A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Well, the holidays have come and gone and we are at the end of  the first week of the new year.  Sadly, it is time to take down the trees and all the Christmas decorations and put them away until next Christmas.  So because we are busy taking down all the decorations and cleaning up after, I will once again leave you with some friendly words from others who love to cook, to be in the kitchen, and who love life.

All you see, I owe to spaghetti

~ Sophia Loren~

 

Give me books, French wine, fruit, fine weather and a little music played out of doors by somebody I do not know.

~ John Keats~

 

We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be more more than what we are.

~ Adelle Davis~

 

There is NO such thing as a little garlic.

~ Author unknown, but obviously someone of fine taste.~

 

A smiling face is half the meal.

~Latvian Proverb~

You gotta love Colorado’s weather.  We have a saying that if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes and it will change.  And believe me, this is so true.  Even though we are supposed to be in the throws of winter, you would never know it by today’s weather.  A couple of days ago, it was bitter cold, and the highs were only in the teens and the lows were in the negative numbers.  Today, however, you would think it was a beautiful spring day.  Most of the snow from the other day is already long gone, the sun is shining brightly and the temperature is in the 60’s.  Monday, we are supposed to have snow again.  Go figure!  So with our ever chancing weather, we also have to constantly adjust our menu.  A few days ago, we were eating warm, hearty foods that would “warm the cockles of our heart” as my dad would say, and today we had a salad.  As I said; you gotta love Colorado’s weather.

I made a mixed baby green salad with beets, green onions, tomatoes, hard boiled egg, Cajun chicken and avocado, topped with a tomato vinaigrette and toasted pepita seeds and Mediterranean Babka on the side. Babka with a Mediterranean Twist .

Last week our nephew got married in Hays, KS.  Hays is where my husband grew up and he is German-American, being almost purely of German heritage, as is most of the population in Hays.  The German roots are very strong and very prevalent there.  Some of the older residents still speak German.  Apples and cinnamon are very popular within the German culture and there was a lot of food items at the wedding that had either apples or cinnamon, or both.  The family cooked all the food, which means we brought home a lot of leftovers.  Some of the leftovers were two dishes filled with cinnamon butter.  I thought one of the best ways to re-use some of this delicious cinnamon butter was by making an apple cinnamon coffee cake.   Well, I made the coffee cake, and it came out delicious, but I did not use nearly as much of the cinnamon butter as I had hoped.  In fact, it seems as though I barely even made a dent in it.  So, I guess there will be more cinnamon recipes in our near future.  It’s a good thing we like cinnamon butter, because I still have A LOT leftover.

Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake with Caramel Sauce

For the Streusel

1/4 cup apple cinnamon butter, cold

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

 

Mix everything together using either a pastry blade or your hands.  I find crumbling everything together with my hands works better than a pastry blade, but that is just me.  You want the consistency to be light and crumbly.  When done mixing, set aside.

For the Cake

6 TBSP butter, softened

1/4 cup + 2 TBSP sugar

1/4 cup + 2 TBSP brown sugar, firmly packed

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 buttermilk

2 apples, peeled and diced

caramel sauce for topping

 

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 180* C

 

Beat the butter and sugars together until soft and creamy, then add the egg and continue to mix.  Add the vanilla and mix everything together thoroughly.

Mix all the dry ingredients together then add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix at a medium speed.  Add about 1/2 of the buttermilk and mix.  I absolutely hate buttermilk to drink, so I buy the powdered buttermilk and mix it with regular milk when I need it for baking.  Repeat, alternating the flour and the buttermilk until both are completely incorporated into the mixture.

Once the batter is all mixed together, gently fold the apple chunks into the mixture.  I used a bundt pan, coated with cooking spray, but you can use a 9″ cake pan if you prefer.  I spread half the batter with the apples into the pan, then added a layer of streusel topping.  Repeat the process again, finishing up with streusel on top of the cake.

Once the pan is filled, place it into the oven and bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.  Let the cake cool completely before removing it from the baking pan and before topping it with the caramel sauce.

Caramel Sauce

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

4 TBSP butter

a pinch of salt

1 TBSP vanilla

 

Combine the heavy whipping cream, sugar, butter and salt and mix together well until all the sugar has melted and everything is incorporated together, for about 5-6 minutes.  Turn off the heat and add the vanilla and mix well.  let cool or chill until ready to use.  I drizzled it over the cake once the cake was completely cooled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Years ago, I was introduced to a fabulous little family owned restaurant called Mumtaz,  located in Lafayette, Colorado.  I have been going there ever since, and it is most definitely one of my favorite restaurants around.  Mumtaz’ menu is all delicious Mediterranean food, with a Lebanese flair.  Everything is fresh and is made in house daily.   It is truly a family affiar, and everything is made with the most important ingredient that goes into any dish, LOVE.  The baklava is made fresh daily by Grandma, and is the best baklava I have ever tasted.  The owner and operator,  Hiam Jamell, or MO, as he prefers to go by,  is always at the helm, and is often on the grill cooking.  I do not get a chance to go to Mumtaz as often as I would like, however, every time I do get a chance to go, Mo is always there with a big friendly hello and a warm, welcoming smile.  All of the food at Mumtaz is fabulous, but my favorite is the gyro.  It is loaded with lots of fresh lettuce, tomatoes and tsaziki sauce, and a very generous amount of delicious gyro meat.  You can get it with or without feta cheese as well.  Aside from fantastic gyros, Mumtaz also offers homemade falafels, kefta, dolmas and mezza, among many other delectable dishes.

My dear friend Priscilla and I had a rare opportunity for a lunch get together yesterday, and I introduced her to the deliciousness of Mumtaz.  She too is now a fan, but then how could anyone not be.

This beautiful mural makes you feel as though you are dining right on the Mediterranean Coast and takes you far, far away, even if only for a short little bit of time.

Felicia smiling in front of the dessert case, filled with the best baklava around.

Making everything fresh and delicious.

Enjoying the best gyro you can find.

 

Grandma’s baklava for dessert.

As I have said many, many times, spending time with great friends and enjoying good food are the best things in life.  So enjoy!  Mangia!

 

*** Mumtaz is located at 588 N. US HWY 287, ste 100, Lafayette, CO.  You can contact them at (303) 926-1400 or check out their website at http://www.mumtazfood.com. 

 

Hello out there.    This is by all means a good “problem” to have, and in no way am I complaining, however, “A Jeanne in the Kitchen” is quickly growing by leaps and bounds and I am getting overwhelmed.  Definitely, overwhelmed in a good way though.  With this growth spurt, it is becoming more and more challenging to keep up with all the e-mails and to catch up with all of you and your blogs.  So, please be patient with me.  I do my best to read as much as I can and to respond to as many of you as I can.  It’s just going to take me awhile to get through everything.  I have so many e-mails on a daily basis, that I am working my way from the bottom up in hopes of reading things on the FIFO, or first in, first out method.  Not only is “A Jeanne in the Kitchen” growing by leaps and bounds, but I have also taken on more aqua classes and I have been assigned more coaching shifts as well.  All of these are very good things, and I am always up to a challenge and do my best to rise to every challenge that presents itself.  Sometimes, it just takes a little more time than I expected or planned for though.  I guess all of these challenges are all part of  “the price of popularity”.  So please, please don’t stop sending me things, just know that I may not get back to you right away, unless it is something urgent and pressing.  It’s good that I like to be busy, and busy, I certainly am.  I have always said I do much better when busy then when I have idle time on my hands, but be careful what you ask for; you just may get it.  Thank you all for your support and your patience.  It is greatly appreciated.

Babka is a type of bread that is swirled and twisted, and is both dense and light at the same time, all in the same bite.  It is famous for it swirls of goodness that run through the bread loaf.  It’s origins are still a bit of a mystery, but it is a very popular type of bread all throughout Eastern Europe and areas with large Jewish populations and communities.  Some say it was originated in Poland or in the Ukraine, and others believe it came from Italy, as a “Russified” version of the Italian panetone bread.  Babka, also known as babcia, translates to mean little grandmother and this term is used in the Russian, Ukrainian, Eastern European and Yiddish languages.  Some say it is called “little grandmothers” because the pans it was first baked in were pleated and reminiscent of the pleats in an old woman’s skirt.  Others say it is called this because the older women or “little grandmothers” were the ones who most often made it.  Babka first came about in the early 1800’s when Jewish housewives would use the leftover scraps of challah and mixed it with either jam, cinnamon, almond paste or seeds and nuts and twisted them into the bread before baking it.   When the Jewish immigrants came to New York in the early 20th century, they started making it with chocolate as well.  By making it with chocolate, it supports the Italian theory of origin, because in the late 15th century, a lot of the Italian chocolatiers were Jewish.  Today, babka can be either sweet or savory, and is a delicious swirled and twisted bread to be enjoyed at anytime, as a compliment to the meal or served and eaten all on its own.

I made a Mediterreanean babka to go along with my black-eyed pea and ham soup for New Year’s Day. New Year’s Good Luck with Black-Eyed Peas and Ham Soup  This is definitely a bread I will be making again and again.  It is very time consuming to make, and is truly a labor of love, but definitely worth every minute and all the effort put into it.  Maybe it is called the “little grandmothers” because of all the love that goes into making it.

Mediterranean Babka

3 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 3/4 tsp yeast

2 tsp salt

3 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

2/3 cup warm milk

3/4 cup butter, softened (or olive oil if keeping parve)

1 large egg white

1 TBSP water

1 1/2 cups shredded Italian cheese

3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

3/4 cup of mixed olives, chopped rough and Spanish peppers (if you can find them)

1/3 cup fresh basil or 1/4 cup of dried basil

1 1/2 TBSP garlic

 

Mix together the flour, sugar, yeast and salt and combine well.  Then add the eggs, and egg yolks and mix everything together in a mixer with the paddle attachment at a low speed.  Slowly add the warmed milk and continue to mix until the dough comes together.  Then increase the speed of the mixer to high and continue to mix for about 6-8 minutes or until the dough becomes thin and starts to pull away from the center and stretches out.  This is known as the “window pane” test.

Once the dough is at the window pane stage, switch to the dough hook and add the butter in 3 separate stages, making sure to blend it thoroughly at each stage.  Mix the dough until it becomes elastic and starts to form into a ball and pulls away from the sides of the mixer.

When the dough has formed into a ball, place it in a large bowl that has been oiled down with olive oil.  Cover it and and set it in a warm place to let it rise.  It needs to double in size, so let it rise for about 1 1/2-2 hours.

When the dough has risen and doubled in size, wrap it in plastic and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  You can also leave it overnight as well.  The dough is a very soft, very sticky dough.  After it has chilled, roll it out onto a heavily floured surface to about 16×12″ in size.  Make the egg wash with the egg white and 1 TBSP of water, and brush the edges of the dough.  Add your cheese and olive mixture.  Then fold over the edges and wrap to make the dough into a rectangle.

Gently twist the dough and fold it to make it fit into a loaf pan that has been sprayed with cooking oil.

Once again, cover it and let it rise in a warm spot for about an hour, or until it again doubles in size.  Once is has risen for the second rise, preheat the oven to 350* F or 180* C and brush the top with the egg wash.  Bake for 20-30 minutes uncovered, then cover it with aluminum foil and continue to bake for about another 45-50 minutes.  Let it cool completely before cutting.  Let there be bread.

Happy New Year Everyone.  WOW!!!!  It’s 2019 already.  I hope everyone enjoyed their New Year’s Eve festivities.  We are big hockey fans, and our team is the Colorado Avalanche, so that’s where we celebrated last night.  It would have been more of a celebration had the Avalanche won, but it was still fun, even though they lost 2-3 in over time.  After the game, there was an indoor firework display which was pretty cool too.  Then we came home and just barely made it to midnight before crashing and saying good-bye to 2018.

As many of know, I have both Southern and Australian roots.  My mother was from South East Texas and my father was from Melbourne, Australia, then they moved out to Southern California, where I am originally from.  Now, I live in Colorado, and have been here or 19 years.  Colorado is where I call home, even though there is no ocean anywhere near-by.  Because of my mixed roots, I try to honor the traditions from all of these places as much as possible.  In the south, it is a New Year’s Tradition to eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day.  It is supposed to bring good luck and prosperity.  So, of course, I would like both and have to keep up with traditions.  It is not worth the risk of either bad luck or lack of prosperity to not follow the time-honored traditions of the South. This New Year’s Day, we are dining on black-eyed pea and ham soup with some Mediterranean Babka.  Cooking From A to Z.

Black-Eyed Pea Soup with Ham

1-1 1/2 lbs cooked ham, cubed

1 (1 lb bag of dried) black eyed-peas, or 3 cans

3 carrots, peeled and diced small

3 celery ribs, diced small

1 onion, diced small

1 TBSP garlic

8-10 cups of broth

1/2 cup tomatoes, halved

salt & pepper to taste

1 TBSP dried oregano

2 tsp of each dried thyme and dried marjoram

1-1 1/2 tsp allspice

olive oil

 

Cook the black-eyed peas according to the package directions.  I did a quick soak, then brought them to a boil in 8 cups of water and let them boil for 3 minutes.  After the 3 minute boil, I turned the heat off and let them rest for about 1-2 hours.

The ham I used was the left over ham from Christmas Eve.  Happy Holidays .  I made my own ham stock from the bone and used the meat that was still on the bone, as well as the rest of the meat we had already separated from the bone earlier.  You can also use either beef, chicken or vegetable stock too.

As the stock and the beans are cooking, dice your vegetables and ham.  Saute the vegetables in olive oil until the onions are translucent.

When the beans and vegetables are done, add the ham and the cooked beans to the vegetables and the seasonings into a large soup pot and mix together well.  Add the stock, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for at least an hour or until the beans are tender, stirring occasionally.

I added the tomatoes right at the end, just before serving.

Let’s ring in the New Year right, and bring on the good luck and prosperity.  The soup is on!

 

Hey There Everyone.  The kitchen was closed for a couple of days.  We were out of town for our nephew’s wedding.  But we’re back, and the kitchen is once again open for business.

2018 is in it’s final hours, and soon it will be a whole new year filled with new possibilities and opportunities.   Let’s make the most of it!  Let’s make 2019 a GREAT year!  I wish everyone a Happy, Healthy New Year.

 

Pears and pecans just seem absolutely perfect for the holidays.  They are so festive and nutritious, and they are both sweet and crunchy too, giving your taste buds a real treat.  Both pears and pecans are loaded with vitamins and minerals, as are most fruits and nuts.  They are full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatories, and also contain a lot of fiber, which helps in weight loss.  They also help in fighting the effects of diabetes and help prevent cancer.  And bottom line, they just taste really, really good.

We enjoyed Christmas dinner with family and friends.  My “sister” and all her kids are all vegan, and a lot of the other guests are watching what they eat as well.  One of the dishes I brought was this delicious, festive pear and pecan salad with a ginger dressing.  It was very easy to make and it was a big hit.

Pear and Pecan Salad with Ginger Dressing

5 cups of mixed baby greens, or salad greens of your choice

1 pear, sliced thin – I used Bosc, but you can use whatever type of pear you like

2 celery ribs, diced small

1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped small

3 TBSP Champagne vinegar

1 medium shallot, minced

2 tsp ginger

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup olive oil

 

Combine the last 8 ingredients to make the dressing and mix together well.  Set aside.

Toss the chopped nuts and celery with the greens and add about 1/2 the dressing or less.  Toss and combine everything well.   You do not want to add too much dressing or it well make the greens soggy and heavy.  You want just a light coating of the dressing, and just enough to add flavor.  You can always add more later if you need it.  Also, don’t mix the dressing into the salad too early, or again, it will make the salad soggy.  Toss the dressing into the salad right before serving.

When the salad is all tossed together, plate it up and arrange the pear slices on top of the greens.  I added a tiny bit more dressing to each pear slice to wake them up and bring them to life as well, but this is optional.  This is a totally vegan dish.  If you want to make it a main salad, just add some protein of your choice.  It would go very well with either tofu, or any other vegan “meat” as well as either chicken or shrimp to make it non-vegan.

 

I hope everyone had a good Christmas or a good holiday, celebrating the season however you enjoy celebrating it.  I love the Christmas season.  My only complaint is that I wish it would last longer.  I certainly wish all the good cheer and good will towards others lasted longer.   Christmas Eve was a very quiet one, with just the two of us.  It was too quiet for my tastes, but for Christmas Day we got together with friends and family and all had a good time.  We had quite the feast, with everyone contributing to the meal.   Everything was delicious too.  For me, the good will of the season continues, and I hope it does for all of you as well.

For Christmas Eve, even though it was just the two of us, I made a big ham, with an apple whiskey and brown sugar sauce.  I am sure there are a few more ham recipes and ideas in our very near future, since there was quite a bit leftover.  Don’t let the charred crusts fool you.  They were crispy and tasted just perfect with the sweet, apple whiskey and brown sugar sauce served on top.  YUMMY!

 Brown Sugar Crusted ham with Apple Whiskey Sauce

7-10 lb bone-in ham, thawed

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp cloves

1 1/2 TBSP dry mustard

5-6 TBSP apple whiskey (or bourbon or whiskey of your choice)

3 1/2 cups apple cider or flavored cider

3 TBSP maple syrup

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 TBSP cornstarch

2 TBSP water

 

Preheat the oven to 350* F

Pat dry the ham with a paper towel and place it on a rack in a large, deep baking dish.  Remove all the excess skin and fat from the ham and discard.

Mix the brown sugar, dry mustard and apple whiskey together until it forms a thick paste.  Then generously rub all over the ham.  Pour about 2 1/2/ cups of the cider into the pan, filling it to about 1/4 inch in depth, but not touching the bottom of the ham.

Once the ham is completely coated with the brown sugar mix, it is time to place it in the oven, uncovered.  Bake the ham for about 15 minutes per pound.   After the ham is cooked, cover it with aluminum foil and let it rest for about 20 minutes before starting to carve it.  This allows for the juices to distribute .

While the ham is resting, it is time to make the sauce.    Pour the juices from the pan into a saucepan and add the rest of the cider and the maple syrup and a dash more whiskey.  Bring to a boil, then add mix the cornstarch mixed with 2 TBSP of water and add to the sauce.  Bring to a boil again, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens.  It is now ready to serve on top of the ham.  I served the ham alongside scalloped potatoes and green beans with garlic, mushrooms, shallots, and red pepper and biscuits.  I served a dry chardonnay with the meal to make it just perfect.  Happy Holidays everyone.