A Jeanne in the Kitchen

The last thing we want to eat when the temperatures and the mercury are rising are heavy foods.  We want to eat as many cool dishes as possible.  This means a lot of different kinds of salads, both as side dishes and as main meals.   Tonight we are having a cool green bean Caesar salad.  It is a new twist to an old classic.  I am serving this along with a cool potato salad (just a regular mustard/miracle whip version with hard boiled eggs today) and some spicy sausage rolls, or Saichichin del Diablo, a recipe from a friend of mine.   Add a good cold beer or a light, crisp white wine, and you will be chilling down and relaxig from the sweltering heat of the day.

Cool Green Bean Caesar Salad

1 1/2 lbs green beans, remove the stems and cook

2 oz. shaved Parmegiano cheese

1/2 red onion, sliced very thin

1/2 red bell pepper, diced small

3/4 cup grape tomatoes, cut in 1/2

croutons

Place the stemmed green beans in boiling water and cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until they are mostly tender, with just a slight crunch still left to them.  Once they are cooked, drain them and set aside to let cool.  Once cooled, cut them into 1″ pieces and toss everything together with as much dressing as you need to coat the beans, but like a regular Caesar salad, you do not want too much dressing.   There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, especially dressings on salads.    You want it coated and nice and flavorful, but you no don’t want your salad swimming in dressing either.

All you need to make your salad.  Shave the Parmigiano cheese nice and thin with a vegetable peeler.

 

Cool Caesar Dressing

3 TBSP olive oil

black pepper to taste

1 TBSP Dijon mustard

1 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce

3 cloves garlic

1 1/2 TBSP lemon juice

I had some leftover pepita dressing I had made earlier and added about 2-3 TBSP of that as well.  Mix everything together and toss in as needed with your green bean mixture.

 

Making the Croutons

To make the croutons, take some crusty bread and cube into your desired size.  Cut the bread with a serrated bread knife.  Toss the bread cubes with olive oil and black pepper and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crunchy.  Toss the bread cubes and rotate the pan after about 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool.  Once they are cooled, toss in with your salad mixture, or just add to the top of your salad.  You can use any kind of bread and/or seasoning you would like to make your croutons.  I used a rustic garlic pugliese loaf that was a few days old; just perfect for making croutons.  Store bought croutons are fine well too.

Enjoy and stay cool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am a “saucy” kind of girl.  I just love sauces on top of my foods. If the sauce is good enough, it almost makes the meal in and of itself.   Steak au poivre starts out with filet mignon, which is my favorite cut of steak, but the sauce just made it absolutely divine.  We eat well on a regular basis, but we don’t often eat filet mignon.   This was the first time in a very long time that we had filet mignon.  But it was so worth the wait.    As many of you know, there are a lot of French influences in the world of cooking.  An au poivre sauce is just such an example.  Au poivre means with pepper, so steak au poivre is a steak made with crushed peppercorns, both as the seasoning for the steak itself, and also in the sauce.

Crush whole peppercorns and really press them into the filets on both sides.  Some people crush their peppercorns by using the bottom of a skillet and kind of rolling them on the peppercorns.  I have never had much success doing it that way, so instead, I used a hand-held meat tenderizing “hammer”.  I put the peppercorns in a plastic back and wrapped a towel around the bag than just started pounding the peppercorns until I got them to the right consistency.

In a very hot skillet, coated with enough oil to brown the steaks and to prevent them from sticking, sear the steaks on both sides.   I love my steaks on the rare to medium rare side, so I seared the steaks for about 4-5 minutes per side.  If you like your meats more cooked, just cook them a little longer longer; about 6-7 minutes will give you a medium steak.  With this flavorful cut of meat, you definitely DO NOT want to over cook it.

When the steaks are cooked to your desired doneness, remove them from the heat and keep them warm in the oven set at 200* F.  Drain off the extra oil, keeping the peppercorns, and add minced shallots and 2 TBSP butter.  Saute the shallots for about 3-5 minutes or until they are translucent and slightly browned.  Add 1/2 cup of cognac or brandy.  Be careful, because it will flare up and flambe, but the flames will die down within a few seconds.

Add the cream and Creole spices, Creole mustard and any additional meat juices from the pan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and reduce by half.  This will take about 3 minutes.  Whisk in the remaining butter and serve over your steaks.

Steak Au Poivre

4 6 oz filet mignon steaks

1 TBSP Kosher salt

2 tsp whole black peppercorns

1 tsp olive oil

1/3 cup shallots, minced

4 TBSP butter, divided

1/2 cup cognac or brandy

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp Creole seasoning

1 TBSP Creole mustard

 

Top with fresh chopped parsley.

I served my steak au poivre with a vegetable galette and mashed potatoes, finishing the meal with a beautiful Strabilante Verdot.  This is definitely a five star meal.  As my idol an mentor would say, Bon Apetite!

 

 

 

My husband teases me and says I don’t like to eat leftovers.  Not true at all.  I just don’t like leftovers as they were the first time around.  I like to recreate them into something totally different, so no one knows that they already had their time and space on on the plate.  A couple of days ago, I had made a lot of sauteed vegetables, which of course meant there were quite a few left over.   Don’t get me wrong, they were very good the first time around, but I think the way that I made them tonight made them even better.  I made them into a vegetable galette, which is basically a rustic tart.  Delicious!  I just love the whole idea of rustic cooking.  To me, it seems more real and down to earth than making something picture perfect.  I served this delectable tart along side steak au poive, and a very smooth, bold and fruity Strabilante Verdot.

Rolling out the dough.

Making the galette.

Folding over the edges.

Brush the dough with an egg wash before putting in the oven to bake.

Vegetable Galette

You can use any kind of vegetables you like.  I used sauteed zucchini, yellow squash, red onions, eggplant, mushrooms and garlic, cooked with thyme, oregano and marjoram.  Make sure to drain off any residual oil or liquid from your vegetables before using them as a filling for the dough, otherwise, you will have a gooey mess.

 

The Dough

2 cups flour

10 TBSP cold butter, cubed

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 TBSP lemon pepper

 

Mix the flour, butter, lemon pepper and salt in a food processor until well blended, then add the eggs and whipping cream and mix again until the mixture forms into a ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refridgerate for at least 1/2 hour before using.

The Filling

Use whatever cooked vegetables you like.

cheese of your choice.  I used Mozzarella.

pine nuts

 

Egg Wash

1 egg

1 TBSP heavy whipping cream

 

Preheat the oven to 375* F

After the dough is ready, roll it to about 1/4-1/2 ” thickness on a lightly floured surface.  Then place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Cover the surface of the dough with the cheese of your choice, leaving about 2″ uncovered around the edges.  Then cover with the cooked vegetables.  Layer with more cheese and finish with pine nuts.  Gently fold the dough over and layer it to a width of about 2″ from the edges.  Brush the dough with egg wash and bake for about 45 minutes or until your crust is golden brown.  Your will have a rich, buttery crust that is really light and flaky.  Serve hot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a cool idea.

ajeanneinthekitchen.com

According to the calendar, it is still technically Spring.  Summer isn’t here just yet.  But the temperature and the mercury are already rising, despite that fact, and it is already sweltering hot.  We are only in early June and we are already reaching temperatures in the mid 90’s here in Colorado.  If it this hot for us humans, just imagine how hot it is for our fur babies, especially those who have a double coat and thrive in cold weather.   Lucie and Vinnie HATE the heat.   The colder the better for them.  Although, double-coated dogs have a more regulated body temperature because the double coat acts as an insulation buffer to a certain degree.  So on these dog days of summer, when you and your dogs are melting, give your dogs a bit of of break from the heat with these cool, “pawdelicious” treats.  They are like doggy popsicles.  Lucie and Vinnie absolutely love them.   As much as they love them though, and they will eat them all in one sitting if you let them, definitely fight the temptation to give them too many at one time because with the coconut oil ….. well, let’s just say it will definitely clean out their systems and there will be a runny mess to clean up.

Fritzie is inspecting and putting her paw print of approval on these, making sure  everything is just to her liking.  These pawdelicious treats have only three simple ingredients – peanut butter (either creamy or chunky), coconut oil and cinnamon.  These ingredients are fairly common in most households, and they only take about five minutes to make.   These are a cool, refreshing and relatively healthy treat for your fur babies.   Peanut butter is very high in protein and relatively low in fat, which is just perfect for the dogs.

Lucie and Vinnie are also eagerly awaiting to give their paw prints of approval.

The clean-up crew hard at work.

Time for treats.

Pawdelicious Peanut Butter and Coconut Dogsicles

I cup peanut butter, either creamy or chunky

1 cup coconut oil

1 tsp cinnamon

 

Pour into molds and freeze.  Serve them frozen to your fur babies.  You will definitely get an approving paw or two after giving your fur babies these cool and refreshing treats.

 

 

 

There are many different varieties of curries and curried dishes are found in many different parts of the world.  There are hot and spicy varieties and sweeter varieties, as well as everything in between.  I love them all.  My favorite curried dishes are more of the Thai and Indian styles of curries, although if a dish has curry in it, chances are, I am really going to like it, no matter what style it is.

Shrimp Panang Style Curry over wild rice, served with a pork empanada and topped with with sliced green onions and toasted coconut.  A good semi-dry Reisling would be a perfect accompaniment to this dish.

My husband often teases me, and it has become a running joke in our house, that “I like stuff in my stuff”.  So When I cook soups, stews, casseroles, or one-pan dishes, I usually add a wide variety of fresh vegetables of all colors and textures to really make the dish come alive.   I make sure we eat plenty of greens, reds, yellows, purples and everything in between.

Saute the vegetables first in either olive oil, peanut oil or canola oil.  I almost always use olive oil.  Cook them until they are moderately softened, but still have a light crisp to them, for about 7-10 minutes and set aside.  Don’t cover them after they have been cooked or they will loose a lot of their vivid color and freshness, becoming kind of limp and soggy.

Cook your shrimp (or protein of your choice) separately.  You can use the same oil, adding more as needed.  Cook the shrimp for about 3-5 minutes per side until nice and pink.  Remove the shrimp from the heat and set aside.

Make your sauce, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and add the vegetables, shrimp and seasonings.  Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure it doesn’t stick.  When everything is cooked and ready to serve, top with sliced green onions and toasted coconut if desired.  You can serve this over a rice of your choice or noodles of your choice.

Spicy Curried Panang-Style Shrimp

2 lbs peeled and deveined shrimp

1/2 each green, red, yellow and orange bell peppers, sliced thin

1/2 large red onion, sliced thin

3/4 cup mushrooms, sliced thin

1/2 cup green beans, cut about 1″ in length

Curried Sauce

1 heaping TBSP fresh ginger

1-2 heaping TBSP garlic

1-2 TBSP lime juice

1 can coconut milk

1/2-3/4 cup peanut butter, either creamy or chunky

1 TBSP red pepper flakes or to taste

2 TBSP curry powder and/or curry paste – I used green curry paste, but red curry paste is fine too.  I use them both quite frequently.

1 tsp tumeric

2-3 TBSP honey

2 TBSP cilantro, chopped fine

salt & pepper to taste

green onions, sliced Asian style or at a diagonal

toasted coconut, optional

 

Cook the vegetables and shrimp separately and set aside.  Combine all the ingredients for the sauce and whisk together well.  Add them to your skillet and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and add the vegetables and shrimp.  Continue to cook for about 10 minutes at a simmer, stirring frequently.  When done, serve over either cooked rice or noodles and top with the sliced green onions and toasted coconut if using.   You can substitute chicken or scallops, or a combination of all three if you wish.  You can also make it vegetarian or vegan too, by substituting tempe or tofu, just having the curried vegetables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Potato salad is an American staple and has been around forever.  There are many, many different versions of this delicious staple.  Everyone has their own way of making potato salad and everyone has their own particular favorite recipe.  Because potatoes are universal, there are many ethnic and/or regional influences that help create all these wonderful variations.  I have tried and loved many different styles myself, and am always looking for new ideas and new twists to old classics, not just on potato salad, but for all dishes and recipes in general.   I often make different versions depending on the meal I am serving it with.  Sometimes I like it with Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard and miracle whip.  Sometimes I like it with a dill mustard vinaigrette.  Sometimes I eat it cold, and other times I eat it hot.  Sometimes I use red potatoes and sometimes I use russet potatoes.  And sometimes, I even like to make it purple, using purple potatoes instead.  My point is, there are many ways to cook a potato and many ways to make a potato salad.  There is no right or wrong way, just many, many different and delicious variations.  The sky is the limit on the varieties that are out there.  Don’t be afraid to try new ideas and flavors.  Be open minded and be creative.  You’ll be amazed at the many different and delectable discoveries you might find, if only you allow yourself the opportunity to try.

I only had a few purple potatoes when I made this salad, and there are only the two of us, so this is just a small dish.

Purple Potato Salad with Bacon and Chives

3 lbs cooked purple potatoes

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 TBSP apple cider vinegar

1 heaping TBSP Dijon mustard

1 tsp each fresh herbs like marjoram, oregano and chives, chopped fine

1 heaping TBSP garlic, minced

5 strips of cooked bacon, cooked to your desired doneness

salt & pepper to taste

red onions, diced fine

 

Cook the bacon, remove from the pan and set on a paper towel to absorb the grease.  In the remaining the bacon grease, saute the red onions and garlic for about 3-5 minutes or until soft and translucent.  You may need to add some additional olive oil.  Once the bacon has cooled, chop and mix with the onions and garlic.

In a pot of boiling, salted water add the potatoes and cook for about about 8-12 minutes or until tender.  Remove from the water and let cool.  Once they have cooled, peel and quarter the potatoes.

Whisk together all the other ingredients and add the bacon, garlic and onions.  Add as much sauce as needed to your potatoes and mix well.  Top with chives.  Chill for at least 1 hour hour before serving.

You can substitute yogurt for the mayonnaise if you choose.    You can also make this a vegan potato salad leaving out the bacon and substituting vegan mayonnaise for the regular mayonnaise.  I had some left over sauce that I used to marinate chicken in as well.   If you are vegetarian or vegan, you can use your leftover sauce to marinated tofu  or tempe too.  I try my best to be versatile with left overs and to use them in as many different ways as possible.  I just hate to throw food away, so I am always looking for creative ways of reusing things.

 

 

 

I am always on the lookout for new recipes, and when I find one that I just have to try, I am so excited and I usually try it right away.  That happened a little while ago, when a blogging friend, who goes under the name justborkingaround, posted a recipe for a Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake.  I made it a couple of days after I found the recipe, and just loved it.  With the fresh berries, it is perfect for Spring and Summer.  It’s not just for breakfast either.  It makes a perfect snack or light dessert anytime.  I made mine with blackberries, since that is what I had at the time.  I love both blueberries and blackberries, although blackberries rank a bit higher on my preference list.  It was very light and fluffy.  It was also really, really good.  Because this is such a light dessert, the calorie count is relatively low as well.  It makes 12 servings, and each serving only has 226 calories, which is perfect for those of us who are trying to cut down on our sweets and desserts, but still have a sweet tooth.

Blackberry (or Blueberry) Buttermilk Breakfast Cake

1/2 cup butter (1 stick) at room temperature

1-2 tsp lemon zest

1 cup + 1 TBSP sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups + 1/4 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups fresh berries (your choice)

1/2 cup buttermilk  (I use the dried buttermilk, mixed with regular milk.  Follow directions on package).

 

Preheat oven to 350* F

Prepare an 8″ round cake pan with cooking spray on the bottom and lined with parchment paper.

Toss the berries in 1/4 cup of flour.  I had some leftover lemon cookie crumbs that I ground up in the food processor and added to the flour and berry mixture as well.  Set aside.

Cream the butter and lemon zest and 1 cup of the sugar until smooth and creamy.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well blended.  Mix all your dry ingredients together then add 1/2 at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, alternating with the buttermilk.  Mix until all the ingredients are well combined.   Gently fold in the berry and flour mixture, making sure not to crush the berries.  Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.  Sprinkle the top with the remaining sugar.  Again, I used some of my lemon cookie crumbs along with the sugar to give it a real zesty flavor.  Bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until it is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.  Cool completely before cutting.

Gently fold in the berries to the mixture then pour into the prepared cake pan.

Top the cake with the sugar (and lemon cookie crumbs if using) before baking.

Again, thank you to my fellow blogger justborkingaround for this delicious recipe.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and I know you will as well.  Please check out justborkingaround for some more really tasty dishes.

 

 

 

 

In summer and whenever the weather is nice and warm, we dine al fresco on our deck as much as possible.  Our view of the ponds is a bit obscured these days though, because the trees have grown up so much that they cover most of the view.  But we still have a nice view, and we still love it.  The way we see it, the higher the trees grow, the more privacy we have.  Although our ponds are pretty darn spectacular too.  We are very fortunate to have such a wonderful view from our deck and our backyard.  You can see the top of the 2nd pond here, and just behind these big pine trees is our first pond.  There are 6 ponds in our neighborhood, and we are in between the first two.  Our backyard opens up right into an open space and walking area that intersects all of the top 4 ponds.  The other two ponds are behind us, and they are located in a huge open space area that is home to a small free flowing stream complete with a couple of snapping turtles.  In the big open space behind us we also have a few owls’ and eagles nests as well.  We are often greeted by a wide variety of water fowl, including Canadian geese, a few species of ducks, blue herons, snowy egrets, and white pelicans.   Our ponds and open space are a hidden gem to most people, even though we live in a major Denver/Boulder suburb.

Dinner tonight was chicken I marinated in an herbed yogurt sauce that we put on the grill.  I served it over wild rice and some of our left over Brussel sprout salad with naan bread.  And of course wine; a medium oaked chardonnay to be precise.  There is always wine.   It was just a simple meal tonight, but it was the perfect meal for us.

 

Marinating the chicken before putting it on the grill.  These chicken breasts were HUGE, so I butterflied them.  We easily have enough for at least one more meal.  Today I used dried herbs only because I had not yet been to the store and ran out of fresh herbs.  No, unfortunately, I do not grow my own.  I have many gifts and talents, but growing my own herbs sadly is not one of them.

Herbed Yogurt Marinade Sauce

plain yogurt

lemon juice

garlic

basil

thyme

marjoram

oregano

red pepper flakes to taste

 

Mix everything together and spoon over chicken or fish, and really coat the meat well.  Let sit for at least 1 hour before cooking.  If you have some left over, top your cooked meat with it as a sauce.  I topped the chicken with chopped tomatoes and parsley as well as some of the left over sauce.

 

I am new to this whole world of blogging, and am learning more and more everyday.   I am also having a lot of fun with my blog, A Jeanne in The Kitchen.   Apparently you are all enjoying it as well.  Today, I found out I was nominated for the Liebster Award by fellow blogger Mark Anthony from markanthonysblog.  WOW!!  Thank you so much.  This came as a complete shock and surprise, but it is definitely an honor.  I appreciate all the support I am receiving from all of you.

Why am I passionate about blogging ?

I had never thought about blogging at all before a friend of mine suggested it to me because she likes how I know so much about food, kitchens and cooking.  As I mentioned earlier, I am brand new to the world of blogging, and am learning as I go.  I love to write and I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Cal State Los Angeles.  I am also a certified trained chef.  I went to two different culinary schools in Southern California and was in the 2nd graduating class from the Southern California School of Culinary Arts.  So with my blog, I am combining two of my many passions, writing and cooking, and hopefully reaching out to as many people as I can.

 

 

My 10 random facts :

1.  I am an avid scuba diver.  We dive all over the world, but mostly in the warm tropical waters of the Caribbean.
2.   I am a swim coach and a masters swimmer.
3.   The older I get, the more extreme my adventures become.
4.   My fur babies are my children.  I have 2 Saint Bernards and 2 cats.
5.  No matter who else goes along with us, my husband is always my number one choice to travel with.
6.  I love to learn new things, and am always challenging myself.  Part of this love to learn is what inspires me to travel as much as we do.
7.  If I had a spare $1,000,000 I would donate it to the animals and animal charities.
8.   I love diving with the sharks.  In Belize, I became known as the “shark whisperer” because the sharks all came up to me and just wanted my attention.
9. Diving with the black tip sharks in Roatan was definitely scary but also very exhillerating at the same time.

10. I’m excited about this post!   I am also excited about how I am hopefully getting other people excited about cooking while taking the fear of cooking away.

 

I am Nominating:

1.  2020cookingadventures
2.  buyingseafood
3. janowrite
4. Rêveuse
5. Vero and Canito in the kitchen

My 11 Questions to all of you:

1.  If you could do anything, what would it be?
2. Who is the most influential person to you?
3. If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?
4. How did you become passionate about what you do?
5. How did you get started doing what you do?
6. What is your most favorite thing about yourself?
7. What is your least favorite thing about yourself?
8. What is your favorite hobby?
9. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
10. What would you do once you got there?
11. What is the craziest thing you have ever done?