Cassie’s Ruminations

Cornflake Chicken

This is another recipe that comes to me from my husband and his family. It’s good simple food that hits the spot. If you’d like to spice it up a bit, add some Cajun seasoning to the cornflake crumbs. I just buy the pre-crumbed cornflakes for this meal rather than crushing my own, as we rarely eat cereal in this house. You could easily serve 4 if you get smaller chicken pieces or cut the breasts in half. I served this with baked white rose potatoes and some sautéed zucchini and yellow squash.

Cornflake Chicken
Serves 2 hungry people

2 whole chicken breasts, bone-in, with skin
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup cornflake crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll the chicken breasts all over in the butter and then in the cornflake crumbs. Pat any leftover crumbs on the top of the chicken breasts. Bake for 1-1½ hours or until cooked all the way through (internal temperature of 180 degrees F). Potatoes can be baked at the same time.

Posted in Food, Poultry | 2 Comments »

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (aka Golabki or Halupki)

This is a traditional Polish / Jewish dish. Shaun and I had never had it before, but my mother recently made a batch, and it sounded intriguing, so I added it to my list of things to make and looked around at a few other recipes. A few weeks later we got around to to making our own version. Onion is more traditional, but as I have a bit of an allergy to the things, we substituted zucchini for the vegetable in the filling.

We both started out thinking that the dish was rather weird, not having grown up with it, but as we ate, we decided that we rather liked it. It won’t be joining our regular rotation of meals, but it’ll definitely get made again. We had this with a loaf of homemade wheat bread from our little bread machine.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Serves 4

1 medium head of cabbage
1 lb ground beef (I used 15% fat)
1 egg
1 medium zucchini (about 8 oz), grated
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
2 cups cooked and cooled rice (I used some we had leftover from yesterday)
2 small (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp butter

Separate 12 large leaves from the head of cabbage, being careful to keep them as intact as possible. Blanch them in boiling salted water for 5 minutes, then drain and set aside to cool. This will make the leaves easy to roll.

In a mixing bowl, add the beef, egg, grated zucchini, salt, pepper, and rice, and mix together well. Spoon about ¼ cup of the mixture into the center of a cabbage leaf and fold the leaf around the filling. Secure with a wooden toothpick. Repeat with the remaining leaves until you have 12 rolls. If there is any remaining filling, form it into small patties.

In another small mixing bowl, stir together the tomato sauce and the vinegar.

Over medium heat, melt the butter in a saucepan or deep skillet large enough to hold all of the rolls in a single layer. Add the rolls, seam side down. Place any filling patties on top. Pour the sauce over the whole thing and cover.

Turn the heat to medium low and cook covered for about 1 hour or until an instant read thermometer placed into the center of a roll reads 180 degrees F. Serve hot.

Posted in Beef, Food, Vegetables | No Comments »

Pork, Broccoli, and Mushroom Stir Fry

This is a basic stir fry. Sometimes I use asparagus or green beans instead of broccoli, or chicken or beef instead of the pork. It’s a quick and easy well balanced meal that Shaun and I both enjoy. We didn’t bother with any rice tonight since we were having soup as part of the meal, but I often serve my stir fries over rice.

Pork, Broccoli, and Mushroom Stir Fry
Serves 4

1 lb thinly sliced pork chops
2 small heads of broccoli, about 1 lb total weight
8 oz mushrooms
2 cloves garlic (minced to make about 1 ½ tbsp)
1 inch fresh ginger (minced to make about 3 tbsp)
2 tbsp hoisin sauce (Lee Kum Kee brand recommended)
1 tbsp chili garlic sauce (Lee Kum Kee brand recommended)
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp sake
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Cut the pork into thick matchsticks and set aside. Slice the mushrooms. Cut the broccoli into florets. Cut the stems into thin slices. Steam the broccoli for 5 minutes in the microwave. Drain well and set aside. Finely mince the garlic and ginger. Mix the hoisin sauce, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, and sake in a small bowl until well combined. Set aside.

Heat the oils in a large skillet or wok. Add the pork, spreading it out across the bottom of the wok evenly. Let cook without stirring for about 3 minutes to get a nice golden brown, then stir fry until done, about another 3 minutes. Remove to a bowl, keeping as much of the oil in the wok as possible. Add the mushrooms, garlic, and ginger, and stir fry for 2 minutes or until the mushrooms are nicely golden and tender. Add the broccoli and pork, pour the sauce over the top, and toss to combine. Stir fry the mixture for one more minute. Serve hot.

Posted in Asian, Food, Pork, Vegetables | 2 Comments »

Hot and Sour Soup

Shaun and I both love hot and sour soup. It’s a hearty yet healthy soup that makes a great meal starter. This recipe is an amalgamation of several that I’ve tried over the years, and this version was just about perfect. I didn’t marinate the tofu, but I’ve added that step below, as we found it a bit lacking. The flavor is just slightly off of perfection, so I think next time I might add another tablespoon of vinegar, but I’m not sure. Just a little more tweaking and I’ll have it!

There are a couple specialty ingredients that I use. The black vinegar is a unique flavor, and it can be found in most Asian grocery stores, but if you can’t find it, substitute a tablespoon of red wine vinegar and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. The dried black fungus can also be found in Asian grocery stores, but feel free to substitute about 4 oz of chopped shiitake or crimini mushrooms if you can’t find it.

I’m submitting this (along with my hom bao) to Joelen’s Chinese New Year Wine and Dine blog event.

Hot and Sour Soup
Makes 8 cups – 8 appetizer servings, 4 hearty starter servings, or 2 main course servings

7 oz extra-firm tofu, drained
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 tbsp soy sauce, divided
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
3 tbsp cornstarch, plus 1 tsp (divided)
3 tbsp cold water
1 large egg
1 cup bamboo shoots (1 8-oz can), cut into matchsticks
1 oz dried black fungus
5 tablespoons black Chinese vinegar
2 teaspoons chili oil
1 tsp ground white pepper

Press water out of the tofu by placing the block in a rimmed dish, placing a plate on top of it, and placing a couple heavy cans on top of the plate. Let it sit for 10 minutes. About ½ a cup of water will come out. Cut the tofu into small pieces about half an inch square by a quarter of an inch thick. Put the tofu into a small zip top bag and pour in 1 tbsp of soy sauce and the 1 tsp of sesame oil. Seal the bag and toss to combine. Let sit for 10 minutes.

As the tofu is marinating, pour the chicken broth into a large saucepan and heat over medium high heat. While it heats, mix the 3 tbsp of cornstarch with the water in a small bowl to make a slurry and set aside. Cut the bamboo into matchsticks, and beat the egg with a splash of water and the 1 tsp of cornstarch.

When the broth reaches a boil, add the bamboo and dried black fungus to the pot and reduce the heat to medium low. Let simmer for about 5 minutes or until the black fungus is re-hydrated and tender. Add the marinated tofu and let simmer for another 2 minutes. Stir the cornstarch slurry to recombine, and add it to the pot. Increase the heat to medium high and bring the broth back to a gentle boil. Stir in the vinegar, the remaining 3 tbsp of soy sauce, the chili oil, and the white pepper. Let cook for 1 minute, then take off the heat. Drizzle the egg into the hot broth with a spoon in long thin strands. Return the soup to the heat and bring back to a gentle boil one last time. Remove from the heat and serve immediately.

Posted in Asian, Food, Soup | 1 Comment »

Pioneer Woman’s Marinated Flank Steak

Tonight’s dinner is from Ree’s The Pioneer Woman Blog. This was an outstanding flavorful steak that Shaun and I both enjoyed very much. I served it with a green salad and some warm sourdough rolls. The only things I did differently were to grate the ginger and garlic with my microplane, marinate it overnight, and to to cook it for a bit longer, as my grill pan is smaller and did not get quite as searingly hot.

Posted in Beef, Food, Grilling | 1 Comment »

Portuguese Spiced Chicken

This recipe is from Dragon’s Kitchen. She uses the spice rub with classic Portuguese flavors on chicken wings and broils them, but I substituted chicken thighs and baked them over some cubed potatoes to make a full dinner of it. We liked this a great deal, but found the salt to be overwhelming, perhaps my kosher salt has finer grains than hers, so next time I’ll be cutting it down to 1 tsp instead of 1 tbsp, and that’s how I have it written below.

Portuguese Spiced Chicken with Roasted Potatoes
Serves 2

For the potatoes:
2 large white rose potatoes (about 1 pound total weight), washed and cubed
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
For the chicken:
2 large garlic cloves, pressed
1 large bay leaf, crumbled fine
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp kosher or coarse salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp crushed dried red chili flakes
¼ tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1½ lb chicken thighs (with skin and bone)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Microwave the potato cubes for 5 minutes with a ¼ cup of water to give them a steamed head start. Spray an 8 inch by 8 inch baking dish with non-stick spray and add the potato cubes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Mix together all the spices and the olive oil in a bowl or in a food processor to form a paste. Rub all over the chicken thighs, top and bottom. Place the thighs on top of the potatoes and bake for 45 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Posted in Food, Potatoes, Poultry, Spanish and Portuguese | 1 Comment »

Chicken Fried Rice

This was an easy and quick dinner that used up some leftover rotisserie chicken from Costco. It was very tasty and just about perfect. I used this recipe by Jaden Hair, substituting about 6 oz of cooked chicken meat for the shrimp, omitting the corn starch, and omitting the green onions.

Posted in Asian, Food, Leftovers, Poultry, Rice | 1 Comment »

Roasted Sesame Pork Tenderloin

Yet another Joy of Cooking recipe. This one was rather bland. Not bad by any means, but just not very interesting. We had this with some jasmine rice and zucchini sautéed with sesame oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. I boiled the leftover marinade for 10 minutes to kill any bacteria, then added about ¼ cup water and ¼ cup white wine vinegar and whisked it together to make a sauce to pour over the rice.

Roasted Sesame Pork Tenderloin
Serves 8

2 lb pork tenderloin (2 tenderloins)
½ cup sesame seeds

Marinade:
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup hoisin sauce (I use Lee Kum Kee brand)
¼ cup honey
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tsp minced garlic (1 large clove)
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger (about an inch-long piece, peeled)

Mix together the marinade ingredients in a large zip top bag. Add the pork tenderloins and let marinate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Put the sesame seeds on a large plate. Remove the pork from the marinade, letting any excess drip off. Roll the tenderloins in the sesame seeds to coat. Roast for 25 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees. Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Posted in Asian, Food, Pork | 2 Comments »

Sweet and Sour Little Sausages

This is a recipe passed down to me from my mother. She makes it every New Year’s Eve, and they’re always gone long before midnight! I often put in a small bell pepper, cut into chunks, but they weren’t looking too hot at the store, so none this time around. For our other snacks, we had some brushchetta with a plate of smoked salmon and a bowl of artichoke tapenade to spread on the bread as desired.

Little Sausages in Sweet and Sour Sauce
Makes 8 large appetizer servings

½ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 can (20 oz) pineapple chunks in juice
⅓ cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 small sweet bell pepper (optional)
1 lb package of cocktail sausages

If using, cut the pepper into bite-sized chunks. Drain the pineapple, reserving all of the juice. In a medium sauce pan over no heat, add the pineapple juice, vinegar, and soy sauce. Whisk in the brown sugar and cornstarch until completely dissolved. Turn the burner to medium high and bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Add the pineapple, bell pepper, and Li’l’ Smokies to the pot. Stir together and let simmer for 10 minutes or until sausages are heated all the way through. These keep well in a slow cooker or chafing dish for several hours as a party food.

Posted in Appetizers, Food | 1 Comment »

Apple Pie

This is another wonderful recipe from The Joy of Cooking. I used Fuji apples, and closer to 8 cups of slices (though I only used 4 giant apples 🙂 ) as we like our pies brimming with fruit. I should have added a bit more flour, as it didn’t quite thicken up as much as it should have, but it was so tasty that no one minded! You can find my recipe for pie crust here (a combination of a couple Joy of Cooking recipes), or use your own favorite, or even use Pillsbury (shhhhh, that’s what I did here!).

Apple Pie
Serves 6 (1 9-inch pie)

Your favorite pie crust (enough for a top and bottom)
2½ lbs apples (5-6 medium large)
¾ cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp sugar (for topping)
⅛ tsp ground cinnamon (for topping)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Peel and core the apples and cut into ¼ inch slices. Stir together with the sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, and salt, and let sit for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place one rolled out crust into a 9 inch pie plate and gently press into place. Pour the apple mixture in and level with the back of a spoon, heaping towards the middle if necessary. Cut butter into small pieces and scatter over the top of the apples. Place other rolled out crust over the top and crimp the crusts together. Cut steam vents in the top and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon.

Bake the pie for 30 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 25-45 minutes or until the apples are tender when poked with a skewer through one of the steam vents.

Let the pie cool completely (3-4 hours) on a cooling rack before cutting to allow the filling to thicken. If desired, the pie can be rewarmed in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes before serving.

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