Eggnog Waffles with Lavender Jelly

I have been tempted by this idea ever since I saw at least 3 eggnog waffle pics in the G+ stream over the holidays. Truth be told, no matter how much eggnog you add to the mix,  the eggnog taste won’t really come through in the waffles They’re still yummy though!

The interesting discovery here is using the jelly. I had a jar of Lavender jelly given to me as a xmas gift – so when heated it in the microwave, it becomes syrupy and you can pour it over the waffles instead of maple syrup. Just a couple of minutes later the syrup will become jelly-like again, and fill up the squares of the waffle nicely (not easy to see in this pic though)!

Topped with whipped cream and some nutmeg, and you’re sure to have a good morning!

Here’s the recipe for the waffles:

http://cookiemonstercooking.com/2012/12/05/eggnog-waffles-with-cinnamon-whipped-cream/

I usually think life is too short to make the same dish over and over instead of trying new recipes, but in this case it’s a good use of my taste buds’ time. This recipe I repeat a lot! The texture and flavor combination is unusual (bitter endives, kidney beans, and walnuts – oh my!) but remarkably delicious. The rosemary oil definitely makes a difference – don’t skip it.

smitten kitchen does it again 🙂

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/04/cauliflower-bean-and-feta-salad/

Office potluck time! It is truly an art to be able to make the perfect luncheon dish. What was once a hit, may be a miss … It depends what others bring too, where on the table spread you put it. Oh my gosh – the factors are many and complex 😉 Anyways, here’s the Peanut Butter Pie I brought this year. Everyone likes a Snickers, right? So this has chocolate and caramel etc, and a cookie crust to boot. Lukewarm reception The Red Velvet cake won again. Still looking for that super potluck sensation recipe. Recommendations are welcome!

SIdeshot: https://goo.gl/photos/w1TMoPDfGkYk6NT57

Recipe here:

http://www.meals.com/recipe/peanut-butter-cream-cheese-pie-131210

Mastic Pudding Trifle

Ok, this is such an oddball dessert – completely made-up with only a unifying theme – Turkish and Greek style ingredients. Trifle is also such a lazy way to group ingredients- you don’t have to worry about shape and consistency too much – the glass does that 😉

Here are the layers:

*mastic and pistachio milk pudding – 4 cups milk + 1 cup heavy cream with a cup of sugar, 3 tablespoons of Sarantis mastic paste, pistachio flavoring, 2 tablespoons of coconut flour and 4 tablespoons of cornstarch

*semolina, pine nut, coconut sugar crumble – a roux of these ingredients baked in a 375F oven until crunchy

*peach poached in rose water syrup – fresh peaches boiled in sugary syrup for 10 minutes; splash of rosewater essence added at the end

*pistachio brittle “abstract art” – caramelized sugar poured over chopped pistachios

The end result is indeed a Mediterranean medley of flavors, but most importantly – this led me to learn a bit more about mastic – which has to be one of the most romantic ingredients!

Mastic are the aromatic tears of the Pistacia lentiscus trees on the Chios island in Greece – used in the past as chewing gum: 

a French visitor to the island in the 15th century,  wrote that: “The [women of the  Turkish sultan’s harem] consume the greatest part of the mastic that goes to the palace. All morning they sit and chew on an empty stomach to make time pass and to sweeten their breath.…”

http://www.icookgreek.com/en/meet-the-greeks/item/mastic-a-well-travelled-dreamlike-aroma-from-chios

Black Bean Burger & Toston Slider

Mini burgers on tostones (green plantain) buns have been a popular thing around here lately (reference: http://pinchofactory.com/toston-burger-cooked-live-on-the-today-show-on-march-25/). I decided to reproduce, but I admit  – it’s not that easy to pull off. It probably will take a couple of iterations before my tostones come out crispy enough. This is a vegetarian black bean and  mushroom mini burger, topped with crema (cream cheese and sour cream) with some chimichurri sauce. Granted this is hard to eat without getting messy, but it is a sound alternative to meat/bread. Of course, there is the omni-present guacamole as the base of the slider.

By the way – this is how you make tostones: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/16768/puerto-rican-tostones-fried-plantains/

Matcha crepe cake

I have seen some recipes which call for a combination of matcha and almond cream, so I decided to make a similar crepe cake. It is confirmed  – matcha and almond-flavored cream go very nicely together. The process to layer this darn thing though – painful. And when you see a photo of a crepe cake with even layers, express respect to its maker, because keeping the filling equal is no easy task: see what I mean: https://goo.gl/photos/S4L22VoELZUyjADE7

For the crepes – just add a teaspoon or two of matcha powder to your sweetened batter. The cream is whipped heavy cream with powdered sugar, a tub of mascarpone and lots of almond flavoring. The cake is assembled after the crepes cool down.

Barley Risotto with Marinated Feta Cheese and Roasted Eggplant

This recipe is from the monumental cookbook “Jerusalem” by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi, a book which draws Jerusalem as the capital of delicious food.

The barley risotto is rich – it simmers in stock, tomatoes, garlic, celery, thyme and smoked paprika, and is topped with feta marinated in live oil and dry roasted caraway seeds. I added the eggplant because I feared it would be too plain, but I was wrong – it doesn’t need any help (although the combo of barley, feta, tomatoes and eggplant is heavenly all around)! Topped with chopped homegrown Cuban oregano, and eaten lukewarm… and you’ve got layers and layers of flavor.

In fact, barley with tomatoes could be the base of many creative dishes – I can see it paired with mushrooms, roasted peppers, ground beef, artichokes, chorizo, olives, you name it…

So yeah – Jerusalem: A Cookbook is highly recommended. It also contains the secret to making smooth hummus (pssst: it is baking soda).

Recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/barley-risotto-with-marinated-feta-513754

Broccoli Tots

This looks like such a goody-two-shoes recipe, but it’s flavorful, satisfying and oh-so-adult, especially when you double the dose of parmesan and onions, and substitute the ketchup with ranch dip 😉

http://gimmedelicious.com/2015/05/17/healthy-baked-broccoli-tots/

Thanks to Mz Maau​ for posting.

Banana Halwa

Diwali is long gone, but I can still make this Indian halwa pudding as a belated celebration. This reminds me of a Bulgarian dessert they stuffed us with in kindergarten called grits-halwa made with yes, grits, syrup and raisins (mostly even without raisins). This commie-era plain dessert was hated by kids throughout the nation, however this here version  is everything grits halwa is not – fragrant, nutritious, fruity, rich. The ghee soaked cashews absolutely raise it to a higher level. I have forgiven the ladies working in the kindergarten cantina long ago for making otherwise great food bland and despicable – so I am on a mission to find redeeming recipes like this 🙂

This gem popped here on G+ – https://plus.google.com/108430928278027704760/posts/NzQuRdkiYra posted by Puneet Jabbal