Belgian Waffles - SAMM

Before I get to this yummy recipe you have to read through two stories.

I have this cool cast iron Belgian Waffle iron that my Mom gave me, I traded it to her for my electric iron (Belgian waffles have much deeper holes).  You set it on the stove, when one side is cooked you flip it over and cook the other. (Please don't judge the sorry state of my filthy stove)

I like the waffle iron so occasionally I make waffles but every time I've been disappointed and wondered if I should have kept my crappy electric one.  My waffles have come out dense and really not good.  It was probably the recipe but when I thought of making waffles I'd end up making pancakes instead.

Story two... I went to London once and it was awesome.  I shopped and saw Broadway shows and ate some really delicious food and while I was there it was the coldest winter in 10 years (or something like that).  One of my favorite memories is of walking down a cold street on our way to shop and finding a Belgian waffle vendor.  I bought a waffle and it was so warm and crisp and sweet and awesome that it's stuck with me 6 years later.

I've always had it in the back of my mind that I should make real Belgian waffles (they have yeast in them and have to rise) but I finally got around to it and now I'm kicking myself for not trying it sooner.  True, they have yeast so you have to let them rise for at least an hour but they bake up sweet, crisp and taste slightly like scones, they are delicious.  I've made them a couple times and we eat them for dinner since I'm not prepared enough to make them for breakfast, you could make the batter the night before though.

While we were eating these I asked Brad why he would want these instead of regular waffles and while he couldn't put his finger on it he was adamant that these were better.  They have a slight sourness that comes from the yeast that makes them feel a lot more substantial and delicious.

Belgian Waffles
3 cups warm milk
1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 cups all-purpose flour

Whisk together yeast and milk and let stand until the yeast is dissolved, about 5 minutes, then stir until smooth.  Whisk in butter, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and salt.

Add flour in 3 additions, beating with a large spoon until smooth after each addition (I used my Kitchen aid).

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  Stir to deflate batter.  Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and stir into batter.

Scoop onto waffle iron and cook until golden on each side.

Here's what your batter looks like when it's all ready (or in my case half gone)

And dropped onto my iron.  Belgian waffles are so big that I never fill up the entire iron, it means we don't end up with perfectly square waffles but I don't care.

And here's a waffle, cooked and ready to be eaten

Now it's bathed in syrup.

Ideally I think you'd eat this with whipped cream and strawberries but I have a crazy husband, it doesn't matter how many topping options you give him he'd still choose just plain syrup.  It never seems worth the effort to whip the cream for just me.

My Dad tried these in their regular waffle iron so even if you don't have a deeper holed Belgian iron you can still enjoy these


Linking to Share a Meal Monday

Cocount Curry Chicken - SAMM

This is a recipe that never fails to be completely delicious.  We made it this last week and had forgotten just how much we love it.

Coconut Curry Chicken
2 chicken breasts, chopped
1 heaping tbsp of Matsaman curry paste (red curry paste)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic
3 Carrots, peeled, quartered and chopped in 1 inch pieces
1 Green Pepper, chopped
1 can Coconut Milk
1/2 can pineapple chunks
Cashews

Add curry paste and olive oil to saucepan, cook over medium heat until slightly browned.  Add chicken and toss to coat.  Sauté over medium heat for 2 minutes (not too long or by the time your carrots are cooked your chicken is over cooked).  Add onion, garlic and carrots.  Cook until onion is translucent.

Pour Coconut Milk over mixture, cover and simmer until carrots are cooked and mixture is slightly thickened.  Add Green Pepper, pineapple and Cashews and cook 15 minutes longer.
Serve with Basmati Rice or if you want it to be even better serve it with coconut rice.

Coconut Rice
2 cups basmati rice, washed and rinsed
1 - 14 oz can (398 ml) coconut milk
2 1/4 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cinnamon stick

In a large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, mix rice with remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.  Cook, covered for 25 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.  Remove cinnamon stick.  Serves 8

Cajun Chicken Pasta - SAMM

I know I'm supposed to announce my giveaway winner today but I've been recovering from our very full weekend so that will have to wait until tomorrow.  I didn't participate in SAMM last week though so I wanted to make sure I linked up a recipe.

Brad made this meal for me on our first Valentine's Day together and it was so delicious it's stuck around.  We've made it for family and after tasting it they've all added it to their favorite meals as well.  It's also one of those recipes that I read and I'm uninspired thinking it's going to be an average meal but it surprised every time that it's so delicious, I always think it's something you would eat at the Olive Garden.  It's yummy with some good bread too.

Cajun Chicken Pasta
4 oz linguine pasta (I use spaghettini)
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
2 tbsp butter
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
4 fresh mushrooms, sliced (I always skip them because I hate mushrooms)
1 green onion, chopped (I usually skip these too because I don't have them and I don't notice a difference)
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp lemon pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the good stuff, not that horrible Kraft stuff)

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. Place the chicken and the Cajun seasoning in a plastic bag and shake to coat  (I never do the bag thing, I season one side and then place my chicken in the pan season side down, and season the other side.  Just be generous with the Cajun seasoning and it'll be yummy).  In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté
the chicken in butter or margarine until almost tender (5 to 7 minutes).  Add the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms and green onion. Sauté and stir for 2 to 3 minutes.  Reduce heat.

Add the cream, basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder (put real garlic in with the green peppers and skip the powder) and ground black pepper.  Heat through.  Add the cooked linguine, toss and heat through. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

Linking to Share a Meal Monday

Spirit of Christmas Popcorn - SAMM

Brad and I have a thing for popcorn, you might call it an addiction really.  We love it and eat it almost nightly.  We use a Stir Crazy oil popper and butter/salt flavouring to get popcorn that is just about better than theater popcorn.  We don't usually make any sort of candy popcorn because we love buttered so much but for this recipe I made an exception.  It's gingerbread flavoured popcorn which sounds odd but is just so yummy.  It was the perfect thing to bake today while it's super cold outside.  The popcorn bakes so it's crispy and sweet and delicious.  It's easy so you should make some too, it would make a great gift for neighbors or friends.

Spirit of Christmas Popcorn
16 cups popped popcorn
2 cups packed golden brown sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup fancy molasses (I used cooking molasses because it's what I had, it was delicious)
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Line a large roasting pan with non stick foil.  Place popcorn in prepared pan.  Combine next 7 ingredients (brown sugar through salt) in a heavy Dutch oven.  Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring frequently.  Boil, without stirring, for 5 minutes.  Remove pan from heat and immediately stir in baking soda.  Mixture will foam vigorously.  Immediately pour foaming mixture over popcorn and stir to combine.  Bake at 205"F, stirring every 20 minutes, for 1 hour or until popcorn is glazed and crisp.  Cool in pan on a rack.  Store in an air tright container in a cool dry place for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 6 weeks.

Note: 1/2 cup unpopped popcorn = 10 cups popped popcorn

I realize this isn't a Meal, nor is it Monday but I'm going to link this to Share a Meal Monday anyway.

Taco Salad - SAMM

I realize you probably read that title and thought that there's no way you need a recipe for taco salad but just keep reading.

For the past month or so I've committed myself to making one new recipe a week.  My menu had become really stale and I was just repeating the same recipe's over and over, even if they're yummy ones excessive repeats just diminish they're deliciousness.  I find recipes online sometimes but mostly I've been pulling out cookbooks I haven't used in ages and flipped through them once again choosing recipes that perhaps I skipped over the first time.  This new recipe experiment has been mostly unsuccessful so far, just about every new recipe I've tried has been average or below average until today, I finally found one that will make it's way into permanent rotation.

This recipe comes from a little Pillsbury book I got who knows when, it's called Casseroles & Slow Cooker Meals.  I was looking for a Sunday meal and lately I've been enjoying the slow cooker, especially on Sunday it's nice to come home to a cooked dinner.  I saw the taco salad recipe and thought it would be perfect because I love taco salad and since I did all the prep in the morning it would feel even easier than it already was.  This recipe is awesome and may become our new go-to taco meat.

Here's a picture of the meat all cooked.  I know it doesn't look great because it's a pot of meat but trust when I say it's so good.  I hadn't ever put beans in my tacos before but I love the extra texture and substance they add.

Make-Your-Own Taco Salad
1 lb ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 can (16 oz) tomato puree (does this mean crushed tomatoes?  That's what I used)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (16 oz) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/8 tsp pepper

So you put it all in the slow cooker breaking up your meat before you add all your other ingredients and give it a good mix.  Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.

Once it's done you plate with whatever you'd normally have on taco salad.  We had lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, salsa, sour cream, avocado and corn chips.


Linking to Share a Meal Monday

Pulled Pork Tacos - SAMM

I know there has been a serious lack of posts lately but like I mentioned I really had run out of projects.  It's not that I've been doing all this stuff and not linking it, I haven't been crafting at all except for one easy Christmas present that I can't link or I ruin the surprise.  I do have some fun things coming though.  If KD ever gets me her car seat I really will re-cover it, I'm gearing up to work on my first High Chair re-cover and I've decided to sew along with Jill and make this awesome advent calendar.  We had one growing up that was similar and we loved it, would fight over who got to put the numbers up, hopefully Catie enjoys it too (maybe next year though, she's pretty little).

Today is Monday so time to link up to Michelle's SAMM (Share a Meal Monday)
I'm linking a staple recipe in our house that is seriously yummy and easy, easy.

Pulled Pork Tacos

This is a slow cooker recipe so into the bottom you toss the following ingredients.  An onion, chopped, 2 Anaheim peppers, chopped (the recipe calls for Pablano but I can never find them so we use Anaheim instead, don't worry they're not spicy). 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 Tbsp lime juice, 3 garlic cloves, smashed and 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro.  I don't measure any of those ingredients though, this is almost no fail so I just eyeball everything.

Once that's done (or in my house, I do that while Brad does the rub) you're going to mix up the spice rub for the pork.  I won't list all the spices here because they're below but one note, it calls for Emeril's Essence spice mix.  I don't know about you but I don't have that handy so I Googled it and found a recipe, I included that below as well.  The first time I made this rub I just looked at the ingredients for the Essence, crossed off the ones I'd already mixed together and threw a little of those new ones in.  Now that we make this so often I actually mixed up a big batch of Essence and just use the 4 tsp like the recipe calls for.  Both ways were delicious though.

Once your rub is all together you just do what the name suggests, rub it all over the pork.  Cover all the sides well (before you rub you can trim some fat if there is lots, mine was pretty good so I didn't bother).  You could also choose to sear the pork once it's rubbed, I've done it before and honestly didn't notice a difference in flavour but you might and I'm sure it's what professionals would recommend.  Put your roast on top of your chopped stuff and cook for 4-6 hours on high.  I usually do all of that the night before so the rub can soak in really well.  Then the morning of you can just remove from the fridge and turn the slow cooker on. .

Here's what it looks like all ready to cook.

So I had great intentions to take pictures all the way though and show what the roast looks like after it's cooked but before removed from the crock pot but I forgot.

This roast was a big one and only took 5 hours to cook, you know it's done because it will flake apart really easily with two forks.  I also like to check on it halfway through and rotate the pork so all that yummy rub mixes with the juices.

So once it's done your remove the pork and shred it with two forks then toss it back in the slow cooker with all the juices and you're ready to serve.

(this picture doesn't do them justice, it's so yummy.  I just ate them for dinner and this post has made me want more)

Take flour tortillas and top them with your pork mix and everything you would normally put on a taco.  A warning, these can be pretty messy.  We served them to company we don't know that well so I removed most of the juices and just made the mix moist but it wasn't nearly as good, I put all the juices back in our leftovers.

This recipe makes a lot.  We ate it with another couple and then ate it for lunch the next day, lunch and dinner the day after that and put the remaining in the freezer because there was still tons left.  We also felt like our tortillas were starting to dry out and we were out of lettuce so on the last day of leftovers we made it into quesadillas instead and it was AWESOME.

It's fun because it's a new variation on tacos that's just as easy.


Pulled Pork Tacos

4-6 pound Prok Butt or Shoulder (I usually grab the biggest one they have)
2 Poblano Peppers, roughly chopped
1 large Onion, yellow, roughly chopped
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoon Lime Juice
3 cloves Garlic, smashed
1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped
4 teaspoon Salt,
2 teaspoon Pepper, black, divided
4 teaspoon Cumin, divided
4 teaspoon Emeril's Essence or similar spice mix, divided

Emeril's Essence
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme

To the slow cooker add onion, garlic, poblano peppers, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice, and cilantro. Season each side of the pork with half the seasonings and place in slow cooker, fat side up. Cover and slow cook on high for 4 to 6 hours until tender. Before serving, remove as much fat as possible from the pork then shred with two forks.

Warm flour tortillas in microwave and top with pork, lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream, avocado and salsa.  You can also squeeze some extra lime on top and some chopped cilantro.  Wrap and serve.


Linking to Share a Meal Monday

Sharp Rotini Mac & Cheese - SAMM

I know, I'm a day late for SAMM (Share a Meal Monday) but yesterday I could not get motivated to do anything.  I didn't want to go without sharing one of our favorite meals though.

My Mom loves Macaroni and cheese, not Kraft Dinner but good, homemade cheesy mac and cheese.  It's probably because of her love that I've known how to make a really good cheese sauce for as long as I can remember.  I've made a bunch of different variations on the classic but this one easily stands out as our favorite.

I haven't actually made it in a while so there won't be any pictures but it's super yummy and you should give it a try.

Sharp Rotini Mac & Cheese

2 cups rotini pasta
3 tomatoes, diced
4 strips of bacon, fried and crumbled
2 green onions, finely sliced on an angle (they're prettier on an angle)

Sauce:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp of dried mustard
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 cups extra aged cheddar cheese, grated (it's a white cheese)

Cook your pasta according to the directions, while it's cooking make your sauce.

Heat a pot over medium-high heat. Melt butter and add flour and whisk well. Season with salt, pepper and mustard and let cook a minute. Whisk in milk and broth and bring to a boil (you could use all milk but the broth makes it a little lighter and less fatty).   Lower heat and add cheese, stirring to melt.

When your pasta is done drain and I like to add my green onions immediately to the hot pasta so it has some time to wilt. Stir in your tomatoes, bacon and add your cheese sauce.  I like to save the bacon until the last minute so it stays yummy and crispy.  Once everything is mixed go ahead and enjoy.

You could also pour it into a casserole dish, top with breadcrumbs mixed with melted butter and bake until they're nice and golden (about 20 minutes) but I can never wait to eat and so we always skip this step.

This picture doesn't show the bacon, tomatoes or onions but other than that it's pretty close to the end result.

Linking to Share a Meal Monday

Parmesan Pesto Pizza - SAMM

Time for another round of SAMM (Share a Meal Monday).  You should go link up to Michelle's blog, it's fun and you might find a recipe or two you like.


This week we made one of our favorite meals and probably the best dish I've ever created on my own.

Doesn't it look yummy?  I was too excited to eat it so I forgot to take a picture before I cut it... oops.




Here's what you do.


Make up your favorite pizza dough recipe.  I'll give you mine at the end of the post even though I don't think it's that great.  It turns out pretty good but it's not very good leftover, it gets kind of tough.  I'm sure there's a better one out there and if you have one you should give it to me.


One your dough has risen and is ready to go roll it out to fit your pan.  I use a pizza stone and you should too, they make such a good crust.  There was a time when Brad and I discovered BBQ pizza and we thought it was the best thing ever.  Then one day we were out of propane so we decided to use the stone we got as a wedding gift, turns out the stone was much better and way less work.  They're really cheap so you should get one.


So roll out your dough and then spread on top some pesto.  You could make your own and I'm sure it would tase even better but that adds a lot of cost and time and dishes and the point of pizza is easy and yummy so I use a prepared pesto.


This one to be exact.

Once your pesto is spread, top with some tomatoes.  I use vine ripened because I think they're yummier than hot house and I think they look prettier when they're sliced and layed on top but they're a lot easier to eat and you don't need as many if you dice them.  Top your tomatoes with a generous amount of crumbled feta.  I don't crumble it very finely because I think the big chunks.


The next and last ingredient is the most important, the Parmesan cheese.  If you use that horrible bottle of kraft powdered cheese you will completely ruin this pizza, you may as well just not bother making it.  And that pre-shredded stuff isn't much better, it really is worth it to spend the extra money on good, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  It makes a huge difference and you will not regret it, despite the price tag (usually you find it in the deli section with the specialty cheeses).  There aren't many ingredients on this pizza so it's important that they're all really good ones.


Once your pizza is dressed it looks like this (You should try to spread your ingredients further to the edge than I did on this pizza.  You can see there's a ring of pesto with nothing on it near the crust and I was disappointed while I was eating that there wasn't any good stuff there).

Now technically when you use a pizza stone you're supposed to pre-heat the stone.  I've done it once and didn't notice any difference except that it's a pain to deal with a hot stone so I don't bother.  I put the pizza in a hot oven, 375 ish and bake until it looks good, maybe 15 minutes to 30 minutes?  Sorry, I don't ever time it, you want the crust to look slightly brown and the feta should look yummy and browned in places too.

This is an easy meal that we love, maybe it will become one of your favorites too!


Pizza Dough

1 1/4 cups water 
3 cups bread flour (I always use all purpose)
2 tsp active dry yeast 
1 1/2 tbsp white sugar 
1 tsp salt 
1 tsp powdered milk (I used milk once and I didn’t like the texture difference)


Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine, in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select Dough cycle. After cycle is completed, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface. 


My bread machine died so instead I put all the ingredients in my Kitchen Aid and knead using the dough hook until it looks done.  Then I spray my bowl with olive oil and cover with saran for a couple of hours.  Or sometimes I pop it in the fridge and let it rise overnight.

Polynesian Satay (Meat on a Stick) - SAMM

This is a dish that we had with Brad's family as an appetizer and it was a huge hit.  It was so good that Brad and I made it again the next week and ate it for dinner.

Here's what you start with

Combine 3/4 cup Soy Sauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 Tbsp oil, 1 minced garlic and 1/2 tsp ground ginger.  Give it a good whisk and it looks like this.

Then you take your sirlion steak and you're going to slice it nice and thin.  The trick to this is to put it in the freezer for about an hour and a half, you want it to be not frozen solid but a little stiff, it helps you get some awesome thin slices.

Here's what mine looked like when I pulled it out of the freezer.

Then slice it against the grain.  The recipe says 3mm but I think you really want to get it as thin as you can.  I aimed for 3mm and they would have been nice if they were thinner.

Slice until you have this nice pile.

Then toss all your neat slices into your marinate and coat all the pieces.

The recipe says to marinade for at least 30 minutes, I gave it a good 3 hours.  Make sure you give your container a shake and a rotate occasionally so all your meat is coated.

Here's mine post marinade.

This next part is slightly time consuming but until now it's all been a snap.  You thread your meat accordian style onto bamboo skewers that you've soaked in water.

Here's where I parted from the recipe, it says to broil them but why broil when you can bbq?

We gave them about 2 minutes per side and until they were all yummy and the sugar had carmelized.

That's it.  Since this was dinner I served it with cesear salad and carrots and it was delish.  They were even just as good the next day.

Polynesian Satay
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp cooking oil (I used olive)
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 tsp ground ginger
Thick sirloin, cut across grain into 1/8 (3mm) thick slices
Bamboo skewers

In a bowl with a tight fitting cover, mix soy sauce, sugar, oil, garlic and ginger powder. Add beef and allow to marinate for at least 1/2 hour.

Thread meat onto wooden skewers accordion fashion.
Broil on top rack for 2 min per side until medium rare.

Store covered in refrigerator.

To serve, pile on baking sheet. Heat in 400F oven for 5 – 10 minutes until hot.



Linking to Share a Meal Monday

Featured & SAMM

Yay, my Quilled Monogram was featured!




On a completely unrelated note you should check out Michelle's blog, she's started an awesome Linky, Share a Meal Monday.  Like What I Wore Wednesday it's a chance to get out of the ruts we fall into.  I'm linking up my Kebob Salad but you should definitely come back next week, I'll be linking up Polynesian Satay (meat on a stick).  So good and easy!