Cassie’s Ruminations

Asparagus and Mushroom Calzones

This is another take on my calzone recipe. I actually only made one of these with some leftover asparagus from a couple nights ago and a few mushrooms that I had sautéed for a batch of turkey mushroom basil calzones that I was making for dinner tonight, but it was quite good, so I’m recording it scaled up for a full recipe and entering it for this month’s Household 6 blog challenge – a creative pizza that does not use tomato sauce. 🙂

Asparagus and Mushroom Calzones
Serves 4

1 bunch thin asparagus spears
1/2 tbsp olive oil
8 oz sliced crimini mushrooms
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
4 wedges Laughing Cow Light Garlic and Herb Cheese
1 batch pizza dough (12-16 oz; feel free to use Pillsbury if you’re going for fast)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Trim the asparagus ends and spread the spears out on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast the asparagus for 10-15 minutes, or until tender.

While the asparagus is roasting, heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 5-8 minutes, until nicely softened and starting to brown. Turn off the heat.

Remove the asparagus from the oven, leaving it on for the calzones. Chop the asparagus spears into 1 inch long pieces and stir them into the mushrooms along with the red pepper flakes.

Wipe the baking sheet clean and spray with non-stick spray.

Roll out the pizza dough into a large square about 1/8 of an inch thick and cut it into four even smaller squares.

Divide the asparagus and mushrooms evenly in the middle of each of the four squares and crumble one wedge of cheese over the top of each. Fold the dough over the top and pinch closed to seal well.

Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes, or until nicely golden brown.

Serve hot.

Posted in Food, Pizza, Vegetables | 3 Comments »

Copper River Salmon at Ivar’s

Work obligations mean I have to give up my flex days off for awhile. I had to have a great lunch to see them off. I headed down to Ivar’s Mukilteo Landing and took a look at the day’s fresh sheet. They had just gotten in a load of the somewhat legendary Copper River salmon, so I had to give it a try. There were two preparations, a Sockeye fillet cedar planked with a pesto cream sauce, and King fillet grilled with a blackberry basil beurre rouge (a red wine butter sauce). I went with the latter and was very pleased with my choice. The gorgeous salmon was grilled to a perfect medium with a hint of smoke. The blackberry basil beurre rouge was a stellar accompaniment, and one that I hope to learn to duplicate, as this menu item is limited to the very short Copper River salmon run. The asparagus and yukon gold mashed potatoes were entirely serviceable, but paled in comparison, justifiably, to the salmon itself. I hope to get back to Ivar’s again before the run is over, but even if I don’t, I always know that I can go there for an excellent Northwest meal.

Updated to add that Ivar’s has published the recipe here!

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

First Grilling of the Season

We fired up the grill for the first time this year, finally. Fresh thick asparagus spears, tiny “marble” potatoes, and little thinly cut t-bone steaks, served with some sautéed garlicky mushrooms. 🙂

Posted in Beef, Food, Grilling, Vegetables | No Comments »

Chocolate Chip Waffles

This morning I made my favorite easy waffle recipe and stirred in 1/2 cup of 60% cocoa chocolate chips for an easy and tasty breakfast 🙂

Posted in Breakfast, Food | No Comments »

Crockpot Roasted Chicken

This was a hectic week for both of us, so meals were a bit sporadic. Wednesday I roasted a whole chicken in the crock pot and it served for several meals. It got a little dried out because I had to leave it in for so long – close to 11 hours, but it was still tasty, and very good in the soup I made a couple days later.

   

Crockpot Roasted Chicken
Serves 6-8

1 whole chicken, 4-5 lbs
kosher salt
black pepper
dried thyme
1 lb small yukon gold potatoes

Remove the giblets from the chicken, rinse it, and pat dry. Season generously with salt, pepper, and thyme.

Place the potatoes in the bottom of a 6 quart crock pot. Place the chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F.

Remove the chicken to a platter, pull apart the pieces, and serve warm with the potatoes. If desired, make a gravy with the broth that formed, or save it for soup later on.

Posted in Food, Potatoes, Poultry, Slow Cooker | No Comments »

Salmon Burgers

I used some of the leftover salmon from last night to make these easy salmon burgers for a quick lunch on my day off.

Salmon Burgers
Serves 2

8 oz cooked salmon, flaked
1 egg
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
1 tsp olive oil

Mix together the salmon, egg, panko, Parmesan, salt, and pepper and form into two patties. Heat the oil in a small skillet and add the patties. Brown well on both sides, 1-2 minutes per side. Serve warm.

Posted in Food, Leftovers, Seafood | No Comments »

Some of what we’ve been eating

A few of the things we’ve been eating recently:

Cornflake Chicken

Chicken Noodle Soup

Teriyaki Chicken

Turkey Meatballs and Braised Brussels Sprouts

Rack of Lamb

Tonkatsu

Baked Salmon

Roasted Zucchini

Beefalo Burgers (with bacon and baby avocado)

Posted in Food | 1 Comment »

Oven Barbecued Country Style Pork Ribs

These are an easy and tasty way to make pork. The ribs are juicy and flavorful. I bought 2 packages of country style pork ribs when I was planning for the carnitas that I brought into work, and then decided that I only really needed one for the number of people and the size of my crock pot, so I was left with a second package. I found the recipe that inspired me on AllRecipes again. Feel free to use whatever barbecue sauce you like. I combined some Original Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce with Fischer and Wieser Blackberry Chipotle Sauce.

Oven Barbecued Country Style Pork Ribs
Serves 8

4 lbs country style pork ribs
kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 cup barbecue sauce

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Season the ribs generously with salt and place them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with foil. Top the ribs with the garlic and lemon slices and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 2 hours.

Remove the ribs from the oven and pour off any grease and juices that have accumulated in the pan. Discard the lemon slices. Brush the ribs with the barbecue sauce and recover with foil.

Increase the oven heat to 275 degrees and return the pan to the oven. Bake for another 40 minutes.

Serve warm.

Posted in Food, Pork | No Comments »

Carnitas

I brought this tasty crockpot meal to work yesterday for a lunch potluck. It was loosely based off of this AllRecipes recipe that was quite highly rated. I got rave reviews from all my coworkers for my version, and the only reason I had this much left to take a picture of today was that I couldn’t drain off the liquid there, so there was a little left in the bottom of the pot for me to pack up and take home. 🙂

Carnitas
Serves 16

4 pounds country style pork ribs
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp cumin
4 large cloves garlic, pressed
2 tsp Mexican oregano
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from 1 large orange)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (I like low sodium, non-fat)
2 bay leaves

Cut the pork into large chunks and set aside.

Mix together the salt, cumin, garlic, oregano, coriander, orange juice, and chicken broth in a large zip top bag. Add the pork and seal. Let marinate for 8 hours in the fridge.

Place the pork in a large slow cooker and add the bay leaves. Cook for 6 hours on high or 10 hours on low. Drain most of the liquid, remove the bay leaves, and shred the pork with two forks. Serve with warm corn tortillas.

Posted in Food, Mexican, Pork, Slow Cooker | 1 Comment »

Stuffed Mushrooms

These are an easy and tasty appetizer and a fun way to showcase large mushrooms 🙂

Stuffed Mushrooms
Serves 3

6 very large white mushrooms
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Wash the mushrooms, pat dry, and pull out the stems. Place the mushrooms cap side down, hole up, on a baking sheet.

Place the stems of the mushrooms, the bread crumbs, and the spices in a mini food processor and pulse several times to make a consistent filling. Spoon the filling back into the mushroom caps evenly, gently packing it in and slightly heaping on top.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender and the filling is toasty and golden brown on top.

Serve warm.

Posted in Appetizers, Food, Vegetables | No Comments »