Warm and Yummy, Gingerbread Waffles

A few weeks ago, my husband and I went out for breakfast at our neighborhood diner. For the fall, they added gingerbread pancakes. My husband took a bite of mine, even though he is not a real big fan of pancakes. Well one bite turned into two, two turned to three, finally when I asked if he wanted to swap plates, he gave me back my pancakes and mumbled I needed to find that recipe. I laughed and asked if he wanted to finish them off.

I read several recipes for gingerbread pancakes, and the common factor is the spices. So instead of making pancakes, I made waffles because of course the husband enjoys them! They were a big hit and yesterday when I reheated the left over waffle, my husband pouted. He wanted to take it work for lunch and make all the guys drool over the smell… he is so mean sometimes.

You can use any premade pancake or waffle mix. I use Krusteaz brand for both waffles and pancakes. Make batter per the box instructions (I used the portion to make 4 to 5 waffles,) add 1-tablespoon molasses, ¼-teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼-teaspoon ground ginger, and ¼-teaspoon ground nutmeg.

Serve with maple syrup and butter.

Chili Verde

I found this recipe over at Serious Eats. I made this Chili Verde on Friday, for dinner on Saturday since it is suppose to get better over time.

There is little I would change about the ingredients, but would change a few of the processes. The only major suggestions I have is, sweat your peppers in a Ziploc bag. This makes peeling the skins easier and you won’t have to use water that the recipe calls for. DO NOT USE WATER to peel the peppers. This is a major no-no since the water washes away the oils and flavor, you want flavor!!!

If you cannot find the Cubanelle peppers, don’t worry you can substitute with Banana peppers.

 I also didn’t have a large enough pot or Dutch oven that would fit the volume of the recipe; so I used my crock-pot. I would suggest if you use the crock-pot reduce the chicken broth by half and leave the lid slightly ajar to let steam to escape.  Let cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Keeping the kids from dipping into the Chili Verde on Friday since the whole house smelled so amazing from this cooking all day.

Ingredients:

3 pounds trimmed pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes

Kosher salt

5 poblano pepper

5 cubanelle peppers

2 pounds tomatillos (about 15 medium), husks removed

6 whole garlic cloves

2 jalapeño peppers, stems removed, split in half lengthwise

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups loosely packed cilantro leaves

1 large onion, finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 quart chicken stock

 

Directions:

In large bowl, toss pork with 2 tablespoons salt until thoroughly coated. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.

 

Meanwhile, roast poblano and cubanelle peppers by placing them directly over the flame of a gas stove until deeply charred on all surfaces, about 10 minutes total. If you don't have a gas burner, you can achieve similar results under the broiler, or on an outdoor grill. Place peppers in a bowl and cover with a large plate. Let steam for 5 minutes, then peel under cool running water. Dry chilies, discard seeds and stems, and roughly chop. Transfer to bowl of food processor.

 

Preheat broiler to high. Toss tomatillos, garlic, and jalapeños with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Broil until charred, blistered, and just softened, turning once halfway through cooking, about 10 minutes total. Transfer to the food processor along with any exuded liquid.

 

Add 1/2 of cilantro to the food processor and pulse mixture until it is roughly pureed but not smooth, about 8 to 10 one-second pulses. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 225°F. Heat remaining oil in large Dutch oven over high heat until smoking. Add half of pork and cook without moving until well browned, about 3 minutes. Stir pot and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until well browned on all sides. Add remaining pork and onions and cook, stirring frequently and scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan, until onions are softened, about 4 minutes. Add cumin and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 1 minute.

 

Add chicken stock and pureed chilies to pot and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, cover, and transfer to oven, leaving lid slightly ajar. Cook until pork shreds easily with a fork, about 3 hours. Remove from oven and return to stovetop.

 

Skim off and discard any excess fat. Adjust to desired consistency by adding water or boiling and reducing. Stir remaining cilantro into pot and season to taste with more salt. Serve immediately with warm tortillas, diced onions, sour cream, cheese, cilantro, and lime wedges. Chili can be chilled and stored in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 5 days. Flavor will improve with time.

 

Apple Carrot Bread

The original recipe is for muffins. I found this over at Whole Foods Market website. As you know, I cannot leave a recipe alone. I read through the original recipe, and thought what can I do to make this better?

Instead of using applesauce, I used a fresh apple, peeled, cored, and then double grated in the food processor. Since I was losing the liquid from the applesauce, I increased the milk. I also added nutmeg to the recipe to help bring out the cinnamon more. The recipe also called for whole-wheat flour, I used a combination of white and wheat. I also omitted the sea salt.

The recipe makes will yield 8 to 12 muffins and since I was not in the mood to prepare muffins tins, I made this into bread. The house smelt so good when this came out of the oven!

Ingredients

1 ¼ cup flour (whole wheat, white or combination of the two)

¼ cup plus 1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup carrots, double grated in the food processor

1 Pink Lady apple, peeled, cored, and then double grated in the food processor

2 large eggs

¼ cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare loaf pan, set aside

 In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda

 In a separate bowl, combine carrots, applesauce, eggs, milk, oil and vanilla

 Add half the flour mixture to the carrot mixture stir until blended

Blend in the remaining flour mixture

Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan and bake about 30 minutes or until a toothpick in the center of a muffin comes out clean

Serve warm

Barley, Potato and Ditalini Soup

I have been trying several recipes and not many of them have been worth writing about. There were a few my family wishes I had never fed them.

I wasn’t too sure how they would react to this soup with having so much barley in it. I guess they have enjoyed it since my daughter and husband have taken it for lunch the past two days.

For those who have high cholesterol, a cup of barley eaten every day, will help lower your levels.

What I like about this recipe is you can play with the ingredients as you wish. If you are a vegan, use vegetable broth. I made my mine with chicken broth, but I think beef broth would be really tasty.

Ingredients

1 cup ditalini pasta

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 onion, diced

2 Tablespoons olive oil

¾ cup uncooked barley

12 cups of broth (your choice veggie, chicken or beef)

4 carrots, diced

½ cup celery, diced

1 medium potato, peeled and diced

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions

In large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat

Cook garlic and onions, for four minutes

Add broth and barley bring to a simmer

Add carrots, celery, potato, ditalini, let simmer for 30 minutes

Add spices simmer for 6 minutes longer

Remove from heat and let rest for 20 minutes before serving.

** The longer this sits, the more liquid the barley and pasta will absorb. I added water, when I served the next day. **

Pepper Jack Cheese Spread

 

So the big game, or in our case, the race will be on today. Cheese, crackers and maybe some summer sausage would be good to snack on while watching.

I was at an upscale grocery store this week, and in the deli they had several “in-store” made cheese spreads. The one that caught my eye was Pepper Jack. After a quick glance at the ingredients, I thought, no problem I can make this at home.

You can make this as spicy as wish by adding more crushed red peppers.  I wrote the recipe so it is extremely mild, my husband would say "why even bother if you do not feel it burning." I actually made this, I added 2 teaspoons of crushed red peppers and let it “age” for a few days in the fridge.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with this as an additive. I made ramen noodles the other night for dinner, added cooked chicken and veggies. I drained off the liquid, and stirred in ¼ cup of this spread, turning it into a spicy, creamy, and inexpensive meal.

 

Ingredients

1 pound cream cheese, softened at room temp

1 pound pepper jack cheese

2 Tablespoons, roasted red peppers, chopped

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

 

Directions

Using food processor, grate cheese

Switch to a chopping blade; add remaining ingredients to the bowl.

Run food processor until mixture is smooth. You may have to scrape the side of the bowl, to make sure all ingredients are blended.

Serve with crackers or celery ribs.  Place any left overs in container and store in the refrigerator

Minestrone Soup, Crock-pot style

It is time to grab you crock-pot! This week seems like it has overly busy and the weekend isn’t looking much better. Nothing is simpler than making a pot soup in the crock-pot. I can start this Saturday morning and by the time we get home from the kids bowling, it will be waiting with minimal effort on my part.

This soup is veggie packed and full of flavor and color. I would not say this is a minestrone soup since there is no spinach, zucchini or pasta. The spinach has been replaced with cabbage, which will hold up better to cooking in the crock-pot. The zucchini is the same way it will become mushy.

If you are not in a hurry to eat and want minestrone, omit the potatoes and cabbage.  Add the spinach, zucchini or cooked pasta a half hour before serving.

28 ounces crushed tomatoes

28 ounces cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

3 cups green cabbage, sliced thin

1 pound white potatoes cut into ½ inch cubes

1 onion, diced

5 garlic cloves, minced

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon dry parsley

1 teaspoon of dried thyme

1 teaspoon of dried basil

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

Directions

Combine all ingredients in crock-pot, cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or 3-4 hours on high temperature