Cassie’s Ruminations

Simply Steamed Shrimp

For our Valentine’s Day treat, I steamed us some wonderful shrimp from the seafood counter at Central Market. These are 21/25 shrimp, meaning that there are between 21 and 25 shrimp per pound, flash frozen on the boat and shipped directly to the market. The only way you get fresher shrimp is standing on the boat. 🙂 I let them defrost overnight in the fridge, then dropped them in a steamer basket, covered, and steamed ’em for about 2 minutes, until they’d just turned pink and opaque all the way through. They were tender and juicy and just perfect!

Posted in Food, Seafood | 1 Comment »

Valentine’s Day Socks

With February comes cute Valentine’s Day socks – my only concession to the holiday besides making a nice dinner 🙂 I’m wearing the red ones today!

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Kusshi Oysters

Another week of weight loss, another week of oysters for me 🙂 These briny little gems are Kusshi Oysters from Deep Bay on Vancouver Island in British Columbia just to our north. I quite enjoyed these, and found them fairly easy to shuck, but I was glad for my oven mitt, as a couple times the oyster knife went right through as I applied pressure to the hinge. These are up there with the Sister Point ones for my favorites!

Posted in Food, Seafood | 3 Comments »

Italian Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

I’ve done the Italian Stuffed Pork Loin before with a full pork loin, but today I did it with just a pork tenderloin, cutting the filling ingredients in half. It cooked in about 45 minutes instead of over an hour, and was just as good 🙂 I served it with some asparagus that I roasted in the same pan for the last 20 minutes.

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Biscuits and Hamburger Gravy

This was a quick hearty breakfast constructed from yesterdays leftovers – a leftover hamburger patty and a couple biscuits. It can easily be scaled up to serve more, browning meat from scratch and adding seasoning as you like. If you prefer a country gravy, just replace the beef broth with milk. 🙂

Biscuits and Hamburger Gravy
Serves 1

1 tsp butter
1 tsp all purpose flour
1 cup beef broth
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 leftover hamburger patty (about 0.2 lbs)
2 leftover biscuits

Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. When it foams, add the flour and stir to make a roux. Increase the heat to medium high. Add the broth and whisk, bringing the mixture to a gentle boil, until the roux is completely incorporated and the gravy is smooth. Add the thyme and hamburger and let the gravy simmer for 1-2 minutes to heat through the meat. Warm the biscuits in a toaster oven, split them in half, and pour the gravy over the top. Serve hot.

Posted in Beef, Breakfast, Budget, Easy, Food, Leftovers | No Comments »

Black Bean and Ham Soup

Tonight I made my black bean and ham soup, using up most of the leftover ham from a couple nights ago. This time, instead of onion powder, I grated a small onion and sautéed it in a little canola oil. The fresh addition was nice, so I’ve rewritten the recipe as I made it tonight. We once again commented on how nice this would be over rice or in burritos. One of these days we’ll remember before we make the soup!

Black Bean and Ham Soup
Serves 4

1 small onion
1 tsp canola oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed
⅔ – ¾ lb ham, cut into ¼ inch cubes
1 can cola (I used Pepsi Throwback)
2 cans black beans, 15 oz each (I like Bush’s brand)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp Mexican oregano
½ tsp black pepper
2 dashes cayenne pepper

Peel the onion and grate it. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the onion is translucent and starting to brown. Add the ham and stir to combine. Pour the soda into the pot and turn the heat on medium high. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil and reduce the liquid by ⅓. While the liquid is reducing, open the beans and crush about half of them with a large spoon or a potato masher. Add the beans and spices to the pot and bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for half an hour. Serve hot.

Posted in Beans, Food, Leftovers, Pork, Soup, Vegetables | No Comments »

Ham and Brussels Sprouts

An easy dinner tonight: ham and brussels sprouts roasted in the oven for about 40 minutes. The ham was a delicious apple and honey cured ham from the local Hempler’s.

Posted in Food, Pork, Product Review, Vegetables | No Comments »

Slow Roasted Top Round Roast

Tonight’s dinner was adapted from this one on AllRecipes. The high heat followed by very low and slow works well for tougher cuts of beef like top round. While it will never be as tender as a porterhouse or rib eye, it is still good. I served this with some sautéed zucchini and mushrooms.

   

Slow Roasted Top Round Roast
Serves 4

1.5 lb top round roast, well trimmed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder

Season the roast all over with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Place in a small cast iron skillet and let rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.

While the roast is coming to room temperature, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. It should be fully at temperature before proceeding.

Put the roast in the oven and cook for 11 minutes (7 minutes per pound if you have a larger roast). Turn the heat off and let the roast sit in the oven for 2 hours (or at least 20 minutes per pound of roast for medium rare and up to 1 hour per pound for well). Do not open the oven during this time, or the heat will escape and the roast will not cook right.

Take the roast out of the oven and let rest for 15 minutes. Slice thin against the grain and serve.

Posted in Beef, Food | No Comments »

Baked Cod in Ginger Wine Sauce

For the Chinese New Year, I made an Asian inspired fish dish, based off of this one. We just weren’t impressed with this. The cod I got was strangely tasteless, which didn’t help anything, but the marinade just wasn’t anything worth repeating either. Oh well. Can’t win ’em all! This may be up your alley, though. The reviews were good, so I’m posting it anyway.

Baked Cod in Ginger Wine Sauce
Serves 4

1 lb cod fillets

For the marinade:
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
3 tbsp grated peeled fresh ginger
2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp finely chopped peeled fresh lemon grass
1/2 tsp dark sesame oil
1 tbsp finely chopped hot red chile pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper

For baking:
4-6 savoy cabbage leaves
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips

Mix together all the marinade ingredients and place in a zip top bag. Add the fish and let marinate for 15 minutes at room temperature or up to 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Line a baking dish with savoy cabbage leaves. Place the fish on top, pouring the marinade over the fillets. Scatter the bell pepper around the dish. Bake for 15 minutes or until the fish flakes nicely. Serve warm.

Posted in Asian, Food, Seafood, Vegetables | No Comments »

Italian Stuffed Zucchini

Last night I made my Italian stuffed zucchini. This time I added 8 oz of chopped crimini mushrooms. I liked it pretty well, but I need to find a way to make it a little more tomato-y. The added tablespoon of tomato paste and a few diced tomatoes just wasn’t quite enough.

Posted in Food, Italian, Poultry, Vegetables | No Comments »