Belgian Waffles with Strawberries and Cream

 

 My hens are in full on egg production and in trying to decide what to make for dinner tonight that used eggs I just happened to see in the back of my appliance pantry the waffle iron.  I haven't used the waffle iron in years.  I had some strawberries and whipped cream and decided that Belgian Waffles and poached eggs would make a dandy dinner for the Mister.

 

 I love this recipe!  The waffles are light and fluffy inside and just a wee bit crispy on the outside.  The pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg and vanilla  create a delightful waffle.

 

Belgian Waffles Recipe

 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of flour
• 4 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs (separated)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups of milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• tiny pinch of cinnamon
• tiny pinch of nutmeg

Directions:

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a large bowl
2. In a separate bowl, separate the egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form.
3. In another separate bowl, mix together the egg yolks, milk, oil and vanilla.  Stir to combine.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the egg yolk/milk mixture and mix well.
5. Fold in the egg whites
6. Cook in waffle iron on medium-high heat for 5 or 6 minutes.  Waffle irons may vary so judge your cooking time to your own waffle iron.

 

Yield:  5 or 6 large waffles.

 

Note:  I used approximately 3/4 cup of batter for each waffle.

 

Until next time,

Enjoy!

 

Jennifer

Strawberry Jam with Balsamic Vinegar and Black Pepper

  

You know summer has arrived when it is time to get out the canning pot and preserve some of those yummy strawberries.  I made some strawberry jam decided this time to try out a new recipe: Strawberry Jam with Balsamic Vinegar and Pepper.  It's really something special!  Imagine the sweetness of Strawberry Jam that has notes of Balsamic Vinegar and the heat of black pepper.  This jam will be wonderful with goat cheese and crackers.  Or poured over a block of cream cheese and served as an appetizer on crackers.  And how about serving it with fish?  I'm also thinking it would make a yummy sweat salsa-like accompaniment to fish tacos.  The possibilities are many!

Strawberry Jam with Balsamic Vinegar and Black Pepper

 

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of fresh, cleaned and hulled STRAWBERRIES
• 4 cups of sugar
• 1/4  cup of Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 teaspoons of black pepper
• The juice of one lemon

Instructions:

1. Prepare your jelly jars by washing thoroughly and placing the jars and lids in boiling water for 10 minutes.  Keep the jars in the HOT water until you are ready to fill the jars with the jam.
2. Place the strawberries in a heavy bottomed saucepan and mash the berries with a potato masher to crush.
3. Add the sugar, balsamic vinegar, black pepper and lemon juice to the pan with the strawberries and stir well to mix them.
4. Stir over low heat until all if the sugar has dissolved.
5. Turn the heat to high until the mixture comes to a full boil.  Stir often to prevent scorching.
6. Once the berry mixture reaches a full boil, turn the heat down but continue to boil the mixture until it reaches 220 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer.  Watch very closely and stir often!
7. Remove and drain the jars and lids from the hot water with tongs
8. Ladle the hot jam into the hot sterile jars, leaving about 1/2 inch headspace, then seal with the lids and process using the water bath canning method.

Yield: approximately 2 cups
 

 

 

Until next time,

Cheers!

 

Jennifer

 

 

Hulling Strawberries with a drinking straw


I made Strawberry Jam infused with Balsamic Vinegar and Black Pepper this week.  YUM! YUM!  It's sweet and spicy and delicious.  But more later about the jam.

 

Sometimes when taking the tops, leaves and hulls out of the berries when prepping them for the jam, a lot of the berry gets wasted when you cut it.  Well!  I have an easy way to hull the berries.  It's super simple to do and it gets the hull out of the berry without having to cut the top off.  All you need is a drinking straw.  The Mister acted as my hand model and demonstrated the process of hulling strawberries with a drinking straw in this little video.

  



Guess who gets to enjoy the strawberry tops and hulls when cleaning and preparing strawberries to make strawberry jam?

Happy ducks! And now on to making my jam.

 

Until next time,

Cheers!

 

Jennifer