A Jeanne in the Kitchen

I find it very interesting that some of the most popular foods today started out with very humble beginnings, and were the foods of the peasants and the poor.  Irish stew definitely falls into this category.   Today, Irish stew is good comfort food that you can find in any Irish pub, but it grew out of necessity.  Irish stew was created by using very simple ingredients that were readily available and could be thrown together and cooked in one pot.  Originally, mutton was used instead of lamb or beef.  Mutton is old sheep.  It was readily available because people kept their sheep through old age for their wool and the milk.  Because mutton is older sheep, it is also tougher meat, which meant it needed longer cooking times.  When the Irish started to emigrate to the United States, lamb was not as popular here, but beef was plentiful, so beef was substituted for the lamb and mutton.

The potato was brought to Western Ireland via South America and the New World in the 16th century and has been a vital ingredient to Irish cooking ever since.  The potato is probably the most valued ingredient in all of Irish cooking.

The method of stewing foods is one of the oldest cooking methods, dating back to the times of the Roman Empire.  Stewing foods became popular to the Irish in the late 19th century, during times of turmoil and poverty and was an easy way to prepare foods with minimal effort and minimal ingredients.  It became a way of survival in tough turbulent, economic times.  Often times, the stews were cooked in stouts or other alcohols because clean water was not as readily available.  By cooking with the stouts, it not only added flavor and moisture, but also added some much needed nutrients as well.  The most basic version of Irish stew was mutton, potatoes, and onions.  Root vegetables, such as carrots and parsnips, were added if they were available.  Today there are many variations to Irish stew, but it always has potatoes and onions, and is still very true to its peasant roots, no matter where you go.

Being true to the Irish in me, and believe me, I have quite a bit of the Celtic blood flowing threw my veins, I used leftovers.  When Larry smoked the ribs, there was no way we could eat them all in one sitting, so of course, we had some leftover.  I used the meat from the beef short ribs for my stew, so I was able to cut out one step of the stew-making process by not having to cook my meat again.

Irish Beef Stew

2 lbs beef, cut into pieces

salt & pepper to taste

olive or vegetable oil

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, sliced

2 parsnip, sliced

2 cups mushrooms, sliced or quartered

1 lb small potatoes, quartered – I used red potatoes

1 TBSP garlic

1 tsp each, dried thyme, marjoram, rosemary

2-3 bay leaves

1 14 oz can Guinness or other dark stout

1 can beef broth

1 TBSP Dijon mustard

1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

1-2 cups frozen peas

1 cup pearl onions

2 tsp water

2 tsp cornstarch

 

Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown in the cooking oil.  When the meat is completely browned, place it a slow cooker.  Add all the vegetables and potatoes to the meat.  I like to mix everything up together to ensure everything cooks and is flavored evenly, but you do not have to.

Mix all the wet ingredients, the bay leaves and the cornstarch together then pour them over the meat and vegetables.  Again, I like to mix everything together, but this not necessary if you do not want to.

Once everything is combined in the slow cooker, cook it at a medium temperature for about 4 hours, stirring occasionally.  When it is ready, and the meat and vegetables are tender, remove the bay leaves and dish it up.  I served my Irish stew with some Irish potato cakes (stay tuned for the recipe), warmed bread and my wine choice was a bold and fruity red blend.  Now to be completely traditional, you could serve it with more Guinness or Irish stout, or Irish whiskey too.  Slainte!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Patrick’s Day observes of the death of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. The holiday has evolved into a celebration of Irish culture with parades, special foods, music, dancing, drinking and a whole lot of green.  While St. Patrick’s Day is now associated with wearing green, parades (when they’re not canceled) and beer, the holiday is grounded in history that dates back more than 1,500 years. The earliest known celebration was held on March 17, 1631, marking the anniversary of the death of St. Patrick in the 5th century.

Much of what is known about St. Patrick’s life has been interwoven with folklore and legend. Historians generally believe that St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Britain (not Ireland) near the end of the 4th century. At age 16 he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold as a slave to a Celtic priest in Northern Ireland. After toiling for six years as a shepherd, he escaped back to Britain. He eventually returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary.

The American Southwest is a unique section of the United States that is found nowhere else.  It has it’s own unique qualities, traditions and foods.  The states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Nevada are all states that make up what is known as the American Southwest.  Though there are similarities, each state also adds its own particular personality to the mix.  It is best described as a mixture of the wild west meets old world Mexico.  The people of the Southwest are rebellious in nature, and like to live life by their own rules.  This is evident in all they do, and it comes out in the foods they cook as well.  Even though I grew up in Southern California, I too have always been a rebel, both in life and in the kitchen.  I had the rebellious Southwestern attitude long before I moved to Colorado.  I think it comes from having a fiery red-head as a mother who came from Southeast Texas, and an Australian as my dad.  Both Texans and Australians are known for being rebels and living life on their own terms as well.  I got it from both sides, so you can only imagine how fiery I can be.

The other day, before all this pandemonium struck and there was still food in the stores, I saw these beautiful ahi tuna steaks that were just calling out to me.  I love ahi tuna.  It is one of my favorites.  For whatever reason, when I cook ahi tuna, I tend to make it Asian style, so I am really expanding my possibilities and trying it in many other ways as well.  I love all the Latin flavors and styles of cooking, so I decided to give my tuna a Southwestern flavor this time.  I will most definitely be preparing it this way again too.

I am sure this goes without saying, since you all know I do my own thing regardless of what recipe I am TRYING to follow, but I look at a recipe, and then instantly make it my own.  So of course, it was ONLY inspired from the original, which is normal for me.

Southwestern Ahi Tuna Steaks

1-2 lb ahi tuna steaks

salt & pepper to taste

1/3-1/2 lb Macademia nuts

1 TBSP lime juice

1-2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 TBSP sugar

1 7 oz can of roasted green chilies, diced

2 cups corn

1/4 cup cilantro

1 shallot, minced

1 TBSP garlic

1 tomato, diced

1-2 tsp oregano

olive oil

butter

 

Preheat the oven to 375* F.

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray.

 

Combine the Macademia nuts, olive oil and salt and pepper in a food processor and combine until you have a thick paste.  How to Flavor Your Meats

Generously coat the ahi tuna steaks with the Macademia paste and pan-fry in a hot skillet with both butter and olive oil for about 3-5 minutes per side, or until the nuts are browned and a crust has formed.

When the nuts have been browned, place the tuna steaks into the prepared baking dish and roast for about 15-20 minutes.  Ahi tuna is BEST when it is pink on the inside, so do not over cook.

As the tuna is cooking, prepare your sauce.  In the same skillet, add the lime juice, corn, garlic, shallots, green chilies, sugar and spices, and scrape the bottom of the skillet.  Cook for about 5-7 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and cilantro and continue to cook for about 1-2 minutes more.

You can use this sauce/topping with hearty seafood, like ahi tuna, chicken or pork, and it will be great with all.  You can also use it as a topping, like I did or as a stuffing.  I served this over some leftover couscous along with a my wine & cheese bread Some Colorado Wine & Cheese Bread.  My wine choice was a light white blend, which really complimented the spiciness of the sauce perfectly.  Let the rebel in you come out.  Kick up your heels and your taste buds.  Walk on the wild side and enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone around the world is now familiar with the Coronavirus, also known as COVID 19.  There is a lot of speculation, fear and panic about what is being called by the WHO as a pandemic.  This article helps explain what the Coronavirus is and what to do about it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/02/28/what-you-need-know-about-coronavirus/?arc404=true

With all the Corona Virus shutdowns and hype, we refuse to give in and give up.  We are still going out and enjoying life while businesses are still open.  This is just a virus.  Those of us of a certain age have seen and lived through far worse.  Take precautions and keep yourself protected for sure, but life still goes on.  I am NOT going to let all this silly media hype slow me down or stop me from living my life.  So, my PSA being concluded, as I said, LIFE GOES ON!  Go out and live.

Janet, Bob, Larry and I all went out to our favorite winery, InVintions, A Creative Winery Bottling the Wine.  After an afternoon of wine tasting, it was time for dinner.  There was an Indian restaurant nearby that Janet wanted to try, so off we went.  It turns out, we had been to this sister restaurant owned by the same people, in Louisville last year, but we didn’t realize that until we looked at the address on the business card.  Surprise, surprise, we really liked the restaurant – AGAIN!  🙂  Now we know there is one closer to home AND down by our favorite winery.  We are covered at both ends.

Whether we are in Louisville or Centennial, we know we can find some fantastic Indian food at Bawarchi Biryanis Indian Cuisine. 

Celebrating life and having fun.

Grilling up some special sandwiches.  I don’t know about you, but I have never seen a grill like this before.  The Chef looks happy with the results.

This is something new, but what a great idea.  You can push the buttons to summon your server.  Wouldn’t this be great if all restaurants had this?

We have have all learned that often when we go out, there is way TOO much food, but we want to try as many things as we can, especially when we go to new places, so we order a few menu items and we all share.  We started off with a potato dosa that was served with four different sauces.  Starting from the right, we have a cool and creamy yogurt sauce, dahl, tomato chutney, and finishing with a peanut and cashew sauce.  We tried them all and all were very good.  The potato dosa was phenomenal.  We all agreed it was the best dosa we ever had.

After the dosa, we had our entrees.  We ordered some chicken vindaloo, with a heat level of about 6.  In most Indian and Thai restaurants you can order your food with varying degrees of heat.  We all love spicy, but even for us, a 6-7 is about as high as we dare go in either of these restaurants.  If we go beyond a 7, we will all be paying the price later.  Along with the chicken vindaloo, we also ordered some garlic naan bread, rice and some curried goat.

Two more sauces came with the goat dish.  Once was a peanut and fenugreek sauce, and the other was another yogurt sauce with coriander (cilantro) and parsley.

Everything was fantastic.  As always, we enjoyed out time together.  There was lots of good wine, lots of good food, and of course, lots of good company.  That is really what life is all about, after all.  We enjoy it to the fullest, and even in these times of panic and chaos, we still manage to enjoy and make the most out of everything.

Sadly, we had to pass on dessert.  We were so full.  There was absolutely NO room left for these decadent treats.  There was a nice selection of ice cream flavors, many of which were quite exotic and would have been very interesting to try.

And some beautiful desserts that sadly, we had to pass on as well.  There is always next time though.  🙂

Whether you are in the North Denver Metro area or the South Denver Metro area, you know there will be some very good, authentic Indian cuisine at Bawarchi Biryanis Indian Cuisine near by.  If you are in the North Metro area, visit the Louisville location, at 390 S. McCaslin Blvd and if you are down south, you can go to the Centennial restaurant at 11001 E. Arapahoe Place, Unite B1.  We’ve eaten at both now, and both are great.  If you are going to the Louisville location, you can call them at (303) 955-8228 or reach them online at bawarchisuperior@gmail.com or at http://www.bawarchisuperior.com.  When down south, you can reach them at (720) 799-5666 or reach them at bawarchidenver@gmail.com or http://www.bawarchidenver.com.  You are in for a very delicious treat no matter what location you choose.  Bring your friends and bring your appetites and let the feasting begin.

 

 

 

 

I was supposed to meet a friend for lunch, but a family emergency came up and she had to cancel.  Unfortunately, I did not get the message until after I came home from the restaurant.   Even though I did not get the chance to catch up with my friend, I was still able to enjoy a very good lunch of sushi and tempura shrimp and vegetables.

Lunch was at a Japanese restaurant called Sushi Yume, in Westminster, CO, literally just about 1 1/2-2 miles from my house.

The food was very good, even though I ordered way to much and ended up bringing half of it home.  But I was able to try a couple of different menu items this way.  The restaurant is decorated in a very traditional Japanese style and there were two sushi chefs on hand to prepare all the delicious sushi choices fresh, using the best top grade seafood.

They make it look so easy, but I know it is not nearly as easy as they make it look.  Making sushi is an art form that requires a lot of patience and skill.  I have made it before, a long, long time ago.  Needless to say, I will not be a sushi chef anytime soon.

If you have never had sushi before, you order want you would like from the sushi menu and then it is freshly prepared for you while you wait.  There is also a menu that offers other items coming from the kitchen rather than the sushi bar.  The little pot is filled with soy sauce.

As I waited for my order, I was busy taking pictures of the restaurant.  The restaurant is very Japanese in style.   All of the tables have temperature controlled heaters on them so you can heat your food to your liking.

Once my delicious food came, it was time to eat and to put the camera down.  I ordered a tiger roll, which was spicy crab meat and avocado rolled in sticky rice, topped with a sweet mango sauce, served with fresh ginger and wasabi sauce on the side. It was both beautifully presented and very tasty to eat.  (I just finished my leftovers for lunch again today.  They were just as good the second time around as they were the first).

Sushi has kind of become a general category for Japanese style cuisine that is usually raw fish served in a roll or a log.  Sometimes it comes with seaweed and other times it does not.  There are actually a few different types of sushi though.  Sashimi is thinly sliced raw meat—usually fish, such as salmon or tuna—that is served without rice. Sushi is not raw fish, but rather vinegared rice that is mixed with other ingredients, which may or may not include raw fish.  Sushi can also be vegetarian, but sashimi is always made with either raw fish or raw meat.  There is also nigiri, which is is a specific type of sushi consisting of a slice of raw fish over pressed vinegared rice.  Sashimi refers to just slices of very fresh fish or meat served raw, often over a bed of shredded daikon radish.  Nigiri is just raw fish on top of rice — no seaweed. There is also maki, which is made as layers of fish, veggies, and rice wrapped in seaweed.  Sushi is any food dish consisting of vinegared rice, usually served with some other toppings, but not always.

I wanted to try something else as well, to add a little variety, and certainly not because I was still hungry.  So I also ordered some tempura shrimp and vegetables.  I love anything that is cooked tempura style.  Tempura is a Japanese dish usually consisting of seafood or vegetables that have been battered and deep fried. The dish was influenced by fritter-cooking techniques introduced by the Portuguese residing in Nagasaki in the 16th century.

Everything was just as I expected it to be; fresh and delicious.  The service was very welcoming and friendly too and the restaurant was spotlessly clean.

Sushi Yume is located at 10350 Federal Blvd., #400, Westminster, CO 80260.  Their phone number is (303) 438-7111 or you can reach them on line at sushiyume.com  Sushi Yume is a great, place to dine in, or if you prefer, you can get your sushi to go.  Either way, you are going to enjoy your whole sushi experience.

 

 

 

 

Our very own Rory, from

is always so good about giving praise to others.   This time, “A Jeanne in the Kitchen” got some love thrown her way by Rory for my post https://ajeanneinthekitchen.com/2020/02/26/two-bloggers-meet/

Thank you, thank you.  We all need a little extra love sometimes.  I hope everyone has a good weekend.  Stay safe from all the CV hype and germs.  Just keep on keepin’ on.

 

Gifting the Compliment is simply my way of saying to you ….

‘Hey I really liked that post you created and l wanted to let you know with this compliment!’

We have an anniversary in the Kitchen today.  Today, “A Jeanne in the Kitchen” turns 2.  The Kitchen has been busy and has grown a lot in these past two years, from its very humble beginnings.  We still have a lot of recipes to cook, restaurants to review, and life to live.  So don’t go anywhere.  We’re just getting started.  The party continues.  Thank you all for joining in on all the fun.  None of this would be possible without you.

 

Just keep cookin’.

If you’re like me, you can easily make a meal out bread, cheese and wine.  For me though, the cheese has to be baked into the bread or I won’t eat it, but then, that’s just me.  I have never been much of a cheese eater.  Imagine my delight when I saw a recipe that combines all of these great tastes that taste great together.  WHOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!  Even better, it is recipe from my own state of Colorado.

This is a bread that looks like a cake and has a very cake-like texture too.  It is very light and fluffy.  It is even baked in a cake pan.  But don’t be fooled.  It’s not a cake.  It really is a type of bread.  It is good on it’s own, but even better when warmed and served with chipotle butter.  We had a very typical Colorado meal of leftovers.  We had some leftover fried chicken and ribs and then I added some potato salad and baked beans along with this delicious wine and cheese bread.  It doesn’t get much more Colorado than that.  I even served it with a Colorado red wine from our own Bookcliff Vineyards.  Bookcliff Vineyards in Boulder

Colorado Wine & Cheese Bread

1 cup +2 TBSP flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup dry instant buttermilk

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

1 TBSP sugar

1 TBSP dried, minced onion

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup milk

1/4 dry white wine

1-1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 cup grated Parmagiano cheese

 

Preheat the oven to 425* F .

Spray an 8-9 inch cake pan with cooking spray.

 

Sift all the dry ingredients together with the exception of the Parmagiano cheese and mix well.

Add the egg, milk and vegetable shortening and work it all into the flour mixture.  You will have a thick, cake-like batter.

Evenly spread or pat the batter into the cake pan.  I added a little flour to my hands and patted it with my hands.  It made it much more manageable that way.  When the batter is evenly spread into the pan, sprinkle the Parmagiano cheese on top.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until the cheese topping has crusted over, the bread is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.  Let the bread cool before removing it from the pan and/or cutting it.  You can enjoy it as it, but it is even better when served warm with some smoky, slightly spicy chipotle butter on top.  it is already a Colorado creation, but with the chipotle butter, it becomes even more Coloradan.

 

 

You all know Costco is MY favorite place.  I buy all kinds of things there.  Today, I went in just to purchase a couple of things, but I came out completely, totally empty-handed.  First, they did not have the one thing I really went in for, dry cat food.  But secondly, they only had 1 checker, and the line went all the way to the back of the store and wrapped around through the aisles.  As much as I love Costco, I do not need anything THAT bad.  Please tell me this was all a horrible dream and it did not really happen.  🙂

These lines are NOTHING compared to what I saw today.  Holy Cow!!!!