Cassie’s Ruminations

Northwest Scramble

This was a quick, easy, filling breakfast for a dark and chilly morning before work.

Northwest Scramble
Serves 1

2 large eggs
3 oz smoked salmon
1 oz cheese (I used 1 wedge garlic and herb Laughing Cow cheese this time)
kosher salt and black pepper
1 tsp olive oil

Beat the eggs lightly. Stir in the salmon, cheese, and a few pinches of salt and pepper to taste. Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the eggs and cook, stirring at intervals, until eggs are cooked through, cheese is melted, and salmon is warm. Serve immediately.

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Portrait of Emma

A friend of Shaun’s (and now of mine too), Brenden, painted a portrait of Emma for us. I’m just thrilled with it, and it now graces our dining room. Isn’t it awesome?

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Balsamic Teriyaki Steak

This is a great recipe from Jaden’s excellent cookbook, which I highly recommend: The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook: 101 Asian Recipes Simple Enough for Tonight’s Dinner

This is a flavorful steak that is easy to prepare. The marinating takes some time (I did mine overnight), but it’s definitely worth it! I used a thin flat iron steak, so mine cooked up faster. I’ve paraphrased the recipe as I made it below. I served this with some steamed broccoli.

Balsamic Teriyaki Steak
Serves 4

For the steak:
1 lb flat iron steak
1 tsp olive oil

For the marinade/sauce:
1-1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, pressed (I added extra garlic to make up for the lack of shallot)
1 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup beef broth (I used water and Better Than Bouillon)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin

Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. When it starts to foam and bubble, add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute – until the garlic starts to turn golden and fragrant. Add the vinegar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the volume of the liquid is reduced by half. Add the sugar, broth, soy sauce, and mirin, and return the mixture to a boil. Turn the heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Reserve 1/4 cup of the sauce for serving.

Pour the rest of the sauce into a large zip top bag and add the steak, turning to coat. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator, turning periodically. When ready to cook, remove the steak and let it come to room temperature. Discard the marinade, and pat the meat dry. Spray a grill pan with olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Grill the meat for 3 minutes on each side for medium rare. Let rest for 5 minutes, then cut across the grain and serve.

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Eggs in Purgatory

This is a very easy and cheap dinner, easily scaled for however many you need to serve. I have the recipe for one below, as tonight Shaun and I were just foraging thanks to a headache I had earlier that precluded any major cooking that might involve such things as knives

Eggs in Purgatory
Serves 1

1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 large clove garlic, pressed
1 pinch dried oregano
1 pinch dried basil
1 small (8 oz) can tomato sauce
2 eggs

Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and other spices and cook until the garlic is just turning golden and fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a simmer. Crack an egg into a small bowl and slide it into the sauce. Repeat with the other egg. Cover and cook eggs to desired doneness – as little as 3 minutes and as much as 10. Slide the sauce and eggs into a bowl and eat hot.

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Emma-chicken

One of Emma’s many nicknames is “Emma-chicken.” I’m not quite sure how that came about originally, but tonight, she sure was doing a great job imitating a brooding hen. She nudged the pillows in to the corner of the couch then hopped up, wedged herself in the corner, and started dozing. The long morning walk and trip to the pet store must have tired her. Very cute

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Ghetto Garlic Bread

We needed to use up a couple leftover hot dog buns from dinner the other night, so I melted a tablespoon and a half of butter, added a couple cloves of pressed garlic and a few generous pinches of oregano and parsley, spread the mixture over the buns, and popped them in the toaster oven for about 6 minutes. Nearly instant edible-ish garlic bread. Certainly not as good as made with a crusty loaf of Italian or even better homemade garlic focaccia, but for punting, using up some leftovers, and tapping into my inner white trash , not half bad.

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Garlic Jim’s Pizza

Tonight we tried Garlic Jim’s Pizza in Mukilteo. We had a coupon for 30% off our first online order, so we got a Hercules, some garlic bread sticks, and some garlic wings. This was a definite win! A lot of the pizza places out here go way too heavy on the cheese and have mediocre toppings. This was an excellent crust, a good sauce, though there could have been more of it, light on the cheese, and full of great toppings. The garlic bread sticks were flavorful and came with garlic butter and pizza sauce to dip. The wings were very tasty as well – lightly breaded and baked. We’ll definitely order from these guys again! They do have multiple locations in several states, so check ‘em out.

Posted in Food, Pizza, Restaurant Review | 1 Comment »

Rosemary Garlic Oven Fries

These are a decent side dish – easy and flavorful. The inspiration for these came from Shaun describing “smashfries” from a place called Smashburger in Grand Junction. Mine are a sort of thin steak fry, and I’ve gone the oven route for ease and saving of some calories The method is partially borrowed from Cooks Illustrated via RecipeZaar, and partially from this recipe at Jenn’s Bread+Butter. I’d definitely go with olive oil next time, but I somehow seem to be out They just didn’t quite crisp up the way we’d like either, so I might have to try real frying.

(Yes, that’s a hot dog in the back. Yes, we are 7. Don’t mind us )

Rosemary Garlic Oven Fries
Serves 4

2 lb russet potatoes (about 4 large), peeled
1 tbsp canola oil
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp rosemary
2 cloves garlic, pressed

Move a rack to the lowest part of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.

Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and then cut each half into 8 or so lengthwise slices. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and fill with very hot tap water. Let the potatoes soak for 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes well and spread them out in a single layer on paper towels. Pat completely dry. Dry out the soaking bowl and add the olive oil, kosher salt, rosemary, and garlic to the bowl and stir to combine. Add the potatoes and toss to coat well.

Spread the potatoes out in an even single layer on a rimmed baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Cover tightly with foil and move the pan to the oven. Bake for 5 minutes then remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the bottoms of the potatoes are starting to turn golden brown in spots. Turn the potatoes over using tongs or a spatula and return the pan to the oven for a final 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes are all golden brown and developing a crispy crust. If desired, put under the broiler for 2 minutes on each side to brown well. Serve hot.

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Carnitas

This is a take on a classic Mexican pork dish – the pork is first braised slowly for hours, then shredded or chunked and baked or pan fried until the exterior is crisp. We had pulled pork sandwiches Sunday night, and I set aside half of the meat from the shoulder roast without any barbecue sauce to be used tonight. So, my method of root beer crockpot braising is far from traditional, but the results were still tasty, and actually pretty authentic – it compared quite well with a great version I had in Old Town in San Diego

Carnitas
Serves 4

1 lb leftover shredded pork
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (I used the juice from one clementine)
1/2 tsp Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 large garlic cloves, pressed

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Toss the pork with the remaining ingredients and spread out on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until nicely browned. Serve with tortillas, refried beans, and guacamole.

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A couple easy dinners from this weekend

Saturday we had waffles for dinner – pathetically easy bisquick waffles, which I enhanced with some corn. I ended up with a couple cans of corn a few months ago from someone else’s groceries that ended up in my bag, and this was a good use for one of the cans. I just sprinkled about a tablespoon into each dollop of batter on the waffle iron. My mother introduced me to corn in waffles way back when, and I’ve liked it ever since.

Sunday was pulled pork sandwiches, on ciabatta bread this time, which worked quite well. The flavor was well balanced and the nooks and crannies absorbed the sauce well.

Posted in Breakfast, Food, Pork, Slow Cooker, Vegetables | 1 Comment »