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Did I ever mention that I can bake if there’s no yeast involved? When I laid eyes on the photo of this on Pinterest, I couldn’t get the oven preheated to 350 fast enough.

You’d think pudding were in the list of ingredients, but it’s simply moistened with zucchini, buttermilk and oil. And the lively part? The glaze for this bread is a must. Tart and sugary, it really brings an exciting zing to the whole package. First bite triggers the almighty OMG.

This recipe comes from NancyCreative blog.

Lemon Zucchini Loaf with Lemon Glaze…It’s What’s for Snacking.

• One Year Ago:  Lamb Skewers with Cumin Vinaigrette
• Two Years Ago:  Fried Goat Cheese Poppy Seed Salad
• Three Years Ago:  Birdwatching at Pawnee Grasslands

Located under the Flatirons in Boulder, Colorado, Boulder Beer Co. was Colorado’s first microbrewery. From humble beginnings in 1979, they’ve grown to produce almost nine million bottles of beer annually. With a tradition of innovation, they introduced this Planet Porter along with Colorado favorites such as Singletrack Copper Ale, Buffalo Gold and many more.

But what makes a beer a “porter”? Porter is a dark style of beer originating in London in the 18th Century,  A well hopped beer made from brown (or black in this case) malt. The name came about as a result of its popularity with street and river porters. The history and development of stout and porter are intertwined. The name “stout” for a dark beer is believed to have come about because a strong porter may be called “Extra Porter” or “Double Porter” or “Stout Porter”. The term “Stout Porter” would later be shortened to just “Stout”. For example, Guinness Extra Stout was originally called “Extra Superior Porter” and was only given the name Extra Stout in 1840. Thank you Wikipedia.

Goodbye to my normal method of making beef stew and hello to this Boulder Beer recipe.  Usually I cube everything, toss it in the crock pot with seasonings, beef broth and a can of tomatoes and let it simmer all day. This recipe brings beef stew to a new rich and savory level.

And with high’s in the 40′s and an all day drizzle, this really hit the spot. Let’s take a look.

I’m sending this to paradise to participate in Souper Sunday event hosted by Deb over at Kahakai Kitchen.

Boulder Beer Porter Stew…It’s What’s for Dinner.

• One Year Ago: Pasta with Short Ribs and Capers
• Two Years Ago:  Larry’s Strawberry Pie

This South of the Border cocktail, with it’s “usual suspect” lineup of fresh and spicy Southwestern ingredients, results in an intoxicating dish. It’s similar to ceviche, however, the seafood is cooked, not brined. We loved it, and it’ll have a permanent spot in my recipe database.

This was part of our Cinco de Mayo dinner last weekend, which actually took place on Sunday since we were sipping Mint Juleps and BBQ’ing chicken on Saturday for the Kentucky Derby

I subscribe to  Tony’s Market “Weekend Recipes”, an email series which features recipe suggestions, just in time for the weekend. Last week, Chef Mick suggested I serve Campechana, or Mexican Shrimp Cocktail. I just knew out of all the thousands of subscribers, he was surely talking to me personally, so it landed on promptly on the menu plan.

What I liked about this was the method for boiling shrimp. A little different from my usual procedure, it read; once the water is boiling, add shrimp and remove from heat. Let stand for three minutes. Immediately cool. I iced them down once that three minute timer sounded, and it worked like a charm.

This recipe made enough for at least six people, so needless to say, with just the two of us, we had a lot left over. Surprisingly it was just as good the next day. With just a couple of discolored spots on the chopped avocado, we were enjoying it for dinner the next night.

We had the Campechana for our main course, but served in martini glasses, this would be a festive and impressive appetizer for a party.

Let’s take a look.

 Mexican Shrimp Cocktail…It’s What’s for Dinner.

• One Year Ago: Sherried Mushrooms with Fried Egg on Toast
• Two Years Ago:  Step by Step Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

A wonderful twist on traditional BBQ Sauce. It’s complicated in flavor. Savouring each bite, the palate sorts through a myriad of flavors as you start thinking about everything in sight that you could possibly drizzle this on.  Tart, sweet, sticky AND savory, it would be a perfect pair with duck or pork. Our first introduction was on some cinnamon cured smoked chicken.

I finally purchased some wood chips and took my first stab at smoking. Nothing like you professionals out there, and you know who you are. This is more like kindergarten smoking…I simply soaked some cherry wood chips in water for an hour, drained them, put them in a foil packet, leaving the top of the packet open and placed it on the flavor grates of the gas grill. There was a wasp nest in the charcoal grill, or I would have used it. Let’s take a look at my Saturday project:

For the Cherry BBQ Sauce:

The chicken was great simply served along side steamed broccoli. I glazed the chicken with the sauce just before removing from the grill and also served it when plated.

For the chicken:

• 4 C. Water
• 1/4 c. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. dark brown sugar
• 1 whole chicken, cut in half (or 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 2 thin lemon slices
• 2 thin orange slices
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 2 C. cherry or apple wood chips

Whisk water, salt and brown sugar in a large bowl until the brown sugar dissolves. Add the chicken, onion, lemon and orange slices, and cinnamon. Marinate, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for one to three hours. Do not marinate longer than three hours.

Combine the wood chips with enough water to cover in a bowl. Let stand for one hour, drain. Preheat grill on medium heat. Place wood chips in a 6×8 inch foil packet; do not seal top. Place the packet on the coals five minutes before grilling process begins and cover the grill. Drain the chicken, discard marinade. Grill chicken until cooked through.

Cherry BBQ Sauce with Cinnamon Cured Smoked Chicken…It’s What’s for Dinner.

• One Year Ago:  Chicken Cutlets
• Two Years Ago:  Grilled Lamb Salad with Cumin Vinaigrette

This is a recipe that I posted when I first started blogging. Back when I had like minus two readers. Plus it was hiding behind a great little BLT Cheeseburger, so could have went unnoticed. Anyway, I served it this week with some little sliders and it’s just so good I wanted to share the recipe again, with the spotlight completely on the salad.

The recipe:

Citrus Salad…It’s What’s for a Side Dish.

• One Year Ago: The Great Food Truck Race Rolls Into Denver
• Two Years Ago:  Poached Eggs for Breakfast Tostadas
  

Roxborough State Park is just a few miles Southwest of Highlands Ranch. The park, with close to 4000 acres, is known for it’s dramatic red rock formations, and for us, it’s a prime bird watching destination. So sit back and enjoy the scenery as we meander along the trail.

Cutting through the Dakota Hogback to enter the park.

Roxborough Park has a wonderful visitor’s center nestled in the rock formations.

Formations looking South from the Visitor Center.

A view from the Fountain Overlook.

Along the hiking trail.

Some of the formations can get pretty craggy.

I love how the vegetation climbs up through this valley.

The joint is lousy with these things.  oooooo…ahhhhhh.

We saw no rascally rattlers.

The historic Persse homestead on the property. We watched baby bears in the trees behind this house once. We scurried along our way when it dawned on us that mamma bear was most surely near. Remember that Nancy?

Making the turn back east the trail heads back towards the visitor center. Urban sprawl and Highlands Ranch sits just beyond that horizon.

But wait, there’s more. This is the view to our right while walking back to the car.

Birds seen, April 29:

• Scrub Jays everywhere
• Spotted Towhees, everywhere
• 2 White-crowned Sparrows
• 1 Golden Eagle on top of the hog back, eagle-eye-ing a nearby prairie dog town
• 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
• Lots of Chickadees
• White-throated Swifts
• Cliff Swallows
• Tree Swallows
• Turkey Vultures
• Canyon Wrens

I’m looking for a simple and delicious stir-fry recipe. One that will work for beef, chicken, pork or shrimp. One that I can put in my database as my “go-to”. One that will work with about any kind of vegetable on hand. One that has soy sauce, ginger … you know, your run of the mill ingredients that make up the perfect combination for a flavorful winning recipe.

The recipe I’m posting today…isn’t it.  This is very good, but not “it”.

I’m sure that many of you have just what I’m looking for, so please share your best version with a recipe-deprived stir-fryer wannabe here in Colorado.  Better yet, if you’ve blogged about it, please post the link in your comment.

When I try to use common sense and hit the refrigerator door hauling out soy sauce, sesame oil, hoisin, etc., I’m just not intuitively coming up with the right mix. As you can imagine, Google returned about a million options.

I settled on this recipe from Food Network. It notates prep and cook time to equal less than 30 minutes. It took me over an hour from start to carrying plates to the dinner table. I’ll save this one for a weekend meal.

I think what caught my eye was the sherry, the cornstarch and the dark sesame oil. I’ve left the prep time as they instructed.  Let’s take a look.

Chicken and Broccoli Stir-fry…It’s What’s for a Weekend Dinner.

• One Year Ago:  Apple and Brie Sandwiches
• Two Years Ago:  Cheddar BLT Burgers with Russian Tarragon Sauce

Grilling weather inspired shelled and deveined shrimp to appear on wooden skewers. The shrimp were tossed in a generous amount of EVOO Marketplace chipotle infused oil and some salt and pepper.

I fired up the grill and simply charred them until no longer opaque, served them over some fresh greens, and then drizzled with a cilantro, lime chipotle aioli. Easy and delicious.

I’m  impressed that the smoky flavor of the oil prevailed on the shrimp, even after a brief visit with the hot flames from the grill.  And a tablespoon added to the aioli with the strong flavor of lime and cilantro proved it to be a flavorful star. Let’s take a look.

Chipotle Grilled Shrimp with Cilantro, Lime and Chipotle Aioli…It’s What’s for Dinner.

• One Year Ago:  Jalapeno Steak Sauce Burger
• Two Years Ago: Chicken Marengo

Anyway, that recipe made quite a large batch, so the remainder of these muffins have been in the freezer. I decided to thaw them out and turn them into a cheesy, creamy, sausage-y southwestern style strata.

I’ve never made a strata before, so taking some cues from a couple of different recipes, I was quite pleased with the end result.  In other words…YUM.  Let’s take a look.

Southwestern Strata…It’s What’s for Brunch.

• One Year Ago: Jalapeno Steak Sauce Burger with Grilled Vegetables
• Two Years Ago:  Breakfast Tacos

It happened on Easter. We were invited over to Greg and Cauleen’s house for brunch where we were presented with a buffet table full of beautiful breakfast casseroles.  Needless to say, I’ve been in a strata, quiche-y, cheesy kind of mood ever since.

In the pantry were potatoes that needed to be used and in my freezer a lingering few bags of Colorado sweet corn I froze last September. A trip to the store for some Gruyere and we were in business. And with that line up of ingredients, it goes without saying this was sinfully tasty. Let’s take a look.

Corn, Potato and Rosemary Gratin…It’s What’s for Brunch.

• One Year Ago:  Crab Cakes Benedict with Spicy Hollandaise Sauce
• Two Years Ago: Crispy Tilapia Tacos