Cassie’s Ruminations

A Summer Meal

It’s not quite summer yet, but it sure feels like it! We’re in a record dry spell here in the Pacific Northwest, and I miss the rain Tonight’s dinner was done on the grill in foil packets over medium high heat. The halibut was sprinkled with kosher salt and covered in lime slices, and the broccoli was sprinkled with olive oil, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. They both took about 25 minutes on the grill, as the halibut was a thick piece, and I had about 2 pounds of broccoli in one big packet. Next time I’ll stick with lemon – the lime got just a little bitter with the heat, and while it wasn’t bad, lemon is definitely a better match. I also made a little tomato salad with tomato wedges, kosher salt, black pepper, and some fresh basil. A great fresh dinner for a warm beautiful evening!

Posted in Easy, Food, Grilling, Seafood, Vegetables | 1 Comment »

Spaghetti Carbonara

This is a classic Italian pasta dish. It has a deceptively simple list of ingredients that produce wonderful results, even if you manage to slightly scramble the eggs like I did My recipe is a combination of several that I’ve seen over the years. Next time I’ll let the pasta cool a bit more in the skillet before adding the egg mixture. If you don’t have pancetta available, bacon will work just fine. All in all, a very nice Sunday dinner. I served this with a little freshly baked loaf of bread.

Spaghetti Carbonara
Serves 4

1 lb spaghetti
1 tbsp olive oil
3 oz thinly sliced pancetta, cut into ¼ inch strips
4 cloves garlic, pressed
2 eggs
¼ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper
dash freshly grated nutmeg

Boil water for the spaghetti and add it to the pot. In a small bowl, beat the eggs and add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg and stir to combine. Set aside. When the pasta is about halfway done, add the olive oil and pancetta to a skillet and cook over medium high heat for 4-5 minutes or until the fat is rendered and the pancetta is turning crispy. Drain the pasta and set aside. Add the garlic to the skillet and sauté for another 30 seconds or until soft and fragrant. Remove the skillet from the heat. Dump the pasta into the skillet and toss to combine well. Pour the egg mixture over and toss again quickly to coat. Serve warm.

Posted in Eggs, Food, Italian, Pasta | No Comments »

Grilled Peaches

Dessert tonight was some grilled peaches. I got a few little peaches last time I was at the store in the hopes that they’d be good, but sadly it’s not quite peach season yet. In order to intensify their flavor and sweetness I decided to throw the rest of them on the grill, which worked beautifully. I cut the peaches lengthwise into quarters and twisted gently to remove the pits, then placed the pieces on the grill for about 2 minutes on each cut side. The sweetness and peach-y flavor were much enhanced by the heat, and they redeemed themselves quite nicely. I served these with just a touch of lightly sweetened whipping cream.

Posted in Desserts, Food, Fruit, Grilling | 1 Comment »

Cumin Rubbed Denver Steak Burritos

I saw a “Denver Cut” steak in the store the other day and just had to get it, as I grew up near Denver. I was fascinated to read the story behind the cut (see the link), and planned on grilling them right from the start. On the package, it recommended a quick dry rub, which I decided was a good idea, and from there I sliced up the cooked meat and served it with tortillas, chili beans, and fresh guacamole (lacking tomatoes because I ate them yesterday for a snack). This was a great, filling dinner.

Cumin Rubbed Denver Steak
Serves 4

1 lb Denver steak
3 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground black pepper

Preheat the grill to medium high heat. Rub the steaks evenly with the spices and grill for about 15-20 minutes total, turning once. Let the meat rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Posted in Beef, Food, Grilling, Mexican | 1 Comment »

Lemon Pepper Grilled Chicken Thighs

Another night grilling dinner. This is a very tasty and simple non-recipe. Sprinkle skinless boneless chicken thighs lightly with lemon pepper seasoning and grill over medium heat for about 12 minutes total, or until cooked through. I served this with some grilled asparagus that I cooked for the same amount of time in a little grill-top skillet.

Posted in Food, Grilling, Poultry | 1 Comment »

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

This is an incredibly simple and refreshing salad for summer. It easily scales up, so make however much you need.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad
Serves 2

½ lb tomatoes
½ lb cucumber
⅛ tsp kosher salt
⅛ tsp black pepper
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Cut the tomato into bite sized wedges and place in a large serving bowl. Peel and slice the cucumber and place in the same bowl. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and vinegar, and toss to combine. Let sit for 10 minutes for the flavors to meld before serving.

Posted in Food, Salads, Sides, Vegetables | 1 Comment »

Grilled Buffalo Steaks

This was a very tasty and slightly unusual dinner. My local grocery stores just recently started carrying buffalo, so I picked up some little eye of round steaks for dinner tonight. This was grass-fed American Bison, raised free range in Montana. I’ve had buffalo before, but it’s been a long time. Shaun had never had it before. He described the flavor as sort of a cross between trout and beef, with the fishiness of the trout replaced with beefiness. A strange but accurate description I served this with a Tomato and Cucumber Salad and some crimini mushrooms sautéed in butter and garlic with a sprinkle of kosher salt and black pepper.

If you’ve noticed the theme of grilling in the past several days, it’s because we’re having a record heat wave here in the Pacific Northwest. Neither of us have any desire to turn on the oven, or even use the stove for any length of time, so the grill has been our mainstay, not that we mind! :-p

Grilled Buffalo Steaks
Serves 4

1 pound thinly sliced buffalo eye of round
½ tbsp vegetable oil
½ tsp kosher salt

Preheat the grill to high.

Lightly brush the steaks with the vegetable oil and sprinkle both sides with kosher salt.

Turn one side of the grill down to low. Put the steaks on the hot side of the grill and sear for 2 minutes on each side. Move the steaks to the cool side of the grill and cook for another 4 minutes on each side for medium.

Remove steaks from the heat and let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Posted in Beef, Exotic Meats, Food, Grilling | No Comments »

A Birthday Dinner

Celebrating Shaun’s birthday a bit early, we made Homemade Chicken Noodles today. We did most of the cooking early in the day while it was still cool, and just enjoyed it for a late lunch / early dinner and watched movies on the couch. A nice relaxing day

Posted in Ramblings | No Comments »

Sesame Pork Skewers

I found this recipe in “Picnics, Potlucks, and Barbecues” Taste of Home special magazine. Here is a link to the original recipe for Sesame Pork Kabobs. I used less onion, increased the garlic a bit, and used fresh ginger. This was decently good, but I think it needs longer than an hour to marinate in order for the flavor to really penetrate. Smaller strips might help as well. It ended up mostly just tasting like grilled pork – not bad, but nothing special. I’ve also changed the name here to “skewers” rather than “kabobs,” as technically the word kabob refers to lamb cooked on skewers, not just anything.

We had this with steamed jasmine rice and zucchini chunks also grilled on skewers.

Sesame Pork Skewers
Makes 4 servings

For the marinade:
⅓ cup finely chopped onion
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup sesame seeds, toasted
¼ cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
5 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
For the rest:
2 pork tenderloins (about 2 lbs total)

In a large zip top bag mix all of the marinade ingredients. Cut the pork into ¼ inch thick slices and add them to the bag. Seal and toss to coat. Let marinate for an hour.

Thread pork slices onto skewers and preheat grill to medium heat. Grill for about 20 minutes total, turning about halfway through, or until the meat is cooked all the way through and nicely browned.

Posted in Asian, Food, Grilling, Pork | No Comments »

A Slightly Belated Memorial Day Grilled Dinner

We just spent most of the weekend grazing rather than actually making meals, so we made a nice grilled dinner tonight. I got some fresh white corn and some halibut fillets, and then I saw these humongous shrimp on a super sale since they were getting close to their expiration date, so I picked them up – just 6 shrimp to a pound! I just grilled them plain, in their shells, along with the husked corn and a foil packed of the halibut sprinkled with kosher salt and layered with lemon slices (like this salmon). A lovely fresh and quick dinner!

Posted in Food, Grilling, Seafood | No Comments »