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Cook and Tell: Basic Belgian Waffles

19 Jul

Last week was an extremely busy week, and I am very happy that I am finally able to check back here. Last week was my birthday, but since I spent the entire day at work, it wasn’t much of a celebration. However, it was all made better when a couple of friends gave me a gift that will certainly keep on giving. And not just anything, it will keep on giving fabulous and delicious Belgian waffles. I couldn’t wait to take this puppy for a “spin”.

I started out simply by pulling out the manual, which doubles as a recipe book. For the first time I decided to keep it simple and try out a basic Belgian waffle recipe, nothing fancy. I didn’t really have that many ingredients to play with. I used my last two eggs for these puppies, just shows how prepared I was.

Basic Waffles
Ingredients
6 cups of unbleached all-purpose flower
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 cup baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups of reduced-fat milk
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preparation
Preheat the waffle maker. Mix all ingredients in the order they appear. Pour approximately 2 cups of batter on to the middle of the waffle griddle (this may vary based on the type of waffle maker you have). Close the waffle maker, cook until you hear a tone from the waffle maker (this may vary based on your waffle maker). Open waffle maker, remove waffles carefully with a heat proof spatula. The recipe makes approximately 16 waffles.

I halved the recipe, and used non-fat milk. I ended up with 8 delicious waffles. They may be over 300 calories per waffle, but do you really think about that when you’re enjoying this deliciousness with jam, maple syrup, or whatever else you put on your waffles?

Thank you L & L for this awesome gift!!! I can’t wait to try out all different types of waffles!

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Cook and Tell: Sour Cream Blini

09 Apr

Have I mentioned that I am a big fan of anything that includes carbs? Well, I do. Pasta, breads, waffles, baked goods, anything in the pancake family. Like these blini that I decided to spoil myself and the hubby with.

Sour Cream Blini

I learned how to make blini from my Mom. She showed me how to turn leftover sour milk, kefir or sour cream into delicious blini. The great thing is that they are so easy and quick to make, and they magically fill my carb cravings. This time around I decided to make blini using sour cream as the base.

Sour Cream Blini
Ingredients:
16oz Low-Fat Sour Cream
2 large Eggs
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Powder
Vegetable Oil, for frying

Mix all the ingredients, except for vegetable oil, together. Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan on medium heat. Using a tablespoon (I used a regular soup spoon), scoop spoon fulls of blini mixture and place on the frying pan. Cook blini until golden brown on each side. The number of blinis will depend on how much mixture you use for each one.

Enjoy the blini warm or cold. I prefer my blini with raspberry or strawberry preserves.

Sour Cream Blini

How do you like your blini?

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Cook and Tell: Bailey’s Chocolate Chip Cup…Cakes

02 Apr

Those of you who are parents know that the time to enjoy cooking and baking becomes very limited when kids are thrown in the mix. I would usually feel ashamed to even mention this, forget about actually doing this. However, I was inspired by Irine from Confessions of a Tart. Irine really sold me on this cake. It was easy and fast to make, and it looked so delicious that I overlooked the fact that a cake mix was included in the recipe. I just couldn’t resist. I buckled, and how could I not? Just look at this chocolaty delight.

Bailey's Cake

There isn’t really a need to restate the recipe. However, here are the differences from the recipe provided on Confessions of a Tart. Instead of a bundt cake, I made one 9-inch cake and 12 cupcakes. Instead of Kahlua, I used Bailey’s Irish Cream and instead of bittersweet chocolate chips, I used semi-sweet chocolate chips. Otherwise, I followed the recipe.

Bailey's Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

I don’t regret this decision for a moment. Hubby, I and the family thoroughly enjoyed these tasty sweets!

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Guest Post Friday: Life is like a box of chocolates…

01 Apr

I am really excited! Today for the very first time in the short history of DimpleArts blog I get to introduce a guest blogger. My very good friend Vicky from Shrimpaholic. To say that Vicky is a lover of shrimp, is not to saying anything at all. I think her post below will give you some insight into how big a fan Vicky really is. Definitely drop by Shrimpaholic for more of Vicky’s delicious cooking and witty tales.

I never saw it. *Gasp* That’s right, I, a self proclaimed shrimpaholic, am ashamed to admit that I have never actually seen Forrest Gump. Sure the acting is magnificent, and there is incredible heart warming story, but to think that I failed to see a movie that has inspired so much greatness is just humiliation of many proportions. This greatness of which I speak? Well I can only be referring to the happiest place on earth – ~~Disneyland~~ Bubba Gumps!

Can you imagine how elated I was when I discovered a restaurant all about you-know-what?! And then to find out that there’s actually a book full of recipes?! Well let me tell you, Christmas came early this year (think February). Thanks to Amazon.com, their ability to store my credit card information, and expedited shipping, I knew that within a few days I’ll be holding that beautiful brown cardboard box we all see way more frequently than we should. No? Just me again? Common people free shipping over $25! (Sorry, slight deviation)

Now, when I was kindly asked to babble on Julia’s blog (which may have been due to judgment error) I decided that a simple link to an online reference would not suffice. Nope, just not good enough. This would be the magical moment when I debut my culinary key to happiness (cue bright spotlight and angel music).

And with that I present Bubba’s Beer-Broiled Shrimp, from The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Cookbook

the stuff:

- 2 lbs unpeeled large fresh shrimp
- 3/4 cup beer
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbs plus 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/8 tsp hot sauce

what to do:

Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails intact. Combine beer and remaining ingredients in a shallow dish. Add shrimp, stir to coat, and marinate in the fridge for 2-3 hrs.

Drain shrimp and discard marinade. Thread neck and tail of each shrimp onto six skewers. Place skewers on a lightly greased rack of a broiler pan. Broil 5 1/2 inches from heat for about 3 minutes. Turn and broil an addition 2 minutes, or until shrimp turn pink.

“Now, Bubba taught me everything he knew about shrimpin’, but you know what I found out? Shrimpin’ is tough”. -Forrest Gump

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Cook and Tell: Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread with Walnuts

12 Mar

A while ago I found a recipe for zucchini bread with walnuts. The recipe looked intriguing and I decided to try it out. Everything went well, until I realized that I put too much dough mixture into the loaf pan. The result was a minor disaster, it consisted of an oven filled with overflowing dough, which rose outside the borders of the loaf pan. I was thoroughly disappointed that I made such a rookie mistake. Thankfully, what was left in the loaf pan was still salvageable, and surprisingly was pretty tasty.

Recently I decided to try the bread again. However, I couldn’t find the original recipe (hence, I am currently working on organizing all of my recipes). Therefore, I had to start my search from scratch.

In my new search, I came upon a different zucchini bread recipe. This one was from Paula Deen, her Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread recipe.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread I followed the recipe as is. Except, (there it is again), I used mostly walnuts as opposed to pecans. Not sure why, but I am more favorable to walnuts over pecans. The bread turned out fantastically. Although it took about an hour for it to bake through, as opposed to 50 minutes (at least in my oven). Hubby really enjoyed it.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread What type of sweet bread do you like to bake?

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Cook and Tell – Three Cheese Lasagna

15 Dec

If you are a busy body, chances are you are always looking for ideas for nightly dinners for the family. Most likely you want a lot of bang for the time you spend cooking. Meaning, you want to get as many nightly dinners covered as possible for the time you spend preparing the meal.

I am sure this is no grand discovery for many of you but the biggest bang for the time involved is….drum roll please…. lasagna. It takes a little bit of effort, but once it’s all done, you’ve got at least 4 days of dinners. This just means that you’ve carved out 4 evenings of free time to be taken up by some other errands.

Now for the recipe of this time-saver dish. The Three Cheese Lasagna recipe came to me courtesy of Epicurious.com. Knowing me, you’re probably wondering, “how did she alter this recipe?”. I do confess, for some odd reason I couldn’t find the right kind of carrots when I was shopping for the required ingredients. What does one do in this situation? Well, I don’t know what one does, but I just left them out. The taste is still amazing, and every time I serve it, the hubby gives praises.

I serve it with a leafy greens salad, either on the bed of or on the side. In case you are curious, I mix the leafy greens with tomatoes, cucumbers, a bit of red onions and walnuts, tossed with either fat free balsamic vinaigrette or salt, black pepper and a little bit of vegetable oil. Now I present you, with a square of Three Cheese Lasagna on the bed of leafy greens salad (tossed with vegetable oil).

Three Cheese Lasagna

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Cook and Tell – Black Magic Favors

23 Nov

I am sure many of you have gone to events where you left with a party favor at the end. Everyone tries to be creative and leave you with something cute, memorable, personal, useful, etc. But what happens most of the time is that either the favors are left behind at the event or are forgotten in the back of a drawer. What’s never forgotten however, is food. Wouldn’t you agree?

With this in mind, I decided to take a chance and leave my guests with something sweet to remember the event by. Thank you Confessions of a Tart for the great idea.

What is better than a chocolaty, moist cupcake topped with cream cheese frosting? It may be gone fast, but it’ll remain in your memory forever.

Black Magic cupcake

These delicious, perfectly sized little black magic cupcakes are extremely easy to make. I was surprised myself how easy it was. I got the recipe for the cupcakes from Milk & Honey Cafe, and the cream cheese frosting from All Recipes.

The individually packaged portions are even figure friendly The cupcake boxescan be purchased on Amazon.com.

Individually packaged cupcakes

I would like to send a special thanks to Shrimpaholic for her support and help with this venture.

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Farfalle Casserole with Turkey and Mushrooms

02 Sep

So how does a woman occupy herself when her husband is away on a business trip? Well, I don’t know about everyone else, but I keep myself busy by cooking. It really makes the time fly by. I guess it’s true what they say…”time flies when you are having fun”.

I decided to experiment. There was defrosted ground turkey in the fridge, waiting to be included in a tasty dish. I looked around the kitchen and threw a few ingredients together, hoping they would come together into a delicious meal. Well, I have to say, the experiment was a success. It’s true, I am the only one that has tasted it so far, but there is plenty leftover for my husband to taste and confirm my opinion.

At this point I am sure you’re all wondering…”what did she end up doing with the turkey?” Let me start with what ingredients I scrounged up in my kitchen and threw into this dish.

Ingredients:
Ground turkey
Farfalle pasta
Mushrooms
Shallots
Fresh garlic
Marinara sauce
Dried basil
Dried parsley
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil

In terms of proportions, I pretty much eyeballed them all (I am sure you hate when I say that ).
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Cook the pasta based on standard pasta cooking instructions, until it is tender, drain and set aside. Slice the mushrooms and add them to the frying pan. Dice the shallots and garlic and add these ingredients to the mushrooms, mix well. Add ground turkey to the mushroom mix. Break up the meat and cook on medium heat until the meat is fully cooked through (no longer pink). Add marinara sauce to the turkey and mushrooms and mix well. Cook until the sauce is hot. Add the cooked pasta and combine all ingredients. Add basil, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix all ingredients together, cook until all ingredients are hot. Add fresh parsley and serve immediately.

So what does all this mixing look like? Well, feast your eyes on this…

Farfalle Turkey and Mushroom Casserole

I call this Farfalle Casserole with Turkey and Mushrooms. Just in case you need another look, here is a closer view

Farfalle Casserole with Turkey and Mushrooms

Farfalle Casserole With Turkey and Mushrooms

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In the Kitchen with…Lyuba (a.k.a. Lead Hot Chick with a Skillet)

23 Aug

You probably remember the first time I mentioned Hot Chicks with Skillets.

Chicks

Today, I’d like to introduce you to the Lead Hot Chick with a skillet, Lyuba. Lyuba shared with me some very delicious crab cakes, and I will share them with all of you.

To start, the following ingredients will be needed:
Eggs
Bread Crumbs
Mayonnaise
Canned Crab Meat
Coarse Ground Dijon Mustard
Ground Red Pepper
Ground Black Pepper
Fresh Parsley
Worcestershire sauce
Vegetable oil (for frying)

Ingredients

To make the the crab cakes, you’ll need to add the crab meat to a mixing bowl

Crab Meat

Add approximately a cup of bread crumbs to the crab meat

Bread Crumbs

Add a table spoon of mustard, approximately one and a half table spoons of mayonnaise, ground red pepper and worcestershire sauce to the crab meat and bread crumbs

Mustard, Mayonnaise, red pepper, worcestershire sauce

Chop and add parsley to the mix

Parsley

Add one raw egg

Egg

Mix all the ingredients together

Mix Ingredients

Add ground black pepper, and mix again

Add Black Pepper

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and spread additional bread crumbs on a baking sheet

Oil and Bread crumbs

Form the crab mixture into palm sized balls, roll the balls in bread crumbs and place in the frying pan. Slightly flatten the balls in the frying pan and fry, turning occasionally, until the crab cakes become golden brown.

Crab cakes

Of course I can’t finish this post without presenting to you the lovely chef and her fabulous crab cakes…

Chef and finished crab cakes

Lyuba, thank you for sharing your recipe for crab cakes. They were delicious, and I had a great time capturing the cooking process!

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Passover Berry Cobbler

11 Apr

Passover ended last week, so once again I am late with the holiday recipes. However, I look at it this way, some dishes are so tasty, that they should be eaten any time of the year, not just during the holidays.

During Passover I had to come up with a dessert that would be “Passover friendly”, as we had guests over that were observant. I had literally one day to come up with something that was very tasty and yet took no time to make. My first point of reference? The Food Network of course. Within minutes I found the perfect recipe. It requires a minimum amount of ingredients and was so easy to prepare. The Food Network’s Passover Cobbler.

I followed the recipe pretty closely, however I used frozen berries and frozen pitted cherries for the filling. I couldn’t find cinnamon sugar, so I picked up some cinnamon and mixed it with regular sugar. I would recommend using less of the cinnamon sugar mixture than the recipe recommends, as it still covers all the berries and the top of the cobbler. As for technique, I used a hand-held mixer to mix all the ingredients together. To make this cobbler you will need:

3 large eggs
3/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of matzo meal
2 tablespoons of potato starch
2 packages of frozen fruit (1.5 would also do)
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/8 cup of cinnamon sugar (I would use a bit less)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Break the eggs in a mixing bowl, add sugar and mix until smooth and well mixed together. Add matzo meal, potato starch and vegetable oil to the egg and sugar mixture and mix until fully combined.

Grease a pie dish or a deep baking pan and cover with frozen berries (make sure the bottom of the dish you choose is fully covered and not visible). Top the fruit with most of the cinnamon sugar mixture, and then pour all of the matzo mixture over the fruit. When pouring try to cover most of the fruit. Top with the rest of the cinnamon sugar mixture, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.

I made this cobbler three times in the last week, and it has come out fabulous every time (see what I mean about eating it any time of the year )

Passover Cobbler