Salutation to my wonderfully patient fans!

           It seems like a dream, to be where I am in life today, and as we all know...today is where it's at anyways.... It's like Janis Joplin said, "It's all the same fucking day man!" But it's not, because had you told me 6 years ago that I would be happily married to my beautiful husband and best friend, I would have laughed my ass off! If you had told me that my best friend would be the cute little girl I would take care of when she was 5 years old and that she and I have a baby together with me being Aunty Dad, I would be like, ya right!!! But its all true not to mention the house in Carmel that we are remodelling, kitchen first of course,then on and on and on.... a little at a time...or my gorgeous yard with its beautiful roses and vegetables and herbs, prize wining Gladiolas, but I guess you are just gonna have to wait and see then let me know what you think by coming here and commenting on posts and joining the blog , post on Jenni's Dish about everything you can possibly imagine, tell me what you want to learn about and learn, tell me your name, where you live! Is it close enough to come to a cooking class? Or a one on one personal day in the Jenni's Dish Kitchen?! Or would you like to hire me and my staff to come put on a party for you and your friends, or a lovely romantic dinner for two, catering to your every whim, of course! It's gonna be a fun ride and you're personally invited to join me on this journey into Food, Mixology, storytelling and having the balls to just be the real thing ....cause you can talk the talk.....but you are gonna have to walk the walk!!!Come on! Please don't doddle, try to keep up! Oh and for those of you who are interested in medicinal cooking, using herbs and things to spice up a healthy lifestyle, well we've got that too! So hang on to your brims buck-a roos, because we are gonna blow the top off of the normal day to day stuff! Let's think OUTSIDE THE BOX!!!! LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE, COOK!!!
©  Jennifer Green Maggini
📧 jgmaggini@gmail.com

Super Delicious Chicken and Dumplings

Well, the weather is getting cold here in Suwanee, Ga. and the first thing my husband said to me yesterday was, " You know what would be good.... The Dumpling Thing, you know..... with the Dumplings"..... Bob is a very intelligent man when it comes to anything but cooking. He can't boil water. And he happens to have become very spoiled over the years, to the point that when I leave town to visit my family in Cali., he misses my cooking more than anything, yes you heard me right, my husband loves me for my pots and pans, not! Who could blame him, I wait on him hand and foot, and we rarely eat out, a) because it's expensive, b) as he says "Nobody's food is as good as what you make at home." The way to a man's heart is through his stomach? You tell me.
     When I do visit my family in Cali. I get spoiled rotten and taken to awesome restaurants, from (The Green Rosins) in LA, to (The Delfino Greens) in San Rafeal, it's always such a delite to see them, and catch a break, but am always happy to get back home to my funky old farm house, and feel the love. I'm talking about the smell of good food cooking, and the clang of pots and pans.....what were you thinking?
    I've worked in the restaurant biz my entire adult life, at 16 yrs old I lived and worked at Deetjen's Big Sur Inn, I had a funky cabin on the property, called "The Creek House" it was my first "real job", meaning, I was finally old enough to be on the books, I bussed tables in the mornings, cleaned rooms in the afternoon, and prep/line cooked in the afternoon/evening, with another one of my favorite Chefs, Stephen House, a brilliant man, who taught me such basics, as how to really run a kitchen, what can be made/prepped ahead of time, and how much of something to make, along with many other secrets, which I use to this day. He would love that I'm doing this blog, although, he would probably use ALL butter. I make this recipe very healthy, by using skinless boneless breast meat, and Olive Oil, with just enough butter, to give a silky texture to the broth.  Whatever type of chicken you prefer, is what you should use in any recipe, it all works, bone in, just takes a little longer to cook, but the exact same method is used.  The Dumplings are very important, I't may take you a time or two to make them perfect, you'll learn to adjust the ingredients to make them the way YOU like them, my preference, is a little denser than fluffy, for instance. So I give the batter a few extra strokes to get the gluten in the flour a little fired up, giving me a denser dumpling (do not over beat, you will end up with very heavy dumplings, less beating = fluffier) These things take years to learn, and thats why I'm here, to teach the wonderful tricks I've learned over the last 30 years.  So if you start following the blog, and have questions, feel free to ask.
 My father Morty, one of the most brilliant people I've had the pleasure of knowing, always said "The only stupid question, is the one you don't ask." How right he was!

Have ready:
3 to 4 lbs Tyson chicken parts (smaller pieces work best, if using bone in, separate legs and thighs and cut breasts in half) I use 1 1/2 inch pieces of boneless skinless breast meat, sprinkle the chicken with salt and white pepper
In a heavy bottomed large pot put 1/4 cup light Bertolli Olive Oil and 1 TBLS. unsalted Land'O'Lakes butter
Place as many pieces of chicken as will fit comfortably (and not on top of each other) turn once, about 3 or 4 mins on each side, till evenly golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon to a plate, and repeat, until all chicken is done.
Add to the oil left in the pan, (if you think you need more oil, don't be shy, but don't over do, if you use "skin on" you may need to take some out, you should have what you started with, about a 1/4 cup )
1 1/2 cups chopped white onion 
cook over med. heat, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned, about 5 min
add 1/3 cup White Lily All Purpose Flour, cook stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 min, reduce heat to low and add 3 cups Swanson Chicken Broth"stock in a box", canned, or boullion cubes dissolved in hot water, or homemade stock if you have the time, whisking constantly over med high heat, bring to boil. Add:
4 med lg. Carrots, chopped
4 med lg. Celery, chopped
8 oz. sliced Mushrooms 
1 cup of frozen peas
3 cloves garlic pressed
1/2 tsp. Dried Thyme
Salt and White Pepper to taste (this still means TASTE IT!) Depending on what you use as your liquid, some broth, stock and boullion can be saltier than others.
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Return the chicken to the pan with any juices on the plate. (When using Dark meat w/ skin, add 10 min cooking time, and skim any fat that comes to the surface.)
Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer for 15 min. stirring occasionally, make sure the heat is low, so you don't scorch at this point. Beware or be-aware, flour will scorch easily, and needs to be watched closely. If it's getting to thick add a little water or stock. Stir.

While this is simmering make Dumplings:


1 cup White Lily All Purpose Flour
2 tsp. Clabber Girl Baking Powder*
1/2 tsp. Morton salt
Break into a 1 cup measuring cup, 1 egg, and fill to 1/2 cup w/ milk
beat well and pour slowly into flour mixture  the batter should be stiff, don't over beat.
Add:
1/4 cup finely chopped chives, herbs, parsley, fresh garlic, grated onion or what ever floats your boat!!
add a little more milk if necessary, but the batter needs to be stiff to work properly and give you perfect  results.
Meanwhile back at the pot, give a good stir and push everything down in the liquid, to more easily drop the dumplings, dip the spoon in hot liquid in pot, or a cup of hot water, and drop by teaspoonfuls, until all the batter is gone, and the dumplings are just barely touching. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook on low, for 10 more minutes, do not lift lid. Serve immediately. Enjoy!!!

 *In case anyone is wondering, I am using certain brand names, to try to get one of these companies to notice me, fall madly in love with my recipes, and give me some ads for my blog,  however these are really the brands I use, so why not give them a plug, right?
© Jennifer Green Alger 2009

Big Sur Southern Collards

Otherwise known as "Not So Southern Collards". When I arrived in Atlanta, I was taken to a landmark restaurant, which shall remain nameless. No offense should be taken by anyone when I say this, it's simply a fact, Southerners cook their vegis with a strange substance I had never even heard of before, called "Fatback". It's just what it sounds like, it's the fat from a pig's back! Yuck!!! Yuck, and double yuck!!! Something had to be done, and quickly, because despite the issue at hand, Collard Greens are so delish, and great for you, when they are not swimming in fat. The other thing was (now that I was starting to sample collards made by everyone I knew), that alot of people also added meat to this otherwise wonderful super food and harmless plant, pork neck bones seemed to be the most popular, but for some folks any ol' pork would do.
Needless to say, I was appalled. I don't eat much pork myself, as a matter of fact Prosciutto is my only swinely weakness, and I probably eat it twice a year.
     Growing up in communes, all over the country, with home base being in Big Sur, Veganism was common place, and at Esalen Institute it was the main form of cooking served in the "Lodge" which was the communal eating house. I was lucky enough to do a "work study" program at Esalen when I was very young, twelve to be exact, and got to work in the Community garden and kitchen, where all three meals a day were prepared, by the chef at the time, John Russell, who instilled in me many great tricks to making vegan food taste good. "A little bit of this, and a little bit of that",  he would say, pinching imaginary items out of the air! He was one of the first (of many) gay men I would fall in love with over the years. My husband not included!
I am not a vegan, and this recipe can be made with or without Chicken Stock, Vegi Stock works well also.  This is for John may his star shine as brightly as he did!

3 lbs Collard Greens (taken off the stalk) torn in to med pieces
4 cups Homemade Chicken or Vegetable Stock ( boullion cubes can be used in a pinch)
3 cloves fresh pressed Garlic
1 teaspoon brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste ("to taste" means to actually taste the food before salting!!!!)

In a large pot bring the liquid to a low rolling boil, add the torn collards a little at a time, they shrink down like any green, add the garlic, and sugar, lower the heat to simmer, for  20 minutes.

Serve with Vinager Peppers (recipe to follow)

and chopped Sweet Vidalia Onion

P.S. These pic's were taken this morning in my garden, the Collards are a cold weather crop, and need a good frost before you pick them, to make them sweet. Also, they freeze and reheat very well, but only cooked, not raw.

Vinager Peppers
In a small mason jar w/ a new lid pack as many whole small hot peppers, Tabasco, Thai Chiles, Serranos (each has a distinctive flavor) as you can get in the jar, I highly recommend wearing gloves while doing this, the pepper oil transfers to the oil on your fingers and is hard to shake, trust me, also please keep your hands away from any sensitive areas, eyes, etc. In a small pan mix equal parts good quality white vinager and water and a tablespoon of salt, bring to a boil, pour over peppers in jar and seal, the heat will form a seal and you will see the lid is inward. Suggested additions to the jar: clove of garlic, sprig of any herb you like the flavor of, Bay Leaf, Slice of Onion or Carrot, teaspoon sugar. Let cool and refrigerate for up to a month.
© Jennifer Green Alger 2009

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

I make this for my husband on the weekends, and for people I love the most!!!

Have all ingredients at room temp, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease a 9x9 inch pan.

Whisk together thoroughly:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

Beat well in a large bowl:

1 cup sour cream

2 lg. eggs

1 cup Semi sweet chocolate chips

Add the dry ingredients and beat until just smooth, overbeating tends to make the cake tough.

Spread in the greased pan, Sprinkle with Streusel, recipe follows, bake for 30-40 minutes or a toothpick comes out clean. All ovens are different, I like to use my convection for the last 10 minutes to put a little color on top

Streusel Topping

In a food processor put:

2 Tablespoons Flour

1/3 cup Brown Sugar

3 tablespoons Butter

Blend  for 60 seconds in short spurts.

Then add

1/3 cup coconut

1/3 cup walnuts

Blend until nuts are rough chopped.

Sprinkle more chips on top if  desired.

Let cool before cutting, also cut with a wet knife to make a clean cut.
© Jennifer Green Alger 2009