Cassie’s Ruminations

Buttermilk Biscuits

This is my go-to recipe for biscuits. It’s adapted from The Joy of Cooking. The buttermilk lends a lovely tang. These work well as a side dish for many meals, as the base to biscuits and gravy, or as the base to many a dessert.

Buttermilk Biscuits
Makes 10 large biscuits

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
5 tbsp unsalted butter, frozen
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Grate the butter into the mix using any standard cheese-type grater. Stir the butter bits into the flour mixture so that they are all well coated. Add the buttermilk and stir to combine, just until all the flour is incorporated. The dough will be quite sticky.

Using a tablespoon, drop pieces of dough about the size of a clementine mandarin orange onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Posted in Baking, Bread, Food | No Comments »

Hamburgers

I’ve been craving hamburgers for a while now. These are an easy American classic and they really hit the spot! I just served them with some Ruffles Natural Sea Salt Potato Chips (reduced fat and taste like actual potatoes 🙂 ) and a tossed green salad. The buns I got were a bit big. Next time I’ll get smaller ones.

Hamburgers
Serves 4

1 lb ground beef
½ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp kosher salt
⅛ tsp onion powder
⅛ tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Preheat grill to medium heat. Sprinkle pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and Worcestershire sauce over the ground beef and mix together with your hands just enough to distribute the seasonings evenly. Form into four patties, about 5 inches in diameter. Grill approximately 7 minutes on each side or until the burgers are cooked to desired doneness. Serve with rolls, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, pickles, ketchup, mustard, mayo, or any other desired condiments.

Posted in Beef, Food, Grilling | No Comments »

Lanna Thai

Lanna Thai on Evergreen Way is one of the best Thai restaurants in the area. We’d been meaning to try this place for months and finally got around to it. We enjoyed jasmine green tea, wonderfully fresh and hot spring rolls, Pad See Ew with shrimp, and Pad Thai with chicken. The balance of flavors was just about perfect. We both decided to start with a medium level of spice, as we weren’t sure where Lanna Thai would fall with respect to heat, and next time we’ll go for medium-hot. They had an excellent selection of condiments to up the spice level as well.

Besides excellent food, the atmosphere is very nice as well. Murals and large photographs of Thailand line the wood paneled walls. The acoustics keep conversations to a low hum. Crisp cloth napkins, folded expertly, await you at your table. All in all it gives the feeling of an authentic and high class place without being stuffy or overbearing.

Shaun and I will definitely be returning here!

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Citrus Grilled Chicken

This is another attempt at recreating the wonderfully flavorful chicken at El Pollo Loco, one of the few things I miss about Southern California (most of which seem to be food related 😛 ). I found this recipe here via Google. The source is listed as the Orange County Register, but I could not verify that. I increased the garlic, black pepper, and the minced chile for our version, and used chicken thighs rather than a whole cut up chicken. I also changed the grilling method a bit. I found that medium heat was too high for my grill.

It turned out quite well. Not quite the El Pollo Loco flavor, but very good nonetheless. I think next time I’ll add some cumin.

Citrus Grilled Chicken
Serves 8

For the marinade:
6 ounces (1 small can) pineapple juice
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 large cloves garlic, pressed
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon mild chili pepper (I used an Anaheim)
8 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
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. 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.

Serve with beans and corn tortillas.

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

Creme De Menthe Chunk Cookies

I found the original recipe for these awesome cookies on the back of a bag of Andes Creme De Menthe Baking Chips. I only made a couple small modifications: using light brown sugar instead of dark, and putting in a bit more vanilla, as I like it and my measuring method tends to be pouring into a spoon over the mixing bowl until it overflows rather than straight teaspoons 😛 I used my Oxo #40 scoop (1½ tablespoons), and I only got 3 dozen cookies out of the recipe. My version is below.

The chocolate and mint combination with the cookies is just wonderful. Next time I might try making the batter chocolate too by adding some cocoa powder and reducing the flour, but that might be chocolate overload!

Creme De Menthe Chunk Cookies
Makes 3 dozen cookies

½ cup room temperature salted butter
¾ cup light brown sugar
½ cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2½ tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 package (10 oz.) Andes® Crème de Menthe Baking Chips
2⅔ cups sifted all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream together the butter and sugars. Stir in the baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs until well combined. Stir in flour until a dough forms. Fold in the Andes chips.

Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, drop balls of dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet about 1½ inches apart. Slightly flatten the dough balls.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the tops are cracking and slightly browned around the edges and the bottoms are uniformly golden brown.

Cool on baking sheet for two minutes before removing to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

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

Still Here

Sorry for the lack of posts. I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather and have lost my voice for a few weeks now, much to my annoyance. My doc says it’s not strep, so goodness knows what’s up with my vocal cords. I’ve still been cooking, just nothing new and exciting. These recent pictures link back to the original posted recipes if you’re interested.

Posted in Ramblings | No Comments »

Corned Beef, Potatoes, and Cabbage

This is a traditional Irish-American dinner. It’s not all that popular over in Ireland; you’re much more likely to find a lamb stew. Nonetheless, it is a very tasty meal and a nice way to mark Saint Patrick’s Day.

I do mine in the slow cooker, simmering until falling apart, and infusing the cabbage and potatoes with the corning spices. This time, since the day fell on a weekday, I put the corned beef and potatoes in for the whole 8 hours, and put in the cabbage when I got home and let it go for another 1½ hours before we ate.

Be aware that the brisket shrinks significantly when cooked, so buy more than you think you’ll need. Mine this year was 2½ lbs, and you can see how small it got.

Corned Beef, Cabbage, and Potatoes
(for at least a 6 quart slow cooker)
Makes 6 servings

2 cups hot water
2 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
½ tsp black pepper, coarsely ground
2-3 lbs corned beef brisket
8 small potatoes, quartered (Yukon Gold or Red are nice) – about 1 ½ lbs total
1 medium head of green cabbage, cut into 6 wedges

Combine the water, vinegar, sugar, and pepper in a bowl and stir to dissolve the sugar. Set the corned beef in the crock pot and pour the liquid mixture over the top. Cover and cook for 3-4 hours on low. Remove the lid and arrange the potatoes and cabbage wedges
on top. Replace the cover and cook for another 3-4 hours on low. Serve the beef sliced on a platter with the potatoes and cabbage all around.

Posted in Beef, Food, Slow Cooker, Vegetables | 2 Comments »

Irish Soda Bread

This is a traditional Irish quick bread. It’s leavened with baking powder and baking soda, so it comes together quickly. It made a lovely side to the corned beef, potatoes, and cabbage. I made mine with half whole wheat flour this year, not out of any desire to be more healthy or anything, but because I was running low on all purpose flour. I did like the depth of flavor that it added, though, and I think I’ll continue to do so in the future. I’m firmly in the “no currants” camp of the soda bread debate, but if you like them, go for it 😛

Irish Soda Bread
Makes one 1½ lb loaf

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
4 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the melted butter, buttermilk, and egg. When combined, turn out onto a floured counter and knead for a minute or two to make a smooth dough.

Form into a ball and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Flatten the ball somewhat. Using a pair of kitchen shears or a sharp knife, cut an X in the top of the loaf.

Bake for 30-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Posted in Baking, Bread, Food | 1 Comment »

Tortilla Crusted Tilapia and Lime Cilantro Rice

Tonight’s dinner was Tortilla Crusted Tilapia and Lime Cilantro Rice, like the rice you get at Chipotle or Qdoba, with some chili beans.

This was an experiment, as we’d never tried either recipe before. It wasn’t bad, but we both found ourselves wishing for a simpler fish inside a tortilla rather than this. The rice was spot on, but we discovered we like it much better in burritos than alone 😛

We’ll go for some version of fish tacos next time, I think. Oh well, they can’t all be winners! Take a peek at the recipes if this sounds like your cup of tea, though.

Posted in Food, Mexican, Rice, Seafood, Sides | No Comments »

Galbi

With the warmer weather tonight was another grilling night. I made my version of galbi, Korean style grilled beef, which I’ve blogged about before here. I increased the quantities of soy sauce and sake a bit just to get better coverage on the meat this time around. I served this with a tossed green salad and some oyster mushrooms cooked quickly in browned butter. It was very delicious meal 🙂

Galbi
Serves 4

For the marinade:
4 large cloves garlic, pressed (about 4 tablespoons)
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp honey
½ of a ripe bartlett pear, cored and grated
2 tbsp sake
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp black pepper

2 lbs beef short ribs, cut galbi style (aka flanken style)

Mix all of the marinade ingredients in a large zip top bag. Grate the pear directly into the bag so all the juice gets in there too. Add the short ribs, squeeze out all the air, and let marinate for 15 minutes to 2 hours. The longer you go, the more flavorful, but don’t go for much longer than 2 hours, as the pear’s tenderizing effect can make the meat mushy.

Preheat the grill to medium high heat. Grill the ribs for 5 minutes on each side or until cooked all the way through.

Posted in Asian, Beef, Food, Grilling | 2 Comments »