A Jeanne in the Kitchen

I made the things I can make ahead of time yesterday, such as my Cremona bread, the empanadas (they still need to be fried), and my chimichurri sauce. Everything else will be made today.

My friend Priscilla, is Argentine/Italian. She is actually in Argentina right now too. She has approved of my Argentine menu and has given it two thumbs up. But then, she did give me the cookbook, Seven Fires, by Francis Mallman, and my recipes all came from there. The name Seven Fires comes from the seven different types of “fires” used in Argentine cooking.

I am always making and trying out new things, new recipes and new learning techniques. As you know, I love to make bread, but there are so many different kinds of breads to be made. So I try them out one at a time. A new bread for me was my Cremona bread, also known as pan de Cremona. Mine didn’t come out exactly as it was supposed to, but not bad for a first attempt. This just means I need more practice, and need to make more. 🙂 This is my version.

This is how it is supposed to look. Oh well. Next time. 🙂

Cremona bread is an Italian bread, and most of the Argentine population is of Italian descent. The city of Cremona is known for being the home of the Stradivarious violin, since it was the home of Stradivari, the creator. It is also known for its bread. The Cremona bread traveled to Argentina with the Italians, when the Italians flocked to Argentina between 1870 and 1960 to escape economic hardship and the devastation of both world wars and they brought the Cremona with them. This bread is popular in Argentina – probably even more so than in Italy. The fringed horseshoe shape looks cool – great for feeding a crowd.

Cremona Bread

As with so many other delicious breads from around the world, it is made with simple ingredients. What makes it so special are the love and techniques used to make it. From start to finish, this bread takes about 4 hours to make.

Originally it was made with lard, but I used butter instead. Next time, I will use garlic butter too.

2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast

1 1/4-1 3/4 cups water, as needed

4 cups flour

1 TBSP coarse salt

1 TBSP olive oil

6 TBSP melted butter

Dissolve the yeast in the water and whisk together. Let set for about 5-10 minutes. Mix in the olive oil

Combine the yeast and salt in a mixer, then add the yeast mixture and mix together, starting with the paddle attachment and mix just until blended.

Switch to the dough hook and mix again at low-medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Shape the dough into a round ball and dust with flour. Cover and let rise for an hour, or until it doubles in size.

Roll the dough into a rectangle about 24 inches long and 8 inches wide and about 1/4 inch thick.

Brush the melted butter on the dough, then fold the shorter, wide sides into the middle, flip the dough, and repeat. You want two folds. It is similar to making puff pastry. Let it rise again for about 30 minutes.

Roll it into a rectangle and brush with the melted butter again. Then fold the dough over lengthwise, leaving about 1/2 inch of the bottom half exposed

With a sharp knife, cut slices all along the edge, making fringe or fingers.

Bring the edges together to make a flat circle. I think my problem was then I made it into a circle, like the recipe said to do, rather than making into a semi -circle. See, once again, I followed the directions, and it didn’t turn out. 🙂

Cover and let rise again for about 45 minutes. Preheat the oven (or horno) to 400*F or 200*C. Brush with more melted butter, if you like, and bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until it is golden brown and crisp.

I will reheat it again right before serving, so it it will be nice and hot. I did take a little sample. It is very good. !Disfruta! 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Not all winged creatures and things that fly are birds. Lately, I have been seeing a lot of other things that fly too.

There are lots of grasshoppers all around these days. I don’t remember so many from years past.

We also have a lot of bees, which is a very good thing. We need our bees.

We also have quite a few moths fluttering around too.

Size doesn’t always matter. Just like with diving, sometimes we need to focus on the smaller animals too.

Yesterday I hinted at a “wining weekend”. We had a slight change of plans though.

We were out literally all day yesterday, and from the first event, we were going to go to a wine party at InVINtions after. But things didn’t quite work out as planned at our first event, and we decided to pass on the wine party. It had already been a very long day, both for us, and for the fur babies, and there will be other parties in the future. Plus, I lost my good camera and I was really bummed out about that. Now I have to get another one, and soon. I use it EVERYDAY!

We have made wine plenty of times from InVINtions, under their expert guidance and tutelage, but this is the first time we made our own wine, all by ourselves. There is definitely a lot more to it than what we thought.

A friend of Lauren’s had given her a wine making kit, that somehow we kind of inherited, though I guess it technically belongs to all four of us; Mike, Lauren, Larry and I. Larry and I watched a winemaking video a few times, then purchased the juice and all the ingredients necessary to make the wine.

The four of us started the winemaking process, and Larry and I did everything else.

Step #1

We sanitized all the equipment first then started mixing everything together.

Taking the first specific gravity reading.

Once we finished this part, we had to let it rest for a few days.

Step #2

The first racking of the wine. We had to rack the wine before adding more ingredients and mixing it all up.

Daddy had some very curious helpers.

Adding the wood chips.

Again, we had to let it rest again. This time for about 10-12 days before moving on.

In the meantime, we cleaned and scrubbed our recycled bottles. This was quite the chore. We need 30 bottles. No problem. We have plenty. We will sanitize them right before our bottling process begins tomorrow.

Step #3

We had to rack the wine yet again and added the bentonite. Then we had to stir vigorously to de-gas it.

Doing another specific gravity reading.

Once this was done, we had to let it rest again for another 10 or so days. And tomorrow, it will be time to bottle it. We followed the instructions to a tee, and watched the video before every step. We took a few “barrel” tastings, but nothing more than a sip or two each time, just to note the progress. So far, it tastes pretty good. I have to say, not bad at all for first time vintners. 🙂

We will rack it once more and then bottle it. We made a Malbec, and since it will be close to Halloween, we named it “Midnight Malbec”, using our “panther” Nicky or Nicodemus, as our model.

Tomorrow will be the real test though. Mike, Lauren, Janet, Bob, Erik and Shannon will all be joining us for the bottling, followed by an authentic Argentine dinner. I decided on an Argentine menu since Argentina is known for it’s fantastic Malbec wines, and Malbec is what we made.

I will drink wine any day that ends with a “Y”. 🙂 Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well, the wine really helps with that, by the way. ‘Til next time.

Starting today, and all weekend, I will be a-wining, in different ways. I will be busy all day, but should have a enough of a break on Saturday and Sunday to fill you in on all our new wining adventures. Stay tuned. Don’t touch that dial. Cheers!

We have one tree in our backyard that the hummingbirds seem to love. They flock to this tree and greet us when we sit out on our deck to dine al fresco. Most of the time I can’t get good shots of them because they are so backlit, but they are still fun to see. I never stop though, because I just may get lucky sometimes and I get some good shots too.

These are the shots I normally get. Not bad, but not great either.

But with luck and persistence, every now and then I get some good shots too.

The moral of the story is …. Never give up. Have a great day and make everyday great. You never know. Today could just be your lucky day. 🙂

Thanksgiving is quickly coming. For our Canadian friends, it is coming in just a few days. This year, it will be celebrated on October 14. In America, we still have about a month and a half to wait. Soon, everyone will be busy planning menus and getting things ready to spend the day with loved ones. Leftovers are always a part of the Thanksgiving traditions as well. But what do we do with all them? How do we plan to use them up? Here are some delicious ideas for using up those holiday leftovers.

The reason I am writing about this today is because I have been asked by Rent/Redfin to do a post about using up Thanksgiving leftovers. The article is set to publish in October on the Rent. Blog, which saw over 2 million in traffic last year.  This is a big honor for me and I am very excited to participate.

Here are just a few of my recent ideas for using up those delicious Thanksgiving leftovers. These can easily become part of your holiday traditions as well.

1. Thanksgiving Leftovers – Turkey Enchiladas with Pumpkin Cream Sauce Thanksgiving Leftovers Transformed into Turkey Enchiladas with a Pumpkin Cream Sauce

Enchiladas in general are a great way to use up leftovers, but why not make them festive as well. I had just enough pumpkin puree for this dish, and then I also used up some of the turkey and vegetables to make these very tasty enchiladas.

2. Curried Thai Turkey and Vegetables – More Leftovers From Thanksgiving

Pasta is always a good way to use up leftovers of any kind. Why not turn your leftover turkey and vegetables into a festive pasta to continue the festive celebrations. You can dress it up even more by turning them into an ethnic dish too if you like. The pasta possibilities are endless.

3. Potato Pancakes – From Leftovers To Potato Pancakes

Almost everyone has mashed potatoes on their Thanksgiving table. Sometimes you have leftovers and sometimes you don’t, but if you do, turning those potatoes into potato pancakes is always a delicious option of repurposing them. No one will ever know they came from leftovers.

In fact, all these delicious options I have provided, no one will know they came from your Thanksgiving Holiday leftovers. The only way they will know is if you tell them. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Our fall colors are a little late this year, but they are beginning to pop out. We are at a lower altitude than the mountains, so our fall colors tend to be behind the mountains by a couple of weeks anyway. They may not be numerous yet, but the colors that are coming out are already beautiful.

Here are the fall colors around my lakes.

I just love fall. It is my absolute favorite season of the year. I love all the colors and the cooler, crisper air. I love everything about fall.

We had some pork loin down. Larry was in the mood for something Asian to be made with it. No problem. I can do that. I was inspired by a honey garlic pork recipe I saw and went from there. We tend to like our foods with a little spicy kick, so I spiced it up a bit and added vegetables to top it off.

Spicy Honey Garlic Pork

My spice came from adding red pepper flakes as well as topping it with a a little extra spicy chili mix. Just a dab will do you, since the spicy chili mix really packs a punch. You can substitute chicken for the pork too if you like.

2 lbs pork

2/3 cup honey

salt & pepper to taste

1/4 cup chicken broth

2 TBSP soy sauce

2 TBSP garlic

2 TBSP apple cider vinegar

1 1/2-2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 TBSP cornstarch

red chili spice as a topping, optional

Combine all the ingredients together and mix well. Marinate the pork in the sauce for at least 30-60 minutes before cooking.

When ready to cook the pork, preheat the oven to 400* F or 200*C.

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until the pork reaches an internal temperature of about 160*F or 72* C and/or the juices run clear.

I served my pork over wild rice and then topped it with vegetables as well. For my vegetables, I used some green beans, red pepper matchsticks, red onion slices and mushrooms.

I boiled the beans for about 5-7 minutes and sauteed the rest in butter and olive oil, with salt & pepper until they were ready.

Once everything was done, I layered them up, starting with the rice, then the pork, the mushroom mixture, green beans, and then finished it off with a little dab of spicy chili sauce.

I served this with a cabernet. Pork is one of those dishes that goes well with either red or white wine, but because my sauce was a rich, brown, spicy sauce, I chose red wine. It was a perfect combination and all the flavors just popped to life.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

The Germans love their potatoes. Like me, the Germans love their potatoes cooked in all kinds of ways. They use them for almost every meal. Today, each person on average, consumes about 150 lbs of potatoes per year.

Potatoes were introduced to Germany in the 17th century, but became popular in the 18th century. Back in the 18th century, Frederick II of Prussia (also known as Frederick the Great) was looking for ways to feed his nation and lower the price of bread. He proposed the potato as a suitable new addition to the nation’s diet. Potatoes are called Kartoffel in Germany and German speaking countries, like Austria.

Potatoes are popular in Germany for many reasons, but one reason is because of the military, believe it or not. When an army camped on a field with traditional crops, which they did without consideration for the peasants, the crops would be destroyed and the harvest gone. Because of this, German peasants quickly saw the value of the potato, which would not so easily be harmed by military movements taking place on the surface.

One of the popular potato dishes in Germany is scalloped potatoes, though they often are made with a bit of mustard. I made some German scalloped potatoes from a recipe from one of my German cookbooks, that included mustard, bacon onions and garlic. No wonder they were so good. 🙂

German Scalloped Potatoes of Kartoffelauflauf mit speck

Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray.

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

olive oil

3/4 lb bacon, diced

1 onion, diced fine

1 TBSP garlic

3 lbs potatoes, peeled and sliced into thin rounds

2 tsp wholegrain mustard

1 cup heavy whipping cream

salt & pepper to taste

1 cup shredded cheese

fresh parsley, chopped

Slice the potatoes into thin round slices.

Get a skillet very hot add the oil and cook the bacon until it is browned, for about 5 minutes, then remove from the heat.

Add the garlic and onions and cook for about 7-10 minutes, or until the onions are translucent.

Combine the mustard, cream and the salt & pepper. Add the onions, garlic, bacon and most of the chopped parsley to the mustard and cream mixture and mix together thoroughly.

Add a single layer of the potato rounds to the prepared casserole dish.

Add a layer of the cream mixture, then repeat until the potatoes and cream are all used.

Top with the cheese. You can use whatever type of cheese you like, though cheddar is usually recommended. I used Mozzarella this time, because that is what I had. Using different cheeses will give different flavors and qualities to the potatoes. Play around with them. Use what you like most or mix and match them.

Bake for about 1 hour, or until the cheese is all melted and forms a golden crust on top. Sprinkle a little parsley on top and enjoy it while it’s hot. You can leave out the bacon if you like, and it will still be very good.

We had two types of potatoes for this meal. The German scalloped potatoes and the potatoes in in my focaccia. Potato Focaccia Pugliese

Since fall weather is slowly creeping in, and the weather is getting a little cooler each day, this was a perfect meal for fall. Our days of dining out on the deck are becoming limited for the rest of the year. We are going to enjoy it for as long as we can though; one ray of sunshine at a time.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

This year I saw a lot of Says Phoebes. A lot more so than I have seen in years past. They are such cute little birds. They supposedly like the quiet solitude of the country life, but I live in the suburbs and they seem to like it here too. They are usually here with us from March-October, so their time here is coming to an end for this year. I will miss them, but I will also gladly welcome them back again next spring.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.