Blueberry Lemon Pancakes

Do you ever go in spurts of eating the same thing day in and day out for a week straight?  I've been on a crazy bagel and lox kick this past week....onion and garlicky everything bagel with smooth mellow cream cheese, the perfectly ripe and juicy tomato, salty lox, spicy onions and just a bite of capers...kind of craving it all over again and I literally had this for dinner every night this week.  Figuring I should probably move on to other food at some point before I begin smelling like a big fat salmon myself, I decided I'd continue the breakfast for dinner theme.  

Pancakes for dinner is awesome.  Fantastic.  Delicious.   A little citrus and berry pancake adds a bit of spring during the middle of a little winter deep freeze.  

If you haven't tried pairing blueberry and lemon, well, you should.  Trust me.  

These pancakes are a little bit tart and a whole lot of bursting berry yum.  

Blueberry Lemon Pancakes

Ingredients:
2 large eggs

2 tbsp sugar
2 c all-purpose flour

1 1/2 c milk
1/4 c melted butter
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:
Beat egg until frothy; mix in remaining ingredients except blueberries, mixing just until smooth. 

Heat a griddle over medium heat or about 350 degrees on an electric griddle

Grease or butter lightly

Using a measuring cup, pour 1/3 cup of batter onto the hot griddle. Sprinkle with blueberries

Cook pancakes until puffed and dry around edges and bubbly on top

Turn and cook other side until golden brown.

Green Chile Corn Chowder

Was it just last post I was expressing sadness at our piddly Denver snow this season?  I should pay more attention to the news because I woke up this morning to a Winter Storm Warning beeping on my phone....is there any felicity in the world superior to this? (I just watched Sense and Sensibility last night and as is the norm, will quote the movie relentlessly throughout the following week)

Snow = felicity.  Big fat flakes of white snow falling from the sky throughout an entire 

day = happiness  for the soul.  Yes sirree. 

Even Brooklyn thinks so. 

Soup, stew or chili are the standards for snow days right?  I knew I wanted something thick and hearty so opted to throw a pot of chowdah on before heading outside to shovel and let Brooklyn play for 5 minutes before she whined to come back in.  That's how she rolls. 

I love the hearty creaminess of a chowder especially with bites of potatoes and corn.  When I  opened the freezer I saw a few baggies of all the green chiles I'd so painstakingly peeled, chopped and divided up into freezer baggies this past fall.  I am just like Laura Ingalls Wilder, all ready for The Long Hard Winter--if she also happened to have boxes of pre-made chicken broth.  One can only aspire to so much Laura Ingallness. 

By 10 am this morning, we only had 5-6 inches but it's been deliciously snowing all day long.  As predicted, this little one had enough after about 5 minutes and was ready for a long hard day sleeping in front of the fireplace.  

This may have been overkill considering I had corn and green chiles in the chowder, but I wanted to make cornbread with the chowder and remembered  this Pinterest recipe I've been wanting to make for ages: jalapeno cornbread poppers.  I followed the recipe for the most part except that I cooked the jalapenos for 15 minutes at 350 first just to ensure they would cook through and I used a different cornbread mix.  Sometimes mixes are just good. I'd also chopped all of the stems/tops off before I realized that the original recipe still had them on, because you needed to keep the muffin mix contained.  I just pressed the cut edges up against the side of the pan. 

The fantastic part of simmering soup is the smell throughout the house and the building anticipation.  Just a few hours of super slow simmering later, and I had a pretty large pot of sweet, salty, spicy and creamy chowdah.  The cream adds a delicious fabulousness that I think is essential to chowder and 1/2 cup really isn't all that much.  If you don't love the cream, you can also add a can of evaporated milk.  I also prefer to mash up some of my chowder to thicken it rather than thickening it with flour.  The chiles, well they were the absolutely essential--I may just resort to adding the green chiles to chowder moving forward.  

Just in case I didn't say it enough...I LOVE snow days.  Hope your days were toasty oasty!

Green Chile Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

5 slices of bacon diced

1 medium onion, diced

3 medium potatoes

16 oz bag of frozen corn

1 1/2 cup diced roasted anaheim chiles

1 32oz box of chicken broth

2 large chicken breasts 

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup sliced green onions plus some for garnish

cilantro for garnish

Directions:

1. Brown diced bacon in a heavy soup/stock pot over medium heat
2. Remove all but 1 tbsp of bacon grease from pot and then add onions to pot.  Sautee for 3 minutes until translucent
3. Add diced potatoes, frozen corn and green chiles. Add garlic and black pepper and stir well
4. Pour chicken broth over veggies.  Add chicken breast and press down to immerse in broth.  
5. Cook over lowest heat for 2 hours (You can also cook this over medium heat for 1/2 hour if you want to make this on a bit more of schedule)
6. Remove chicken to a cutting board and allow to cool for 5 minutes.  
7. Use a potato masher to mash the about 1/2 of the soup.  This will thicken the soup--but make sure to leave half of the potatoes/corn/chiles in chunks. 
8. Dice the chicken and return to pot.  Taste and season with salt.
9. Stir in heavy cream (optional--kind of)
10. Remove from heat and stir in green onions.  
11. Serve garnished with green onions and cilantro

Spring Veggie Corned Beef Hash

We finally just had a bit of snow around these parts.  Unfortunately, just a bit is the correct description...down where I live it was 5-6 inches.  How I ask, can we live a mile above sea-level, right outside of ski country, and still be getting less snow than the eastern seaboard or the midwest?  To say that I have Nor'easter or Midwestern Blizzard envy is an understatement.  Our piddly few inches over this winter and and the appearance of the first asparagus of the season gives me a bit o' spring fever. 

Can you simultaneously have spring fever and wish for 12-24 inches of snow?

With my fridge stocked full with asparagus, I was scrambling for recipes to make.  As usual, my eyes and my goals are bigger than reality and there is asparagus falling out of the fridge.  

Asparagus is awesome in soup, just steamed, broiled with olive oil and in spring hash.  Corned beef hash to be precise. 

Look at those colors.....precisely why I adore produce so much.

When I make corned beef hash I usually just buy a thick slice of corned beef from the deli.  One fat slice (6-7on the deli cutting scale) adds more than enough corned beef for my taste.  With St. Patty's day around the corner, this would be a great use for leftover corned beef as well. 

Cast iron skillet is a  phenomenal choice for making hash.  If you get the pan nice and hot, the potatoes and corned beef get a fantabulous browning that is essential for hash.  The breakfast kind of course--not the Colorado approved special kind. 

Gratuitous cuteness shot. 

Spring Veggie Corned Beef Hash

Ingredients:

2 cups diced potatoes, skin off or on

1 cup diced onion

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 1/2 cup asparagus chopped into 1 inch pieces (woody ends discarded)

1 thick slice of deli corned beef (about 1/4 lb)

1 tbsp olive oil

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Fried egg for serving

Directions

1. Place diced potatoes in medium saucepan, cover with water and boil on medium until the potatoes are tender enough to eat, but still firm enough to fry (about 7-10 mins for a 1/4 inch dice size)
2. Drain in colander and set aside.  
3. Heat cast iron skillet over medium.  Add olive oil and onions.  Cook for 4 minutes, stirring often. 
4. Add red peppers and asparagus and cook 3-4 minutes. 
5. Add corned beef and potatoes and stir to mix well. Press hash down in pan and allow to brown and crisp.  Flip by section, press down and allow second side to brown and crisp
6. Serve topped with fried egg cooked to your preferred firmness 

Beijing

I was going to be done with the vaca pics...I really was.  Then I got some questions about China visa regs so though I'd pass on the good news. 

You can leave the airport if you have a long layover in Beijing.  

You can leave the airport if you have a long layover in Beijing. 

That may not sound as exciting the first or second time you read that, but let me share a few more details on how fantastic this really is. 

When I was planning my trip to Cambodia and Thailand, I found out that the travel agent booked me on Air China with a 15 hour layover in Beijing.  Fifteen long and brutal hours when all you want is to be home, is torture. 

I looked into all kinds of tours to pass my 15 hours in Beijing and every scenario ended up with the same conclusion...I needed a visa.  Needing a visa was one thing, but needing a visa for China where someone must show up in person to apply was a whole 'nother thing.  The closest embassy is in Chicago and there was no way I was flying there or paying a law firm to show up there for me and apply.  Nope, not for 15 hours. 

Fast forward to my actual layover.  I saw a line for visitors without visas.  I thought I'd try my luck and found out that China began allowing 72 hour visa free entry into the country just two weeks before-- for situations just like mine.  Love, love, love. 

The airport hasn't quite gauged the demand yet and had only one tour daily which I missed by 15 minutes.  Not one to be deterred by such things reasonable caution or limitations, I worked with the tourist desk to hire a private car and a personal translator and tour guide.  A little spendy? Yes, but how often was I going to be in China?  

I spent a very lovely day walking on the Great Wall.  In all of photos I've seen of the Great Wall, I've never connected that the rolling ups and downs  of the wall would equate to lots of incline and decline hiking with crazy amounts of stairs thrown in.  Duh right?  

Visiting China also completed goal 24 on my 101 in 1001....Travel to a country not currently on my "to visit" list.

This gentleman sold me a bottle of water for six times what the airport charged for water.  Well played Mr. China Wall water vendor. I asked him pose for a picture as a compromise. 

After the wall we headed to visit a cloisonne "factory" tour.  It was really more of a production shop where a few individuals created the most artful and painstakingly tedious cloisonne pieces.  The metal is rolled and attached to metal vases and then hand painted and filled with colors before being fired.  I didn't pick up any pieces as it wasn't really my style, but it was fascinating to watch the process. 

This is the Bird Nest, aka Beijing National Stadium from the Olympics.  What struck me most while traveling through Beijing was how very western it felt.  Bangkok and Seoul have very western elements but you never for a second forget you are in an asian country.  In China, if I ignored the Chinese characters on signs, I'd have sworn I was in Philadelphia.  Don't ask me why I thought of Philly over other cities, but I stand by that comparison. 

Yes, very western indeed. 

Broccoli and Cheese Quinoa Casserole

So after having just posted that I'm not a huge casserole person, I've made a liar of myself and gone on a bit of a casserole binge.  I'm not sure if it's the weather, or the weather, or the weather or just the fact that I've been craving melted cheesy things recently.  With nary a can of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup in sight, I may just rethink my stance on casseroles. 

This particular casserole is a take on the broccoli, cheese and casserole.  I've swapped out a chicken broth base in place of the canned soup and swapped out quinoa for the rice.  I left the cheese in full force.  The result is a casserole that is full of big cheesy bites of chicken and broccoli and is every bit as comforting as the original casserole.

Broccoli and Cheese Quinoa Casserole

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked quinoa
2 cups cubed cooked chicken

2  12 oz pkgs frozen chopped broccoli
3 tbsp butter

1/4 cup flour

1 15 oz can chicken broth

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup evaporated milk

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, preferably sharp
1/4 cup greek yogurt

1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Heat large oven proof skillet over medium heat.  Melt butter, and stir in flour.  Cook for 3 minutes stirring constantly.
3. Whisk in can of chicken broth and whisk continuously until mixture is thick and begins to bubble.  Add milk, garlic powder, mustard powder, salt and pepper and mix well.  
4. Turn off heat and add 1 1/3 cup shredded cheese as well as the yogurt and sour cream. Stir until smooth and cheese is melted.  
5. Add cooked quinoa, broccoli and chicken to skillet, stir well to combine.  
6. Spread casserole around pan, smooth top and sprinkle with remaining cheese. 
7. Bake for 20 minutes covered until cheese is completely melted.  

Thailand

All of Thailand compressed into just one blog post?  Of course it can be done. 

We started our trip in Thailand with a quick flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.  I posted on a Thailand trip post years ago that the cost of the flight is so worth the money...1 hour by plane vs 11 hours by slow train.  Do it, do it, do it.  A quick 6 hour van ride down to Mae Sot and we were settled in for a couple of days visiting the Mae La Refugee camp on the Thailand-Burma border. 

Prior to this trip I knew almost nothing about the situation in Burma aside from the sparse news clips about bombings and refugees.  Seeing these things in person is a  life changing event. 

The military government calls the country Myanmar, the refugees call it Burma.  We hear of Myanmar government oppression becoming a thing of the past in our news and we talk about lifting sanctions, yet on the Thai Burma border sit a number of refugee camps filled with over 150,000 Burmese nationals who've been forced to flee bombings and torture by their own government.  A large number of the refugees have been there for 20 years, some have been born there and many say they believe they will die there.  They are not even truly refugees who are granted refugees status where they can integrate into another country, but rather they are a people confined to a small section of land the Thai government has allowed them to live on.  Some with ID and papers can run quickly to the markets, others must depend on humanitarian aid bringing food to them. 

We hear of peace coming to that country in our news and yet in the week I was there, China intervened and said the bombing(that is not going on) must stop now that the shells and artillery are entering Chinese lands.  My heart aches for the people.  

When we were invited into Burma by a Colonel in the Karen Nation/Burma border special forces, we were ecstatic.  Looking across a river and seeing armed guards with grenades and rifles is not something I'm especially used to but these guys were the most hospitable, friendly awesome guys ever.  Seriously, ever. 

We didn't speak the same language but still we laughed, sang hymns together and shared smiles. 

Mae Sot itself is a border town whose proximity to the Burma border and the opium trade coming from Burma gives it a bit of a sketchy reputation.  Still that sketchy aspect was far removed from our little slice of Mae Sot life.

Just a regular chill morning in Mae Sot.

Markets are by far one of my favorite things to photograph.  The colors are vivid and the offerings are so visually spectacular that I have a hard time not walking around with my eye glued to the camera viewfinder. 

When I am older, I will buy a motorbike, dress Brooklyn up and ride around just like this cool lady.  Yes indeed.  

You can buy your frogs ready to cook or still fresh and alive in mesh bags.

This is the orphanage in the Mae La refugee camp.  Oh the pictures I wanted to take of the hillside upon hillside covered in side by side bamboo huts.  It was actually painful not to photograph them but the Thai government isn't the fondest of calling attention to the camps and so we kept our cameras out of site until we were inside the orphanage boundaries.  This is the photo I wanted to capture myself. 

The property houses one sleeping hut for the boys, one for the girls, a main house and a church.  The kids are a combination of traditional orphans, social orphans or children whose parents have just sent them away from the bombings and in their towns and villages.   The children in this orphanage are also sponsored through LightBridge's child sponsorship program. 

Just because durian is awesome.  I am in the 1% that thinks so. 

We  had a day in Chiang Mai for sightseeing before heading home and opted to visit the Mae-Sa Elephant Camp and Tiger Kingdom because how often do you get to hang with elephants and tigers right?  It was definitely a trip to remember. 

Yep, just hanging with tigers.