like to participate.

 

My Questions to all of you are:

1.  What are you grateful for?
2. How are you coping through all these crazy and unprecedented times?
3. How do you unwind and get yourself grounded again?
4. Who has left the biggest impression on you?
5. Do you have any hobbies?
6. Where do you call home?
7. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

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

 

 

 

Not only are all the days blurring into each other, but now the seasons are too.  With all the snow and cold weather we have been having lately, I really am not sure if it is truly April, like the calendar says it is, or if it is December?  Did I just fall into a deep sleep and lose track of all time?  The news said we got about 10.5 inches of snow where I live, with more expected tomorrow.  Again, is this April or is it December?  Or am I just in the Twilight Zone?

Since we can’t go anywhere now, not just because of the snow, but also because the whole world is locked down and shut in, it was another good day for a puzzle.  We did a puzzle exchange with our friends and neighbors Angie and Brian the other day, so we worked on one of their puzzles.  Their puzzle is the deluxe model, whereas ours were just the Target version – that would be Tarjay, not Target.  This puzzle is a handmade wooden puzzle, with all the shapes being so uniquely cut.  It is a really cool puzzle too.  I like it so much, I might just have to get one or two for us, that is if I can convince Larry it is worth the price.  These handmade puzzles are not cheap.  It was definitely a challenge, but we were up for it.  And even better, this puzzle was made in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, right down the street from where I work, or worked before we got locked in.

Of course, our little puzzled panther wanted to help as well, but NO WAY.  Not this time; not this puzzle.  She tried, but got booted off the puzzle table numerous times.  We did let her pose with the puzzle once we finished it though.  That seemed to make her feel a little better, like she had still helped and done her part.

Well, with weather like this, regardless of what month the calendar says, it is good weather for soup.  For Easter, I cooked a big 11 lb ham and there was just the two of us eating, so I had a lot of ham leftover.

I LOVE split pea soup, so a good portion of the ham was used to make a big pot of delicious split pea soup, which was perfect for a cold, indoor puzzle day. Split Pea Soup.  I still have more ham left too, as well as a lot of soup too.  Some will go into a quiche and the rest ended up in the freezer, to be used and recreated at a later time, in another way.

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

 

I know the calendar says its spring, and it is the day after Easter, but Mother nature must not have received that message.  It is still snowing here.  It snowed all day yesterday and is still snowing today, although it does look like it has stopped for now.  We got about 7″ of snow between yesterday and today.  A couple of days ago, we were in the 70’s and we were wearing shorts.  Go figure!
What is looks like right now, April 13, 2020.

I hope everyone had a good Easter or Passover.  I know these holidays were not celebrated as we normally would celebrate them, and things were completely different than usual, but …..  We had a very quiet Easter, as I am sure most people did.  I did cook a big ham, of which we will have for quite awhile yet to come ( I will be heading to the kitchen to make some split pea soup in just a bit),  some scalloped potatoes, my peppered bacon scones, and a spinach and artichoke bread pudding, but I got distracted doing yet another puzzle (another story for later), and completely forgot about making any other vegetables.  Oh well, it was just Larry and I, and we did have our vegetables in the bread pudding, so I guess we’ll survive.   I purposely DID NOT make any desserts though.  The one thing I was able to cut out for Lent this year was that I did not bake any cakes or cookies or any other desserts at all during the whole time of Lent.  That does not mean I was not eating cookies, it just means I was not making any.  🙂  When you have a terrible sweet tooth, it is very difficult NOT to make cookies, and I didn’t for 6 weeks, although I did come very close many times.

Our Easter dinner.

Spinach and Artichoke Bread Pudding

8 cups day old or stale bread, cubed

20 oz fresh spinach, stems removed

2 cans artichoke hearts, drained and quartered

9 eggs

3 cups heavy whipping cream

3 cups of mixed cheeses – I used a Colby-cheddar mix and mozzarella

salt & pepper to taste

1 TBSP garlic

1 shallot, sliced very thin or minced fine

1 tsp cayenne pepper

 

Spray a 9×13 cooking dish with cooking spray.

 

Mix the bread cubes, cheese and artichoke hearts together and set a side.  Mix the spinach, garlic and shallot together.  Combine the eggs, whipping cream, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper together.

Saute the spinach, garlic and shallot together with salt & pepper in olive oil for about 3-5 minutes, or until the shallot is translucent and cooked.

Let the spinach cool for a bit, then add it to the bread and cheese mixture and combine well.  Then add the egg and cream mixture, and again combine well, making sure to completely saturate the mixture with the liquid.

Transfer the bread pudding into the baking dish and firmly press it into the pan, to make sure it is all completely saturated with the liquid.  Let the bread pudding set in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight.

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

Remove the bread pudding and let set at room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking.  Then bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until you have a light, golden brown crust on top and the eggs are done.

This savory bread pudding is sure to delight and will go well with just about anything you would like to serve it with, from brunch to dinner.

Enjoy!  Stay safe ans stay well Everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scones are eaten all over the British Isles and anywhere the British settled around the world.  They are biscuit-like pastries that are similar to quick breads, and can be either sweet or savory.  Scones were first made in Scotland around 1513 and were made with oats and were griddle-baked.  They became popular in England as part of the English tradition of “Afternoon Tea” when the Duchess of Bedford ordered her servants to bring some sweet breads to her along with her tea, in the late 18th century.  She enjoyed them so much that they quickly became part of her daily routine, which grew into the British tradition of Afternoon Tea.

There are a couple of theories about how the name of scones, also known as skones, came about.  One is that the word originated from the Dutch word “schoonbrot”, meaning beautiful bread.  The other notion is that they were named scones after  “The Stone of Destiny” where Scottish Kings were crowned.  The second theory seems more plausible to me since scones were created in Scotland.

Scones vs. biscuits.  What is the difference between the two?  They are similar, but they are also different.  Scones tend to be made with eggs, whereas biscuits are not.  And scones are usually drier, more dense and flakier than biscuits are.  Both, however, are very good.

My mother was born and raised in Southeast Texas and my dad emigrated to the United States from Australia after WWII .  When my mom and dad first got married, my dad kept asking her to make him some “proper scones”.  Bless her little heart, she tried and tried, but they just never came out quite right.  After quite a few unsuccessful attempts at making scones, she gave up and made biscuits instead.  My dad said those were exactly what he had been wanting her to make all along.

Today, scones come in many different varieties.  Though I made my pepper and cheese scones for Easter, but we enjoyed them first with our Good Friday meal.

Scones with Pepper and Cheese

 

3 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

2 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup butter, cold and cubed

1 tsp salt

4 strips of bacon, diced small and cooked

1 shallot, minced fine

1 cup buttermilk – I use dried buttermilk mixed with milk

1 egg

 

Preheat the oven to 400* F or 200* C.

Spray a baking sheet with coking spray.

 

Cook the bacon first until it is crispy.

In a food processor, pulse all the dry ingredients and the cold butter until it is crumbly like pieces of sand.

When the dry ingredients are blended together, mix in the bacon and cheese.

Then mix in the egg and buttermilk, saving about 1 TBSP for later.  Mix everything together just until everything is well incorporated.  Do not over mix, or you will loose all the flaky qualities you are looking for in your scones.

When everything is blended together, knead it on a lightly floured surface just long enough top form it into a ball.  Then cut into 8 equal wedge portions.

Brush the remaining egg and buttermilk mixture over the top of the scones and on the sides.  Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the scones are light and flaky and golden brown.

Slather them with butter while they are still warm and eat them up.  Enjoy.

 

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  Happy Easter/Passover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People around the world are celebrating both Easter and Passover today.  The feasts and Seders will be more quiet and more solemn this year than they have been in years past, but this too shall pass.  Find ways of reaching out to those you love and to share the days with them.  Last night, I reached out to cousins both in Texas and in Australia.  It was so good to catch up and to visit.

Soon, I will be cooking our Easter dinner, even though it will only be for the two of us.  But as usual, I will have a feast enough for many.  I will be cooking a ham for sure, and you will all just have to wait to see what else will be on the menu.

Stay safe and stay well everyone.  Have a Happy Easter or a Good Passover.  I wish good tidings to all.

 

Easter Celebrations around the world.

 

Passover Celebrations Around the world

I am not overly religious, but we are Christians and we do observe the Christian holidays.  I was baptized and raised as an Episcopalian and Larry was raised Catholic.  Whether you are Christian or Jewish, this is a Holy week and it is a sacred time for many.

Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of Passover. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, and Black Friday.

Passover is a celebration of spring, of birth and rebirth, of a journey from slavery to freedom, and of taking responsibility for yourself, the community, and the world. … The Torah states that Jews are to observe Passover for seven days, beginning on the 15th of the Jewish month Nisan (usually in April).

In the New Testament, Passover and Easter are tied together. Jesus enters Jerusalem and gathers his disciples to celebrate the Passover meal, memorialized by Christians as the Last Supper. … Some early Christians repeated the sequence exactly, marking Easter on the same day as Passover, regardless of the day of the week.

Fish is a very popular dish that is eaten on Fridays, especially during Lent or Passover, and especially on good Friday.  We had our fish too.  I bought this delicious piece of cod that was way too pretty to cut up and just have as fish & chips.  I prepared it in a very simple, yet delicious way, AND I got to use some of my leftovers too.  It was a win/win.

I baked my cod in a citrusy, lime and tarragon sauce.  It was light and tasty and just perfect for a warm Spring day.  I served over my leftover couscous, with my leftover curried roasted vegetables, peppered bacon scones, and of course, wine.  My wine choice was a light vin blanc that accompanied the meal just perfectly.

Citrus-Tarragon Baked Cod

1-1 1/2 lbs cod

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 cup lime or citrus vinaigrette

1 tsp dried tarragon or 1 TBSP of fresh tarragon, chopped fine

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp pepper

 

Preheat the oven to about 400* F or 200* C.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

 

Mix all the ingredients together well.  Thoroughly coat the fish with the sauce and keep the remaining sauce for a topping when the fish is cooked.

Once the cod is coated, bake it for about 6-8 minutes, then flip it over and continue to bake for another 6-8 minutes, or until the cod is cooked at it is completely white and opaque.  Times may differ depending on the thickness of the cod filet.  Do not over cook the fish or it will be dried out and tough.  You want it nice and soft, moist and yet flaky too.

Once the fish is cooked, cut it into your serving portions and serve it with your favorite side dishes.

Holidays, no matter how you celebrate them, are usually a time to gather with friends and family.  Under these difficult and trying times, that will not be possible this year.  But do your best to make the most of the holidays and to still find a way to celebrate with those you love.

Happy Easter or a good Passover to everyone.  Be safe and stay well.

 

 

I guess I am the opposite of most people.  No surprise there at all though, on many levels.  Most people are spending more time in the kitchen, where I am actually spending less time in the kitchen as we are all locked up inside our homes.  Mostly because Larry is working from home these days, so he is not taking his lunch into work with him, meaning we have MORE leftovers we have to get through.  So I am actually cooking less than usual.  What am I doing instead?  Anything and everything I can to keep what’s left of my sanity.  We do our daily walks with Vinnie.  Hopefully you are enjoying the pictures from our walks.  I work on little projects around the house.  We have been doing our virtual visits.  I read.  And then there have been the puzzles.  We just finished our second lockdown puzzle, with more to come.

We chose the dragonfly puzzle for this round.  It was a lot more challenging than we were expecting it to be because of the iridescence of the pieces.  It was hard on our eyes, especially mine.  I could only work on it for short periods of a time.

The puzzle master and his assistant Nicodemus (Nicky D) hard at work, although they both look a little distracted at the moment.  Another challenge to this puzzle, as with the other one as well, was that our assistant wanted to do the puzzle on her terms, and often scattered the pieces in all different directions, challenging us to find them.  And we wonder how we loose pieces. HMMMMM!  🙂

Finished at last.  Even though time wise, we spent about the same amount of time on this puzzle as we did the other one, Puzzle Me This it seemed more like an eternity to finish this one.  Or maybe that is just time itself that is just seemingly ticking away at a snail’s pace.

Happy Easter or Passover, whichever one you celebrate.  Stay safe and stay well Everyone!

 

I have gotten into the habit of looking in my spam box lately, especially since I have found that some of my mail is ending up there.  I am still receiving “spam mail” and I do not know why.  Sometimes I can answer them, and sometimes I cannot.  Sometimes the only option I get is “approve” or “permanently delete”, and not a “reply” option.  Other times, I get a “reply” option.  I truly want to get back to everyone who is kind enough to leave their thoughts, but sometimes, I am unable to do so.  Believe me, I am definitely technologically deficient, so it is not intentional.  If you have left me a message, and I did not answer you back, please, please try me again at either ljbjej@q.com, my personal email address or at ajeanneinthekitchen.com.

Thanks to all.  Safe safe and stay well.

 

I just love where we live.  As I have mentioned many times, we live on the top of 6 “lakes” or ponds, and then behind that, we have a big huge opens space area too.  Even though we live in a suburb or both Denver and Boulder, we are very blessed to have a lot of nature all around us.  With all this current chaos and craziness, about all we can do is walk, so we are doing a lot of walking.  Vinnie is absolutely loving it, every step of the way too.  Poor Lucie can’t do long walks any more, so she stays at home and protects the homefront, eagerly awaiting our return.  Here are the sights we took in from our latest walk-about around the lakes.

This is our view from the bottom of our 4th lake.

Our first blue heron of the season.

We saw quite a few turtles out for a swim, but this is the only one that was not camera shy.

The prairies dogs were out to play too.

The boys on the bridge.

We’re half way home Vinnie.  In total, we walked about 5 miles.

A red winged black bird singing for his love.

These blooms are right outside in my front yard.

After our daily walk, we came home to pizza and a ZOOMed visit with friends.  We are still social distancing, but still visiting, and supporting our local businesses all at the same time.

The twins anxiously awaiting some pizza of their own.

Stay safe and stay well everyone.

 

 

Pork bellies are just what you would expect them to be.  They are the soft, fatty portion of the pig’s belly.  They are full of flavor, but it not the healthiest cut of meat to eat because it is, again, as you would expect, 90% fat and only about 10% protein.  It is NOT my favorite cut of meat for those very reasons, but we had some in the freezer that needed to be used.  Pork bellies are similar to bacon, or bacoun as it used to be known in Europe.  Up until the mid 16th century, all pork was known as bacoun or bacon.  The bellies are usually uncured and unsalted, whereas bacon is almost always salted and cured.   Though pork bellies are eaten and enjoyed in most parts of the world, they are really favored in the Hispanic, Chinese, Korean and Philippine cultures.

Because pork bellies are very popular in both the Spanish world and the Asian world, it only makes sense that the recipe I chose to make was a Spanish/Asian fusion.

Vanilla-Orange Spiced Roasted Pork Belly

3 lb slab of pork belly, preferably unsliced

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

3-4 TBSP orange juice

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp sage

1 tsp Chinese 5 spices

1 tsp orange zest

1 tsp dried thyme

salt & pepper to taste

2 TBSP butter

olive oil

 

Mix all the ingredients together well and thoroughly coat the pork belly with the mixture.  Score the the meat with a sharp serrated knife.  If you are using pork belly that has already been sliced, no need to score the meat.

I did not really pay much attention to the package before opening it, but once I did, I found out my pork belly was already sliced.  Oh well.  Live and learn.  We have one more package of pork belly in the freezer, and I think that is sliced as well.  Another great use for this is to wrap it around other meats for roasting.  Wrapping other meats with this fatty meat will help add moisture and flavor to meats while roasting them.

Place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before cooking.

In a hot skillet, add the butter and olive oil and then sear all sides of the meat, about 7-10 minutes per side.

Preheat the oven to 325* F or 165* C.

 

Place the meat in a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.  Reserve most of the sauce for later.  The cooking times will vary greatly depending on whether or not you are using a pre-sliced slab or an uncut slab of pork.  Roast for about 30 minutes is using pre-sliced pork and for about 1-1 1/2 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 165* F,  if using uncut pork.

Heat the remaining sauce in a saucepan by bringing it to a boil then reducing it to a simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

When the pork is done, serve it with your favorite side dishes and top with the sauce.  I served it with some green beans and rice with brown butter pecans, along side some warmed bread and a dry white chardonnay.  You want a dry white wine to accent the spiciness of the sauce.  Enjoy!  Desfruitas!