Waffle Cookies

Surfing through tons of recipes as I sometimes do, I came across an unusual cookie I hadn't seen before. Naturally, I just had to make them.

It's a lighter dough that you bake in a waffle iron! They came out very well, and were a hit at work.

On the one hand you can only bake 4 at a time, but they bake very quickly, just like a waffle does. Check them out.

Adapted from Culinary in the Desert. 

Ingredients and Method:

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 sticks butter, softened
4  eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Glaze:

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 tablespoons milk


In a bowl, melt butter and chocolate together in the microwave in 30 second bursts until both are melted. (The butter will melt first) Stir and check chocolate after each burst.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the melted butter and chocolate with the sugar until well blended. Add the eggs, salt, vanilla, cinnamon and cocoa powder and mix thoroughly. Add the flour and mix well.

Preheat a waffle iron. Lightly spray with cooking spray. I found that I didn't have to have to add any more oil to the iron.

If your waffle iron has a pattern of 4 waffles place a large tablespoon of batter in the middle of each square. My iron has a pattern of 2 waffles so I placed a tablespoon at the top  and bottom of one square and repeated with the other.

Close cover and cook for approximately 1 1/2 - 2 minutes until they are done. Remove to wire rack and let cool completely.



When they have cooled, mix together the cocoa powder, confectioner's sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan and stir and cook over low heat until melted and blended. Pour glaze onto a plate, and dip each of the waffle cookies gently into the glaze, just trying to cover on the very tops.   Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, serve and enjoy. These are delicious with cold milk, of course. Duh!

Curried Lentil Soup

Here's a soup I think you'll enjoy.What kicked this off is some Curried Butternut Squash soup I had for lunch from a bakery close by my work.  It was so good and I'm not normally a curry person, but I am now. Especially after making this Curried Lentil Soup. The taste of the soup is intriguing. At first it's just the delicious flavor of the lentils, broth and spice blend, which then gives way to the curry flavor and finishes with a touch of heat from the cayenne. Give it a try, it's delicious. Adapted from Epicurious.

3 cups lentils, soaked in water overnight, and rinsed
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, washed, trimmed, and chopped
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes with puree
3 chicken bouillon cubes mixed with one cup water
5 cups water
a pinch of cayenne pepper (or two)
1 tablespoon salt (more to season to taste when soup is done)
2 teaspoons pepper (more to season to taste when soup is done)

I made this in a Pressure Cooker, but if you want to make it conventionally on a stovetop, follow the instructions, and just cook over medium heat for 45 minutes until lentils are soft.



Pour olive oil into cooker over medium heat. Saute onions, carrots, and celery for approximately 10 minutes until onions soften. Add garlic and ginger and saute for 3 minutes. Add curry powder, stir, and add bouillon liquid, and 5 additional cups of water and tomatoes. Stir in lentils and salt and pepper.

Turn heat to high, cover, lock and add thermostat. Bring up to pressure. When cooker begins to steam constantly, turn heat down to medium, and cook at pressure for an additional 8 minutes.

Remove from heat and let de-pressurize normally. When cooled down, uncover, add pinch of cayenne, stir, and taste. Add salt, pepper, in small increments, stir and taste again until it tastes how you want it.

Serve in bowls with a touch of sour cream and parsley for garnish.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Every once in a while, ya just get a hankering for something, ya know? Last weekend, I just HAD to have some Cinnamon Bread, homemade of course. So I made some. I usually don't follow recipes when making bread because I know how to adjust ingredients to affect the outcome of what I want. But in my reading recipes anyway, I came across one that sounded different and good. And trust me, it WAS. Just ask Amanda at work who really enjoyed it. Further, toasted and a little butter? Nothing else is as good.

Thanks to (of all places) About.com for a great bread recipe.I adapted it to use a "cold rise". A cold rise is when the dough is allowed to rise slowly overnight in a refrigerator and then brought to room temperature before shaping, rising again, and baking. A cold rise or cool rise slows the yeast activity thereby allowing a longer and more flavorful taste to develop.  No only that, the "crumb" on this bread was exquisitely fine.  Do try. It's easy.

Igredients and Method:

2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon shortening
1 cup boiling water
1 cup evaporated milk
1 package active dry yeast (Do not use quick acting yeast)
6 cups (approximately) flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
8 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup milk

In a mixer or bowl, add the sugar and the shortening. Pour the boiling water in and stir until shortening melts. Stir in the evaporated milk to cool down the liquid and let it sit until the liquids are slightly more than lukewarm. Add the yeast, stir, and let sit for 15 minutes. If it is foamy then the yeast is "proofed" and you're good to go.

Add the flour, and the salt and mix in one cup increments until a sticky dough ball is formed.

Scrape dough out onto a lightly floured board. Sprinkle liberally with flour and knead for about 4 minutes, until it is smooth and all flour is incorporated.

Grease a bowl or other container, place dough ball into bowl and turn over so that top has a light covering of the oil.

Cover with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator overnight.

Remove from refrigerator onto a lightly floured board. Punch dough down, and knead several times and let sit for a couple of hours so it can come to room temperature.

Divide dough in half. Roll one half into rectangle about10 x 8 inches. Brush with milk. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle half over the rectangle. Starting with a long side, roll bread up like a jelly roll. Pinch the ends completely shut and place seam side down in a bread pan. (Make sure you seal it or the sugar will melt and run out, as mine did, lol)



Repeat with the second dough ball.

Cover with a towel in a warm place (I use a warm oven with the temperature off) and let rise until doubled.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 35 minutes until golden brown. The bread is done when tapped on the top and it sounds "hollow".

You can glaze the loaves after they cool if you want, but they really don't need it in my opinion. The evaporated milk yields a rich dough and the sugar cinnamon swirl is sufficient.

Serve warm, or for a special treat, toast it and add a touch of butter.

Enjoy!

Pressure Cooker Pot Roast

If you've been reading my blog, you know I'm about Pressure Cooking now. I'm just loving it. It still blows my mind how fast things will cook and yet the taste is still what you are searching for.

Have you ever slow-cooked Spaghetti sauce for instance for hours? You know delicious it is, the flavors so well blended together, the velvety sauce? Ya know? TEN minutes in a slow cooker!

But today, we are tackling an American Sunday Staple. Pot Roast.

For a pot roast we generally use a cheaper cut of meat, which then requires a longer cooking time (hours) in order to break down the meat and have it become tender. It's ok, because we usually add potatoes and carrots and cook them right along with it, so it all comes out tender with a form of gravy already made. Delicious.

In a pressure cooker? 45 minutes! And some of the best gravy I bet you've had. Check it out.

Ingredients and Method:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 3 lb chuck roast

1 large sweet onion, roughly chopped (I like chunks of onions in my gravy)

1 package brown gravy mix

1 package ranch dressing mix

1 package italian dressing mix
1 can beef broth
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 beef bouillon cube
salt and pepper to taste
12 small red potatoes, halved
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 bay leaves

Turn heat under Pressure Cooker to medium and add olive oil. Sprinkle roast on all sides with salt and pepper. Place into cooker and brown all over, about 10 minutes per side.

Add onion, gravy mix, ranch dressing mix and italian mix , beef broth, paprika, worcestershire sauce, garlic, and beef bouillon cube all over the roast in the cooker. The pressure cooker will distribute everything just fine.



Turn heat to high, let liquids come to a boil, and then seal the pressure cooker. Wait until a steady stream of steam is being emitted, and immediately turn to medium low, and begin timing 30 minutes from this point.

After 30 minutes of a steady stream of steam from the cooker, remove from heat and run cold water over the cooker until pressure recedes. Open cooker, and add bay leaves, carrots and potatoes to the liquid surrounding the roast.



Place cooker back on stove and bring to high heat and a boil. Seal cooker with cover, wait until it's emitting a steady stream of steam, turn to medium low and time for 15 more minutes to continue cooking the roast and cooking the carrots and potatoes perfectly.

After 15 minutes, remove from heat, and let cool down naturally. Remove cover.

If the "gravy" is not to your liking or too thin, remove the roast and vegetables, and stir in 2 tablespoons corn starch dissolved in 4 tablespoons water, and stir in over medium heat until gravy thickens....

Let roast rest on a cutting board for 15 minutes, and slice and serve with potatoes, carrots and gravy.

Enjoy!

Cauliflower Swiss Cheese Soup

There's a bakery here in Seattle close by my work called Macrina's Bakery. They offer a wide selection of all types of breads, sandwiches, rolls, pizza and desserts and pastries.

One of the things I discovered though, for lunch is their soup.  Their soups are so, so good. Last week I had a bowl of Cauliflower Swiss Cheese soup that was delicious.

I cobbled together a recipe and made it and it came out surprisingly close to the one I had at Macrina's. Give it a try if you're looking for a hearty, cheesy soup to warm you up.

Coming soon, I hope, is two more soups I tried there. One is Beet and Apple soup and the other is Curried Butternut Squash soup.  Both were just delicious.

This recipe is done in a pressure cooker, my newest toy. But you can prepare in a standard pot. Just adjust the cooking time until the cauliflower is very tender so it and the other ingredients will blend well.

1 sweet onion, chopped
2 peeled and sliced carrots
2 sliced celery stalks
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups chicken broth
1 package frozen cauliflower
1 cup milk
pinch of red pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
2 cups grated Swiss cheese
salt and pepper to taste

In pressure cooker over medium heat, add olive oil and saute onions until they begin to soften and turn translucent. Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes more. Add celery, cauliflower, carrots, chicken broth, thyme, and red pepper.

Turn heat to high, seal pressure cooker, and wait until it comes to 15 p.s.i. (When the steam vents continually) Turn down to medium to low (just so steam gently vents) and time for 12 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool down slowly. Remove cover and using a hand blender, or a regular blender, blend until all vegetables are liquefied.

Return to stove and turn heat to low, and add one cup of milk and swiss cheese. Cook, stirring until milk is incorporated and cheese is fully melted.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with parsley and enjoy.

Sweet Potato Carrot Soup

Allright! It's officially Autumn. I know because I live in Seattle, WA and it's freaking raining on me like 4 times a day.

But, I have to admit, a lot of the time, I don't really mind the rain. I like waking up, and it's still dark, and raining outside, and the sounds lull me back to sleep.

Ever walked through a gentle rain? Like mist? It's refreshing.

And the cool snap in the air? I like it.

Know the other thing I like this time of year. SOUP! Hearty, tasty soups.

I've posted Crockpot Yankee Beef Stew, Crockpot Split Pea Soup, Black Bean Pumpkin Soup, etc. and I personally believe they are all post-worthy.

But this soup I made today, adapted from the ubiquitous All Recipes, is the best ever!

And here's why, Pressure Cooker. Yup, made this soup in FIFTEEN minutes! Let it cool, dollop of sour cream, and it was soooo good. And the beauty of the pressure cooker, (as I'm learning to use one, see my earlier posts) is that it cooks with steam instead of heated ambient air, or convection heat so it not only cooks faster, but retains nutrients, and flavors and spices, and blends just like it was cooked for hours. I'm amazed.

Do you like thick, nutty, naturally sweet soups, with a tang, and a slightly unidentifiable delicious taste to it, and a bit of a bite? The kind you remember having eaten?

Then make this soup. I'm not joking. It's that good. And if you don't believe me, read the ingredients.... Yeah, kind of intriguing..... Allright, I'll stop, here ya go....

Ingredients and Method:

2 tablespoons butter
1 large sweet onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon cardamom (rounded)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric (rounded)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (rounded)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (rounded)
1 cinnamon stick
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 14 oz can chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled, and chopped into chunks
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1 inch chunks
salt and pepper
sour cream for garnish and finish
parsley for garnish


Melt butter over medium heat in pressure cooker and saute onions until they soften. Add all
the spices and saute with onions until they warm and release their fragrance. Add broth, water, sweet potatoes and carrots.

Add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper.

Turn heat up to medium high and bring to a boil, cover and seal pressure cooker and wait for cooker to come up to pressure. (i.e. steady venting of steam from valve)

Turn down to medium low and begin timing for 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and let it cool until pressure is totally reduced.

Process in batches in food processor or hand blender.

Taste and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with spoonful of sour cream and parsley for garnish.

If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can use a slow cooker. Saute onions and spices in a pan as directed above. Add to slow cooker with balance of ingredients. Cook on low for 6 - 7 hours until vegetables are very tender. The rest of the instructions remain the same.

Enjoy.

Popcorn Ice Cream

I know. Dull picture. There are some things you just can't photograph well. And this is one of them. Popcorn Ice Cream. Who EVER heard of Popcorn Ice Cream. I certainly hadn't. But here's what happened.

The internet food group/ad group I belong to is Food Buzz. They had a "Community Dinner" affair in my town of Seattle and invited me to go. It was wonderful. Gourmet dinner at Spring Hill restaurant. Turns out, the restaurant was SIX blocks from my house. Who knew? I've driven by it a hundred times probably. Anyway,

I met food bloggers from area, drank wine with every course, had some wonderful great inspirational food, and then came dessert.

The dessert was a layered peanut butter and chocolate brownie, but coupled with a scoop of, you got it, Popcorn Ice Cream!

I was skeptical, just as YOU are right now reading this, but listen, it was INCREDIBLY GOOD! It was creamy ice cream, but with an explosion of salty and buttery popcorn in every bite!

I was blown away.

So, I searched the internet, found a recipe, (at Hungry Like The Duck) made it at home this weekend, and it was just as good if not better. You have to try this. No, I'm NOT joking, try THIS!

Oh, and for those of you who say, well I don't have an ice cream machine, it doesn't matter. I don't either. I just froze it fully in dishes and it was fine. The ice cream machine gives it a lighter texture and "airyness" but, just let it sit for ten minutes before you eat it, let it soften, and it's great. Besides, why pay $40.00 for a machine you'll use twice a year for a couple of years, and then move, and it never get's unpacked?? LOL

Here's my thought, whip up some homemade Popcorn Ice Cream in the morning, let it freeze all day, then rent the kids and/or family a movie, and serve this..... and blow THEM away too.

Oh, and best of all, it's soooooo easy! Here's all you do....

2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 quarts salted, buttered, popped popcorn
1/2 teaspoon salt
Sea salt for sprinkling

Beat eggs and sugar together until well combined. Pour into large kettle. Add milk, cream and salt. Turn heat to low.

Meanwhile pop one bag of microwave buttered popcorn. Open bag, pour entire contents into ice cream mixture, and stir to combine.

Turn heat to high, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. As soon as it reaches a boil, turn off heat, and let the popcorn steep in the ice cream mixture for one hour.

Strain popcorn and ice cream mixture through cheesecloth into a bowl. Enclose the top of the cheesecloth with your hands and squeeze thoroughly to capture as much ice cream mixture as you can.

If you have an ice cream machine, follow the instructions for that. If you don't have an ice cream maker, just pour into appropriate sized dishes, sprinkle with a fair coating of sea salt and freeze thoroughly.

Remove from refrigerator, let defrost for 15 minutes and serve. Try to fight the urge to rent a movie.

Enjoy!