Belgian Waffles with Blueberry Syrup

     Feeling rather inspired this morning I awoke to the thought of waffles for breakfast. I will admit to a small amount of salivary over-production at this point...lol... BUT not just any old waffle would suffice. I REFUSE to buy waffles from the frozen food section of the grocery store - they taste like cardboard to me. So logically I deduced that I had all the necessary ingredients to make waffles. But again not all waffles are the same. There is a North American twist on this recipe that uses baking soda instead of yeast, but I promise you they aren't as good.

My first task, which I really should have considered before getting too excited was finding out if we have a waffle maker. Alas, she is small and will only make two waffles at a time but she works and is square just like true Belgians (waffles, not the people :) . . .) BUT a square does not a Belgian Waffle make.. NO NO! It's all in the process. True Belgian waffles are started with yeast, mixed with egg yolks, flour, butter, sugar, and whipped egg white folded in at the end. This makes them super soft and moist on the inside and crisp crisp crisp on the outside. So I digress for now, here's the recipe!

Belgian Waffles
-makes about 12-16 waffles depending on the size of your waffle iron.

Gather up:
- 1 package of active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warmed milk ( zapping in the microwave for about 25 seconds will do)
- 3 eggs, separated
- 2 3/4 warmed milk ( yes more milk.. trust me)
- 1 stick butter, melted
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 cups flour
- 1/2 vanilla bean ( or about 2 tsp vanilla extract)
-  1 ounce of love :)

Start by adding the package of yeast to the 1/4 cup of warmed milk. Let it stand for about 10 minutes until it gets nice and frothy.

In a large mixing bowl gently whisk the egg yolks, sugar, salt, melted butter, vanilla, love and 1/4 cup of the remaining milk. Stir in the yeast mixture.

Now stir in the flour and remaining milk, alternating between the two, and finishing off with flour.

In another bowl whisk your egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold the whites into the waffle batter until just incorporated. Don't whisk the egg whites in, they will un-fluff and the waffles won't be as poofy!!

Now for the hard part. Set the mixture aside, covered, in a warm-ish spot and let it rest for about an hour. It will get nice and bubbly.... See the tiny bubbles??!?!?!?

......................................... Intermission............................................

While you're waiting, if your as bored as I am now, you can make the blueberry syrup. It's easy. The recipe is further down.

............................................. Act 2 .................................................

Ok so the hour has elapsed so get the waffle iron heated up and ready to waffle!!!! HAHA I used waffle as a verb! I'm SUCH A DORK!

Depending on the size of you waffle iron, scoop anywhere from a 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of the mixture onto the waffle iron and gently close the lid. You may need a bit of pan spray on the waffle iron before you scoop on the mixture. Cook for about 2-3 minutes or until the waffle iron stops steaming and the waffle is a nice deep golden colour.
You can keep them in a preheated oven, 200 degrees should do, until you are ready to serve.

Blueberry Syrup

Gather up:

1 pint of Blueberries
2 cups of maple syrup
1/2 vanilla bean

Place the ingredients in a small sauce pot and slowly bring to a light simmer. Keep it simmering for about 5 minutes, or until the blueberries start to break down and get really soft.

And VOILA!! Les Gaufres Belgique! LE YUM!

-Leggo My Effin' Waffle Biotch this Ain't no Eggo Crap!-

Killer Kleenex- FOOD ALLERGY ALERT!!

Ok, so as you all know, I'm a total nerd/dork/dweeb/freak with way too much time on my hands.

The story goes as such:

My besty (insert dorky Big Bang Theory reference here) and I were out shopping one day at the drug store and I found a box of Kleenex that claims it 'Stays Cool'. Impossible I thought to myself so I swiped one of the free samples and shoved it in my pocket. I kept this kleenex a secret for a few days because I was a bit apprehensive of the mockery that could ensue upon my claiming Kleenex now has the ability to stay cold. BUT IT DOES!!  Kleenex Cool Touch. So me being me I bought a box at a cost of nearly $4. A few days later I decided to read the ingredients list on the packaging to see if I could determine the active 'cooling' ingredient(s). Most people (unlike myself and my pal) are not as adept at understanding these in-organic chemical ingredients (mind you, why would Kleenex have so many chemicals in it anyway?) but I did notice one very much organic ingredient - Cocos Nucifera, also known as coconut oil.

As it happens, and this is what sparked my interest, I work with a young man who is highly allergic to every nut under the Tuscan sun (except the peanut- go figure) including coconut. We maintain a rule in our little work space that there is at least two epipens on site at all times as we do work with nuts in our little fine-dining establishment.

So my question of the day (and no I did not test this theory nor do I wish to) will this kleenex kill my work counterpart? I am sitting here with the box in front of me and alas it has no written warning on the box that it does indeed contain a nut ingredient that could potentially induce an anaphylaxis reaction. Why?
I know when I roast Hazelnuts at work my co-worker has to leave the building to avoid a near death experience. I am currently on the phone with Kleenex to get my question answered... Awaiting response.

Spin on my Mama's Brisket

Love beef but find it a bit pricey these days? Try a cut of beef that isn't quite as well known as say the Tenderloin or the Striploin... or the default dinner-in-a-pinch lean mean ground beef!

Here's what I learned during my time working in THE best butcher shop in Ottawa, The Manotick Village Butcher.

Brisket is a wonderful dinner option. Brisket is one of the nine primal cuts located on the lower breast or chest area of the cow. It is comprised of the superficial and deep pectoral muscles. Cows do not have collar bones so these front muscles are extremely important in supporting the cows weight while standing and movin' around grazin'. Because so much weight is placed on these muscles, the brisket contains lots of connective tissue and tends to be a very tough cut of meat. Long, slow cooking is required to break down these connective tissues and leave a mouth-watering, fall-apart-on-your-fork meal.

SO get out your crock pots folks, and prepare thyselves for one doozy of a dinner.. You can either prep this dinner and toss it in the crock pot before you go to work, or even before you go to bed.

You will need:

* 4lb brisket "flat cut" or "first cut" with a nice 1/4 inch fat cap still on it.

* 4-5 nice sized carrots cubed

* 4 onions halved and sliced

* 4 large, I said LARGE potatoes 1/2 inch cubes

* 1 lb button mushrooms cut in half, stems are ok

* 4 cloves of garlic, chopped

* 2 Tbsp brown sugar

* 1 Tbsp tomato paste

* 2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

* 3 sprigs of fresh thyme

* 1/2 cup dry red wine

* 1 tsp chipotle powder or canned chipotles in adobo sauce finely mushed up

* 3 cups low sodium beef broth

* 1 heaping tsp dijon mustard (pommery would do well also) 

* 1/8 cup low sodium soy sauce

* 1/4 cup strong black coffee

* 1/2 ounce semi-sweet chocolate (half a brick of 'Bakers' chocolate will do)

Score the top (fat side) of the brisket in a diamond pattern, try not to cut the meat and season well with salt and pepper and let sit for half hour.  Once brisket has sat for the half hour  seared it off to get a nice dark colour.

Place the onions on the bottom of the crock pot. Place the seared brisket on top, fat cap facing up. Any drippings from searing the brisket go in too. Mix the beef broth, brown sugar, tomato paste, wine, chipotle powder, soy sauce, coffee, pepper and garlic and pour over the brisket. Cook for about 4 hours on high heat. After 4 hours add the carrots and potatoes. Let cook for another hour then add mushrooms. Cook for another 45 minutes. 

Here's the fun part... Pull out the brisket and set aside while nibbling the 'bits'. Strain the liquid, keeping all the veggies and strain off any excess fat. Reduce the liquid by half in a saucepan. You want the consistency to be, as the french say ' Nappé' or coats the back of a spoon. Taste for salt at this point. Reducing liquids concentrates flavours so I salt very little before.Take the sauce pan off the heat and whisk in 1/4 of a brick of bakers dark chocolate (semi-sweet is ok too but you may want to add less brown sugar- I actually used the PC 'The Decadent Dark Chocolate Chunks'~ about 8 little chunks)

MMMMMMMMMM good!!!

Home Made Garam Masala

 
So In light of it being my day off and I'm beyond myself with boredom, I'm sharing some of my favourite recipes. I hate going to Bulk Barn or the Grocery store (which I have aptly re-named Lowblows tee hee hee) I started making my own spice mixes. I actually started this garam masala concoction when I worked at The Manotick Village Butcher in Ottawa Ontario and had many an opportunity to make a wonderful Butter Chicken and Chicken Curry that pissed the butcher off to no end.. What do I care.. It sold every time and furthermore it was requested by some of the patrons!!

Garam Masala is a Hindi term meaning Hot (garam) and Mixture (Masala). I make mine quite spicy but for those who don't appreciate the eye-watering, mouth-on-fire sensation that I seem to be immune to here's a good recipe to follow. I make quite a large batch as I use it often but you can easily reduce this recipe by half if you don't make Indian food as often as I do.

     * 1/4 cup cumin seeds
     * 2 Tbsp Coriander seeds
     * 4 Black or Green Cardamom pods cracked
     * 2 Tbsp black peppercorns
     * 2 tsp ground mace
     * 3 sticks cinnamon broken into smaller pieces
     * 2 tsp ground nutmeg
     * 10-15 cloves
     *  6-8 strands of saffron
     * 2 malabar leaves crushed (basically the East Indian version of the bay leaf- use bay leaves if you like)
     (*Kick it up a few notches like I do and add anywhere from 1/2 tsp to 1 Tbsp of cayenne powder)

Start with all your whole spice ingredients and toast them lightly in a dry non-stick pan. 3-4 minutes on a medium-low heat, continuously moving them around should do the trick. Add in any powdered spices you have and toss them around for about 10 seconds on the heat. Turn off the heat and let the spices cool in the pan. Once they are cool grind them in a coffee grinder and store in an air-tight jar.
And as they say in Hindi आप का खाना स्वादिष्ट हो (āp kā khānā svādiṣṭa ho).. Means Bon Appetit!!