A Jeanne in the Kitchen

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!

 

 

 

 

The other day when I made my Boeuf avec buerre a la Parisienne, Boeuf Avec Buerre a la Parisienne I had a lot of my roasted beef leftover.  As you all know, I just love being as creative as I can with all my leftovers.  I decided to cut up all the beef and turn in into a Southwestern tamale pie.  So the dish was originally French, then magically became Spanish, in just a wave or two of my magic wooden spoon.

What started as this  …..

ended up as this …….

 

 

Southwestern Tamale Pie

The Filling

2 lbs cooked beef roast (or any kind of beef), cubed

4 TBSP olive oil

2 jalapenos, diced fine

1/2 large onion, diced fine

1 TBSP garlic

2 tsp of either cocoa powder or spiced cocoa powder

1 tsp cinnamon

salt & pepper to taste

3 TBSP chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 can diced tomatoes, with juice

1 1/2 cups corn

1 15 oz can of pinto pintos, with the juice

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup olives, sliced in 1/2

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped fine

 

Saute all the vegetables and spices together except the olives, tomatoes and cilantro, in the olive oil until the onions are translucent.

Next add the beef cubes and mix everything together well.

Add the beans, tomatoes and water, bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.  Add the olives and the cilantro and thoroughly combine.  Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray then add the meat filling to the pan and spread evenly.

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

 

The Topping

1 cup flour

1 cup of either Masa Harina or cornmeal

1 1/2 TBSP sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 cilantro, chopped fine

1 jalapeno, diced fine

3/4 cup milk

3 TBSP butter, melted

1 egg

3/4 cup shredded cheese

 

Mix all the dry ingredients, the jalapeno, and cilantro together.  You can also mix in the cheese at this point, or top the crust with it after you are done, which is what I decided to do.  Or you can even make it really cheesy and do both.

Mix the egg, milk and melted butter together.

Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients then mix everything together thoroughly.  You are going to have a thick dough or masa.   Crumble the masa mixture evenly over the top of the filling, making sure to cover the whole thing.  I find the best way to do this is by hand.

Layer the whole dish with the shredded cheese.

Place in the oven and bake at 400*F for 10 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 350* F and continue to bake for 30 more minutes or until the topping is cooked.

I served it with arroz verde, a little salsa and avocado, and of course, a nice, cool margarita on the side.    As per usual, I made more leftovers from my leftovers.  The Queen would be oh so proud.  🙂  One day I was saying “Bon Appetit” and the next day I say Delicioso!  Both ways were very tasty indeed.  Both ways are going to give those taste buds quite a treat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was time to use the leftover rotisserie chicken.  Since it was already cooked, that eliminated one step of the cooking process.  This dish is similar to chicken caccitore, but a much lighter version, which is perfect for the warmer, more spring-like weather we’ve been having.

Mediterranean Chicken and Vegetables

1-1 1/2 lbs cooked chicken, cut into chunks

cooked spaghetti or angel hair pasta

olive oil

1 zucchini, sliced

1-1 1/2 cups mushrooms, sliced

1 cup sliced peppers – I used the sweet peppers, but any kind will do

1 shallot, sliced thin

1 TBSP garlic

2 cans stewed tomatoes, with the juice

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 cup dry white wine

1 TBSP lemon juice

1 tsp each, dried oregano, basil, thyme, sage, and marjoram

salt & pepper to taste

 

Saute all the vegetables together, except the tomatoes, along with the dried herbs and salt & pepper in the olive oil.

When the vegetables are tender, add the wine and the tomatoes.  Continue to cook for about 5 minutes.

Mix everything together well then add the chicken and incorporate into the mixture.

Once everything is combined, add the lemon juice and mix well again. Continue to cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Once everything is ready, serve it over the cooked pasta.  I served it with some warmed bread and an olive oil dip and a light and fruity chardonnay.  You can also serve it with a light red too if you prefer, but definitely NOT a heavy or bold red.  Something light is definitely best with this light dish.  This is light and zesty, full of vegetables, and full of flavor.  Mangia!

 

 

 

 

Human beings are naturally social creatures.  It is in our DNA.  Some of us more so than others.  I am most definitely a very social person and always have been.  I am a free spirit and I hate to be couped up and caged in.  These days, with all the lockdowns in place, I am definitely feeling very caged in.  But because we can’t go anywhere at the moment, we have to find other ways of socializing and connecting.  More so than ever, the internet has become our lifelines to the rest of the world.  I never thought I would appreciate the internet as much as I currently do, but thank God for the internet.

We have now successfully enjoyed our second Virtual Happy Hour with our friends Janet and Bob and their daughter Jeanette and her husband Derek.  This time, not only did we “get together” over drinks, but we added a couple of friendly games of Farkle to the party as well.

All we need for some Moscow Mermaids, a variation of Moscow Mules.

Drinks – check; snacks – check; SKYPE connections – check; dice – check.  We’re ready.  Let’s let the games begin.

Obviously it is much better to get together face-to-face, but SKYPE is the next best thing.  We all managed to have a good time.  Times may be tough at the moment, but we’re not going to let them get the best of us.

Hang in there everyone.  This too shall pass.  In the meantime, stay safe and stay well.