Cassie’s Ruminations

A Surf and Turf Dinner – Grilled Steaks and Lobster Tails

Happy Mother’s Day! We could not be with our mothers today, but we still wanted to have a nice dinner in honor of them. I grilled up some top round tip steaks with my galbi marinade (pretty good, but the marinade is better on the thin flanken-cut short ribs), grilled up a couple little 4 oz lobster tails since they were on a great sale this week, and for a side dish we had some Italian style beans (like this Italian Vegetable Sauté, but without the zucchini today, and made with a can of diced tomatoes instead of fresh). It was a very nice little dinner, and we’re just sorry that we couldn’t share it with our families in person!

Grilled Lobster Tails
Serves 2

2 4-oz lobster tails, thawed

For the sauce:
3 tbsp butter
juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
1 tsp dried parsley
3 cloves garlic, pressed

Preheat the grill to medium heat.

Using kitchen shears, cut the back shell of the lobster lengthwise, exposing the meat. Flip the tail over and make a similar cut down the underside of the lobster. Skewer the lobster tail lengthwise from tip to top. These steps will keep it from curling while it cooks.

Melt the butter and stir in the rest of the sauce ingredients. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Drizzle 2 tsp of the sauce into the shell of each lobster tail through the cuts in the shells. Reserve the remaining sauce for dipping the cooked lobster.

Carefully wrap the tails in foil, avoiding puncturing the foil with the skewer. Grill for about 10 minutes total, or until the meat is opaque.

Serve with reserved sauce.

Posted in Food, Grilling, Seafood | No Comments »

Sweet Sticky Spicy Chicken

The recipe for Sweet, Sticky, Spicy Chicken from Allrecipes has been making the rounds on a message board that I frequent, and it’s become a staple of quite a few of my friends. I made a few changes, of course. First, I used skinless boneless chicken thighs instead of breasts. I followed the recommendations of my friend Cristan to marinate the chicken in pineapple juice for the day and to lightly coat the pieces in cornstarch before cooking. I also cooked the sauce separately, as I wanted to add the pineapple juice from the marinade and wanted to make sure that I cooked it thoroughly. Next time I might try a recommendation from another friend, Michelle, and toast up some szechuan peppercorns just before adding the sauce.

I enjoyed this, but next time I think I’ll just skip the cornstarch breading and thicken the sauce with a tablespoon of cornstarch when I cook it on the stove. Shaun thought the flavors were quite intense, though that might be the upset stomach talking, but I might dilute the sauce with a bit of chicken broth or sake next time anyway.

Sweet Sticky Spicy Chicken
Serves 4

6 fl oz pineapple juice (1 small can)
1 lb skinless boneless chicken thighs cut into bite sized pieces
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
¼ cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger root
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons hot sauce (I used Frank’s Red Hot)
½ cup cornstarch
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Put the chicken and pineapple juice in a large zip top bag and allow to marinate for about 8 hours. When ready to cook, drain the chicken well, pouring the juice into a saucepan. Add the brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and hot sauce to the pineapple juice and stir to combine well. Put the saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes.

In another zip top bag, mix together the cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Add the chicken pieces, seal the bag, and shake to coat.

Heat the oil in a wok over medium high heat. Add the chicken pieces, shaking free any excess cornstarch, and brown on all sides, cooking through. Add the sauce and bring to a boil. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the sauce thickens.

Serve with rice.

Posted in Asian, Food, Pork, Poultry, Ramblings | 1 Comment »

Product Review: Pepsi Natural

On a Costco run on Monday, I came across a display with a case of the new, limited time Pepsi Natural – made with real sugar, no artificial colors, just old fashioned ingredients. I had to give it a try. I popped a couple in the fridge when I got home and tonight Shaun and I cracked one open to share. It was really good – very pure flavor, almost reminiscent of tea rather than the mass-produced preserved colored stuff we’re used to. Even the bottles are very aesthetically pleasing. I’m going to keep several of them for little flower vases. If you happen across some Pepsi Natural, give it a try!

I have no association with Pepsi. I was not compensated in any way for this post. It is purely my own opinion.

Posted in Drinks, Food, Product Review | 1 Comment »

Pumpkin Monkey Bread

Back in December, I tried a mix from Target for Pumpkin Monkey Bread. It was quite good, and I made a note to try to replicate it. Yesterday talking to my mom, she mentioned making sweet potato biscuits for a Kentucky Derby dinner, and it set off the itch in me to try to make the pumpkin monkey bread. This was not too shabby for a first try. They tasted better cool, and they were more on the savory side. As is, I think they’d make a great side for some barbecue. Next time I think I’ll add another couple tablespoons of sugar for more of the sweet monkey bread taste, but I have it written as I made them this morning below.

Pumpkin Monkey Bread
Makes 8 servings, 2 biscuits per serving

For the dough:
1½ cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground ginger
¾ cup pure pumpkin puree
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp buttermilk

For the topping:
2 tbsp sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 365 degrees F. Spray an 8×8 baking dish with nonstick spray.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. In a separate large mixing bowl, stir together the pumpkin and melted butter until smooth. Add the flour mixture and stir. Add the buttermilk and stir to create a thick dough. It should be somewhat sticky.

In a shallow dish, mix together the sugar and cinnamon for the topping. Take the dough and roll it into balls slightly smaller than golf balls. Roll each ball in the sugar mixture then place in the baking dish. Form 4 rows with 4 balls in each one – 16 total balls. Drizzle with the 2 tbsp melted butter.

Bake for about 35 minutes or until the biscuits are turning golden brown and a toothpick stuck into the center of a middle ball comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Food | 1 Comment »

Citrus Grilled Chicken (revisited)

About a month ago I made this citrus grilled chicken. Tonight I made a couple tweaks – adding cumin and replacing the food coloring with turmeric, which added some flavor as well as keeping the distinct yellow color. I’m quite happy with it now. It still isn’t El Pollo Loco, but it’s very good in its own right. I served this with corn tortillas, chili beans, and homemade guacamole.

Citrus Grilled Chicken
Serves 8

For the marinade:
6 ounces (1 small can) pineapple juice
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 large cloves garlic, pressed
½ tsp salt
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp ground pepper
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 teaspoon minced mild chili pepper (I used a Hatch)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

For the rest:
4 pounds chicken thighs (with skin and bone)

Remove stem and seeds from chile and finely mince about a teaspoon. Save the remainder of the chile whole to throw on the grill with the chicken.

In large zip top bag, combine all ingredients except chicken. Reserve ¼ cup of the marinade in a separate container for basting while grilling.

Place chicken in the bag, seal, pressing all of the air out, and squish around to coat the chicken well. Refrigerate overnight, turning once. Also refrigerate the reserved marinade.

Remove chicken from refrigerator 45 minutes before you’d like to start grilling and preheat the grill to medium heat. Drain chicken well. Turn the grill to low heat. Starting skin side up, grill over low heat for 12-15 minutes, until the skin starts to look dry and the chicken is firm. Turn the chicken skin side down and cook for another 12-15 minutes, when juices are pooling in the hollows of the chicken pieces. Turn again (skin side up again) and cook until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F. Turn once more skin side down, increase the heat to medium and cook for a final 5-10 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F and the skin is crisp and browned. Baste frequently with the reserved marinade for the last two stages of cooking. Keep a close eye on the chicken as it cooks and put out any flare-ups immediately to avoid burning the meat.

Serve with beans and corn tortillas.

Posted in Food, Grilling, Mexican, Poultry | 2 Comments »

Strawberry-Buttermilk Gelato

This is a recipe from Cooking Light, July 2001. I had some strawberries and buttermilk that needed to be used up today, and Google was kind enough to point me to the recipe. I’ve paraphrased the recipe below. It’s very nice and refreshing. I was expecting more tang from the buttermilk, but the sugar and fruit mostly overshadowed it. I still don’t think I could get Shaun to touch this with a 10 foot pole, dairy hater that he is. Oh well. More for me! It makes enough for two batches in my little Cuisinart, so beware of that. I might just drink the second half of the batch as breakfast smoothies 🙂

Strawberry-Buttermilk Gelato
Makes 8 cups, 16 servings

2 cups sugar
2 cups water
5 cups quartered strawberries (about 2 lbs or 4 pints whole strawberries)
2 cups low fat buttermilk

In a saucepan combine the sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Set the simple syrup aside to cool completely.

Add the berries to a blender and puree until smooth. Combine the puree with the simple syrup and the buttermilk.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and freeze as per the manufacturer’s directions. For a firmer freeze, place the mixture in a container and put it in the freezer for an hour or two.

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

Grilled Shrimp

This is a great way to enjoy shrimp in the summertime. The flavors are reminiscent of a margarita with spice instead of sweet. I sometimes omit the tequila or add various other finely minced fresh herbs – basil and oregano work well. We served this with the roasted broccoli below and some pasta, but it also works well with rice, rice noodles, or grilled potatoes.

Grilled Shrimp
Serves 4

1½ pounds 31/40 shrimp (31-40 shrimp per pound)

For the marinade:
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp tequila
¼ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
dash cayenne pepper
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp dried parsley, or 1 tbsp finely minced fresh parsley
1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the grill to medium high heat.

Mix together all of the marinade ingredients. Peel and devein the shrimp if necessary and add them to the marinade. Let sit for about 15 minutes. Thread the shrimp onto skewers and grill for 3-4 minutes on each side or until pink and opaque. Serve warm.

Posted in Food, Grilling, Seafood | 2 Comments »

Roasted Broccoli with Garlic

This is a simple and tasty side dish. The garlic flavors the broccoli subtly and is great on its own or smashed on some crusty bread.

Roasted Broccoli with Garlic
Serves 4

4 broccoli crowns (about 2 lbs)
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
12 whole peeled garlic cloves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

Cut broccoli into florets. Slice the stems into quarter inch thick rounds. Toss all ingredients together and spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast for about 1 hour or until the broccoli and the garlic and tender and nicely browned. Serve hot.

Posted in Food, Vegetables | 1 Comment »

Chile Lime Chicken Tostadas

This was a quick and easy dinner that I came up with on the fly. I had some skinless boneless chicken thighs that needed to be used up, so I threw together a Mexican-inspired wet rub, grilled them up, along with some tortillas, and made some very tasty tostadas. I think the marinade would also go great on shrimp.

Chile Lime Chicken Tostadas
Serves 4

For the wet rub:
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
½ tbsp chili powder (I like Gebhardt)
½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
2 large cloves garlic, pressed
⅛ tsp onion powder
dash cayenne pepper

For the meat:
1 lb skinless boneless chicken thighs

For the rest:
4 large (“burrito size”) flour tortillas
1 large can chili beans (I like Bush’s)
4 leaves romaine lettuce, shredded
4 small tomatoes, cubed

Preheat the grill to medium heat.

Mix together the wet rub ingredients and coat the chicken pieces evenly. Place them on the grill and cook for 6-7 minutes on each side or until cooked through. After turning them over, place the tortillas on the upper rack of the grill to toast. If you don’t have an upper rack, wait until the chicken is off the grill to quickly toast them up over the direct heat.

While the chicken is cooking, warm up the beans and cut up the veggies.

Assemble tostadas as you see fit.

Posted in Beans, Food, Grilling, Mexican, Poultry | 1 Comment »

Blackberry Pie

This is a wonderful pie recipe courtesy of The Joy of Cooking, originally written for blueberries, but I made it with blackberries tonight. We froze a lot of blackberries and blueberries late last summer to use throughout the winter and spring, and we’re slowly but surely working through them. The berries were a bit on the tart side, so I used a full cup of sugar, but if you have fresh super sweet berries, you can cut that back by as much as half. I also added half a teaspoon of lemon oil to add to the lemon flavor, but if you don’t have it or aren’t a lemon fan, feel free to omit it. For fresh berries, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and cook for 30 minutes before lowering the heat to 350 degrees F and cooking for another 25-35 minutes or until bubbling.

Yeah, it’s not the prettiest, but it sure tasted great!

Blackberry Pie
Makes 1 deep dish pie, 8 servings

Pie crust of your choice, enough for a double crusted pie (my preferred recipe is here)

5 cups frozen blackberries
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
½ tsp lemon oil
⅛ tsp salt
1 tbsp butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix together the frozen berries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, lemon oil, and salt. Dump the mixture into a pie crust patted down into a deep dish pie pan. Dot the top with butter and then top with the other crust, crimping to seal. Cut vents in the top of the pie. Place the pie pan on an aluminum foil lined rimmed cookie sheet to catch any overflow.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 50 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees F and cook for another 25-35 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown. If the edges are browning too fast, shield with aluminum foil and continue baking.

Allow pie to cool completely before serving.

Posted in Baking, Desserts, Food, Fruit, Pies | 1 Comment »