Sunday morning waffles with lemon and blueberries
It’s been awhile since I posted a photo and recipe. Feels good to do it again.
This is adapted from Mark Bittman’s “Everyday Buttermilk Waffles” recipe found in the essential How to Cook Everything, mainly the addition of lemon and the use of greek yogurt instead of buttermilk.
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups 2% greek yogurt thinned with 1/2 cup skim milk
2 eggs, separated
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 lemon
Butter for greasing the waffle iron
Preparation:
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, milk, and egg yolks. Stir in butter and vanilla.
- Grate lemon zest into the wet mixture, then squeeze lemon juice into bowl.
- Brush the waffle iron with butter and heat it. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry. Beat the egg whites with a whisk or electric mixer until they hold soft peaks. Fold them gently into the batter. If the mixture seems too thick, add more milk or a dash of a neutral oil like grapeseed oil. The mixture should be loose enough to pour but still thick.
- Spread enough batter onto the waffle iron to barely cover it; bake until the waffle is done, 3 to 5 minutes, depending on your iron (mine takes 2 minutes). Serve immediately.
Caramelized Scallops with Bacon and Asparagus
This recipe is adapted from Scallops and Haricots Verts with Creamy Bacon Vinaigrettte.
Ingredients
6 slices thick-cut bacon
1 bunch of asparagus spears
1 pound sea scallops
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white wine
2 1/4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
6 tablespoons whipping cream
Salt, pepper, honey
Directions
Saute bacon strips in heavy large skillet over medium heat until brown and crisp. Using tongs, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Reserve skillet and drippings.
Boil a pot of salted water. The asparagus should only cook in the boiling water for a minute or so; taste it for the right crunchy consistency. Have a bowl of ice water ready to dunk the asparagus in once it is done, to stop the cooking after you remove it from water.
Heat drippings in reserved skillet over medium heat. Pat scallops dry, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle some honey on the top and bottom of the scallops. In no more than batches of 3 or 4, add the scallops to skillet and cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to plate, reserve skillet when finished.
Whisk vinegar, water, white wine, and mustard into drippings in reserved skillet. Boil over high heat until reduced by half, stirring frequently and scraping up browned bits, about 7 minutes. Stir in whipping cream; bring sauce to boil and reduce by half. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add bacon to asparagus and scallops, drizzle with sauce. Serve with a side of orzo.
Bacon, Avocado, Cherry Tomato, Walnut, and Goat Cheese salad
Dressed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a bit of the bacon grease from the pan (yeeeeeeeahhhhhh), salt, and pepper.
Dark Side of the Moon
I mixed orange juice with pomegranate juice. Tastes pretty good.
Red Snapper with Black Olives, Capers, and Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 25 black, salt-cured olives such as Gaeta or Kalamata, rinsed, pitted, and roughly chopped
- 2 1/2 teaspoons bottled capers, rinsed
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons red onion, finely diced
- 8 ripe plum tomatoes, cut into medium dice
- 10 large basil leaves, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 10 (6-ounce) red snapper fillets, skin on
- 1 cup canola oil
- 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
Preparation
In large bowl stir together olives, capers, red onion, tomatoes, basil, 3 tablespoons parsley, and olive oil. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and red pepper flakes, and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
Holding very sharp paring knife at 30-degree angle from fillets, cut 2 diagonal slits through skin and partially into flesh, making slits 1/2 inch apart.
In large heavy skillet over high heat, heat 1/3 cup canola oil until hot but not smoking. Working in 3 batches, sprinkle fillets with 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper and place skin-side down in hot pan. Saué until skin is rich golden brown, about 3 minutes, lowering heat if necessary to prevent burning. Turn fillets over and cook 3 minutes more. Transfer to platter and loosely cover with foil to keep warm. Cook remaining two batches in same manner, wiping pan clean between batches and starting with fresh oil for each batch.
After removing last batch of fish, pour lemon juice into pan and swirl around to combine with pan juices. Drizzle over fish, then sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup parsley. Garnish with tomato-olive mixture.
(source: Epicurious)
My notes: I was cooking for three, so I cut every ingredient by a third, but ended up adding extra red onion, kalamata olives, and capers. I should have added even more and more red pepper flakes and basil. I ended up cutting three slits per fish because the fish was too wide. And yes, you really do need a very sharp knife - the skin is tough!
Served with some organic brown rice. Tasty!
Real Irish Oatmeal
Since I was shamed by the foodie police this morning, here’s some real irish oatmeal (none of that instant crap) with some organic honey and strawberry preserves.
