Almond paste waffles

This breakfast comes to you fresh from yesterday's snow day.  We finally had a snow day!  I didn't think I'd say or think this but I missed having a snow day this winter and was actually hoping for one - emphasis on "one".  Well, my wish came true - snow fell and we were all home, from school, from work, and got a chance to enjoy a little hush and quiet, and to huddle around in the house on a weekday (before it was time to get busy and start shoveling).  

With a snow day, it's important to have plenty of food!  It's also a great time to try a new recipe.  For me, I jumped at the chance to make these almond paste waffles!  

If there are a few food items I really love, it's got to include things like chocolate, eggs, almond paste, nuts in general, and sweet potatoes.  Almond paste is right up there.  We love it in baked goods and I've used it in all sorts of ways but not in waffles so when I saw almond paste waffles on Food52, I couldn't wait to try it!

These waffles turned out crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, with a bit of chewiness to its texture, and nice almond flavor.  It's basically how almond paste waffles should taste, I think.  

Almond paste is incorporated into the waffle batter by stirring/dissolving small pieces of it into some warmed milk and butter.  I used whole milk instead of the buttermilk listed in the recipe, and I would strongly suggest the swap out because buttermilk has the tendency to curdle when heated.  I didn't have buttermilk on hand so I made a proxy using milk and white vinegar; the homemade buttermilk quickly curdled as I heated it and I had to restart using milk instead.  You might have less of an issue using actual buttermilk rather than my substitute but I'd bypass the risk and go with milk.

To amp up the almond flavor, I added a touch of almond extract.  The batter is on the thick side and when cooked, you end up with familiar waffles that have a distinct almond flavor and a little chewiness that we really like.  Ironically, the waffles tasted a lot like this almond bread I adore and which I happened to have made a loaf of just 2 days earlier!  It's been an almond breakfast kind of week!

As you know, Valentine's Day is coming up.  How about having an early celebration this weekend with a nice breakfast on Sunday?  If you have an almond lover among you, these almond paste waffles might be just the right treat!  Otherwise, you can always make a batch of chocolate chocolate-chip waffles instead!

Soft chocolate frosted cookies

We've come to February (already)!  I can't seem to let the second month of the year slip away without taking advantage of upcoming Valentine's Day to present a chocolate treat here on the blog.  Truth be told, we're still working our way through our stash of chocolates and biscuits from Christmas.  On top of that, we have treats from Chinese New Year so there is really very little need for making chocolate cookies except it's certainly not about need...

A batch of soft chocolate cookies, frosted with creamy chocolate frosting, and decorated with a few Valentine's Day sprinkles is an easy way to say "Happy Valentine's Day".  I think it's particularly cute for kids so I made them with my son and his cousins in mind.  I also had my husband in mind; he's a big kid at heart, with a bigger sweet tooth than most children, so he got a fair share of these.

You might know I'm always looking for an excuse to try a different chocolate recipe of some kind!  This one came my way via Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  When I saw "super soft" chocolate cookies, with chocolate frosting, I thought my family would enjoy them and I wanted to give it a try.  Apparently, these cookies are a homemade rendition of "Swig" cookies.  I have no personal knowledge but it seems Swig is a sweet shop in Utah and their signature Swig soft sugar cookies have a big following.  

I just saw super-soft chocolate sugar cookies and thought my husband, who prefers thick, soft cookies above all else in terms of texture, would really dig them.  And true to the description, as long as you make sure not to over-bake them, you end up with a chocolate sugar cookie that has a wonderfully unique soft texture.  The cookies might lean on the sweet side but there's also plenty of deep chocolate flavor to balance it out.  My fellas and I enjoyed them very much.  Though I've never heard of or had a Swig cookie before, there is a familiar flavor to these cookies that my husband and I had to smile at.  

You can leave your frosted chocolate cookies unadorned (the way my husband likes it) or I think it's great how you can essentially dress them up/customize them for any holiday with some sprinkles!  So make these cookies for no particular reason or for a holiday like Valentine's Day, Easter, or Halloween by simply mixing up the decorations you place on top.  How fun and versatile is that! 

I packed a few of the cookie individually in small clear cellophane bags, sealed with a heart-shaped sticker, to give to my nephews and niece as a little early Valentine's Day treat.  It's a fun little gesture - I think it's always nice to spread the love with cookies. I also think if there's any group of people who deserve love and sweetness on Valentine's Day (and any other day), it's got to be kids!  

Easy baked flautas (taquitos)

I think the first time I had flautas, I was in my early twenties (which is longer ago than I want to believe).  It was over dinner with co-workers at a Mexican restaurant; our boss had taken us out for a holiday meal near year-end.  The main things I remembered about that meal were the excellent frozen margaritas (the kind that came out of a machine, very much like a slushy) and the delicious flautas.  I'd never had them before and was smitten with the crunchy, meaty, and cheesy bites of what is essentially a rolled up taco.  They went very nicely with the frozen margaritas but since I'm not much of a drinker, it's the flautas that stayed with me most.

Whether you call them flautas or taquitos, they're basically small rolled tacos, filled with meat and cheese, commonly fried to give them an irresistible crispness.  You might know you can find them in the freezer aisle at the supermarket.  I used to stock my freezer with ready-made flautas and occasionally heat up 2 or 3 to have as an evening snack (after dinner), with a soda!!  I was young and "wild" once upon a time.

I don't know when I gave up eating flautas.  The time right after my son's birth and the early years after that are a little bit of a blur to me, to be honest, and everything was reset in many ways.  But I often find myself telling people I love flautas even though I rarely eat them!  Mexican food, which I always think of as "fun" food, is something I want to get to know better beyond making quesadillas and having occasional taco nights at home.

Eating at Mexican restaurants is certainly a fun way to learn more about the cuisine but sometimes you have a great meal and other times, you end up a little disappointed.  That happened recently when I thought I'd finally introduce my son to flautas; when we tasted them, they were disappointing (sadly lacking in flavor and cheese) and he probably had to wonder why I keep saying they'd be so good.

If you're like me, you're often tempted to try to make for yourself the things you like to eat or foods that you remember fondly.  So this was my stab at flautas.  This homemade version couldn't be easier, in my opinion!  I took Giada De Laurentiis' recipe, which includes a genius shortcut filling made with: shredded rotisserie chicken, prepared salsa (that's the genius part!), cheese, and a little seasoning.  But instead of frying the flautas like she does, I decided to simply bake them in a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes or so.  

I tell you what...these satisfied my flauta fix!  The fellas loved them and my son tells me they were far better than the ones we had at the restaurant.  There's no reason not to make them - they are fast, easy, and no-mess (not to mention, lower calorie and better for you) when you skip the frying.  With the Superbowl coming up, I know we're all thinking about finger foods and fun foods.  I think these definitely fit the bill.

Oatmeal crepes

Admittedly, these crepes were a bit hard-fought to get on the table but it was worth it.  I found them a bit tricky to flip but once I got the hang of it - letting the pan gets nice and hot, and allowing the crepe to fully cook through before flipping - I managed to serve these oatmeal crepes for a weekend breakfast.

Weekend breakfasts and brunch are special, no matter what we're eating.  That time around the table is something I look forward to all week!  And I love trying something new so I can talk about it here.  This time, I thought I'd make oatmeal crepes.  We all know and love crepes but I was especially drawn to this recipe from Lidia Bastianich that incorporated oat flour for a little touch of nuttiness and texture.  

I made oat flour by simply grinding old-fashioned oats until very fine (almost powdery) in a processor.  This addition of the oat flour, with regular all-purpose flour, is what sets these crepes apart (and what likely contributes to them being more tricky to handle/flip).  Additionally, fresh lemon zest adds a great pop of citrus flavor.  With the lemon, these crepes pair nicely with jam.  I tucked strawberry jam into some and filled others with Nutella.

As with others crepes, these are perfect little holders for the fillings you tuck within. Texturally, these stand out with the slight nuttiness, along with a great crispy edge. With the liquid in the recipe being water, they are fragile.  I may have lost a couple of crepes in the making but they were so tasty, my husband wished I'd saved the scraps and allowed him to have those, too!

Cauliflower fried rice, and the beauty of mixing things up

There was a benefit of going through our recent kitchen renovation that I wasn't expecting.  It forced me out of my routine and, surprisingly, I kind of liked it!

Cauliflower fried "rice", with chicken, peas, and scrambled eggs, makes a great hot lunch

I'm big on routine and I'm loyal to things I like; basically, I'm pretty cautious and unadventurous.  Even when it comes to food, I stick to much of the same things. I generally eat the same things for breakfast and lunch (a bit less so when it comes to dinner but even that can be predictable) but when the kitchen was out of commission and I had to wing it, I was forced to mix it up.  Instead of a big roasted sweet potato and veggies for lunch on repeat, I was eating a sandwich, or having a soup & salad, grabbing sushi, or digging into some Vietnamese spring rolls I picked up.  I was at the Whole Foods prepared food buffet a lot but I still got variety and, overall, I nixed the old routine and ate different things.

It was good to change things up and I realized I didn't need to eat the same things all the time.  In fact, it's fun to do otherwise!  So I'm making a conscious effort to mix things up a little - particularly my lunch, which means eating something other than roasted sweet potatoes and veggies - at least 2-3 times a week.  To that end, we come to this recent lunch I made for myself: cauliflower fried rice!   

Okay...let's talk about this phenomenon of subbing carbs with non-carbs.  Cauliflower has been out there - think mashed "potatoes" and pizza crust.  While I love cauliflower and cook it (either steaming or roasting) often, I haven't been attracted to this idea of using it for fried rice and whatnot.  Maybe to my mind, you don't mess with something like fried rice, which is a sacred comfort food to me.  Plus, it sounded like a lot of work!  I don't know about you but the whole idea of processing a big cauliflower before even getting down to making the dish isn't all that appealing.

So there were 2 reasons why I decided to make and try cauliflower fried rice after all. One, I discovered prepared riced cauliflower.  You can now find it in the grocery freezer aisle, though you might have to dig around in a few stores (so far, I've had luck finding it at Whole Foods and only one other supermarket.)  And knowing I have this shortcut is a huge motivation because even if I do take the time to make my own cauliflower rice by breaking it down in a food processor, it would likely be something I'd only do once.

Secondly, I was watching The Kitchen last weekend when I saw Katie Lee make this fried "rice".  She started with ginger and garlic and that is exactly how I love to start my fried rice - I think the grated ginger totally makes it.  The dish looked delicious and I saw how easy it would be with the prepared cauliflower so I was on a mission to find it and make the dish.

I'll finally cut to the chase.  Not only does this look like "real" fried rice, it tastes like it.  Is the cauliflower rice exactly like actual rice?  No, it's not.  It's a bit more moist and holds a bit of a crunch (though it's tender) than rice would but the flavors you associate with fried rice - in my case, the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil... - are all there and frankly, it is all very similar and familiar in your mouth.  The fried rice was delicious!  It made a great lunch and I can tell you that I will definitely be making cauliflower fried rice again and often.  I simply used leftover rotisserie chicken this time and I have been craving shrimp fried rice so that's up next.

If you've been on the fence about trying cauliflower fried rice like me, pick up a bag at the supermarket and give it a try.  This turned out to be a great food/ingredient discovery for me in 2017!  There is definitely a beauty, and benefit, to mixing and shaking things up a bit.

Chestnut and mushroom ragù

Happy New Year! 

I hope things are going well so far in 2017!  I'm happy to step back into this space after taking a little break.  It means things are back-to-normal - the kitchen makeover has been completed!  It took about a month and while there were a couple of inevitable snags along the way, we're very happy with the outcome.  Now...after all the dust, the fuss, and the cleanup (special thanks to my husband who did most of it!), we're simply enjoying the result.

Despite the somewhat relentless string of colds and viruses my family and I seem to be coming down with this winter, we've managed to stay functional and to hold on to our appetites.  So I've been pretty busy in the kitchen since we've been up and running again, making up for lost time and comforting ourselves with home cooking. Taking a break and changing things up is good (I feel a renewed energy in the kitchen) but it's amazing how quickly we got tired of take-out and restaurant meals, and how much we missed simple home cooking!

I've been able to cook since New Year's eve so I've had a good amount of time to load my family up on our favorite stir-fries and rice dishes; we've enjoyed a few lingering pancake breakfasts and I even got to make some Christmas cookies that I didn't get a chance to whip up before the holidays.  While we've generally been sticking to family favorites, I got a chance to try a new recipe in the form of this ragù I'd like to chat about today.  

You might expect a meat sauce when you hear ragù (and doesn't anything "ragù" sound especially appealing in the wintertime) but this one is made with chestnuts and mushrooms, and these two ingredients truly are the stars of this dish, which comes from Lidia Bastianich.  I have been watching Lidia's PBS cooking shows for many, many years and her food - especially, her pasta dishes - are always mouthwatering and calling my name!  And this particular dish - this chestnut and mushroom ragù she made and served with spaghetti on the show - really had me swooning and running into the kitchen at the first opportunity!

It may be my love of chestnuts, or my general partiality to anything "ragù", which in turn conjures up pasta, that had me itching to try this.  It's easy to make with a handful of ingredients (aside from the headliners, you need only a few other mainly pantry ingredients) and you end up with this unusual "sauce" that's deliciously earthy yet slightly sweet from the chestnuts.  

It's satisfying and hearty but light at the same time.  It's not only great with pasta (I paired it with pappardelle) but also excellent as a side with meat (because you have the mushrooms and some carbs in the form of the chestnuts), as a topping for bruschetta, or frankly, eaten all on its own!

I hope you're eating well so far in 2017 and I wish you many happy meals with loved ones around the table this year!

Chocolate Dutch baby pancake

The holiday season is reaching a crescendo!  Are you busy wrapping gifts, baking cookies, hosting/attending parties, and just generally checking your to-do lists twice? My holiday is a little different this year.  It feels like one or all of us have been sick since Thanksgiving though luckily, we're all on the mend and feeling much better now. Also, cooking/baking is on hiatus due to our kitchen renovation.  

Chocolate Dutch baby pancake served with fresh raspberries and whipped cream

That said...we're still keeping up our Christmas spirit!  There are still goodies to eat, presents to wrap, hot chocolate to sip, and gingerbread houses to decorate.  We're being a little creative making the best of things though I'm counting down to the day when I can get back in the kitchen to make things like weekend breakfast.  Hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later.

Before cooking halted, I whipped up a chocolate Dutch baby pancake for one of our weekend breakfasts and I wanted to share that with you now before taking a little holiday break and waiting for our kitchen to be operational again.  Now, a regular Dutch baby pancake - which is like a cross between pancake, thick crepe, souffle and popover in one - is one of our family's favorite things!  I make it at least twice a month for breakfast on the weekends.  I've tried talking my husband into trying a savory one but he's been reluctant to change a good thing.  But when I saw a chocolate version over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe, I had to try it; I mean, it's chocolate! Everyone was on board with that.  

Moments out of the oven, the chocolate version isn't quite as lofty as the regular but has a great chocolate-cake like flavor

I love the recipe I use to make my regular Dutch baby pancake so I actually leaned on that for this chocolate version, adapting it to include cocoa powder to make this chocolaty treat.  Mel's recipe is actually a bit more restrained when it comes to sugar and butter so you might want to check that out.  

Just like a regular Dutch baby, the lovely thing about this is the texture...crisp edges and a soft, thicker, custard-like center.  While we savor the eggy, sweet vanilla flavors of a regular Dutch baby, this chocolate version is like having a light chocolate cake-pancake.  You can embellish it however you like; I served mine with a spoonful of freshly whipped cream, a handful of fresh raspberries, and a dusting of confectioners' sugar.  It was a wonderful treat that my family and I were happy to polished off in no time.  

Millionaire's shortbread

As I type this and think about these tasty millionaire's shortbread I made recently, our kitchen is a gutted, dusty space...renovation has begun!  I'm taking it one day at a time and trying to just go with the flow.  I'm thankful to be able to have an updated kitchen to cook and bake from soon, and also grateful I had the chance to make a few more delicious things to eat before we packed up the kitchen and got things ready for the construction!

I've heard about millionaire's shortbread for a while now and I figured it was a great indulgence to attempt to make during the holidays to share with friends.  It's made up of a base layer of buttery shortbread, a center of soft and chewy homemade caramel, and a top layer of dark chocolate.  It's essentially homemade Twix bars.  As my husband says, it tastes like a "fresh Twix bar" or a "fresh, gourmet Twix bar".  Well, I think Twix bars are pretty good as it is - it's a childhood favorite of mine - but this homemade millionaire's shortbread is a knockout indulgence!

This is the recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  It's actually fairly easy to follow - the only "must" is a candy thermometer for cooking the caramel layer to ensure that it turns out smooth, soft, and chewy.  Using melted butter for the shortbread base, you can just stir the ingredients together and then simply press the crumbs into the pan. Finally, it takes a little time and effort to finely grate some of the dark chocolate that goes on the top layer and then to carefully - and slowly - melt the chocolate in the microwave for you to end up with a firm coating of chocolate that has a nice snap and won't bloom (turn gray).  Following the directions, this was as close as I ever got to tempering chocolate and I was very happy!

My bars aren't nearly as neat as the ones made by Cook's Illustrated but I can't say I'm too surprised.  I had trouble slicing the bars without making a ton of crumbs in the shortbread layer (and frankly, I was too impatient to try a little harder).  I'm fine with a little mess.  I packed up most of my batch for a few friends (the recipe makes a generous 40 bars so it's great for gifting) and I don't think my friends minded the mess, either.

I don't often eat a Twix bar these days but making these homemade bars was a great reason to indulge.  These millionaire's shortbread bars were so addicting.  The combination of buttery crunchy shortbread crust, with stretchy, sweet, and chewy caramel, wrapped up with a firm snappy dark chocolate top is a really winning combination.  This is the perfect time to make a batch!