with our special judge ajeanneinthekitchen

 

SAVE THE DATE: SUNDAY 24TH MARCH 2019

• This is not really a competition, it is more of a fun family day for our blogging community. We would love you to be involved.

• Whether you are a baking legend or a a baking hazard, we would be thrilled if you can take in our baking challenge and send us photos of your creation. We want to feature all the bloggers taking part and show your photos of your cake creations to the rest of WordPress. Don’t be scared! It’s all for fun. If you don’t think you can bake – then ask a family member or friend or workmate to help you out. HAVE FUN!! Whatever you do have lots of fun!

• If your baking creation is an absolute disaster – a photo of that would be absolutely priceless! Please be assured THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF is all about a fun family day for the blogging community and baking mis-haps would be brilliant! We’ve all had baking disasters – is that right Gary? (Bereavedandbeingasingleparent)

 

 

 

• If you are planning to buy a cake from the supermarket (WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE!) and claim it is your own – that is fine so long as you send a photograph! Our special judge ajeanneinthekitchen knows the difference between a home-made cake and a shop-bought cake mind, so you might not win the star baker award!

 

• If you really really can’t bake – that’s fine. But please do join in the fun! Even if you are not baking, please come along and say hello and wish all the bakers success. Your support for other bloggers would be greatly appreciated. The whole idea of a fun family day for the blogging community is to expand and strengthen the supportive spirit in the blogging community. We hope lots of new bloggers and those don’t know yet will come along and say hello and meet some other fabulous bloggers.

We want you to enjoy the day and have fun!

We are hoping you will love it as much as we will!

Crumbs! That’s A Great Idea!

 

 

with our special judge ajeanneinthekitchen

SAVE THE DATE: SUNDAY 24TH MARCH 2019

 

LOOK OUT FOR THE FOLLOWING POSTS OVER THE NEXT TWO WEEKS:

• How to get involved
• A family day for the blogging community
• Your shopping list
• THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF challenge

(We will let you know what the challenge is on Sunday 17th March 2019 and we will be repeat the challenge every day for a whole week – please don’t get annoyed with us – so that as many as possible see the challenge and choose to get involved.)

• Ready steady BAKE!!! (Sunday 24th March 2019)
• The cake-walk (as photos of your cakes arrive we will feature them throughout the day)
• Who was the Star Baker?
• THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF round-up (a great thank-you to all the bloggers who were involved)

 

__

…and then we all go back to Gary’s and have Yorkshire pudding filled with a yummy roast dinner and loads of gravy because by then we will be sick of the sight of cake!!!

Caramel will get the karaoke started!

__________

Last night I knew we were going to have something with chicken for dinner, but I was in a dither about how to cook it.  My husband suggested to make something Indian, since we had not had Indian food in awhile.  That was the perfect idea.  We love Indian foods and eat them quite often.   I decided to make green chicken kebabs, or Hariyali Tikka, as it is known in India.   This is a dish that hails from the Punjab region of Northern India, but is also popular in Bangladesh and Pakistan as well.  Hariyali means green and tikka means small pieces of meats, proteins or vegetables marinated in a spice mixture that are usually cooked on skewers.  The green comes from the green spinach, green herbs and vegetables used to make the sauce.  Mint and spinach are the key ingredients for this dish.  Both mint and spinach are very healthy and loaded with nutrients.  There are many health benefits attributed to having both spinach and mint in your diet.

Traditionally, the tikkas are cooked in the tandoor, which is a clay oven, where temperatures can reach up to 900* F or 480* C.  Tandoori is a style of cooking rather than a specific recipe.  In tandoori cooking, large pieces of proteins are lowered into the tandoor oven to cook.  A tandoor oven maintains a very high temperature and uses very little fuel in the process.  It is similar to the pizza ovens used all throughout the Mediterranean.

Hariyali Tikka (Green Chicken Kebabs)

 

1-2 lb chicken breast, cubed

5 oz fresh spinach, stems removed

1 oz fresh mint, or 1 TBSP dried mint

2 oz fresh cilantro or coriander, stems removed

1 jalapeno, seeds removed

7 oz mayonnaise or yogurt

1 TBSP lemon juice (if using mayonnaise)

1 TBSP garlic

1 tsp garam masala

1 TBSP green chili chutney

salt to taste

 

I did not have any yogurt this time around, but I did have mayonnaise.  Yogurt is more acidic than mayonnaise and the acidity is what breaks down the proteins, making them more tender.  So I used mayonnaise and mixed lemon juice into it to make it more acidic.  The taste is pretty similar.  The chicken was very tender.

Put all the ingredients, except the chicken, into a food processor and mix thoroughly until you are left with a creamy sauce.

Once the sauce is complete, mix it with the chicken cubes, completely covering all the pieces.  Let the chicken marinate for at least 3 hours, then put it on skewers.  Cook the chicken skewers on the grill and cook them (unless you are lucky enough to own a tandoor oven) until they are fully cooked.

 

I served the hariyali tikka on top of red lentils mixed with white rice, some roasted curried vegetables and naan bread.  I also served it with a sweeter white wine blend to help cut down the spiciness of the food.  The Friday’s Folly white wine is from one of our local wineries, Bookcliff Vineyards, located in Boulder.  You can learn more about Bookcliff Vineyards by checking out their website at http://www.bookcliffvineyards.com.  This meal is definitely a “do-over” as we call foods we like and want to remember for next time; and yes, there will definitely be a next time.

 

Marinara sauce is a classic sauce known all over the world.  It is believed to be the one of the world’s great sauces.  It is a very easy sauce to make, using only a few simple ingredients.  But don’t let the simplicity of the sauce fool you.  Marinara sauce is probably one of the most popular sauces used all across the globe.  It is made from fresh tomatoes, garlic, onions, olive oil and herbs.  There are many, many different variations of marinara sauce, and there is no one specific way to make it or to enjoy it either.  If you add meat to it, obviously you have a meat sauce, also known as a Bolognese sauce.  To make an arrabbiata sauce, all you have to do is add some red pepper flakes.  By adding anchovies to the basic marinara sauce, you have created a puttanesca sauce.  All of these sauces are eaten with pasta and various other ingredients to make a quick, easy, filling and delicious meal.   Originally it was believed that pasta was brought to Europe in the 13th century, by Marco Polo on his return from China.  But is has since been proven that pasta was actually introduced to Europe about one century earlier, by the Arab traders who made a spaghetti-like pasta from African wheat.

Marinara sauce was created in Southern Italy, and both Naples and Sicily claim to be the birthplace of this great sauce.  Tomatoes were first introduced to Europe in the mid 1600’s and the first recorded recipe for marinara sauce was in 1692, in the cookbook L’Apicio Moderno, By Roman Chef Francesco.   The word marinara comes from the Italian word marinai, which means sailor.  There are two possible explanations that explain why a sauce made with tomatoes and olive oil has a reference to sailors.  The first explanation is that because all the ingredients travel well and do not spoil easily, it was easy for the seaman to transport and it made a quick, filling and inexpensive meal for the sailors to eat.  The second theory is a more romantic one.  This theory is based on the idea that as soon as the sailors’ wives would sea the homeward bound ships coming into port, they could easily make a marinara sauce so the returning sailors could have a quick, hot meal waiting for them as soon as they walked through the doors of their homes.

Basic Marinara Sauce

6-8 ripe Roma tomatoes, diced  (you can use any kind of tomatoes.  I also used some yellow sun tomatoes, and grape tomatoes to add more depth to the flavor)

1-2 large shallots, diced fine

1-2 TBSP garlic

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup dry red wine

2-3 TBSP Balsamic vinegar

3 TBSP olive oil

2-3 tsp each basil, oregano, thyme, and marjoram – fresh is best, but dried works too.

 

Saute the garlic and shallots in the olive oil for about 2-3 minutes.

Once the garlic and shallots have cooked and are translucent, add the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients.  Mix everything together and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.  The longer you cook the sauce, the thicker it will become.

I served my marinara sauce with sausage and peppers, Sausage & Peppers along with my famous garlic-herb cheese bread.  When cooking with wine, use the same wine in the sauce as you are serving with the meal.  Mangia!

 

There is going to be a bake off coming soon.  Show us what you can do.  My friends at

Bereavedandbeingasingleparent  and

Crushed Caramel (Learner at love)

are hosting the first, hopefully annual, Bloggers’ Bake-Off.  So bring out all your best recipes, from cakes to cookies to breads, and everything in between.  I will be officiating as a judge.  It’s going to be a lot of fun.  Stay tuned.  There will be a lot more more details coming your way.

 

And Even Bloggers Who Don’t Think They Can Bake

Bereavedandbeingasingleparent

and Crushed Caramel (Learner at love)

would like to invite you to join us for

 

with our very special judge ajeanneinthekitchen

Look out for promotional posts!

All the details coming soon!

SAVE THE DATE: SUNDAY 24TH MARCH 2019

Thanks to all of you, “A Jeanne in the Kitchen” has hit the 500+ mark of followers.  WHOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!!  I know, if you look at the numbers on my page, it says 923, but that includes all my Facebook connections too.  My WordPress connections just hit the 500+ mark, and counting.  This could not have been possible without all of you and all your support.  So a BIG, HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who follow me.  My one year blogoversary is coming up in just a few days too.  All I can say is WOW!!!!  So many good opportunities, connections, and creative ideas all in such a short period of time.  There are still tons of good food and recipes yet to come out Jeanne’s kitchen.  So let’s keep this party rockin’ and rollin’ and see what’s coming up next for ” A Jeanne in the Kitchen”.  I know there are many, many good things still yet to come.  There are actually a couple of big surprises in the works as we speak.  You’ll just have to be patient to find out what they are.  Stay tuned.  Don’t change that dial.  And again, a HUGE thank you to each and every one of you.  🙂

 

My husband has been out of town all weekend, and comes home late tonight.  So other than the soup and the cookies, I really have not been in the kitchen much these last few days.  My waistline has already expanded way more than what I am comfortable with, so there is no need to really cook up a storm when it is just me.

I can easily live off a few leftovers for a few days.  So rather than extra calories, I will tempt you with some freshly “baked” words to savor instead.  I am definitely a bread person, and could easily live on a delicious diet of nothing but bread and butter if I had to.  In fact, that would be my diet of choice.  Bread, after all, is the food of life.

 

Bread is always the warmest, kindest of words.  Write it always with a capital letter, like your own name.

~ Russian Cafe Sign ~

 

Why has our poetry eschewed the rapture and response of food? What hymns are sung and praises said for the home-made miracle of bread?

~ Louis Untermeyer ~

 

 

The peasants of Sicily, who have kept their own wheat and make their own natural brown bread, ah, it is amazing how fresh and sweet and clean their loaf seems, so perfumed, as home-made bread used all to be before the war.

~ D.H. Lawrence, from Sea & Sardinia ~

 

Man does not live by bread alone.

~ Moses ~

 

I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

~ Jesus, John 6:35, New International Version of the Bible~

On a cold, frigid day, there is nothing better than a hot bowl of soup to warm you up from the inside out.  But is it really soup?  Or could it be a stew or a chowder or even a bisque?  They are all related, but each has its own unique personality and characteristics.  Soups and and bisques are both French in origin, but are totally different from each other.  A soup, or soupe as it is known in French, is a mixture of either vegetables, legumes, meats or seafood, or any combination thereof, cooked in a liquid broth.  A bisque is a creamy soup, usually made with seafood and frequently has a tomato base.  They are pureed and smooth.  Chowders are American.  They are thick creamy, chunky soups, often made with potatoes and bacon.  The name chowder is a derivative of the French word chaudiere, which means cauldron, the name of the pots fisherman would use to cook their fish soups or stews.  But that is about as French as chowders come.  They originated in the Northeastern part of the United States, in the New England area.  The first written recipe for a chowder dates back to 1751.  Originally chowders were made with seafood, but today, any thick, creamy, chunky soup is considered to be a chowder.  Soups, bisques and chowders are all types of soup and are cooked with a lot of liquids.  Bisques and chowders are thickened, often with a roux or flour and usually have milk or cream added to them as well.  Stews are distant cousins of soups.  A stew is a dish consisting of a combination of meats, fish and or vegetables that is stewed or cooked slowly in a covered dish with very little liquid.  Whatever your preference, they all do the trick on those cold, cold days when the mercury drastically drops down and you need something to warm you up.

I like them all, but most often I prefer chowders.  I have made many, many types of chowders and soups throughout the years.  Sometime I follow (more or less) certain recipes and other times I throw in whatever I have leftover into the “soup pot” and cook it all up into something totally unique.   We are still in the throws of winter here in the Denver area, even though Spring is supposedly right around the corner.  Our high today, though not as cold as yesterday, was only about 18* F. But it us still pretty darn frigid.  It was a perfect day for soup, or chowder as it turned out.  I made a spicy chicken and wild rice chowder that definitely helped warm “the cockles of my heart” and took off the chill.

Spicy Chicken and Wild Rice Chowder

2-3 lbs chicken breasts, cubed small

4 celery stalks, diced small

4 large carrots, peeled and diced small

1 onion, diced small

1 large jalapeno, diced fine

2 TBSP garlic

6 large mushrooms, sliced

1 can diced tomatoes with juice

5 cans chicken broth or about 10 cups

2 1/2-3 cups wild rice

2 cups heavy whipping cream

salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

1 TBSP oregano

2 tsp each thyme and marjoram

olive oil for cooking

 

Cook the chicken in one pan and the carrots, jalapeno, garlic, celery and onions in another pan, both in olive oil.  When the chicken is completely cooked, add it to the vegetables, along with the mushrooms, broth, tomatoes, rice and seasonings.  Mix everything together well..  Cover and bring to a rapid boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for another 45-60 minutes or until the rice is cooked.  If you want it just like this, without the cream, this is a perfectly delicious soup all on its own.

If you prefer it creamy like I do, then add the cream after the soup is cooked.  Mix thoroughly and continue to cook for at least another 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

By adding the cream and cooking it some more, my soup has now become a chowder.

As a soup, you can serve it with your choice of wines, although I would recommend a dry white or a sweeter white to balance out the spiciness.  As a creamed chowder, I would definitely go with a white rather than a red, but as always, drink what you like.  There is no right or wrong and there are no absolutes you need to follow when pairing wines with foods.  Drink what you like and enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter has hit us very hard all throughout February, and now into March.  We have had a lot of snow and very cold, frigid temperatures lately.  I am looking out at a blanket of  snow, right now as I write.  This morning, when I went into work, the roads were a slushy, slippery mess and my car thermometer read 3* F.  BRRRRRR!  That was at 9:30 AM.  When I was coming home from work, the roads were a bit better, but the mercury had only risen 2*, making it 5* instead of 3*.  It was still frigid.  Then it started to snow yet again.  Now that I am home, I have no intentions of going out again today, unless it is absolutely necessary.  So being homebound, with no intentions of leaving again today, I thought it was a very good day to bake cookies.  By turning the oven on, it also helped to keep the house warmer too.

This is what it looks like outside.  The snow is still coming down, but not very hard.  My pond is frozen.

This is what it looked like inside.

My husband loves chocolate peanut butter cookies and has been asking for some for awhile now.  Today I decided to make them a bit differently though.  I made just plain cookies with the  Reese’s pieces, so very little chocolate, but a whole lot of peanut butter flavor.  Me, I just love cookies period.  It doesn’t really matter to me what kind I make; they are cookies after all, which means I am going to love them no matter what.  Yes, I certainly do have my favorites, but cookies in general always get a gold star in my book.

Peanut Butter Bites

These are just plain chocolate chip cookies but I used the Reese’s pieces instead of chocolate chips.

2 1/4 cups sifted flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 lb (2 sticks) softened butter

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed firmly

1 tsp vanilla

2 – 2/4 cups Reese’s pieces, depending on how peanut buttery and chocolate you like them

 

Preheat the oven to 350* F.

 

Mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Cream the butter and the sugars together, then add the eggs and vanilla and mix again.  Once all the soft ingredients are mixed together, add the flour, 1/2 batch at a time and mix in between each addition.  Then add the Reese’s pieces and fold in, combining thoroughly.

Once everything is thoroughly combined, drop about 1 TBSP of cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and continue until the dough is done.  I like flatter cookies, so i usually give them a light press with the palm of my hand before palcing them in the oven.  Bake for about 14-18 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned and the edges are slightly crisp.  if you like them softer, reduce the time slightly.  Cool for about 5-7 minutes, then place the cookies on a cookie rack to cool completely.  You might just have to sample a few before they get plated up though, for quality control purposes.