Colorado Lamb vs. New Zealand Lamb

Most people who say they don't like lamb have obviously only had the kind from New Zealand.

If you ever have the opportunity to enjoy a good Colorado lamb roast, shank, rib, and it's properly prepared, it would be a revelation to you.  New Zealand lamb has a bit of a "gamey" taste to it.  A wild flavor that many who have tried lamb dislike.  But not all lamb is created equal.  That which is raised in the lovely U.S. state of Colorado is sent to fine restaurants all over the world.  It's difficult to even get in Colorado.  The price is much higher for this lovely meat also.  But if you have the good fortune to find some, it is worth the extra cost.  Colorado lamb has a mild, savory flavor that is superb!  Add a red wine gravy that's been made with the juice of the lamb, and you have a winning combination.

Hot, easy, yummy, bread!

One thing that will never change with my family is the love of good bread.  The one's they want the most are the buttermilk breads.  So, I've made them, perfected them, and altered them.  This is my favorite.  It's even better the second day!

If you like good bread, Bernard Clayton, Jr.'s Complete Book of Breads is a must!  I have used this book for over 33 years (as you can see by the tattered coverlet), and because I have two kids, another..newer one, had to be purchased.  Amazon.com has them for sale for $13.95.  That's a steal!  His method of putting together a recipe is my favorite, out of all the cookbooks I have.  Pictured next to the book is the Scottish Buttermilk Bread.  It's very easy to make, though at my altitude (see my last post) it's a bit of adjustment on the ingredients for getting a nice rise with the bread.  One of the things I've discovered is you can add things!  Oh yay!  I can have a wine, cheese, meat, and bread night and not need to worry about heading all the way up to the north end of town for a good Italian bread.  Just put sliced garlic, or rosemary seasonings in when you are adding moisture to the bread, and there you have it!  A good bread to dip into the olive oil you love.

I would post the recipe, but don't want to infringe on publications rights, so I will say to you, it's the best $15 you will spend if you want a good bread book!  Check out the bread sticks, War Bread, and bagel recipes while you're at it.  My regular corn bread recipe comes from this book ("Yankee Corn Bread"), though I skip the bacon bits. 

The wine pictured is one that no one can get here in the states anymore, much to my sadness.  It is an Argentine Bonarda.  They are amongst my very favorite of all.  However, after typing this, I had to go back and look at the picture again as I had put Malbec, which also comes from Argentina and this Winery.  But neither one is shipped out of the country now.  There are many good ones out there, less so for Bonarda, but they can be found.  Big, bold, fruity, juicy reds!!!  Drink them with Spanish foods, Mexican food, and lots of other foods.  If you have a question regarding these lovely gems, I will try and find the answers for you if I don't know.

Good night, and good dreams!

Mexican spoon bread, corn bread, yum!

So moist and delicious!

This type of "cornbread" is one of my very favorite.  The recipe I used for years in my twenties was lost to me and finding another was frustrating.  However, my mother left me several good cookbooks that she enjoyed.  For some reason I thought I'd find a recipe for fry bread in this little book from Arizona Highways magazine, which was not there, but a recipe for spoonbread was.  So, this is the first time in years that I've enjoyed this treat.  This is very easy to make and it's even better than what I made 30 years ago! 

First thing when cooking breads is to remember what altitude you reside at.  I'm at 7100 ft. above sea level, so for every teaspoon of baking soda or powder, you want to reduce this by 1/4 tsp. (give or take a little).  Being exact isn't necessary, but at 4000 ft. and higher, you will have a flatter bread if you use the given amount in a normal cookbook.  The closer you are to 4000 ft, the more you can get away with.  Add a tablespoon more moisture also, whether that is milk, water, or other moistening agent.  Now, lets cook (remember, I adjusted this recipe for my altitude, though this is the original below).

1    cup corn meal

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt (I used 1/2 or less)

1    medium onion, chopped (I used 1/4 cup sweet onion)

1    cup cream-style corn (I used the whole can)

1/4 cup bacon drippings or cooking oil (see below for comment)

2    eggs (I use extra large)

1    clove of garlic, chopped (I used pre-minced in a jar)

1    cup sour cream or milk (regular milk, but I used the sour cream)

1    small jalapeno, minced (I used Ortega fire roasted chilies, chopped)

1    cup grated cheddar cheese (I used Sergento shredded Mexican 4 cheese)

Mix the first 7 ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl.  If you are not worried about cholesterol levels or diabetes, you can get away with the bacon drippings, however I strongly urge you not to.  Regular cooking oil is also a risk, though not as great.  I used sunflower oil because it has a nice flavor and is much better for you. 

After beating all contents of the bowl together well, pour half of the mix into a 10x10 baking dish that has been greased. 

Spread/sprinkle the chili over the mix in the pan.  If it's uneven, run a dinner knife blade through the top portion of the mix to obtain a more even distribution of chilies.  Sprinkle the cheese over the mixture (I used more than a cup by approximately 1/2 more).   

Pour the remainder of the corn mixture over the cheese, insuring you have an even cover of the layer below. 

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes (due to the altitude I'm at, 360 degrees works better here).  There should be a slight browning of the top part of the bread.  The recipe says it will serve 10, however, if you get 6 out of it, you are doing better than I.  Smaller portions would most definitely be better for me, but darn it's good!  Store leftover in the same pan so it is easily reheated for dinner the next day.  It's a good make ahead dish also. 

If you have the good fortune to find this wee booklet, grab it.  It has some nice recipes in it as well as a little history of the food. 

Wine:  We had Cline, 2008, Zinfandel, Sonoma, California.  This wine went terriffic with the entire meal (pork roast with winter veggies).   

Until the next blog, thank you for stopping by, hugs to my kids, and good health to all.

Craving Vouvray!

Baked chicken with mango and kiwi salsa!

Last week I had this urge to have a wine that used to be more prevalent in the list of wines I loved.  Over the years, reds became much more appealing, thus whites were served less often at the table.  Actually, they were hardly ever served!  While looking through the wines for sale at Vintages Wines and Spirits in down town Colorado Springs, I came across this Vouvray.  Erin, the owner said it was very nice and that it's better than some of the past vintages flavor wise.  So, I purchased this one and decided on a dinner that should complement the wine.  This is very non-typical for me as I usually find a wine that goes good with dinner from the cellar.  Not vice-versa.  Well, I have to say, this turned out to be a perfect match.  Here's what I did:

In a shallow baking dish that has been coated inside with olive oil, place cleaned chicken pieces that have been patted dry with paper towels.  Insure none of the chicken overlaps.  Sprinkle your favorite seasonings, or use the "Slap Your Mama" Creole seasonings as I did over the top.  There is no need to use salt or pepper with the one I used as there is plenty in it already.  There is a kick to it, so be careful if you like mild peppers vs. hot.  Drizzle a bit more olive oil on the top of the chicken.  If you don't have a pour spout on your bottle, place one to two fingers over the bottle opening to create just the right flow of oil that suits your needs.  Cook in a preheated oven of 350 until the chicken is just done.  Do not over cook!  I used chicken strips, so cooking time was only 20-25 minutes. 

While the chicken is baking, remove the skins from two medium mangoes, and two kiwi fruit, slicing them into cubes.  The size of the cubes is up to you.  I went with about 1 inch squares more or less.  Place them in a bowl that is large enough to stir without losing any fruit over the sides. 

Cut half of a small red or sweet onion into pieces, not quite a diced size, and place 2-4 tbsp in with the fruit.  Cooking is partly what pleases our individual pallets, so the amounts of the ingredients you use in many cases is what appeals to you.  I like the fruit flavor best, so my salsa had approximately 2 tbsp of onion. 

Next, slice 2 medium, very nicely ripened tomatoes into quarters, starting from the stem end to the tip or bottom of the tomato.  Remove the seeds use in a salad or in a recipe for later.  slice into small pieces and place in the bowl with the other ingredients.

Salt to taste, and add 1/2 tsp each of chili powder and ground cumin.  Mix all the ingredients together using a careful "folding in" method.  This will keep your salsa from becoming attractive.                         Serve with the baked chicken and a tossed green salad with balsamic and oil vinaigrette.  Cornbread would also work with this meal.

The wine:  Michel Picard, 2007, Vouvray, France.   This wine was clean, crisp, and had lovely tropical fruit flavors.  It was quite impressive how well it went with this meal.  It recieved 2 thumbs up!

Mazatlan Flora and Fauna!

Oh my gosh!  It feels like and sounds like spring out side here today.  So.. this feels like the time to talk about natural beauty in Mexico, which abounds there.



Th flowers in the first picture are so abundant in Mexico.   Bougainvillea (bo-gan-VEE-yah) come in so many colors, including white, orange, and red, and are so beautiful to look at.  They have a light fragrance and the butterflies love them.

Hibiscus is also a flower that is very popular in the resorts we stay in.  They come in so many colors and color combinations it's impossible to list them all.  Click on the picture to get a big view of this one.  It has an iridescent lavender in the middle.  A specific red hibiscus is used to make a popular drink in Mexico called Jimaica (ha-MY-ca).  It is a bit sour, so sugar is added to make it seem like you are drinking Kool-Ade.  Something we experienced while we were there was a Jimaica Taco.  What an interesting and delicious treat!  I buy the dried flowers here at home to make the drink, so it may be fun to try and make the taco also.  When I do, you will get a blog on it. 

There are so many different types of flowers and plants in the areas we visited, it would be impossible to show them all, though if you go to a nice resort/hotel, you will be seeing lots of beautiful flowers.

Iguanas are a frequent sight in the Mazatlan area ranging in color from green to orange.  They live in the trees at our resort, and were fun to watch.  The iguana in the picture with the coconuts, has a group of 7 total living in his tree. 

There are many shore bird to see in the Mazatlan area.  Brown pelicans are numerous and interesting to watch.  The birds shown here were working a school of fish that we could see roiling in the water at times trying to escape.  We're not sure what the other birds are, but they were working alongside the pelicans. 

Last but not least, I leave you with a picture of a couple of donkeys we saw on the way to Copala.  It seemed they were wild.  Though Mazatlan means "land of the deer," we didn't have the good fortune to see one.

There are many things to see and do in the Mazatlan area.  It is my hope that everyone has the opportunity to visit there. 

Our tour of Copala, Mexico

Copala, Mexico

This little village in the mountains outside of Mazatlan, is very interesting.  For one thing, all the roads in town are paved using rocks, and there are designs made in the road using different sizes of rocks.  It's very clean and picturesque.  The village was founded in 1565. 

The church in Copala is very large and nice for such a small town.  It's age is definitely showing, and one of the big stones that helps form the top of the steeple, has fallen to the paving below.  It's estimated to weigh over a ton, which puts one in awe that this beautiful building was created so long ago.  If you look at the window above the entry arch, you will see the figure of a man from the chest up.  He is hanging over the entry, and it's stated that if you are entering the church with a bad attitude, he will spit on you.  Our guide had a story about that and he is a believer now. 

The inside of the church is much smaller than the others we saw, but this was pretty awesome just the same.  It was very well kept up and still had that feeling of grandeur with the columns, arches, and adornments.  The floor is made of tiles that are not cemented in.  Many of the statues you will see in the churches were shipped from Spain, by boat, hundreds of years ago.

Our tour guide with Vista Tours was very good at explaining details that were quite interesting in each of the areas we visited.  Here, the man in the blue shirt, is our guide talking to some of the members of our group about the history of the church and the fallen rock.  I'm assuming the area of dirt behind him is filled with flowers during the summer.  The children you see in this picture, carve small pieces of wood to sell to tourists that come on the tour to Copala.  A little pesky, but they were so cute, we still enjoyed them. 

Lunch was served at a cafe in town amongst the trees, on the second floor, where you could get a nice view of the area.  It was more like being on a big veranda.  The food was delicious!  On the left is my meal of fish smothered in tomatoes and chilies.  Jerry had the combo plate which was a tostada, tamale, and chili relleno.

What a fun trip we had.  The weather was beautiful, the people were very friendly, and we learned a lot!

Churches in Mexico

We have been to many countries, but of all of the churches we have been in, the Catholic ones are the prettiest.  Most of them are pretty old!  The ones we saw in Mexico were pretty interesting. 

The Church shown here is on the main square in Mazatlan.  It's such a beautiful church, inside and out.  The architecture is very different from any you will ever see.  It is build in the Old Colonial style, but also Gothic, and Moorish.  It was completed in 1890, and is a real jewel!  It's even more beautiful inside.  It was financed by a Jewish man who's only stipulation for the money he provided, was to have the Star of David placed in the windows.  So the upper set of stained glass windows have the star designed in the top of each, all the way around (on both sides).  What an interesting building.

As with all the pictures in my blogs, click to make them larger.


Tomorrow, I'll put up pictures of the one built in the 1500's, in the little town of Copala.