Chicken Breast in Gravy with Rice and Steamed Broccoli & Corn

2 small chicken breast
3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp butter for frying
Coarse ground Garlic Seasoning Salt
1/2 onion sliced
1/4 cup mushrooms
Shot glass of Sherry
1 tbsp flour for gravy
1 cup Broccoli florets
1 cup corn
1 cup rice uncooked


(NOTE: Recipe ingredient sizes will have to be increased according to how many are eating this meal. The recipe accounts for 1 serving, possibly 2.)

Directions:

Pour 2 cups of water into a small 1qt sauce pan and place on stove. Add a small amount of salt. Bring to boil. Pour rice into the pot of water gently. Don’t stir.  Take a bamboo screen and place over top of pot and then place lid over that. (if you do not have a bamboo screen, use a couple of chopsticks to raise the lid just a tiny bit to allow for air to escape from pot.) Bring water back to boil and then turn all the way down to the lowest setting so that it can simmer.

Using a meat mallet gently pound the chicken breast for a few strokes. Season with Coarse ground Garlic Seasoning salt.  Flour both sides of chicken breast.  

Melt butter in small skillet. Place chicken breast in the melted hot butter.  Brown on both sides and remove from pan.  

Add mushrooms and sliced onions. Season with Garlic salt also. (do not use to much) When onions have become translucent and brown, pour a small shot glass of Sherry into the pan and let it deglaze the pan. Simmer for about 2-4 minutes.  Remove from sauce pan. 

Add 1 tbsp of butter and melt.  Sprinkle in 1tbsp flour.  Gently cook till it has browned.  Add 250ML of water slowly allowing it to thicken.  If it becomes to thick add a little more.  Once it has thickened, Return the onion/mushroom mixture back into the gravy. Add the browned chicken breast as well. Let simmer on low for about ten to fifteen minutes. 

While chicken breast are simmering in gravy, check rice.  Gently move a small amount of rice to see if water is gone or nearly gone.  If it is, turn the post off but leave it on the hot eye. Close the lid tightly.

Steam the corn and broccoli.  Season to taste as well as toss in small amount of butter for taste. 

Once the chicken breast gravy has thickened and simmered for a few minutes it is ready to move to place for serving.  Enjoy.

July 1st, 2014

I will be adding to this particular post with additional photographs and writings in relationship to my gardening here in Qaqortoq this year.

     The biggest thing we have here in Qaqortoq which is in the Southern part of Greenland is slightly warmer temperatures and I mean slightly and the load of sun we get.  North of the Arctic circle the sun shines 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  In the Southern part of Greenland, we get about 22 hours of sunlight.  So having said that, the sun shining that many hours does have an advantage.  I have noticed that plants that had just started turning green, would be flowering a week later at an amazing rate!  It’s like they jump several days from seedling stage to full blown flowering stage within a few days.

     One of the biggest problems I’m currently experiencing is the fact that the soil outside seems to be too cold for seedlings to pop from seeds so therefore it’s taking entirely to long to pop from the soil. So right now I’m probably a month behind those that know how to get around that here. I’m learning as I go along because I’m from Florida.  In Florida one knows when to plant seeds outdoors because we know when the colder temperatures will totally be gone.  Here though it’s very different.  If there is several days of sunshine with little to no Northerly winds, then the soil can warm up enough to pop seeds.  If the wind is blowing, then I can forget it.

     Yesterday I went to the hardware store to pick up some plastic.  I am going to water my little planting bed tomorrow and then cover the top side with plastic along with the fishnet for protection and see if I can’t heat up the bed enough to make the seeds go ahead and pop.

 I’m really wanting to have some fresh Mustard Greens and Spinach and Lettuce.

     Inside I am growing two tomato vines in one very large pot.  I have to say that these two tomato vines has grown at an exceedingly fast rate within two rates not to mention flower and set fruit already.

The plants had doubled in size within that two week period, started flowering with me shaking the blossoms to self pollinate and then discover about four days ago very small fruits already set on the plant.

     Today when I looked at them, the small fruits had already doubled in size.  I am so hoping they will be tasty once they reach the size they should make and start ripening.



     Of course the hours the sun shines will also start to decrease probably by the end of this month so I am hoping to have two vines loaded down with tomatoes before that occurs.  What amazes me the most though is the fact the tomatoes have grown so quickly already.

    I will start adding to this particular blog post every Tuesday till the garden is covered again in snow as well as giving a weekly account of my two tomato vines.  We will be renovating our house soon and one of the things that will get added is some additional windows and I am very excited about that because that means I can have additional space for growing indoor tomato plants and also a chance to test a theory on whether I can grow bell peppers indoors as well. I am encouraged so far by what has happened with the tomato vines. Lets just hope the fruits stay on the vine and not rot but do what they are supposed to do.

July 2nd, 2014

    


 Today I went out to check on the garden bed and I finally see some seedlings popping their new seedling leaves from below.



                                                          I am so excited because once they start getting a good growth on them, it won’t be long and we will be eating from the small garden.  

   I also took some new photographs of the two tomato vines today as well. More new fruit and some new flowers.  

I am a little concerned that I only see two more flushes of flowers that will come soon.




The whole bottom half of the plant has no flowers or fruit.  

I really hope this is not a bad sign to say this is all that the plant will grow.  I need to pick up some 



     Update coming soon.  Hope you liked the photographs.

Oh I wanted to add a couple of extra photographs not related to the gardening part because I think they are awesome and I wanted to just share.





                                                                       Colors and nature go hand in hand.  Everywhere there is colors, some brighter than others. I think blossoms are the most unique thing that comes from nature other than specific land masses like icebergs and ice caps.

Ingredients

1 – 1 1/2 pounds of Whale Meat







 3 – 4 large potatoes (peeled and cut into medium sized squares)

                                                 3 – 4 large carrots  (peeled and sliced )

1 medium onion (peeled and sliced)
2 shallots (peeled and sliced

1 cup sweet peas
1 cup green beans
1 cup corn

1 jar of sliced mushrooms
12 cups beef broth
Garlic seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter




Cut whale meat in medium sized pieces. Season whale meat with garlic seasoning and then flour lightly.

 Braise cut up meat on both sides till lightly browned. Remove from pan.  











Saute mushrooms, onion, shallots till onions are slightly translucent.

Pour a small amount of Sherry into the pan to deglaze. Pour all of the beef broth into the pot.  Bring to boil.  Add the Whale meat and carrots and potatoes to the broth. Bring back to boil. Turn down to medium heat and cook for about 30 minutes.  Add all of the rest of the vegetables into the pot and continue to cook on a lower heat until the stew has thickened.  



Once thickened serve in bowls with garlic bread or some other bread. My husband said it was tasty but different too. It was my first time making stew to begin with so it will probably take more than once to get it right. 

 

I like to make a salad that has become a favorite of my heart light. He really enjoys it and we have shared it with a couple of our friends. It has become a favorite of theirs as well. I started making it based on a salad that I loved buying from Zaxby’s. You could go and buy one of their chicken strip house salads with any dressings that you wanted along with any extra’s that you might want. Being there is no such restaurant that even comes close to that I started creating my own based on theirs. I have since changed a couple of things and added a couple of additional ingredients. Sometimes I don’t have access to an ingredient and have to compromise by either doing without it or exchanging it for something else.
So my recipe is based on what I put in it myself and how I make it is my own recipe. Getting salad dressings that I like here is extremely hard so I use mayo because it really makes the salad pop!

Chicken Breast-Bacon Pecan House Salad (Feeds up to 4 people)
1lb Boneless Chicken Breast
8 slices of Bacon
1 Head of Iceberg lettuce
1 ½ Dozen Cherry Tomatoes
2 Carrots
½ Red Bell Pepper
1 Shallots and/or small Onion
2 Boiled Eggs
1 ½ cup Shredded Cheddar or Havarti Cheese
1/3 cup chopped pecans
5 Tbsp Mayo or to taste
Butter and/or Olive Oil
Flour
Coarse Ground Garlic Salt
Croutons

Thaw out boneless chicken breast, rinse and pat dry with paper towel. Season with coarsely ground garlic salt and let it come to room temperature. Should take about 15 minutes.

Flour chicken breast next. Melt butter in a medium sized fry pan and place chicken breast in fry pan. (Or use Olive Oil) 

Brown chicken breast on both sides making sure that it is cooked through before taking from fry pan. Let cooked chicken breast rest on paper towels.

Cook Bacon in medium sized fry pan till crispy but do NOT burn it. Drain on paper towel. Boil eggs and then cool under running cold water. Peel eggs and set aside.

Slice a shallot or a very small onion into very thin slices and put in bowl.

Take the flat side of a knife and crunch up the bacon and pour into bowl. Mix again with spoons. 

Add mayo to taste. Gently blend in the mayo.

Shred a small amount of Chedder cheese to use as a topping.

Slice chicken breast in thin slices. Place slices on a small place for serving. Place a bowl of croutons on table for serving as well.


Serve salad with breast and enjoy!
(I used to work in a restaurant and there was a cook that worked there and he knew everything or seemed like he did and he told me that the reason lettuce gets brown edges on it is because it was cut with a knife. Metal causes a reaction apparently with the leaves and I believe he is right on that. He told me to always run it under cold water and then let it drain and then pull apart to the size needed for salad. The cold water seems to keep the lettuce plump and lively while waiting to be eaten. I always do this with my lettuce and it never turns brown it is always crunchy and tasty.

http://kimiikins.blogspot.com/

Occupation Nuuk

The location of the settlement is about 450 km north of the Artic Circle. There were no men buried with the women and children. There seems to be a mystery surrounding why there weren’t any men with them. One of the children was about six months old and buried alive with its mom.

The mother died from a turmor on the brain. The custom back then was to bury children with their mothers if there was no one to nurse and raise the child while the fathers were out hunting and trying to provide for their families.

https://www.stok.dk/

Tuesday we were invited to attend a tour of a company “Stok Emballage” that Royal Greenland uses to wrap the product they produce after it has been boxed or packaged so that it can be shipped without incident.

This is the old equipment that had been being used on the Qaqqatsiaq.  It is time for a replacement.

  The tour guide gave us a little bit of a speech with video to go with it but of course it was all in Danish so I didn’t get much out of it. After the speech he took us on a tour of the facility.  

This is the more updated equipment that probably will replace the old one.

After that we all went to a local Go Cart facility “Odense Kart Hall” in Odense, Denmark to have some fun with Go Carts. The kart slogan is: “Give your boss the rear!”  LOL

http://www.gokart-hal.dk/english.html

This is the first time I have ever been in a Go Cart and I have to say I was a bit apprehensive because I did not know what to expect.

We got to race each other in four different heats in which we would change car numbers as well.

My husband Nikolaj getting ready to whoop some butt!  LOL

I noticed that it became quite competitive between some of them but it was all in great fun. We all had a good time.

Once it was all over, the top three was rewarded with medals.

ZOOM ZOOM!!!

I thought that was very cool and it sure did make the winners smile big time.

After we finished eating, then Peder (company spokesman) took us to another place for a liter of beer for each person called Bryggeriet FlakiLaven.

http://bryggeriet.dk/eng

I didn’t have any beer. The beer the rest had was brewed from some type of berry as well.  It was quite a dark colored beer too.   The entire business had brightly painted walls, artwork strategically placed in the right places as well as the ability to view their brewing facility as well.

I don’t really care to drink it so I had a vodka/orange juice mixed drink instead. This business brews its own beer and has the brewing equipment and ingredients right on premises.

I took a couple of photo’s of some artwork that was also on display in this place of business as well. 😉 

Don’t forget to go to my photograph site to view more of my photo’s.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kdojoelsen326

Today Kriston took me to a place in Hanford called “Color me Mine.”  the shop is a paint it yourself ceramic studio. For one studio fee, it covers paints, glazing and firing.  The studio fee is good for the whole day and for as many pieces as one would like to paint.  Of course there is also the cost of the piece in question that will be painted. 

so Kriston picked a tall coffee cup and I ended up picking out a cookie jar.  I just couldn’t resist it because of the style and how much space on it I could paint on. 😉 

I really enjoyed painting today especially with sharing it with my youngest daughter the joy of painting.  She had already discovered the shop due to somebody buying her a birthday studio gift from the shop.  

So it was quite nice sitting down and painting together.  I have to say it reminded me of how much it used to soothe me because it sure did soothe me today.  Very relaxing. 🙂

This is the website for this company: www.hanford.colormemine.com

The company can also be found on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ColorMeMineHanford?fref=ts

Windsor, California 10/28/201

Wild Flour Bread
Wood Fired Brick Oven Baked Bread Bakery & Garden located in Freestone, California near Sebastopol. Today Carol and her husband Jerry took me on a road trip to go to see the Armstrong Redwoods in a State park named after it.  In this blog I’m going to talk about one of the places we stopped at on our way to there. Carol had told me that whenever they have house guest they’d make a special trip up to the “Wild Flour Bread Bakery & Garden just so her guest could experience the tasty natural breads that are made there.

So off on our road trip we went and when we pulled up it looked like a small shop or what some of us Southern folk would call a small “hole” in the wall.  Meaning that it’s nothing of a large scale but people from miles around would come due to the tasty food served. In this case it is the tasty bread that people come from all around to have.

Wild Flour Bread uses a brick oven to bake sour dough breads, scones, and biscotti. Using a wood fire brick oven produces beautiful hard crust breads that people from miles around come to taste and enjoy. 

They tend to open with four breads only along with their sticky bun, cheese fougasse, goat flat bread and either the Bohemian (apricot, orange and pecan) or the Egyptian (pear, fig and candied ginger) and one or 2 out of 4 or 5 daily kinds of whipping cream scones which have become a daily sellout.

So the first thing you get to see when you first get ready to walk in is the amazing door way that greets you. Beautiful wood work is done at the entrance.  When you come inside the store, it’s not real big but big enough that people can come in and order bread and even sit at a table or two to enjoy eating them there if they want to.

The people working behind the counter start their greeting by asking you which flavor of bread you would like to try out free before actually buying anything.  In fact I got to taste four different flavors too.  Each one tasted really good too. Although I have to say I liked the sticky buns over the Egyptian bread.  I liked the cheese fourgasse as well as the goat flat bread. I didn’t get a chance to try any of the biscotti though.  Maybe next time.

When we left we had several bags with different flavors of bread in them. Some of them were going to the kids as well. I didn’t know there was a garden in the back so I missed out on that part but hopefully I will get to visit again to see that as well and i will definitely make a point to go and see that as well.  We didn’t spend a lot of time there due to the fact that we were on our way to see the Armstrong Redwoods. That alone had me very excited. I will show some photo’s along with write a blog about that next.

When we were driving to the bread shop I noticed that there was miles and miles of grape vine vineyards.  Fall color everywhere as well. Lots of bright reds, and bright gold colors and colors in between.  The entire drive was very delightful because we went in an area where nature was on both sides and we couldn’t see the main highway that ran parallel to it.  Jerry did this intentionally so that I could enjoy what I saw along with experiencing what surrounds the bigger cities.

A little more about the Bread bakery. 

About the making of the bread, it’s made in the wood fired oven because it gives especially thick crust which contain the best flavors. All of the breads are sour doughs which doesn’t mean they will have a sour taste but rather some breads including their sweet breads are risen only with organic sour dough (fermented flour and water).  This makes for the best tasting, healthiest and longest lasting bread.  They heat their oven every afternoon with 1 wheel barrow of eucalyptus so by 4 am the wood has turned to ash and after mopping the oven out they can start baking at 550 degrees, a much higher temperature than gas ovens. They never turn this oven off except for one time when the roof part of it needed replacing.  This is how they are able to maintain a reliable temperature to make such tasting bread.

The bakery also has a really nice garden out back that includes many flowers and small fruits.   Raspberries can be seen along with 12 foot sunflowers, and other assorted flowers and vegetables.