Accenting Your Dish

I admit it - I love Costco.  For many reasons - but a few weeks (or months) ago I bought some blueberries there (4lbs for $8 - holla), and made many things with them until I about turned into Violet from Willy Wonka, so I froze the rest.  Tonight I found them at the back of the freezer.  This discovery coincided with my craving for  vanilla bean ice cream.  So it seemed the perfect time to make blueberry sauce.

I went to one of my favorite sites www.supercook.com and listed the ingredients I had on hand and it suggested a few others (lemon juice, in a bottle - check).  Very quickly it gave me a super simple recipe for blueberry sauce which was the perfect match for my vanilla bean ice cream.

Coming from www.marthastewart.com. The recipe I used is as follows........


Blueberry Sauce
2 cups blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

In a medium saucepan, combine blueberries with sugar and fresh lemon juice.  Bring to boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook until most of the berries have burst - about 8-10 minutes.

I love my toaster oven and George Foreman Grill

My toaster oven might be the best money I ever spent.  I bought it when I realized it was more energy efficient than the conventional oven/stove combo - and truly I use it all the time and have less clean up than I would with the big oven.  Being the geek that I am I'm really looking forward to purchasing the toaster oven sized cookware sold in some catalogs.  Meanwhile the George Foreman Grill I bought at a thrift store must have been an extra wedding or housewarming gift because it had never been open or used and was only $12. 

As a side note I know someone who bought a crock pot and upon getting it home had the pleasant surprise of oven mitts, cookbooks, a picture frame, and "Congrats on Your Marriage" card inside of the crock pot.  Needless to say I think there are an ungrateful couple and bewildered gift giver somewhere out there - the lesson from this is a) check all the wedding, baby & housewarming gifts you get, b) if you're going to add stuff to a gift (which was a wonderful thought) take the entire thing out of the box and make it a presentation of it's own, and finally c) never be mislead by a box label.

Now on to the meat (pun intended) of this post.  My favorite place to grocery shop (other than Findlay Market or Country Fresh Market) is Remke/Biggs.  They remind me so much of the Rosauers I shopped at in Missoula - clear down to the creative options for carting your purchases from the store, and of course the selection of products and prices/specials.  It's a little different Roasuers had "Power Buys" and "13 Hour Sales" while Remke's has the standard sale prices but offers "Pump Perks" - still though...dare I say it...I find them to be better than Kroger and Wal-Mart.  I also really care that they are truly a local chain - not just one that is headquartered here.  That being said - I went grocery shopping last night and made some purchases that gave me 6 luscious meals for about $2.50 each.

I Know.......

The first purchase I made is stuffed portabella mushrooms - 2 for $4.99.  Remke's had several varieties available - having never had this particular entree before so I picked the pizza variety as it had a little bit of  everything (and I couldn't pass up 2 nutritious meals at $2.50).  Feeling a thrill of brilliance I walked around the store some more and found 4 pre-made ground chuck patties for $4.89.  A light opened from heaven and a choir of angels sang "aaaaawwwwhhhhhh" as just moments before this find I was seriously considering heading to Steak n' Shake for a marvelous double steakburger with cheese and everything.  I went with these instead, picked up a small head of romaine lettuce, a purple onion, some pickles, and a pack of slimwich buns - ending up with 4 meals for about $2.50 each - score!!

I got home and immediately popped one of the portabella mushrooms into the toaster oven (350 for 25 min) giving me time to unpack everything else.  The result was good - not thrilling - but good enough.  I still ended up snacking on the cottage cheese and chips & dip I bought as well (not so great for the waistline).  In retrospect I really should have thought of a salad to or side to go with the stuffed mushroom - but alas you live, learn, and try again tomorrow.

So today I made a hamburger from the ground chuck patties - I knew when I bought them that they were a good size but I didn't realize how thick they were and sure enough after I do the math I find that each patty is almost a half a pound.  Now this is what I really love about the George Foreman Grill - it cooks the hamburger evenly on both sides at the same time - and - it warms/toasts the buns while cooking.  So it gives me time to prepare all the toppings (cutting, washing, slathering.....) without requiring me too keep watch over it or do the flip.  What can I say - my burger was AWESOME!!!!!!  Better than a drive thru burger and probably better than a burger at a good, down-home, greasy spoon too.

So there's today's post - a) behold the genius of small appliances & thrift stores; b) open all your presents - don't just look at the box; and c) buying pre-made food at a good price makes great sense and cents :)

Birthday Pork Chops

I found this recipe from www.motherrimmy.com and made them for my birthday.  They went over really well and I am adding them as a part of my recipe repertoire.  Served with a side of seasonal spring greens (or broccoli) and glass of pinot gris this is a winner.  As a side note I purchased 2 boneless butterfly pork chops for $4 and used baby bella mushrooms but am anxious to know how it would taste with a wild mushroom selection (including morels which at $39/lb are way out of my funemployed budget).  I also used dried rosemary and didn't read the directions about using 1 tablespoon for the coating - so both went in and the flavor was a bit much.

Big Thick Pork Chops Stuffed with Rosemary, Mushrooms and Goat Cheese

Serves 2 men, or 4 women 
12 ounces pork chops, 2 extra thick chops
1 cup mushroom , finely chopped
2 tablespoon rosemary, minced
⅓ cup goat cheese, crumbled
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine mushrooms, 1 tablespoon rosemary and goat cheese in a small bowl. Take a spoon and gently mash the mixture together.
3. Cut a large slit through the center of the meat of the pork chop to make a pocket.
4. Stuff half the mushroom mixture into the pocket of each pork chop. Be firm and pack it in.
5. Preheat a non-stick oven safe skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray.
6. Sprinkle the outside of the chops with the remaining rosemary, salt and pepper and fry for 3 – 4 minutes per side until nicely browned.
7. Remove to oven and cook another 10 – 15 minutes. Chop meat should no longer be bright pink when cut, but just barely pink.
8. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. Chops will continue to cook during this time, so the resting period is important.

About this Blog

Out of the Can with Cate came to be when I was working at a small television station almost a decade ago.  I took a cherry pie to the company picnic and everyone raved about how good it was - I told them the crust was pre-made and the filling came out of a can.  Immediately off the cuff I pitched the idea for a 5 minute morning segment for the news break focusing on dishes where one of the components comes out of a can - including soup, vegetables, fruits, and even vienna sausages.  As a single working girl most of my meals came out of cans, boxes, or frozen things - and I knew the audience could relate.

My bosses laughed at me and long story short 5 months later I was fired on what could best be described as fabricated charges.  In retrospect my moxy for stepping out of my little box and being effective at my work probably didn't do me any favors, life back then was a lot like the early chapters of the book Citizen Girl (McLaughlin & Kraus).

So I moved on and a decade and many jobs later I find myself still single (oh well), still broke (please someone hire me), parlaying a bunch of short-term jobs into "freelance" experience, and having developed some good cooking skills.  So my goal is to use this blog to share the recipes I use (many of which involves cans, boxes, and packets) and maybe drop in some hints about life, housekeeping (ha!), and maybe some literary reviews.

Hope you enjoy and if you're looking for a Jill of All Trades with a PHD from the School of Hard Knocks - call me.