Buttermilk Waffles

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Since we were married (26 years ago), I have owned two waffle makers, both Belgian style. Unless they are for dessert, I dislike Belgian waffles -- too high of a middle to edge ratio. I like a nice crisp waffle and when my Belgian waffle died a few months ago I looked for a waffle iron that produced a flat waffle, but could not find one I was willing to splurge on. A couple weeks ago I finally found one -- this variety (which I got for quite a bit less at Amazon). We have enjoyed waffles most every Sunday morning since it arrived, and my children are delighted.

I use the Buttermilk Waffle recipe found in my King Arthur Flour cookbook and it is really just perfect, crispy on the outside, soft in the middle, slightly tangy and buttery. Yum. Many waffle recipes have you beat the whites separate from the yolks, but this one does not, which makes it nice and easy for breakfast. You can have it whipped up and have steamy waffles baking in your iron in no time.

Buttermilk Waffles

2 large eggs
1 3/4 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
2 t. vanilla
2 c. unbleached pastry flour OR 1 3/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour (I use all-purpose)
2 T. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1 t. soda
1 t. salt
1/2 c. pecan meal (optional -- I do not use for allergy reasons)

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter or margarine and vanilla. In another bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Combine the wet and dry ingredients just until almost smooth.

Spray your waffle iron with a non-stick cooking spray before preheating it. For an 8-inch round waffle iron, use about 1/3 cup batter. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the iron stops steaming. Yield: about ten 8-inch waffles.

Source: King Arthur flour cookbook

Artisan Bread

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I've mentioned in my last few menu posts that I've been using the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook and I love it.

Truly, if you have not ever made bread at home, and you'd like to, you should use this book. Even if you are an experienced bread-maker, you will find this book to be of great value. I have been making bread for more than 25 years and I never dreamed it could be this easy.

Five minutes a day. Do you know how many "five minutes" you waste in a day? Even really busy people can find five minutes. Of course, that does not include bake time, or rest time, just hands-on time. You do, of course, have to be home for rest time and bake time, but you can be busy doing other things, or just wasting time. ;-)

I am posting the recipe to the Master Recipe because the authors of the book were generous enough to post it at their website. You can use the Master Recipe to make several kinds of bread, including a baguette, a batard, or my boule, pictured above. They have lots of articles on their website, so check it out and see all the great methods they have to show you.

There is a short list of equipment that the authors recommend. I looked into a stone before I made my first loaf and found it to be too pricey for a test drive with this bread method. Maybe somewhere down the line I'll buy one, but I've had success multiple times with this recipe and a cookie sheet, so I'm in no hurry. I plan to try it with my cast iron griddle, as well.

I also found I didn't need a pizza peel. I used my handled wooden cutting board, sprinkled with corn meal, and it worked fine. I might have trouble getting a baguette off the board (or completely on the cutting board), but there's more than one way to skin a cat. I did, however, purchase lidded plastic tubs for storing the dough. I had no lidded plastic containers large enough to hold one recipe, and I bought two so that I can keep two recipes going at once.



If you are unsure of your own ability, or even think you have nothing to gain from reading the book, check it out at your local library before you take the plunge. I think you'll like it.

Master Recipe
3 1-pound loaves

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3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 T. granulated yeast

1 1/2 T. kosher or other coarse salt

6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Cornmeal for the pizza peel

On mixing day: Mix all ingredients, except cornmeal, with a spoon in a food-safe bucket. Let it rise at room temperature for 2 to 5 hours, then into the fridge for up to two weeks.

On baking day: Sprinkle dough with flour and cut off a piece of dough, about the size of a grapefruit. Adding only as much flour as you need to keep it from sticking to your hands, shape the dough into a ball (watch video at link below). Place on cornmeal-covered pizza peel (or use something else in your kitchen that you think might work, as I did).


Rest for 40 minutes (the bread -- not you). Twenty minutes before baking time heat oven to 450 degrees F. Place an empty broiler tray (or other old sided pan) on the rack below the rack you intend to use for your bread. If you are using a stone, place it in the oven. I placed my cookie sheet in the oven to get it hot.

Dust the loaf with flour and slash the top (mine is a scallop -- you can do anything you like) with a sharp knife. After the oven preheats, quickly slide the loaf off the peel onto the stone or pan. Carefully pour about 1 cup of water into the broiler pan and close oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool completely before slicing (I know it's hard, but do it anyway -- offer it up).


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You can watch the author form a boule on this video. You wouldn't want to use as much flour with the dough unless it was wet (as he describes), and ultimately he makes a pita with the dough, so if you want a ball, stop after he makes the ball.

Two Winning Sides

Last night's dinner was a huge hit with my family. When my youngest son said, "Mom, you have to make this broccoli more often," I almost choked on my own food! My high-schooler ate seconds of both sides, and there was actually no broccoli leftover -- unheard of in my house! Of course, both dishes had a bit of heat in them (and no one needed extra Tabasco), so I shouldn't be so surprised. The fact that it was a simple-to-prepare meal made it even better.

My meat dish was barbecued pork tenderloin -- a dish so simple you don't even need a recipe. When I brought my pork home from the store (a vacuum sealed pouch with two pork tenderloins inside), I removed them from the store packaging, placed them in a ziploc freezer bag, added about a cup of our favorite bottled BBQ sauce and about a teaspoon of garlic powder, sealed it up and froze it. It marinated while it was freezing and while it was thawing, so when it was grilled, it was tender and tasty.






This recipe is one that I created -- a spicy, roasted broccoli. The Italians use the word arrabiata, meaning angry, for very spicy foods, usually sauce. With the addition of crushed red pepper to my broccoli florets, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice when it's done, I created an angry broccoli that my kids inhaled!

Broccoli Arrabiata
serves 4-6

1 head fresh broccoli, rinsed, trimmed and cut into florets
cooking spray
1 T. light olive oil or canola oil
1 t. crushed red pepper
2 T. fresh lemon juice
salt to taste

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place broccoli in a bowl and drizzle with oil. Toss with crushed red pepper.
Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.
Arrange broccoli on sheet and place in center of oven.
Cook for 15 minutes, stir and rearrange. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes longer, until broccoli is fork tender.
Place broccoli in serving bowl.
Drizzle with fresh lemon juice and salt to taste.

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This recipe was a creative use of barley that I found in the American Heart Association's Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook (creative title, eh?). Personally, I love barley, and I thought the use of cumin in the recipe would entice my family. Peach said it was the best thing she ever ate (maybe a little bit of an exaggeration), but the boys and Doug really liked it, too. It could hardly have been easier. I used long-cooking barley, which needs to cook for about 45 minutes, but the recipe calls for quick-cooking, so adjust if you use long-cooking. I also adjusted the recipe for 6 servings, and since most of my readers have large families, I am posting the adjustment below. You can find the original recipe (along with all the others in the book) here. I omitted the pecans because of nut allergies, but I think they would be very tasty -- as would chopped pistachios or sliced almonds.

Carrot and Barley Pilaf
6 servings

2 c. low-fat chicken broth (I actually used half chicken, half vegetable)
1 c. uncooked quick-cooking barley
1 t. olive oil
3 carrots, cleaned and shredded
3 green onions, sliced
3 T. toasted pecans, chopped
3/4 t. cumin
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper

Heat the broth in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in barley. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes, until liquid is absorbed and barley is tender. Remove from heat, let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a small skillet over medium high heat. Add carrots, onions and cumin, cooking for a few minutes until carrots are tender-crisp. Add vegetables to barley and stir with a fork. Salt and pepper and top with pecans or other nuts.

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Turkey Cutlets with Avocado Salsa

This dish was really as good as it looks. Doesn't it look good -- all those gorgeous colors together? I told you I was only going to share the heart healthy dishes that I would eat even if I was not watching my fats and cholesterol. This dish would be a keeper even if I could eat anything I wanted. The turkey breast is really just the canvas for the bright, yummy flavors of the salsa. It's tender, cooked quickly in a pan, and kids like it because it has no strong flavors. All my kids liked this which was kind of surprising to me. My high school boy ate three servings because there was plenty.

The recipe called for using turkey cutlets, but they are sort of impractical with a largish family. Instead I bought a package of two turkey tenderloins (the white breast meat, no bones) and sliced it crosswise into smallish cutlets. There was plenty and it was much less expensive than buying several packages of cutlets. I made the salsa as directed, except I used a whole avocado instead of a half. Since I was splitting it among five, I felt justified. Besides, Peach eats enough avocado for two people.

The recipe came from Women Heart's All Heart Family Cookbook. The nutritional information given with the recipe is no longer accurate with the use of the tenderloins and the extra half an avocado, but I will tell you that it had 5 g monounsaturated fat and 1 g. polyunsaturated fat, with a total of 8 g all together -- good numbers for a meat dish. The avocado, tomatoes, scallions and olive oil are all really good for you, too.

Turkey Cutlets and Avocado Salsa
serves 5-6

1 c. grape tomatoes, quartered
1 avocado, halved, pitted, and chopped
4 scallions, chopped
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
juice of half a lime
½ t. ground cumin
2 turkey tenderloins (about 1.5 pounds), cut crosswise
salt and black pepper

In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes, avocado, scallions, 1 T. olive oil, lime juice, and cumin. Salt to taste. Set aside.

The easiest way to chop an avocado: cut avocado in half; pull out the pit. With a knife, make a grid in the avocado by cutting into the flesh perpendicular to the skin, cutting all the way to the skin, but not through.

Then take a spoon and scoop out the flesh, running the spoon between the skin and the flesh.

Season the turkey pieces with the salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet with 1 T. oil and spread oil with a paper towel to coat the pan. Add half of the cutlets and cook, turning once, for 3 minutes, or until browned and no longer pink.


Remove to a plate and repeat with remaining cutlets. Top with the reserved avocado mixture.

Served with Peppered Couscous and Cumin Roasted Cauliflower.

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Original recipe can be seen here. Source: Women Heart's All Heart Family Cookbook

Chocolate Revel Bars

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Margaret, a very dear long-distance friend, recently sent me a lovely cookbook for my birthday. I have said before that "collection" cookbooks are some of my favorites because each person who contributes always gives their best, their favorite. I just love spending time looking through them because they reveal so much about the community that contributes to them. This one is especially lovely to look through because many of the dishes appear to be regional favorites. The book was published by St. Anthony Catholic Church in Mooretown, North Dakota, and many of the recipes, at first glance, appear to be ethnic -- German, French and Polish is my guess. I also noticed that a full third of the book is desserts -- those are my kind of people!

The first recipe that I chose to make, mostly because of ingredient availability (and a hankerin' for something chocolate) were the Chocolate Revel Bars. They also happen to be Margaret's sister's recipe! They were fabulous. I admit that I was somewhat stumped about halfway through the recipe, when I couldn't figure out what to do with the filling (I'm lost without pictures, folks!). But I remembered that I had seen this same recipe in one of my older Betty Crocker cookbooks. I checked and saw that I was supposed to melt them all together -- I'm a little thick sometimes.

This recipe makes a buttload of bars (pardon me, but it really is a unit of measure -- it's a lot). You may be tempted to hide them in the pantry and eat them for breakfast before the kids get up (even though they have three cups of oatmeal in them, they are not breakfast food). They are very rich, and I'm sure very fattening. So make sure you have someplace to take them. I wrapped a good half of the pan and sent them with Doug to work. I cut mine into 30 large bars, but you could easily get more than 50 if you cut them smaller.

Chocolate Revel Bars

1 c. butter or margarine (I used butter)
2 c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
2-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
3 c. oatmeal (I used quick-cooking rolled oats)
15 oz. sweetened condensed milk (my can was 14 oz.)
12-oz. package chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)
2 T. butter
1/2 t. vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Mix in eggs and first measure of vanilla. Add flour, soda and salt. Stir in oatmeal and mix to combine.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine 2 T. butter, sweetened condensed milk, and chocolate chips. Heat on high in microwave for a minute, remove and stir. Heat again, for 30 seconds at a time, until completely melted. (This step could also be done over low heat on the stove). Stir in second measure of vanilla.

Press two-thirds of the oat mixture into the bottom of a greased and floured 15 x 10 jelly roll pan. Spread chocolate mixture over the oat mixture. Using your fingers, dot remaining oat mixture over the chocolate (I think I probably used less than 2/3 on the bottom and I had an abundance of topping -- it was all good).
Bake in a 350 degree F oven about 20-25 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

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Chocolate Chip Cherry Scones

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I've been trying so many yummy recipes lately, and have had so much success, that I have loads of pictures on my computer, all waiting their turn. Are you tired of seeing new posts here? I hope not, because for at least another couple days I have lots to share.

I realize I've been sharing lots of chicken lately, so this evening I'm sharing baked goods. If you could stop over, I'd brew a pot of decaf and we could share in real life.

But, if you can't stop by for real, then you'll have to make your own.

This recipe is modified from Beth Hensperger's The Best Quick Breads. I picked it up at the library and had a good time just browsing through it one night in front of the TV. The book is not too glamorous to look through (no pictures) but has a great store of yummy-looking, not-too-complex bread recipes. There's a whole section on scones and soda breads, which is why I picked it from the shelves and shelves of great cookbooks at my library -- I'm in the mood for scones.

If I could wake up to these scones and hot black coffee every morning of my life, I would never complain about anything ever again.

O.k. Maybe not ever again, but I would be very happy, I tell ya.


They are a basic scone -- light, mildly crumbly, slightly sweet, and with two of my favorite flavors, cherries and chocolate. Heaven.

P.S. That's not my Buckeye mug!

Chocolate Chip Cherry Scones

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. oats
1/4 c. light brown sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. cream of tartar
1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
5 T. cold butter (place in the freezer for about 10 minutes)
1 egg
3/4 c. buttermilk
1 1/4 t. vanilla
1/2 c. dried tart cherries (halve or quarter with kitchen shears)
1/2 c. milk chocolate chips



Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with baking spray.

Place flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt in a medium-large bowl. With a hand grater, grate butter into the flour mixture on the large holes. Stop periodically to remove butter from the back of the grater and toss into the flour. Toss flour and butter with a fork.

Add cherries and chocolate chips. In a 2-cup measuring cup, add egg to buttermilk and break up with a fork. Add vanilla. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture and stir gently until dough holds together. You may find it necessary to add another tablespoon or two of buttermilk, if dough is too dry.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead just a few times until dough holds together. Cut dough in half and form two circles, about 1-inch thick. Place circles on baking sheet and using a knife (bench knife or sharp knife) cut each round into 6 triangular wedges. Push each wedge apart from the others so they don't touch. Sprinkle with table sugar, if desired.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve immediately or cool and freeze in freezer bags.

(To reheat from the freezer, bake for 5 to 8 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven.)

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Hungarian Coffee Cake

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Some of my favorite cookbooks look like this:


The cover is dirty and the pages are bent and when I flip through it, my fingers just stop at my favorite recipes. I put this cookbook together seven or eight years ago when Doug's brother got married. I requested recipes from all of their family and then copied them and bound them with kitchen twine. Quaint but priceless. I've done it a few times since for other new brides and I enjoy all of them.

This recipe is on one of those pages my fingers skip to. I've made it over and over. Yesterday I made it for a friend who had surgery last week, and sent it over with a pound of my favorite brew.

It's a very basic coffee cake, can be eaten for breakfast or dessert, but is one you will go back to for its richness (butter and sour cream) and flavor combination (cinnamon, vanilla, butter, nuts). If you don't usually make cake from scratch, give it a try. I guarantee it's almost as easy as a box mix, but so much better tasting. The recipe came from Doug's Aunt Nancy, and don't ask me why it's Hungarian -- sorry, no idea.

Hungarian Coffee Cake

1 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. brown sugar (not packed)
1/4 c. chopped walnuts or pecans*
1 c. butter, softened
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 c. sour cream
2 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour a 13 x 9 pan or a Bundt pan.

Combine cinnamon, brown sugar and nuts. Reserve.

Cream butter and sugar.
Add eggs and beat well.
Add vanilla and sour cream and mix.
Add flour and baking powder and beat for a minute or so until well combined.
Spread half of batter into prepared pan.
Sprinkle half of nut mixture over batter (try to avoid getting sugar against the pan).
Spread remaining batter over nut mixture.
Sprinkle remaining nut mixture over the top.
Bake for 45 to 60 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
Do not overbake.
If using a Bundt pan,
cool for 10 minutes in pan and then turn out onto a rack or plate.
Cool completely.

I sprinkle it with a little powdered sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

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* When I make this for my family or to take to a pot luck,
I omit the nuts for allergy reasons.
It's fine without, but divine with.


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Hearty Beef Stew

I've been trying quite a few new recipes lately to create a collection of lower fat recipes I can turn to more frequently, especially now that we're dealing with reflux in the family. I recently finished reading a book on reflux, which not only explained the disease, but also offered a lot of really good recipes.

Many of the recipes in the book (Eating for Acid Reflux) are not kid friendly, but one I tried on Sunday was very family friendly. And regardless of the fact that it's lower in fat, it is a keeper recipe -- it kicked the pants off my old recipe.

I used 2 lbs of stew meat, and trimmed the fat even more than the butcher. I probably ended up with a little more than a pound and a half. I cooked this recipe longer than the book recommended, because I like my stew meat to be very tender, and the vegetables soft (but not mushy). We omitted the turnips, but only because I'm the only one who eats them and I could only find a bag of them at the grocer. The only gripe I had about the recipe was that the liquid was too much (the recipe called for 8 cups). I thickened it with cornstarch and water and made boatloads of gravy, but it was just too much to begin with. I will reduce it to 6 cups in the future and probably still thicken it (I've written that in the recipe below).

I served it with Spoon Bread from "Cooking Light." The recipe is here -- it was wonderful.

Hearty Beef Stew
8 servings

1 1/2 to 2 pounds stew meat, cut in 1-inch pieces
1/2 c. flour
3 T. olive oil
1 t. garlic minced
2 T. tomato paste
2 t. dried thyme
2 t. salt (or less to taste)
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. dried parsley
6 c. low-sodium beef broth
1 c. chopped celery
2 cups 1-inch carrot chunks
2 cups 1-inch turnip chunks
2 bay leaves
6 cups 2-inch russet potato chunks, peeled
1 T. cornstarch (to thicken if necessary)

Dredge meat in flour and pat to remove extra flour.
Heat half the oil in large pot 0ver medium-high heat.
Add half the meat and cook to brown lightly.
Remove the meat, add the remaining oil,
and cook remaining meat until lightly browned.
Put all meat back in pot.

Add garlic, tomato paste, thyme, salt, Worcestershire,
parsley and broth to the pot; stir well.
Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer.
Cook, covered, stirring occasionally,
for one hour.

After one hour, add vegetables and simmer until
vegetables are very tender, about an hour.

If stew is too juicy, stir 1 T. cornstarch into 3 T. cold water and stir.
Bring stew to a bubble and add half of cornstarch liquid to stew.
Stir until thickened and if stew is still too juicy,
add the remaining cornstarch mixture.

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Hot Fudge Sauce - or Hot Cocoa As The Case May Be

I've been meaning to write a little bit about one of my favorite budget-booster cookbooks. While the title doesn't thrill me all that much (who wants to be known as miserly?) Miserly Meals by Jonni McCoy is a great help in any kitchen. I suppose you could say it's a cookbook only for scrimpers, but I don't know anyone who isn't pinching pennies in one way or another. We all know that the bill collectors won't take a penny less than they are owed, but frankly we can always squeeze a few more groceries out of our dollars. Food is just the one place in the budget that flexes.

Anyway, back to my story. I was meaning to write about this book and maybe even sneak in a recipe or two, when I got up this morning to fix my men breakfast, and I grabbed the milk and my jar of chocolate sauce out of the fridge. I don't usually make them hot beverages because they're always pressed for time and you just can't gulp down a cup of cocoa like juice, but we had a few seconds today. So I poured mugs of milk and added a big spoon of my homemade chocolate fudge sauce, microwaved them for a minute, and stirred. I tell you that the Mmmms were audible next door. I even got, "This is sweeet." And he wasn't talkin' about sugar sweet. That means it was good.

So, I share with you one of the many secrets in this happy little cookbook: Hot Fudge Sauce. This recipe is one of many recipes I use on a regular basis -- a few others being Chocolate Sauce (just like Hershey's), Butterscotch sauce, chicken-flavored rice mix, Teriyaki sauce, salad dressings and quite a few main dishes. The main dishes are simple and pretty basic, but the nice thing is, the author breaks down the cost per serving. So, if you're really tight -- just peruse for really inexpensive recipes. My most favorite recipes, however, are those for sauces and mixes, like the Hot Fudge Sauce, because you can make them from the regular ingredients you always have in your pantry. That's the way to save money -- just buy the basics and make the rest.

Hot Fudge Sauce

1/2 c. cocoa
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/8 t. salt
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. butter
1 t. vanilla

In a 1-qt. saucepan, combine the cocoa, sugar, and salt.
Mix together until lumps are gone.
Add milk and butter and stir.
Place over medium heat and stir occasionally until butter is melted.
Once the butter melts, stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved (but do not boil).
Remove from heat.
Stir in vanilla after sauce cools.

Store in a jar in the refrigerator for 2-3 months.
It will be very thick when cold, but thins out when heated
(microwave or heat in a pan on low).

For mint chocolate topping, add 1/2 t. peppermint extract with the vanilla.


Use for ice cream topping, for dipping fruit or topping for brownies
(or stir into a mug of hot milk for great cocoa!)

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