Wednesday 29 August 2012

Double Act! PB &J and a Panini


Warning: Today’s post contains 2 waffle recipes


Shel Silverstein’s “Peanut-Butter Sandwich” poem compliments today’s post like peanut-butter compliments jam. Here is an excerpt:

“I’ll sing you a story of a silly young king

Who played with the world at the end of a string,

But he only loved one single thing
And that was just a peanut-butter sandwich.”

Everyone knows the kid he is writing about. He’s your neighbour who only eats ham sandwiches; she’s your sister who only eats frosted flakes for breakfast; and, he’s my silly cousin who only eats peanut-butter sandwiches. My cousin, the most warm-hearted twelve year-old boy I’ve met, is more adventurous of course. Yet he prefers peanut-butter sandwiches and hotdogs over anything else. 

After a weekend spent conquering me at Risk and whipping my behind in Monopoly, I decided it was time I show him something. So I brought him back to my apartment to make waffles! Knowing his favourite foods were limited, peanut-butter jelly sandwich waffles were an obvious decision.




PB & J waffles (from Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook)
1 ¼ cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
cinnamon
3 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 eggs, separated
1 ¼ cups milk
1 ½ tbsp melted butter

Mix dry. Mix yolks and peanut-butter with a spatula. Stir in milk to yolk mixture. Combine wet and dry. Stir in melted butter. Beat whites until stiff. Fold whites into batter. Serve with jam.



Waffle Paninis! 

Earlier this week, I made grilled-cheese sandwiches out of waffles! These make a perfect lunch, especially if you are using up leftover waffles. I filled them with red-pepper jelly and cheese and grilled them in a panini pan. You could put whatever you want in them.  



Apple-Onion Quinoa Waffles for Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

1 cup quinoa flour
½ cup all purpose (or more)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1 apple, skinned
1 onion, caramelized

2 eggs
1 cups milk
½ cup water
2 tbsp butter, melted

Sunday 26 August 2012

Garden Waffles at the Grandma's!




This weekend I’m staying at my grandmother’s house. Consequently, I’m using a foreign waffle iron, and cooking for a woman who has had more years and experience in the kitchen, then decades I could count on one hand. My grandmother is perfectly plentiful in skills: she’ll mend sock holes the size of softballs; she’ll iron the creases out of forever-folded frocks; and she’s capable of whitening your wickedly worn wear.

She is also abundant in character — unlike any other. (Unless you are a McInnes, you would not understand that that was even an understatement). I’ll save the novel for my memoirs.

My grandmother's beautiful garden
I will say, however, that she is my most devoted supporter — for any personal endeavor I so chose to pursue. Be it the pedicure and massage business I formed when I was 12, my knitting and jewelry company I created when I was 15, or the blog I dreamt up two weeks ago. Any project I begin brainstorming, she is already investing in the paraphernalia and wearing the T-shirt.

Naturally, if I was hunting for recipes, she would have me smothered in cookbooks. If I was scavenging for followers, she would pick up the phone and her address book, start with the Ay's and wouldn’t budge until she finished calling the Zed's.

Too many ripe tomatoes!
The following anecdote confirms these hypotheticals. Yesterday on the way to, and at the grocery store, my grandmother told one friend, enlightened one acquaintance, and boasted to two checkout clerks, “this is my granddaughter and she makes waffles for her blog!”.

Choosing a recipe was the hardest part. Despite my long (and getting longer) list of ideas, nothing seemed perfect. My only criteria, were taking advantage of the brimming garden, and pleasing my grandmother with both taste and esthetics.

I gathered tomatoes (plum, roma, and cherry), spinach, Swiss chard, and basil — still undecided on their fate. After a few tosses and turns, I decided the greens would go in the waffles, and the tomatoes on top. The idea of bruschetta on a three greens waffle, was only a natural conclusion.  







Bruschetta on a Three Greens Waffle

These waffles require several steps. First, make the waffles. Then, bake the waffles until they are crispy. Then, top them with bruschetta and bake again until the cheese is melted.

Three Greens Waffle
Waffle mixture and bruschetta
1 ½ cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1 cup mixed greens, ground (spinach, basil, Swiss chard)

1 ¼ cups milk
2 eggs
3 tbsp butter, melted

Combine first four ingredients in a mixing bowl. Blend spinach, basil and Swiss chard in the food processor until desired consistency. Combine with dry.

Beat eggs and milk until frothy. Pour wet over dry and combine. Stir in melted butter. 

Bake waffles in a 350 degree oven until crispy (apx. 15 minutes).
Waffles after they were baked (the first time).

Bruschetta
mixed tomatoes (cherry, yellow, red, whatever)
Ground up fresh greens and bruschetta
2 cloves garlic
salt, pepper
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
handful basil, coarsely chopped

For assembly: feta cheese, mozzarella cheese

Dice tomatoes. Mince garlic. Combine tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, balsamic, olive oil in a small bowl. Let stand 30 minutes or more.

Assembly 
Spread each waffle with a bit of mozzarella. I cut each waffle into 4 segments. Then top each waffle with bruschetta. Sprinkle feta cheese on top. Bake in 350 degrees until mozzarella is melted. Broil a couple minutes to slightly brown the feta cheese.




These would make great amuse-bouches. Not to mention the leftovers make a deliciously sweet and savoury breakfast the following morning! Toast the leftover waffles, drizzle with maple syrup, and serve with fresh fruit. 



Friday 24 August 2012

Happy National Waffle Day!


In less than a week’s time, I’ve made 2 waffle recipes, I’ve taken up 30 square inches in the freezer saving the leftovers, and I’ve wasted more time than I can afford to calculate updating my blog. What these play-by-play statistics mean, is I need a heck of an excuse to justify making more waffles. Luckily for me, I’ve got two!

The first excuse, comes in the form of a good friend of mine, who shares my passion for delicious cooking. Yesterday, she was coming over for lunch. Knowing full well she had been an avid supporter of my blog, I deemed it unfair to have her leave waffle-satisfied-less. 

Tamar, enjoying her waffles!
The second excuse, is one all American waffle eaters can understand. Today is National Waffle day. (Do not confuse International Waffle day on March 25th). National Waffle day is the anniversary for the first waffle iron patent in North America. Of course the history of waffles in America, and not to mention internationally, dates farther back. I’ll save the history lesson for another day. Nevertheless, some bloke designated August 24th as National Waffle day, and, fortunately for me, gave me an excuse to make waffles two days in a row! 

Call them pizza waffles, or call them focaccia waffles — regardless, yesterday's recipe was a crowd pleaser. Even if the crowd was only one friend.   

Focaccia Waffles with Caramelized Onions, Walnuts, Parmesan, and Havarti

1 cup flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 ½ tsp baking powder
pinch salt
cracked peppercorn
rosemary
thyme
basil
oregano
1 ½ cups milk
2 eggs
2 tbsp Olive oil

1 Red Onion
salt
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp balsamic

walnuts, coarsely chopped
Havarti, parmesan, grated
Pesto or olive oil or pizza sauce

In a bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, blend milk and eggs. Pour wet over dry and combine. Fold in olive oil. Make waffles on grid.

Caramelize onions.

Preheat oven to 400. Take a waffle, brush with pesto (or olive oil, or pizza sauce). Generously spread caramelized onions. Sprinkle cheese, then walnuts. Bake until cheese is melted (apx 10 minutes).