Waffles

As with my new crock pot, I decided this week to give my new waffle maker a try. Overall, I was satisfied with the results and the waffles tasted light and fluffy, though I still need to work on figuring out the right amount of batter per batch. These waffles can be topped with fresh berries if desired, or just good ol' maple syrup, which is what I used.

Waffles
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse's "There's a Chef in My Family" 
2-4 servings (depending on how many waffles people want)

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup milk
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.

2. Separate eggs. There are three ways to do this, all require extreme gentleness, as you do not want to get any yolk mixed in with the whites. First, you can gently crack the egg along the side and over a clean bowl gently transfer the yolk between both egg shell halves until the white is completely separated and in the bowl below. Second, you can again gently crack the egg along the side and over a clean bowl gently transfer the egg to your hand, with fingers slightly separated, allowing the white to fall between them into the bowl while still holding onto the yolk without breaking it - the key is not to break the yolk. Or third, you can gently crack the egg along the side and open into a special store bought egg separator - my mother has one of these at home, but I find it to be more of a hassle than it's worth. I usually do a combination of options one and two. With each egg make sure to crack it over a new bowl and later combine the whites, since you don't want the possibility of the second egg yolk breaking and contaminating all the whites below. I would offer some helpful photos, but as I work alone in the kitchen and only have two hands, you'll have to make due with this tutorial video from Good Housekeeping.

3. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar, until the sugar is completely dissolved in the yolks.

4. Add the milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract to the egg yolk mixture and whisk to combine.

5. Add the egg yolk mixture to the flour mixture and whisk just until blended. Do not overmix!

6. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks begin to form.

7. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the waffle batter. Do not overmix! For more on folding, see this helpful demo (plus bonus recipe!).

 8. Preheat waffle iron and coat with cooking spray. My waffle iron heats up in roughly 1-2 minutes, but if yours takes longer, preheat it earlier in the recipe.

9. Once waffle iron is heated, pour enough batter in the iron to just cover waffle grids. As this was my first time using this particular waffle iron, I had a bit of trouble gauging how much batter to use...

Hello overflow!

10. Close waffle iron and cook until golden brown, roughly 2-4 minutes, depending on your waffle iron. Repeat cooking with remaining batter. You also might need to spray the waffle iron between batches with cooking spray to prevent the waffles from sticking.

11. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info per Serving (I got 4 double waffles out of this batter and had 2 double waffles for a serving, so this batch made 2 servings of waffles):
Calories 470; Total Fat 17g; Cholesterol 251mg; Sodium 697mg; Total Carbs 59g; Protein 18g

Macaroni & Cheese

Like most people, when I crave mac & cheese, I normally go for the dried box variety, and why not, it's both cheap and filling, perfect for a grad student on a budget. However, I decided the other day (in an effort to forestall doing work) that I wanted to try my hand at homemade mac & cheese. I was a bit apprehensive at first, as all my previous encounters with homemade mac & cheese left me less than satisfied, usually due to a gritty texture in the cheese sauce. This however, did not happen with this recipe, so I present it to you now as a quick and easy alternative to the dried packaged variety.

Macaroni & Cheese
Adapted from Betty Crocker "Heart Health Edition Cookbook"
2 servings

Ingredients:
3.5 oz uncooked elbow macaroni
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp Worcestershire sauce (this really adds an extra something to the dish)
1 cup milk
3 oz sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

 1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

2. Cook and drain macaroni.

3. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth.

4. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute, then remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted.

5. Stir macaroni into cheese sauce. Pour into ungreased bread pan, or other small casserole dish.

6. Bake uncovered 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.

The longer you let it cook, the thicker the sauce will become.

7. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info per Serving:
Calories 488; Total Fat 23g; Cholesterol 69mg; Sodium 659mg; Total Carbs 49g; Protein 23g

Crock Pot Beef Stew

Every year I have a post-Thanksgiving holiday tradition - black Friday shopping. But, let me clarify, I'm not one of those people who waits in line at midnight; nothing I'm interested in buying is that important to miss out on sleep and stand in line in the freezing cold. Instead, I go shopping Friday afternoon, after all the crazies have gone to bed, and to observe the carnage (as my brother likes to call it). Usually I'm just looking for household goods and clothes on sale, and possibly some Christmas gifts for family and friends. This year I think I did pretty well, scoring both a crock pot and waffle maker for $8 each at Target. While these aren't name-brand items, after testing them both, I can say they work perfectly fine for my needs. Bellow is the first recipe I made in my little crock pot (it's only 1.5 quarts) and it came out tasting delicious and made my whole apartment smell wonderful!

Crock Pot Beef Stew
Adapted from the Crock Pot "Recipe Collection"
3 servings

Ingredients:
1/8 cup plus 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 lb beef for stew, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/3 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 small onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 oz carrots, peeled and chopped (I used baby carrots, since they were on hand, but I imagine big carrots would be much easier to work with!)
1/8 cup chicken broth
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp water

 1. Combine 1/8 cup flour, salt, and pepper in gallon sized resealable plastic bag.

2. Add the beef. Close and shake bag to coat beef.

3. Heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add beef to brown.

4. Place beef in 1.5 quart crock pot.

5. Add remaining ingredients, except 1/2 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp water. Stir well. Cover and cook on high 4-6 hours.

6. An hour before serving, combine 1/2 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp water in a small bowl. Stir until mixture becomes a paste. Stir mixture into stew, mixing well. Cover and cook until thickened.

7. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info per Serving:
Calories 421; Total Fat 19g; Cholesterol 100mg; Sodium 560mg; Total Carbs 29g; Protein 33g

Breakfast Sausage Patties

Breakfast Sausage Patties
Adapted from the American Girls "Kristen's Cook Book"
5 servings

Ingredients:
1lb lean ground pork
1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp plus a pinch of cloves
1/8 tsp plus a pinch of ginger

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.

2. Using an ice cream scoop, divide the mixture into 10 equal portions.

3. Roll each portion into a ball and flatten to make a patty.

As you can see, I had some extra mixture left over that I turned into a mini patty.

4. Heat frying pan over medium heat and preheat oven to 300F degrees. Cook four patties at a time, roughly 3-4 minutes per side until golden brown.

5. Once both sides are browned, transfer to baking sheet. Bake until pork is fully cooked and juices run clear.

6. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info per Serving:
Calories 161; Total Fat 9g; Cholesterol 56mg; Sodium 181mg; Total Carbs 0g; Protein 18g

Blueberry Pie

Based on three different recipes, this blueberry pie is perfectly sweet and juicy, and adds a nice pop of color to any holiday dessert offering. Please note though, if you use the streusel topping, make sure to eat the pie the same day it is baked! Otherwise, the juices from the pie will eventually overcome the topping, leading to a still delicious, but less than appealing looking purplish-blue mixture.

Blueberry Pie
Adapted from Betty Crocker "Baking Basics"
12 servings

Ingredients:
Pastry crust for 9 inch single crust pie
6 cups unsweetened frozen blueberries, thawed and drained
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cold butter
Streusel topping

1. Preheat oven to 425F degrees.

2. Prepare pastry crust. Roll the pastry into the pie dish. Trim and set aside.

 3. In a large bowl, mix the sugar, flour, and cinnamon.

4. Stir in the blueberries.

5. Spoon blueberry mixture into pie dish.

6. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over the pie, along with the lemon juice. Cut the butter into small pieces and sprinkle over pie as well.

7. Cover pie with streusel topping.

 8. Bake 30-45 minutes, or until topping is golden brown and pie juice begins to bubble.

9. Cool on a cooling rack at least 2 hours.

You can see here that the pie juices are already beginning to overtake the streusel topping.

10. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info per Serving (not including pastry crust or streusel topping)
Calories 172; Total Fat 2g; Cholesterol 3mg; Sodium 2mg; Total Carbs 41g; Protein 1g

Streusel Topping

This is a great simple topping for berry pies.

Streusel Topping
Adapted from "American Desserts"
Makes enough topping for one 9 inch pie

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar (original recipe called for dark brown sugar, but I don't keep that on hand)
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pea-sized bits

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar.

2. Work in the butter with your hands until the mixture looks mealy and lumpy, but is not sticky. To get this consistency, it is best to work with cold butter.

3. Keep in a cool place until ready to use.

4. When ready to use, spoon generously over pie filling, making sure to completely cover the filling.

5. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info for Streusel Topping:
Calories 1411; Total Fat 69g; Cholesterol 183mg; Sodium 29mg; Total Carbs 188g; Protein 17g

Apple Pie

As an apple lover, this is my all-time favorite pie. A staple at my family holiday functions, it's deceptively simple to make.

Apple Pie
Adapted from "The Williamsburg Cookbook"
12 servings

Ingredients:
Pastry crust for 9 inch double crust pie
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
6-8 tart apples, I used 2 Granny Smith, 2 Red Delicious, & 3 Macintosh (if you use these, the pie will be juicy!), though the original recipe calls for Rome Beauty apples
Sprinkle of lemon juice (optional)
2 tbsp unsalted butter

1. Preheat oven to 425F degrees.

2. Prepare pastry crust. Roll the pastry for the bottom crust into the pie dish. Set aside. Cover pastry for top crust while preparing the filling to keep it moist.

3. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

4. Peel, core, and slice the apples.

5. Add the sliced apples to the dry ingredients and mix to coat.

Feel free to taste-test!

6. Place the apples in the pie dish, making sure to spread them out as evenly as possible.

7. Sprinkle with lemon juice and dot with the butter.

8. Roll top crust over the pie. Since I used Macintosh apples in my pie, I next fold over the edges of the top and bottom crust together to help seal the pie tightly shut, so that the juices will not bake out completely while in the oven. Use a fork to crimp the edges shut and pierce the crust to allow for venting.

9. Use aluminum foil to cover the edges of the crust. I would also suggest placing the pie on a baking sheet (or pizza tray), so that if any juices overflow they won't burn in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.

 10. After 30 minutes, remove aluminum foil and continue baking, roughly 20-30 minutes, until the crust is a nice golden brown.

11. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info per Serving (not including crust):
Calories 147; Total Fat 2g; Cholesterol 5mg; Sodium 25mg; Total Carbs 35g; Protein 0g

Pastry Crust

The period from Thanksgiving to New Years is my favorite time of the year. During this long month of holiday festivities I attempt to do as much baking as possible, both as stress relief (it's also the period when all my major papers are due!) and as a way to share my love of good food with friends and family. My real passion for baking homemade pies began with this pastry crust mix, one of the simplest and easiest to use recipes I have ever found. While I have experimented with others, I always keep coming back to this one.

Pastry Crust
Adapted from "The Williamsburg Cookbook"
Makes roughly 4 cups pastry crust mix

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 cup shortening
Ice water

 1. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients together.

2. Cut in shortening, either with knives or a pastry blender, until the mixture is of a pebbly consistency.

Shown here is the pastry blender technique, for using knives, see my comments on making chocolate chip scones.

3. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator until needed.

4. When needed, use the following amounts depending on the pie being made:

8 inch pie - single crust (1 1/4 cups); double crust (2 1/4 cups)

9 inch pie - single crust (1 1/2 cups); double crust (2 1/2 cups)

10 inch pie - single crust (1 3/4 cups); double crust 2 3/4 cups)

5. Moisten the required pastry mix with enough ice water to hold dough together when pushed lightly with a fork.

6. If making a double crust, divide dough in half. 

7. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface.

8. Transfer dough to the baking dish. This is best done by using a rolling pin, as shown below.

9. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info per Cup:

Calories 778; Total Fat 48g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 605mg; Total Carbs 71g; Protein 12g