Cassie’s Ruminations

What We’ve Been Eating

So, I’ve been a bad blogger and not really posting about our meals. There have been a lot of tried and true recipes with the occasional small twist, so not much new, but I’ll post a bit of a summary anyway.

Galbi with Sautéed Summer Squash and Rice

Pork, Mushroom, and Asparagus Stir-fry with Rice Noodles
For this, I just poured boiling water over a 12 oz package of rice noodles and let them rehydrate for 3 minutes before draining and tossing them with the stir-fry. Next time I’d use a 16 oz package, since the noodles were a bit scarce.

Spaghetti with a Quick Marinara
I just sautéed a couple cloves of garlic in olive oil, then added a can of diced tomatoes and some dried oregano, dried basil, black pepper, onion powder, and a pinch of sugar. I let that simmer while the pasta cooked, and voila, dinner.

Chicken Burritos
I cooked a pound of skinless boneless chicken thighs in my usual burrito seasonings and served with beans, lettuce, and tomato.

Breakfast Burritos
This was an experiment that we sadly didn’t get to eat due to external circumstances invading. The bite I tasted of the filling was good, but next time I’ll add more seasoning. This was some Mexican chorizo browned up in a skillet with cubed russet potatoes and eggs scrambled together with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Next time I think I’ll add a little cayenne and cumin.

Posted in Asian, Beef, Breakfast, Eggs, Food, Mexican, Potatoes, Poultry | No Comments »

Mexican Rice

This was an experiment that turned out very well. I’ll definitely be making this again! I wanted to see if I could just cook Mexican rice in my rice cooker, and it turned out even better than I hoped. It was very easy and tasty. We just had it with some refried beans for a light Mexican dinner tonight, but it would be great in or alongside burritos too.

Mexican Rice
Serves 4

1 ⅓ cups white rice (2 rice measures)
1 ½ cups water (3 rice measures)
1 tbsp Chicken Better Than Bouillon
¼ tsp garlic powder
⅛ tsp onion powder
⅛ tsp black pepper
½ tsp dried parsley
dash cayenne
1 can (10 oz) Ro★Tel (diced tomatoes and green chiles)

Dump all the ingredients into a rice cooker and cook for the usual white rice cycle. Stir well and serve hot.

Posted in Food, Mexican, Rice | 1 Comment »

Black Bean and Ham Soup

This recipe was inspired by using up leftovers from a recipe for ham baked in cola. It has since evolved into its own recipe, and it’s quite a nice filling fall dinner. It isn’t quite fall yet, but it’s a cooler evening, and wishful thinking took over dinner tonight 🙂 It has a bit of a kick to it, and Shaun and I love the flavors. This would be easy to stretch by serving over rice like red beans and rice, with cornbread, or with rice and tortillas like some styles of burritos. The recipe also easily scales up.

Black Bean and Ham Soup
Serves 2 generously

1 small ham steak (pre-cooked), about ⅔ lb
1 can cola (I used Pepsi Natural)
4 cloves garlic
2 cans black beans, 15 oz each (I like Bush’s brand)
½ tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp onion powder
2 dashes cayenne pepper

Pour the soda into a large pot and press the garlic cloves into the liquid. Add the ham steak and turn the heat on medium high. Let the ham simmer for about 10 minutes or until warmed through. Remove the ham and cut into small chunks and return to the pot. Add the beans and spices and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for half an hour. Serve hot.

Posted in Beans, Food, Pork, Soup | 1 Comment »

Cinnamon Apple Topping

Tonight was a resounding bust for dinner. Two packages of rancid meat, well before their sell-by dates, let alone use-by. So irritating. We ended up ordering Chinese, but I did make this quickie apple topping and some bisquick biscuits for dessert. I’m sure it would go great on vanilla ice cream too.

Cinnamon Apple Topping
Serves 2

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash nutmeg, freshly ground
dash allspice
1 apple, cored and diced

Mix together the sugar, water, and spices in a saucepan over medium high heat. When the mixture reaches a boil and the sugar is dissolved, add the apple and stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes or until the apples are soft and the syrup is reduced to about 1/3 of its original volume. Serve over biscuits.

Posted in Desserts, Food, Fruit | 1 Comment »

Are you ready for some football?

We went to the Broncos / Seahawks game last night. Both Shaun and I grew up in Colorado, and I’ve been going to Broncos games for as long as I can remember. We’ve adopted the Seahawks as our NFC team, but the Broncos will always be our team 🙂 So when we saw the pre-season schedule come out, we were thrilled that we’d be able to see them in person. Our tickets were way up in the nosebleed section, but the view of the whole field was pretty good, and the fans were great. There was a fair contingent of Broncos fans, and there wasn’t any hostility – just a lot of good-naturied booing and cheering. Less so cheering on our part 😛 The first quarter was decently promising for the Broncos, but then things just seemed to break down. Despite dominating every offensive statistic and nearly every defensive statistic, the turnovers and silly rookie mistakes killed us. Here’s hoping that the team coalesces some as the year progresses.

There were a lot of unique concessions at the game. Besides the typical hot dogs and pretzels, Ivar’s served fish and chips, and one place was selling pad thai, which I just had to get for the fun of it. For pre-made stadium food, it really wasn’t half bad! All in all, a fun time, even if the Broncos did get their butts kicked 😛

Posted in Ramblings | No Comments »

Paella

This was a pretty tasty version of paella – a traditional Spanish dish. I’ve written it as I made it below, but next time I’m going to use skinless boneless chicken thighs cut up, and I’m going to nestle the meats deeper into the rice to better get the flavors to meld, using smaller shrimp and less rice as well. My big skillet was so overflowing that I couldn’t really get things into the rice this time around. Overall, a good dinner, and one that could easy become great with the above changes.

Paella
Serves 4-6 generously

4 large chicken thighs, skin on and bone in – about 2.5 lbs
2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp dried oregano
kosher salt and black pepper
2 links spanish chorizo or andouille in a pinch
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ medium sweet onion, diced
4 large cloves garlic, pressed
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 can whole tomatoes (15 oz), crushed by hand
4 cups dry white rice
6 cups warm water
kosher salt and black pepper
½ tsp saffron threads
½ lb shirmp, peeled and deveined (I used 15 count in the picture above)
½ lb steamer clams
½ cup frozen green peas, thawed and drained

Sprinkle the chicken with the paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper, and let sit for 20 minutes. Heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add the chorizo and brown on all sides. Remove to a plate. Add the chicken, skin side down, and brown on all sides. Remove to a plate. Add the onion, garlic, and dried parsley, and cook until the onion is just starting to carmalize. Add the tomatoes and stir to combine. Cook to reduce any liquid.

Add the rice and stir to combine well. Add the water, saffron, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer, for 10-15 minutes or until the liquid is mostly absorbed, stirring regularly. Add the chicken and chorizo back to the skillet and cover, cooking for another 20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken is about 150 degrees. Add the shrimp and clams to the skillet, pushing them down somewhat into the rice. Sprinkle the peas on top. Recover the skillet and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and opaque and the clams have opened.

Serve hot.

Posted in Food, One Dish Meals, Pork, Poultry, Rice, Seafood, Spanish and Portuguese | 1 Comment »

Cherry Lime Squares

This is very loosely based of of a recipe I saw for a Cherry Lemon Custard Tart on some Food Network show a few years ago. If you don’t have a cherry pitter, a drinking straw works well, but is somewhat flimsy. I ended up using a little pocket screwdriver with the bit removed. It was just about the right diameter and didn’t have anything sharp to stab me without the bit in place. This was very tasty, but the lime dominated the bars completely. Next time, I think I’ll cut the amount of zest in half and add a splash of Kirsch to accent the flavor of the cherries as well. They’d be more square-like and less blob-like if I’d let them cool more, but this was very nice just a bit warm.

Cherry Lime Bars
Makes 16 servings

For the shortbread crust:
14 tbsp unsalted butter (1 ¾ sticks), cold
½ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ cups all purpose flour

For the lime custard:
3 large eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
Juice and zest from 2 large limes (about ⅓ cup juice and 1 tbsp zest)
¼ cup all purpose flour

1 ½ lb fresh cherries, pitted (about 1¼ lb after pitting)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a mixing bowl combine the butter, sugar, and flour for the crust, mixing it together with a pastry cutter or your fingers until it looks mostly like coarse crumbs with some pea sized chunks of butter left. Dump the mixture into an 8″ x 8″ baking dish and press it down evenly into the bottom. Bake at 400 degrees until it just turns golden brown, about 20 minutes.

While it is baking, beat together the eggs and sugar for the custard until they are very light yellow in color and thick in texture. When the crust is just about done, whisk in the lime juice and zest and the flour.

When the crust is done, pull it out and reduce the oven heat to 325 degrees. Pour the cherries evenly over the crust, forming a single layer. Pour the custard over the cherries, filling the pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour, or until the custard is set and a toothpick comes out mostly clean, or an instant read thermometer reads 150 degrees.

Allow to cool for an hour before slicing into 16 bars and scooping onto plates to serve warm.

Posted in Cookies, Desserts, Food, Fruit | No Comments »

A New Grill

We got a new grill last week. The old one was getting rusty and the gas regulator didn’t seem to work too well anymore. Emma was afraid of the big box at first, but after a few treats and toys on top of the box, she got over her skittishness and decided to claim the box as her perch for the night. She spent quite a bit of time either looking around like this, or splayed out on her belly relaxing.

We’ve cooked a few meals on it already, and we’re loving it. All this week we’ll be doing grilled or cold meals as well, thanks to a record heat wave. It’s not supposed to be nearly 100 degrees here!

Posted in Corgi, Easy, Food, Pork, Vegetables | 1 Comment »

Barbecued Chicken

This was a very tasty dinner, despite running out of propane just a few minutes into cooking. I finished up the chicken under a low heat broiler and it turned out just fine. I think I’ll probably do it that way from now on, anyway, since this way I don’t have to clean up a lot of chicken grease from the grill. For sides I heated up some baked beans and made a green salad with romaine, tomatoes, and cucumbers. The brine is the key to delicious juicy chicken.

Barbecued Chicken
Serves 4

For the brine:
1 quart hot water
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 cup ice

For the chicken:
4 lbs whole chicken legs (drumstick and thigh) – 4-5 pieces

For the rest:
½ cup barbecue sauce (we like Sweet Baby Ray’s)

In a 1 gallon zip top bag mix together the water, salt, sugar, and thyme until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Add the ice and mix until the brine is cooled. Add the chicken and let sit for 30 minutes.

Preheat the broiler to high, with a rack about 5 inches from the heat. Place the chicken in a broiling pan, or on a cooling rack nested in a rimmed baking sheet, and put it under the broiler for 5 minutes. Remove the chicken and move the rack down to about 12 inches from the heat. Turn the broiler to low. Continue to bake for 20 minutes. Pull the chicken out and brush with barbecue sauce. Return to the oven for a final 20 minutes of cooking or until the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F. Serve warm.

Posted in Food, Grilling, Poultry | No Comments »

A Night on the Town

Shaun and I rarely go out. We’re homebodies and generally prefer the comfort of our own home, but last night we headed downtown for a night out. We got tickets to the Seattle Symphony, playing Distant Worlds – Music from Final Fantasy, and since the parking garage opened two hours early with our event parking, we decided to make an evening of it and get dinner too. We settled on The Brooklyn Seafood, Steak, and Oyster House. It got good Yelp reviews and had the benefit of being just across the street from Benaroya Hall so we could easily walk there, even being dressed up for the evening. We didn’t have reservations, but even at 6 on a Saturday night they had spots open along their “Chefs’ Counter,” which was set up sort of like a bar overlooking the kitchen so you could watch and smell all the food being prepared. I’d definitely request sitting there again. It was a lot of fun to watch all of the different dishes being cooked and plated. Shaun got the salmon and I got the Steak Oscar. My steak was a little undercooked, but as I enjoy rare meat, I didn’t bother to send it back. The food was quite good, though it came with the price tag that one expects for a somewhat upscale downtown restaurant. We’d definitely consider eating there again on another symphony night sometime in the future.

After the meal, we headed back into Benaroya Hall and found our seats on the second tier. I enjoy being higher up for the symphony so I can get a good view of the entire stage, and it’s not like there’s a bad seat acoustically in the house. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the composer, Nobuo Uematsu, who was in attendance, sat right out with the rest of the audience. There was a reception after the concert with him, but we decided against the extra $200 it would have been to attend. The music was accompanied by some well done clips of the video games that added a nice extra touch. It was clear that a good portion of the audience had never been to the symphony before. There were many jeans, t-shirts, shorts, and the annoying tendency of people to whoop and yell in addition to applause, as well as the tendency to applaud during the performance of pieces. Other than the audience, who I can only hope may have learned something from the experience of the symphony, the evening was a wonderful success, and we decided that we’d like to do a nice night out a couple times a year to treat ourselves and do something a little different. All in all, a triumph 🙂

Posted in Food, Ramblings, Restaurant Review | No Comments »