Cassie’s Ruminations

Tomato Soup

My parents came back from their week out on the Olympic Peninsula bearing many freshly picked blackberries and blueberries for us 🙂 I’ll have to come up with something good to do with them! Since they’d had a late lunch and I had a big lunch at work, and as Shaun is on the other side of the Cascades preparing to take the LSAT tomorrow, we just made a light dinner of homemade tomato soup and some green salad. The tomato soup is very fresh and easy to throw together. In the winter, just use a can (14.5-15 oz) of diced tomatoes.

Tomato Soup
Makes about 3 cups
Serves 3 for a light dinner

1 tbsp butter
6 baby carrots or one regular carrot, diced
1 clove garlic
1 tsp dried basil
1 lb fresh tomatoes, blanched and peeled* and roughly chopped
¼ cup tomato juice (I use Campbell’s Organic)
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
dash cayenne

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the carrot and cook until tender and just starting to brown around the edges, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and basil and cook for another
minute or until the garlic is fragrant. Add the tomatoes and tomato juice and the seasonings and simmer for about 5 minutes. Do not let it come to a boil. Puree the soup using either an immersion blender or a regular blender (being careful to hold the top down with a kitchen towel to avoid tomato soup splatters all over the kitchen). Simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Serve hot with salad and/or a grilled cheese sandwich.

* To blanch and peel the tomatoes: Cut a little cross mark in the bottom of the skin of each tomato. Boil enough water to cover the tomatoes entirely in water – about 2 quarts for the one pound of tomatoes called for above. Place the tomatoes in a large bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Let sit for 30 seconds, then remove the tomatoes. Let cool (use an ice bath to speed things up if desired). Use a paring knife to remove the skins from the tomatoes.

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French Dip Sandwiches

This was a tasty way to use up the last of the leftover steak, which I’d thrown in the freezer last week. I pulled it out last night before going to bed, and this evening it was just right for slicing thinly for the sandwiches.

French Dip Sandwiches
Serves 2

1 leftover steak, about 10 oz
2 outdoor rolls (or hoagie rolls or some other sandwich-type roll)
1 cup beef broth (I used Better Than Bouillon)
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

Slice the steak thinly across the grain. Place in a microwaveable dish with the broth and Worcestershire sauce. Heat for 2 minutes on high. Toast the rolls while the meat is heating up. Place slices on the bread and divide the au jus into two bowls. Serve warm.

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A Nice Birthday Evening and Restaurant Review: Ivar’s Mukilteo Landing

Despite having to go to work 😛 I did have a very nice birthday yesterday. After work I got home and was enthusiastically greeted by Emma. I freshened up a bit, then Shaun and I headed out to Ivar’s Mukilteo Landing for a nice dinner on the sound.

(image courtesy of Ivar’s website)

Parking is always interesting at best there thanks to the ferry, so we had an early dinner, seated by about 4 pm so we could easily park in the little Ivar’s lot. Since we came at a relative lull, we were seated by the windows and had a lovely view of the sound. Shaun had the halibut fish and chips, and I had one of their “Beat the Tide” specials – a starter, entrée, and dessert for $15.95 served between 3 and 5 pm. I chose the Caesar Salad, Mukilteo Seafood Sauté, and Chocolate Decadence. Both dinners also came with warm sourdough rolls. It was an excellent dinner at a very reasonable price in a great location, and I highly recommend visiting Ivar’s Mukilteo Landing if you’re in the area – just be aware that parking will be easier at lunch or for an early dinner.

After coming home, Shaun gave me some Alton Brown Good Eats DVDs, and we spent the rest of the evening happy on the couch watching a several episodes.

All in all a nice day 🙂

Posted in Food, Ramblings, Restaurant Review | 1 Comment »

Sautéed Zucchini

Sautéed zucchini is a common side dish in our house. We both love zucchini, so it makes regular appearances as a side, whether roasted, sautéed, grilled, or prepared in some other way.

Sautéed Zucchini
Serves 4

8 small zucchini, about 2 pounds total
½ tbsp olive oil OR butter
kosher salt
black pepper

Slice the zucchini into rounds. In a large skillet over medium heat warm the oil or melt the butter. Add the zucchini and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté the zucchini for about 10 minutes or until tender and turning translucent. Serve warm.

Posted in Easy, Food, Sides, Vegetables | 1 Comment »

Roasted Winter Squash

Winter squash is a lovely side dish, and when it’s good it stands all on its own. It roasts at the same time and temperature as the roast chicken below, so it’s a great additional side dish for that as well as for most any winter oven bake. The squash below is a Sweet Dumpling – fairly small, about the same as an Acorn Squash or smaller, and with a tender sweet flesh. It was pictured whole here. The same method would work just fine for an acorn squash or any other fairly small winter squash. For bigger squash like larger Butternuts or Hubbards, the baking time must be increased. When the flesh is tender to a fork prick, it will be done.

Roasted Winter Squash
Serves 2

1 small winter squash of your choice (I used a Sweet Dumpling)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut squash in half lengthwise (from stem end to tip) and scoop out the seeds and stringy interior. Place the halves cut side down in a rimmed baking sheet and add water about halfway up the rim. Place in the oven and bake for 1-1½ hours or until tender.

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Roasted Chicken

Here’s an old fashioned traditional Sunday dinner: a chicken roasted with potatoes and carrots. I also served some sautéed zucchini and roasted sweet dumpling winter squash. It takes a while to cook, but a lazy Sunday afternoon is perfect for that.

Chicken Roasted with Potatoes and Carrots
Serves 4-6

1 whole chicken, 4-5 lbs
4 medium yukon gold potatoes, cubed
12 baby carrots
1 tbsp kosher salt
1½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Rinse the chicken inside and out and remove any giblets. Pat dry and set aside.

Cube the potatoes and place them in a high-sided baking pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Scatter the carrots on top. Mix the salt, pepper, and thyme. Drizzle ⅓ of the olive oil over the potatoes and carrots and sprinkle ⅓ of the seasoning mixture over the top. Place the chicken on top and rub all over with the remainder of the olive oil and then with the remainder of the seasoning mixture, placing some under the breast skin. Tuck the wing tips under the legs to keep them from getting too brown.

Cook for 1½ hours or until the internal temperature at the thickest part of the breast is about 170 degrees. Let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Posted in Food, Poultry, Vegetables | 1 Comment »

Open Faced Beef Sandwich

For dinner tonight I made open faced beef sandwiches with one of the leftover steaks from when my folks were here. It was easy and delicious.

Open Faced Beef Sandwich
Serves 2

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
2 cups beef broth (I used Better Than Bouillon)
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
¼ tsp black pepper
Leftover steak, about 10 oz cooked, sliced thinly
Bread of your choice (I used pita since that’s what I had 😛 )

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium high heat. When it just starts to foam, add the flour and whisk to coat completely, making a roux. Add the beef broth, thyme, and pepper, and whisk again to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and add the steak slices. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the steak is warmed through. Serve over bread.

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An Early Birthday Dinner

My folks came by Thursday night on the way to a week of R&R out on the Olympic Peninsula, and since my birthday is next Monday, they thought it would be nice to have a little celebration while they were here. They live out in Colorado, so we don’t get to see them much. Emma was thrilled to get to meet and play with new people. Check out the great hooded sweatshirt they brought me! Now I have something to wear on Sundays 😉

For dinner, we made some sautéed shrimp (just a bit of olive oil, 3 cloves of garlic, a few good sloshes of Chipotle Tabasco, and a couple pound bag of shrimp from Costco, all dumped in a a big pan and cooked until the shrimp were nice and pink), grilled steaks, boiled new red potatoes, and tossed green salad. It was a great dinner made even better by getting to enjoy it with my parents. Have a fun and relaxing vacation guys!

Posted in Food, Ramblings | 1 Comment »

Fall For Emma

I cleaned off my big kitchen counter yesterday and decorated for fall. Shaun decided that Emma needed to get in on the action and promptly placed her on my nice clean counter 😛 She was very confused, but I did get some good pictures before putting her back on the floor and rescrubbing the counter to remove corgi footprints 😉 I apologize for the dark picture. It gets dim early these days!

Posted in Corgi, Ramblings | 1 Comment »

Chicken Noodle Soup

Yesterday brought another chilly and drizzly evening, so I made some chicken noodle soup for dinner. This was a pretty fast and easy meal that hit the spot. It’s easy to scale up to serve more, and feel free to add more or less noodles or broth to get the ratio that you like. I used my coarse microplane to grate both the garlic and the ginger. It was faster and easier than mincing.

Chicken Noodle Soup
Serves 2

1 tbsp butter
1 skinless boneless chicken breast, about ½ lb
5 baby carrots or 1 large carrot, cut into coins
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
½ inch of a hand of ginger, grated – about 1 tsp
6 cups chicken broth (I use Swanson Natural Goodness – i.e. reduced sodium)
5 oz egg noodles (about 3 cups)

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and stir until fragrant and just starting to color. Add the chicken and carrots. Leave the chicken alone until it gets nicely browned, then stir and brown the other side. Add the broth and turn the heat to high. Bring to a boil then add the egg noodles. Reduce heat to medium high and boil the noodles as directed on the package, usually about 8 minutes. Serve hot.

Posted in Food, Poultry, Soup | 1 Comment »