And some folks wonder why I get called a “messy” “chef”…
This was a Dorie Greenspan recipe - chicken in a pot - scented with meyer lemon peel and more garlic than I’d care to count. The meal was delicious, but the dough seal around the new Staub dutch oven was a real messy disaster.
I’ve always been a fan of waffles. Best I got, likely growing up, were Eggo’s. My mom would always exclaim “I don’t like Belgian waffles, yuck.”
So — we avoided eating anything like that. I am not sure what Belgian was, or what the ingredients were that made it taste bad, but I too stayed away from Belgian (style) waffles until at least in my 20s.
Of course, I don’t know what a waffle tastes like in Belgium. A friend insists they are made with whipped egg whites. For me, it’s all the shape. Big holes, thicker. Yummier, in fact.
So, I recently found this post from Blogger extraordinaire, Orangette. Lots of comments. Lots of netizens who like waffles. Good people, every last one.
She suggests the following recipe as a favorite, that will work in your thin or Belgian-style waffle maker.
I would like to suggest a few changes.
First, use ¼ Buckwheat flour and only ½ cup all-purpose flour. Second, skip the white sugar. Use brown sugar. And Molly suggests splitting the milks, 50% between Buttermilk and regular (whole) milk. I’d go 75%/25% on that. Following a commenter’s suggestion, more buttermilk means more lift from the baking soda and powder.
Cornstarch was a new ingredient for me in a homemade waffle, but I think it works great for that super texture.
Waffles! Celebrate life.
Tonight I made a simple salad featuring good tomatoes (at least what I can get in January), and a winter-inspired soup. Yes, it was 58 degrees here today. But whatever.
The salad used a mustardy vinaigrette and simple sea salt with both heirloom greens and heirloom tomatoes. The sourdough baguette was excellent, procured from the Fresh Market.
The soup was a spur of the moment creation, made from freshly made chicken stock.
Recipe, for 2.
I had set out to make a potato/leek soup, but I couldn’t find leeks today.
I took to the streets this Sunday to visit Richmond’s food festival, Broad Appetit. I also snapped some photos of the event.
There were many tasty treats. The last thing I had were these tempura-fried shiitake’s from Acacia. The whole ride home, my mouth was overwhelmed with significant mushroom flavor. While they needed salt, they flavor endured.
The red velvet cupcake from Baby Cakes was absolutely delicious and very classy looking. T-Bone’s barbequed pork ribs were so tender, but the sauce was lacking in a flavor punch.
The surrey sausage, fried crisp, atop a freshing tomato salad was divine, from Comfort. The roast beef sandwich from Kitchen 64 was tasty, with mushrooms, but it lacked drama.
What was the best thing you had? Fellow food blogger from Veronica’s Test Kitchen was selling her Parisian delights… and these were (by far) the most delicious thing we ate at Broad Appétit, 2009. Her passion fruit macaron was absolutely incredible. Depth of flavor, excellent mouth feel and chew, and ultimately impressively satisfying. Kudos Veronica!
Tonight’s supper came from Lynne Rosetto Kasper’s famous cookbook of northern Italian cuisine, The Splendid Table.
She has a recipe for simple asparagus. After blanching it, you quickly sauté it with butter. I added one clove garlic to the butter. Then, she suggests keeping it warm in the oven until service. Until then, you hold off on covering it with freshly grated parma cheese.
I added some orange and yellow tomatoes on top. No EVOO.
Inspired from today’s episode of “Tyler’s Ultimate,” I wanted to make a veal dish, but instead of veal piccata, I made LRK’s version of veal with balsamic vinegar and basil. I served it over pasta, dressed in ultra-premium EVOO, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes, not to mention parma cheese.
It was all delicious.
