SRC: Veggie Converter's Pumpkin Waffles

The surgeon I am seeing has asked me to drop forty pounds and begin the process of what will eventually be three weeks of liquid protein diet.  Yeah, doesn't sound like fun and really isn't.  But it is what it is and I will follow the docs orders.  Thankfully My Secret Recipe Club Blog this month was with my new found love, The Veggie Converter .  To quote her site's theme it is " One vegetarian mom + one meat-eating dad and two undecided kids = a challenge to create meals that incorporate more whole foods into the family's blended-eater lifestyle". How convenient for me, eh??! LOL!  It sure made my life a whole lot easier having to pick something from this heavenly site rather than a dessert based site (kind of like mine LOL!) 

I still want to try her Black Bean Soup, Zucchini Quinoa Burgers, and Butterbean Ragout Tortilla Casserole. But when it came to finalizing my decision I went with something I knew the whole family would love; Whole Wheat Pumpkin Waffles. 

Knowing that my husband prefers a more fluffy waffle, I changed things up a bit by whipping up my egg whites and folding them into the batter.  This did indeed produce more of a light and fluffy batter which made him very happy.  I also used regular all-purpose flour instead of whole wheat since it is what I had on hand.

Light and Fluffy Pumpkin Waffles
adapted from Veggieconverter.com

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ginger
2 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pie filling! there is a difference!)
2 tablespoons canola oil

Directions 

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients; flour, brown sugar, baking power, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Mix together to combine.

Next, add the egg yolks, pumpkin, milk and oil. Mix until just combine.

I did a double recipe which is why you will see four eggs and not two!

In a second bowl, whip up the egg whites to stiff peaks.  Gently fold into wet mixture.

Pour about 3/4 cup waffle batter into your waffle iron and cook to desired brownness. Repeat.

Recipe yields about 10 servings.

The Daring Cooks: Boeuf Bourguignon

 Did You ever have one of those months where nothing seemed to go right?  Well, this happened to be mine.  The results of this soup were not the best... likely due to the wine we used and half my pictures are missing (Like the end result!).  This is probably... no, without a doubt it IS, the worst blog post ever!

Blog-checking lines: Our May 2012 Daring Cooks’ hostess was Fabi of fabsfood. Fabi challenged us to make Boeuf Bourguignon, a classic French stew originating from the Burgundy region of France.

Fabi, i humbly apologize for this disastrous post.  Your recipe and directions were without fault.  Thank you for hosting this challenge!

BOEUF BOURGUIGNON
Ingredients for 6 people:

1 x 6 oz (200 gm) chunk of streaky bacon
Olive oil
3 pounds (1⅓ kg) stewing beef cut into 2 inches (5 cm) cubes
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt
½ teaspoon (5 ml) (2 gm) pepper
3 tablespoons (45 ml) (1 oz/30 gm) flour
3 cups (1½ pint/720 ml) of young red wine. Suggestions: Bourgogne, of course, but also Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chianti, Rioja etc., depending on your country and your taste. Being Spanish, my choice this time was a good Rioja. It really has to be a good one but it hasn’t necessarily to be a very expensive one, you know, il ne faut pas exagérer
1 carrot, sliced (I prefer to cut it into chunks, but that's just my taste)
1 onion, sliced in julienne
1 ½ to 2 cups (¾ to 1 pint/355 to 475 ml) of beef stock or beef bouillon
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (½ oz/15 gm) tomato paste or tomato puree
2 cloves mashed garlic
½ teaspoon (2½ ml) (1 gm) thyme leaves
1 bay leave (Julia says it has to be crushed, I prefer not to crush it so that I can remove it at the end of the process)
The blanched bacon rind
18-24 small onions, brown-braised in stock
1 pound (½ kg) mushrooms sautéed in butter (Champignons are perfect for this purpose)
Fresh parsley sprigs to serve

Directions:
1.Prepare the bacon: Remove the rind. Cut the bacon into lardons (Sticks, ¼ inch thick and ½ inch (5 mm x 15 mm) long) and simmer everything in 4 cups (1 litre) of water for 10 minutes. Drain and dry carefully with paper towels.   I was unable to find bacon with rind so had to omit this step.

2.Dry the meat cubes carefully with paper towels.

3.Preheat oven to hot 450ºF/230ºC/gas mark 8

4.In a fireproof casserole or a frying pan, sauté the lardons in a tablespoon of olive oil for 2-3 minutes until they’re lightly brown. Remove them to a side dish with a slotted spoon.

5.In the same casserole/pan, sauté the beef until it’s golden brown. Remove it to the side dish where you keep the bacon and set aside.


6.Still in the same casserole/pan, sauté the carrot and the onion.

7.Return the bacon and the beef to the casserole. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper, then add the flour and toss.

8.Place the casserole/dish uncovered in the middle position of the oven for 4 minutes. This gives the meat a lovely crust.

9.Remove the casserole/dish from the oven. Stir in the wine, stock, tomato paste, mashed garlic cloves, thyme, bay and the blanched bacon rind.

10.Bring it to simmering point on the stove. Now, if you were using a frying pan, discard it and put the stew in an oven proof dish.

11.Cover the casserole/dish (If your dish doesn't have a lid, use aluminum foil and stretch it to the edges of the dish in order to minimize the loss of juices) and place it low in the oven. Adjust the heat so that the liquid simmers very slowly, it has to go on for 3-4 hours.

12.While the stew is cooking, prepare onions and mushrooms. For the onions: Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a frying pan and sauté the peeled onions until golden brown. Add beef stock until they’re almost covered and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until almost all the liquid disappears and they’re tender but keep their shape. Set aside.

13.Prepare the mushrooms as well: Wash quarter and sauté them in 2 tablespoons butter. Keep on stirring until they’re nicely brown. Set aside.

14.When meat is tender, put the stew into a sieve over a saucepan, wash out the casserole and return the stew to it. Put onions and mushrooms over the meat.

15.Skim the fat off the sauce. Put the saucepan on the stove and simmer it for 2-3 minutes. Skim additional fat if it rises. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon. If not, boil it until it thickens. If it’s too thick, stir in some stock or bouillon to make it lighter.

16.Pour the sauce over the stew. Put the casserole on the stove or in the oven and reheat for 2-3 minutes. Serve it in the casserole with some sprigs of fresh parsley. Some goods sides are potatoes, noodles or rice.

Bridal shower

A good friend's daughter is getting married today.  It worked out to where the shower for her was on Tuesday and the wedding is just a few days later.  Her colors are lovely, orange, yellow and black but it did make it interesting to decorate and not have it look like Halloween.  Thankfully I have my Cricut machine and was able to create a few decorations.

I have to say that the most ingenious was what my friend Joy did.  She took a yellow paper plate, cut it out and glued it on top of an orange paper plate.

  I made the shower cake as well as cheesecake balls. While my skills are rather modest, I was pleased with the end results.  I'll be sharing the recipe I used for the cake balls later this week.  Right now I have to go finish up the 150 cupcakes I agreed to make for her wedding!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

Sorry... I've been having to work out a ton of pre-surgery details and haven't had much blogging time. Things have been rather hectic around here!

I am a huge lemon fan and when it was time for me to make more cookies for the Walden House, I wanted to do something lemony.  I found this recipe for Lemon Ricotta cookies and they are very good.  One lady requested that I keep her in supply with them since she loves them so much!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies
adapted from Giada De Laurentiis
        yields about 4 dozen cookies
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 (15-ounce) container part skim ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
powder sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar and cream together until light and fluffy.
One at a time, add the eggs and mix well to combine.  Beat in the ricotta, lemon juice and zest.
Stir in the dry ingredients.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper, or silpat. Spoon cookie dough onto prepared sheets ( I use my 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop) and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and dust with powder sugar.  Let cookies cool completely before removing from tray.

SRC: Betsylife Pasta with Asparagus

The best part of SRC (secret recipe club) is getting to experience all the fabulous blogs out there.  The worst part.... deciding which of their fabulous dishes I want to try.  This month I had the privilege of getting Betsy's blog, Betsylife.  She also is working on food styling and her blog clearly shows her talent in that.  I'll patiently pause here so that you can view her blog and see for yourself how accurate of a description that is :-)   Gorgeous pictures and many healthy choices to choose from.

I needed to take a dish to a family gathering so decided on making her Pasta with Asperagus I made a few changes but nothing too drastic.  While this was delicious as it was, I had to add bacon (sorry, it was written in the marriage vows that all meals must include bacon)  it really didn't need it.  But while I'm thinking of it,some added chicken breast would make an meat lover happy in this dish.  Betsy used this as a meal in itself but I used it as a side pasta salad.  Either way works pretty darn good!

Pasta with Asparagus and Parmesan

8 ounces uncooked whole wheat penne pasta
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups (1-inch) slices asparagus (about 1 pound)
1 cup chicken broth (substitute vegetable stock for vegetarian option)
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
3 garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup bacon crumbles

Directions
Cook Pasta according to package directions using the 1 tablespoon of kosher salt in the water.

Add oil to pan medium size skillet and heat over medium high heat. Add asparagus to pan and cook tender, (this took me about 4 minutes.) Don't overcook the asparagus as you still wants some crispness to them. lly. Remove asparagus from pan and set aside. Add broth, lemon rind, and garlic to the pan; allow the liquid to reduce by half (about 5-7 minutes). Return asparagus to pan, add pasta, salt,pepper, cayenne and bacon; toss well. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Daring Cooks: create a recipe challenge

Blog-checking lines: Our April 2012 Daring Cooks hosts were David & Karen from Twenty-Fingered Cooking. They presented us with a very daring and unique challenge of forming our own recipes by using a set list of ingredients!
It was required that you use at least one ingredient from each of their three lists :
List 1: Parsnips, Eggplant (aubergine), Cauliflower
List 2: Balsamic Vinegar, Goat Cheese, Chipotle peppers
List 3: Maple Syrup, Instant Coffee, Bananas

Some of those just seemed wacky to me... but WOW! Have the Daring Cooks been creative!  I was a little bit more cautious.  I know, I know.  It wasn't very daring of me.  However, I did make sure not to follow any recipe.  I just relied on what I remembered about making a marinade... so that counts, doesn't it??

I ripped off the basics of the fajita and added roasted cauliflower and goat cheese.  But first I had to marinade my beef to get all the flavor I could out of it.  I was able to find chipotle peppers in adobe sauce but that wasn't what I wanted.  I couldn't find any dried chipotle peppers either.  That left me using a dried powder or trying to smoke my own jalapenos.  Sorry, I went with the dried powder.  Again, not very creative of me but Life has just been a bit chaotic lately and so I took the easiest route.

Beef Marinade
2 pounds round steak, sliced thin
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon dried chipotle powder
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder

combine ingredients and let set for at least two hours.
When ready to cook, drain off marinade and quickly fry in a pan with a bit of oil.  I did my meat in two batches so that the meat would sear and not steam. The meat will cook quickly.

Roasted Vegetables
1 head cauliflower cut into florets
2 onions, sliced thin
3 peppers (I used red and yellow) sliced into strips
2 tablespoons olive oil

Line two cookie sheets with tin-foil and lightly spray with cooking spray.  Spread out vegetables onto trays and drizzle with olive oil; sprinkle with kosher salt.
Roast in oven at 425 degrees F., for about 25 minutes (vegetables should become nicely golden.

To assemble I just added the meat to my flour tortilla, scooped on some roasted vegetables and topped with a bit of goat cheese.

I admit, it was on the cautious side.  I will also admit that it was pretty tasty too!

Happy Easter Everyone!!!! Father, Son and Holy Spirit Cupcakes

My mom's Sunday School class has been working on learning about how 

God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit and she asked me to make cupcakes with a representation of them.... uh sure, no problem. Thinking of a way to do that should be easy peasy! Here's what I came up with.....

Exodus 3:5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 6Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Luke 3: 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

Matthew 27:35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

 Have a Happy Easter everyone!!!!!!