Belgian Waffles

Belgian Waffles

4 C. Flour

1/2 C. Sugar

2 t. baking powder

pinch of salt

4 C. Milk

3 eggs divided (Yolks added to milk, whites in separate bowl)

1/2 C. vegetable Oil or melted butter

1/2 t. Vanilla (Optional)

Heat up waffle iron

In a large bowl mix dry ingredients and make a well in center.

In a large measuring pitcher measure milk and add egg yolks and oil and vanilla 

in a small bowl place egg whites

Whip egg whites till stiff peaks form

Add wet ingredients to dry and mix till pancake batter consistency adding more milk if needed.

Fold in egg whites carefully with spatula.

This makes a large batch! Reduce by half if you want less. Waffles can be frozen and re-heated in a toaster later if desired.

mega danish pastry

Friday, March 18, 2011

From the Kitchen of Pat Nieman

Mega Danish Pastry

This is Mega Danish because this recipe makes three good sized pastries....enough to share and still have some for the home team (Do you feel bad when you cook something yummy and your family asks, "Who's that for?")

First make this easy dough:

2 cubes butter, softened
2 pkg (or 2 T) yeast...I use SAF yeast
2 C warm milk
2 eggs
3/4 C sugar
1 tsp salt
6 C flour
Mix and knead about 5 minutes. Don't add much additional flour...you want a soft dough. Let rise while you make the fillings.


Custard:
(I usually make about 1 1/2 times this amount because I love lots of filling)

1 C milk
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 C sugar
3 T flour (I use Wondra)
1 tsp vanilla
Stir together and cook in microwave...let cool...I actually put this in the freezer to really cool it down. If it's warm you'll melt the almond/oat filling

Next...make the Almond/Oat filling:
(again, I usually make 1 1/2 times this amount)

Almond Filling:
3/4 C sugar
1 cube butter
1/3 C oats
2 tsp almond flavoring
Mix until crumbly.


When dough has risen, divide into three pieces and pat each into a large rectangle on a baking sheet.


Slice along each side at about 1 inch intervals. Then spread 1/3 of the custard down the center. Next crumble 1/3 the almond mixture on top of the custard.




Finally, braid the strips over the fillings, tucking the ends in so the fillings doesn't leak out while baking.

Let rise again; bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until slightly browned.

Frost with a powdered sugar glaze or thin cream cheese frosting.

These also freeze well and are great to make during the holidays when you want a nice breakfast treat that doesn't have to be made at the last minute.

Homemade Granola

This recipe comes from Lindsay Carrick!

This was So easy! You just mix it all in a bowl, then bake on a cookie sheet for 10-14 minutes, stirring twice. It'll be golden brown. You can add more honey and syrup to taste. Taste it halfway through the cooking and you can add some then if ya want!

3 C. Oats (old fashioned is better than quick)
1/4 C honey or more- just see if it's combined enough
1/4 C maple syrup
2 TB vegetable oil
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 C chopped pecans (or any choice of nut- almonds, walnuts)
1/2 C craisens
1/4 C coconut

Bake at 350 for 10- 14 min. stirring twice

Sourdough Starter and Pancakes

First, some Sourdough Lessons I have learned!

Everything we know about Sourdough must be credited to Scott Borgia! We love you Scott!!!

Never use metal...anywhere near it! NO metal bowls, spoons, whisks etc!

DO use Unbleached flour ( I don't know why...)

DO use your starter to make something at least once a month.

First you need a starter. Here is the recipe I used:

In a large plastic bowl with a wooden spoon stir together:

2 C. Unbleached flour

1 t. salt

3 T. sugar

1 T. dry yeast

Then add 2 C. Lukewarm water.

Stir till the mixture resembles a smooth paste.

Cover bowl with a towel and set in a warm place (85 deg ish) to sour.

Stir mixture several times a day.

In 2 to 3 days your starter will be ready to move to the refrigerator....Storage is tricky!

I keep mine (I keep a scant 2 cups) in a tupperware shaker thing with the lid off.

You can keep it in anything non-metal but you MUST have a hole in the lid or something so that it can breath!

OK, Now on to using the stuff....

I take out my HUGE tupperware bowl and pour all but about 2 or 3 Tablespoons of the starter into the bowl. (I should probably stir it first, but mostly I don't!)

Then I feed my starter by adding one cup of Unbleached flour to the remaining bit in the shaker and 1 C. or so of lukewarm water and stir with a wooden spoon. I don't bother to get all the lumps out just most of them. The consistency should be close to what you started with.

Set the new starter aside to sour overnight.

Back to the bowl.....I add 4-5 C. of Unbleached Flour

Enough lukewarm water to make it look like a nice waffle batter.

Cover with a cloth and set in a warm place. (Usually I put it and the starter in the oven with just the light on)

Let them sit overnight.

In the morning put the starter in the fridge

To the bowl add:

3 eggs

1/2 C. Milk (more if it's too thick)

3 T. sugar

2 t. Salt

2 t. baking soda

Mix well it should now be the consistency of pancake batter. (add a little milk to get it there if necessary)

Let this sit back in the oven with the towel on it for a good 15-20 min.

Take it out and smell the deliciousness! It should be bubbly!

If you were watching the timer you would have been so anxious to eat that you would have been warming up your griddle pan the last 5 min and now be ready to cook!

You want to cook this on a Med. to Med. High heat. They cook pretty fast. You should plan to be standing and cooking for a while! I use Pam spray for every group, but if you have a good seasoned griddle you may not need to. When the pancakes bubble all over on the first side flip them to the next and watch carefully.

You will really need to adjust temp and cooking time based on your location and altitude and your family's tastes.

We serve these with butter, and powdered sugar shakers and we could probably use more of those!

Then we roll them up and Eat them! The only utensils on the table are Knives to spread the butter, no forks needed here!

I love to make a few at the end that are larger and thin like a crepe and butter/sugar and then add bananas and strawberries! Or you can add small blueberries right in the batter, or mini chocolate chips! The varieties are endless!!!

I will try to post pictures when we make these next! (DONE!)

Hash Brown Quiche

This recipe was posted in our Relief Society Bulletin 2 weeks ago. It sounded good, so I made it!
Now, I can't find the recipe so I had to improvise! Here is what I did.

Pre-Heat the oven to 425

Spray the bottom of your DEEP pie dish with non stick cooking spray.

Take 1/2 pkg of shredded has browns and thaw. (should be 3 cups or so) and form into a crust on bottom and up the sides of your pie dish.
Melt 1/2 C. butter and drizzle over the crust. Salt and Pepper Crust and bake for 25 min in oven!
It should have some nice brown on the sides when you remove it from the oven.

While this cooks prepare filling:

2 scallions chopped
1 small green pepper diced or (1/2 of a large one)
Some leftover ham lunch meat diced -about 1/2 Cup
1 Cup of shredded cheese (I used Cheddar and some leftover cheddar jack)
4 eggs

When your crust comes out of the oven drop the temp to 350.
Sprinkle into the crust the ham, onion and peppers
Top with 1/2 of the cheese
whip up the eggs with a fork and pour over the filling
Sprinkle on the last 1/2 Cup of cheese and bake 30 min.

YUM

I want to attempt this with spinach and fetta cheese....I will let you know how it goes!

No Crust Quiche

No Crust Quiche

Pre-Heat Oven to 350 (325 for glass)

10 Lg. Eggs
2 lb. sharp cheddar cheese
1 pt. small curd cottage cheese
1 t. baking powder
1/2. t. salt
1 lg. can diced green chili's
1 cube butter divided
1/2 C. flour

Whip the eggs with an electric mixer in a large bowl
Add remaining ingredients saving out 1/2 cube of butter.

Melt the remaining butter in the bottom of your 9x13 pan
Add the mixture to the pan and bake for 1 hour.

OPTIONAL changes: Instead of chili's you could substitue Ham, Bacon, Onions.
Or: Feta Cheese and Spinach leaves. Sun Dried Tomatoes and basil.
the possibilities are endless actually!

Blueberry Bread Pudding with Golden Dessert Sauce

I got this recipe from a B&B we stayed at in Connecticut many years ago. It's a little bit more work than a normal recipe but SOOO worth it!

Blueberry Bread Pudding with Golden Dessert Sauce

Serves 12

Preheat oven to 350

Prepare

Golden Dessert Sauce

3 T. Butter

1/2 C. Sugar

1 C. Cream

1 t. Vanilla

Melt butter and sugar in Saucepan then add the cream.

Boil Gently for 6-8 min until sauce is slightly thickened.

Remove from heat and add the vanilla. Set aside

Blueberry Bread Pudding

8 C. bread cubed

3 T. Butter Softened

3/4 C. sugar

3 eggs

2 t. vanilla

3 1/2 C. milk

1 3/4 C. Blueberries

2 T. sugar

1/2 t. Cinnamon

Put bread cubes in a large bowl.

Mix together the 3 T. butter with the 3/4 C. sugar and mix till well combined

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat till fluffy.

Slowly add the milk.

Pour over the bread cubes and let sit for 5 min.

Fold in the blueberries and add entire mixture to your pan. (deep 9x13 or something close)

Combine the rest of the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the pan.

Drizzle 1/3 C. of the Golden Dessert Topping over the pan.

Bake for 40 min.

Serve with the remaining Golden Dessert Topping