Cassie’s Ruminations

Beef Hash

This was a quick way to use up some of our leftover Christmas prime rib.

Beef Hash
Serves 2

1 tbsp butter
4 small-ish russet potatoes (about 1.5 lbs), cut into small cubes
Salt and pepper
8 oz leftover prime rib, cut into small cubes
3 tbsp leftover au jus

Heat the butter in a large skillet. Add the potatoes, salt, and pepper to taste, and let brown. When mostly done, add the beef and stir. Let cook for another 3-4 minutes or until beef is hot. Add the au jus and scrape up any bits that stuck to the bottom of the pan. Serve hot.

Posted in Beef, Easy, Food, Leftovers, Potatoes | 1 Comment »

Pasta Puttanesca

Last night’s dinner was fast and easy, light, but still satisfying. I won’t bore you with the story behind the name Puttanesca, as I’m sure you’ve heard it before. Traditionally, there is some anchovy paste in the recipe, but I never have any on had, so I just omit it. Sometimes we add a couple beaten eggs in with the garlic and oil to add a bit of protein.

Pasta Puttanesca
Makes 4 servings

1 lb bite sized pasta, such as the fiori pictured
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed
2 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 tbsp capers, drained
1 small (112 g) can black olives, sliced
⅛ tsp red pepper flakes

Start a pot of water boiling with a generous pinch of salt. Add the pasta when it reaches a boil, then start the sauce while it cooks to al dente.

Sauté the garlic in the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium heat until it just starts to turn golden. Add the remainder of the ingredients and simmer until the sauce is thickened. It should be ready just as the pasta is.

Drain the pasta and dump it into the skillet with the sauce. Toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Posted in Budget, Easy, Food, Italian, Pasta | 3 Comments »

Standing Rib Roast with Au Jus

This is our traditional Christmas dinner. I usually make a yorkshire pudding with some of the pan drippings, but since it was just Shaun and I this year, I skipped it. I cooked the roast to a perfect medium rare, and we had some boiled potatoes and roasted broccoli as sides. A wonderful meal!

Standing Rib Roast
Makes 6-10 servings

Beef Roast:
1 standing rib roast (small end), 4-6 lb
kosher salt and black pepper

Au Jus:
1 can beef broth
3 tbsp drippings from the pan
1 large clove garlic, pressed
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp dried thyme leaves
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

The morning you are cooking, take the roast out of the packaging and loosely cover with paper towels. Let stand in the refrigerator until ready to roast. This allows the roast to dry out, which will make a better crust.

About 3 hours before you want to eat, heat the oven to 350°F. Place the roast bone side down in an 8×8 baking dish. Sprinkle liberally all over with salt and pepper, patting it into the meat and fat. Insert an ovenproof meat thermometer so tip is in center of the thickest part of beef and does not rest in fat or touch bone.

For medium-rare, bake about 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes or until thermometer reads 140°F. Remove beef from pan onto carving board. Cover beef loosely with foil and let stand 15 to 20 minutes until thermometer reads 145°F. For medium, bake uncovered 2 hours 15 minutes to 2 hours 45 minutes or until thermometer reads 155°F. Cover beef loosely with foil and let stand 15 to 20 minutes or until thermometer reads 160°F. Letting the roast rest after cooking allows the juices to resettle into the meat and makes for a juicier roast and one that is easier to carve.

As the roast is resting, stir all the au jus ingredients together in a small saucepan and heat to a low boil. Let simmer until the roast is finished resting.

When ready to carve, remove the strings holding the bones to the roast and lift the meat away from the bones. Carve thin slices from the roast and serve with au jus.

The bones make for great leftovers baked with some barbecue sauce, and leftover meat makes stellar french dip sandwiches as well as soup.

Posted in Beef, Food, Holiday Cooking | 2 Comments »

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treats

These little treats are great for training and dogs just seem to adore them. Emma certainly does! This is based off of this recipe from Allrecipes, following some modifications in the comments and adding my own.

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Pup Treats
Makes about 300 small treats

2 ½ cups flour
2 eggs
1 cup pure pumpkin
4 tbsp peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir together all ingredients until a dough is formed. Divide the dough into fourths. Take one fourth of the dough and roll it out to about ¼ inch thick. Cut into small squares about 1 inch in length and width, or used a small cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Move the squares to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. Cool and transfer to an airtight container.

Posted in Baking, Corgi, Dog Food, Food | 1 Comment »

Pumpkin Monkey Bread

This deliciousness was from a box mix I got at Target. I’ve got to figure out how to replicate it! 😛 It’s snowing outside right now and we’re cozy inside, until Emma rings the bell to ask to go out again, anyway 🙂 Merry Christmas to everyone!

Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Food | 1 Comment »

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

These are a very easy appetizer or meal that looks and tastes like you spent a long time preparing. The key with such simple recipes is to get high quality ingredients since each one stands out. I got 31-40 size easy-peel shrimp and defrosted them and peeled them myself. It’s a little bit cheaper, and when you defrost and peel them yourself, you get a higher quality product by cutting out a middle step between you and the shrimp boat where they were frozen.

We usually have some steamed crab legs on Christmas Eve too, but since we’d just had some lovely steamed Dungeness crab, we just did the bacon wrapped shrimp this year with a nice green salad.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
Serves 4 as an entrée (about 10 shrimp per person) or 12 as an appetizer (about 3 shrimp per person)

1 pound easy peel shrimp (31-40 per pound)
1 pound hickory smoked bacon (not thick)
40 toothpicks

Preheat the broiler (high setting if you have a high and a low setting) and place a rack on the very top shelf. Cut the bacon into thirds. Defrost the shrimp under running cool water and peel then pat them dry. Wrap a piece of bacon around each shrimp and secure with a toothpick. Place on a broiling pan, or if you’re lacking one like me, line a rimmed cookie sheet with foil and place a metal cooling rack inside. This makes a great improvised broiling pan and makes cleanup a snap. Broil the shrimp for about 5 minutes or until the shrimp are cooked through and the bacon is turning crisp. If desired, flip the shrimp and broil for another minute on the other side. I usually don’t bother since they smell so good at this point 🙂

Posted in Appetizers, Food, Holiday Cooking, Seafood | 1 Comment »

Huevos Rancheros

This is a traditional Tex-Mex breakfast. There are just about as many variations on this as there are places and people that make it, so feel free to substitute with what you have on hand. For instance, it’s usually made with corn tortillas, but I only have flour tortillas on hand. Also, I just used up the leftover black beans from last night’s steak burritos since it’s just the two of us, but they’re usually made with refried beans. I left off the cheese for Shaun’s since he isn’t a fan of dairy. I make no claims about the health of this meal, but it sure was spot hitting after a morning in the snow doing some shoveling and playing with Emma 😉

Huevos Rancheros
Serves 2 for a hearty breakfast

2 burrito sized flour tortillas
1 cup cooked black beans (or refried beans)
1 tbsp canola oil
6 eggs
2 oz shredded cheddar cheese, about ¼ cup
4 tbsp salsa

Heat the beans in the microwave. As they warm, heat the tortillas in a skillet over medium heat until toasty and somewhat stiff. Remove the tortillas to plates and spoon beans over the top.

Add ½ tbsp of the oil to the skillet and heat for a minute. Add 3 of the eggs and fry for about 2 minutes on each side or until cooked through. When you flip the eggs over, add the cheese to the top so it melts. When the eggs are cooked, put them on top of one of the tortillas. Repeat the process with the rest of the oil, eggs, and cheese.

Place a couple tablespoons of salsa on top in the middle of the tortilla and serve.

Posted in Beans, Breakfast, Eggs, Food, Mexican | 1 Comment »

Flat Iron Steak Burritos

We’re definitely in the mood for spicy and warm food these days. We’re due for yet another snow storm tomorrow! Tonight’s dinner was a flat iron steak rubbed with Mexican spices, broiled, sliced up, and served with black beans (just a can of beans with a dash of onion powder, a couple dashes of garlic powder, and a couple dashes of ground cumin) in tortillas. I just have to rave again about Tortillaland’s uncooked tortillas. They’re just so much better than the average grocery store tortilla, and it takes hardly any more time to cook them than it does to warm up the others.

Flat Iron Steak for Burritos
Serves 4

1 lb flat iron steak

2 tsp canola oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp chili powder (I like Gebhardt)
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp garlic powder
⅛ tsp onion powder

Preheat broiler to low broil setting if available and have a rack about 6 inches from the element. Combine all of the ingredients except the steak in a small bowl and stir to make a paste. Rub all over the steak. Broil for 15 minutes, then flip over and broil for another 12 minutes for a steak cooked to medium. Let rest for 10 minutes. Slice against the grain and serve with beans, tortillas, and any other desired burrito fixings.

Posted in Beef, Food, Mexican | 1 Comment »

Vanilla Blueberry Pancakes

These pancakes are tender and just perfectly sweetened. The original recipe is from Joy of Cooking with the addition of vanilla and blueberries. The blueberries I used are from the Olympic Peninsula, where my folks got them for us along with blackberries from a u-pick farm. We packaged them up and popped them in the freezer, and now we have wonderful local berries to use all winter.

Vanilla Blueberry Pancakes
Makes 12 pancakes

1½ cups all purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1½ cups milk
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup frozen blueberries

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Lumps are just fine. Fold in the blueberries.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with a piece of aluminum foil big enough to cover the sheet and fold over the top. Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat and melt a little bit of butter on it to grease the surface. Pour ⅓ cup of the batter for each pancake into the skillet. I can fit 2 at a time into mine. Let cook until bubbles form and are mostly broken – this is the sign that the first side is golden brown, then flip and cook for another minute or until the second side is golden brown. Put the pancakes on the cookie sheet between the foil and place in the oven to keep warm. Continue cooking pancakes until they’re all done. Serve hot with pats of butter, maple syrup, or blueberry syrup, or just enjoy plain.

Posted in Breakfast, Food, Fruit | 1 Comment »

Navy Bean Soup

This is a take on navy bean soup that uses up some of our leftover chile rubbed pork tenderloin. I made a quick french bread loaf with my little “Just For Dinner” bread maker to go with it. It’s great for just the two of us. The hearty soup really hit the spot on yet another day of cold and snow here in the Pacific Northwest. Snowflakes are gently falling again, and it looks like we’ll have a white Christmas!

Navy Bean Soup
Makes 8 servings

1 lb (2 cups) dried navy beans
4 cups chicken broth
¼ tsp onion powder
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
Dash cayenne pepper
1 lb leftover chile rubbed pork tenderloin, cubed

Rinse the beans and sort out any rocks or bad looking beans. Put them in a large pot with 5-6 quarts of hot water. Bring to a rollicking boil and cook for two minutes. Remove from the heat and cover. Let sit for one hour. Drain completely and return to the pot. Alternatively, soak beans for 8 hours and drain completely.

Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 45 minutes or until the beans are tender. Using an immersion blender, puree about half of the beans. Stir to combine, taste and adjust seasonings if necessary, and let simmer for another 5 minutes.

Serve with crusty bread.

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