Thursday, October 17, 2013

2013 Western Trip – JaJa Bistro & Rib’s On The Grill

As of Oct. 2, we are back at Almost Heaven South and the 5300 mile trip is in the books, but I will continue to post our adventures, in order, unless something important happens around here.

While in the Denver area, Bob and Lea Ann (Cooking On The Ranch) wanted us to dine at their favorite little French Restaurant – JaJa Bistro in Littleton. 

It was a cozy little restaurant with few customers at the time so we got really good service.  If you look at the online dinner menu, you will find only three entrees which they supplement with daily specials.  After sharing a couple plates of outstanding Bacon Wrapped Apple Stuffed Dates for an appetizer, we ordered our entrees:

Pat went with the Steak au Poivre which came with mushrooms.

Bev had the Millefeuilles d’Aubergines (eggplant)

Lea Ann ordered the Duck Breast In Wine Sauce special.


I opted for the Trout Almondine special.

Since I didn’t get a shot, I couldn’t remember what Bob had.

The meals were all professionally presented and those I tasted were very good.  Check out Lea Ann’s blog for some more shots and info.

Over the time that Lea Ann and I have been blogger buddies, I’ve encouraged her to use her grill as a smoker but I believe to no avail.  While visiting this time, we decided that Bob and I would cook up some ribs, while Lea Ann worked and my girls went shopping.  I also smoked some wings and tossed in hot sauce for an appetizer. Since I didn’t get any shots, please click on Lea Ann’s link above.

As I just happened to have the rub with me, I made the same ribs I'd made for the blogger party and for the wings, I smoked them to almost done, grilled them over direct heat to crisp-up, and tossed them in my go-to wing sauce from Chef Dennis at A Culinary Journey With Chef Dennis.  Both meats seemed to be a big hit and now that they know how to cook them on their Highlands Ranch gas grill, I have high hopes for a future BBQ or smoked salmon blog post from Lea Ann.

Just as last year, we had a great time with Bob & Lea Ann and this year with the addition of new blogger buddy Heather and we appreciate the time they were willing to devote to us.  

Hopefully they’ll be able to come east at some point and spend a little time with us.

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South. 

Larry

9/25–9/26/2013 meal dates

11 comments:

  1. What a great restaurant and everyone dish looks gorgeous and beautifully presented. I wish Lea Ann could come east sometime for your blogger get-together too.
    Sam

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  2. I haven't eaten at that fancy kind of restaurant for years. Your trout looked really good. But not as good as those ribs sound.

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  3. What fun you had! Glad you are home safe and sound - but keep the great posts coming! The trout looks pretty tasty to me :)

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  4. Larry, Count me in for that Trout Almondine! It looks terrific... I checked you guys out on Lea Ann's blog. Some good eating that's for sure! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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  5. Wow, I wish I had been there for that lesson on the grill. It looks like you all had a lovely French meal together. I'll have to go over to Lea Ann's and check it out.

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  6. Sounds like one of the neatest things about your trip was meeting up with your 'cooking' buddies... I love meeting blog friends who have the same interests that we do...

    You'll have to give us your feelings about the overall trip: what you loved, what you did not, what you would do again, what you wouldn't, etc. etc. etc. How did the RV hold up this time????

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  7. 5300 miles! Wow! I had wondered if you were back yet. Now I know. Glad you are still sharing the stories and sights.

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  8. All of the meals from the bistro look amazing. Off to check out Lea Ann's blog.

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  9. Sounds like a nice restaurant. I just had trout almondine for lunch yesterday and it was terrific.

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  10. Thanks for letting me sneak a bite of that Trout. I must try to make that at home and soon. And thanks for that smoking lesson and I'm glad Bob took such good notes so I could get it right my first try after your were gone. :) Maybe tomorrow I'll have better luck. We sure enjoyed your visit. Thanks for including Denver in your route.

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  11. That au poivre looks right up my alley!

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