Banana Nut Waffles

I love, love, love my new waffle maker. The Presto FlipSide Belgian Waffle Maker. It was less than $40 and it's really turned out to be a great little machine. If you are making regular waffles, it cleans up pretty easily. 

The only time I've had trouble cleaning it, was when I got the hair brained idea to make Garlic Parmesan Waffles. (Basically take a can of croissant dough. Slather on some room temp butter, sprinkle in parm, garlic and Italian seasoning. Fold up and cut into pieces that fit in waffle maker. The  I don't know if I'll ever make those again... IT WAS A ROYAL PAIN TO CLEAN UP!)


If you are after a plain easy, from scratch waffle recipe, I would recommend the Waffle I recipe on Allrecipes.com for American waffles. Or, if it's a European style (like you would get in France or Belgium) the Belgian waffle recipe. I think it's my favorite so far! It is worth the extra waiting time.


Today, I had some very ripe bananas sitting on the counter, so I made banana nut waffles.

Banana Nut Waffles

You will need: 
2 c. all-purpose flour (or 1 1/2 c. APF + 1/2 c. whole wheat flour)
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt (or 1/4 tsp. fine table salt)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
3 ripe banana, crushed
1 c. milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 c. canola oil or melted butter
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tsp. banana flavoring (optional)
2 tbsp. dark rum or banana liqueur (optional)
1/2 c. chopped nuts (I used almonds... use what you like, or leave it out)

Whisk together dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and pour in wet ingredients. Stir together just until incorporated. You can stir the nuts in now, but I prefer to add to the waffle maker. This way if you have a family member who doesn't like nuts, they can have a nut free one! Let batter sit for 10 min.


Scoop an appropriate amount into your waffle maker. Mine held a heaping 1/2 cup. Sprinkle on the nuts if you didn't mix them in.

Close waffle maker and wait about 3-4 min. or until all the steam has dissipated. Yield: 5 large waffles

WORDLE

Flourless Chocolate Cookies

These look yummy, but we will file under Pinterest fail. Not because I couldn't make them. I did. They just weren't as yummy as they were promised. Easy to make, but all I could taste was powdered sugar. They were not much better on day two. Will I throw them out? No, but neither will I make them again. 

3 c. powdered sugar

3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. salt

4 large egg whites

1 T. pure vanilla extract

1/2 c. semisweet mini chocolate chips

The directions state to whisk together dry ingredients. Then to whisk in the vanilla and egg whites. Then add in the chocolate chips. Super easy. Except. you can't just whisk this up. You need to get out the wooden spoon to stir it up completely... oh and a rubber spat because this batter is like glue. 

Drop by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until crackly on top. 

On another note, looking at the picture of their final product and mine. I think they left out a step. Perhaps they whipped the whites to stiff peaks and then folded in the dry ingredients.  Hey, I guess either way this is a "68 calorie" cookie. 

...OK, maybe I will attempt these again and add that step just to see if I like the results better. On the other hand, that sounds like meringues which I adore. 

Original recipe from ihearteating

Caramelized Onion Dip

2 small onions, diced

2 tbsp. olive oil 

2 tsp. kosher salt

350 g. (about 1 1/2 c.) sour cream

125 g. (about 1/2 c.)  mayonnaise

1/4 tsp. white pepper

1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/4-1/2 tsp. garlic powder

dash of Cajun seasoning 

dash of Mrs. Dash

1 tbsp. parsley

Caramelize onions with olive oil and salt over medium heat. Stir occasionally. This will take 20 to 30 min. Allow to cool. 

Then, stir all ingredients together. Store in refrigerator. This dip is best the next day. I found it still a bit heavy on the mayo still. I may use even less next time. 

Great dip for veggies, chips, crackers, etc. 

Inspired by Alton Brown's Onion Dip from Scratch.

Fraisier

I made a French strawberry cake for my husband's birthday. 

I made a genoise. 

Then, made a batch of pastry cream.

2 cups milk
3/4 c. sugar
pinch of salt
4 large egg yolks
5 tbsp. cornstarch
1 vanilla bean (or 1 tbsp. vanilla extract)
2 tbsp butter
3 sheets of gelatin (bloomed in cold water)

Place milk in sauce pan. Slice vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds out with a knife. Place bean and seeds in the milk. Bring milk to a boil on high heat. Meanwhile, Whisk together sugar, salt and cornstarch. Whisk in egg yolks. 
When milk comes to a boil, slowly whisk into sugar/egg mixture to temper eggs. Then, add back to pan. Cook on high heat stirring constantly for one minute or until it thickens.
Next, strain pastry cream through a fine sieve to catch any egg bits, vanilla bean, and lumps. 
Drain the water from the gelatin and add into pastry cream while it is still hot. Stir in to melt. Add in the butter. If you are using vanilla extract you can add it in at this point. Allow to cool completely in fridge. 

When pastry cream is completely cool. Whip up 1 c. of heavy whipping cream. Add in almond extract to taste and 1 tbsp. Grand Marnier. Gently fold whipped cream into pastry cream. 

Layer genoise, brush with syrup of choice. Layer with strawberries and the cream. Top with jam, marzipan, or both! I used the ring from my spring form pan to build the cake on a plate, and it worked out great.

Sorry no pictures! They ate all the evidence before I found my camera! Too bad because it was prettier than the last one. Here's the picture of last year's cake. 

Haley's Cashew Chicken

My friend Haley made this recipe for us one night. It was fabulous. The peanut sauce is a bit spicy.

Cashew Chicken
Serves 4 to 6

You will need: 
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
8 scallions, chopped (white and green separated)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons peanut sauce
3/4 cup unsalted, roasted cashews, roughly chopped
1 large zucchini, sliced into half-moon pieces.

Directions
In a large zip top bag, toss the chicken with the cornstarch, salt and pepper until the chicken is coated.

In a large nonstick pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken, tossing often, until browned and cooked, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, white ends of the scallions, and zucchini and cook for 3 minutes. Add the vinegar to the pan, toss for 1 minute. Add the peanut sauce and a few tablespoons of water; cook, tossing, until the chicken is cooked through, about 1 minute.
Remove from heat and top with scallion (green part only) and cashews. 
Season to taste with more salt and pepper. Serve over rice.

Coconut limeade

I believe I have found my summer drink. Yes, I know summer isn't here yet, but I long for it. I can't believe we are still running a heater in March.

I stumbled upon two interesting recipes on Allrecipes.com for Brazilian limeade. One involved cream of coconut, so I had to try it! 

It was really easy and so refreshing! The other recipe involved sweetened condensed milk, and I can't wait to try that one some day... when I run out of cream of coconut! ;) 

For 3 servings, you will need:

2 limes

3 tbsp. cream of coconut

2 cups of water

1 cup of crushed ice

1/2 c. white sugar

First, slice of the ends of your limes and discard. Then slice the limes up thinly.

I heated 1 cup of the water to dissolve the sugar in. Then when it cooled a bit, I placed it in the blender with the rest of the water, the ice and the lime slices, and the cream of coconut. Give that baby a few whirls. Then, strain into a pitcher. Discard all the pulp (it's bitter, you don't want it!). Fill a glass with ice and pour in your new yummy limeade. :) 

Original recipes here:

Easy Brazilian Lemonade with sweetened condensed milk

or

Quick Brazilian Lemonade with cream of coconut