Ultimate Pumpkin Waffles Recipe

INGREDIENTS
makes 4 round “Belgian” style pumpkin waffles

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. ginger
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg*
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and warm

*Grated and lightly packed into the spoon, use 1/2 tsp. Grated and loosely scooped, this is about 1 tsp. of nutmeg. If you have to use pre-grated, dried nutmeg, use 1/4 tsp.

DIRECTIONS

1. Lightly oil the waffle iron with vegetable oil, and set it to the desired temperature.

2. Combine brown sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl. Whisk together to break apart the cornstarch. Add the remaining dry ingredients, and whisk to blend.

3. Separate eggs: yolks go in a medium sized bowl and whites get set aside in a smaller bowl.

4. Add pumpkin and milk to the egg yolks. Whisk to blend and set aside.

5. Whip egg whites with a hand mixer on high until stiff peaks form – about 1 1/2 – 2 minutes. Set aside.

6. Pour melted butter into the yolk/milk/pumpkin mixture. As you pour, whisk to combine.

7. Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix them together until just combined. A little lumpiness is fine. That will smooth out when the egg whites are added.

8. Slide the whipped egg whites out of the bowl and onto the mixture you just prepared. Gently fold them in until no white bits are obvious.

9. Once the waffle iron is heated, you’re ready to pour the batter! In my Presto FlipSide waffle maker , cook time is exactly 2 minutes 30 seconds.

This recipe has been posted with permission from:

http://pumpkinwaffles.wordpress.com/ultimate-pumpkin-waffle-recipe/

BBQ Pulled Pork- Southern Cooking

4-7 lbs Pork Roast
1 1/2 Garlic Salt
2 tsp Worchestershire Sauce
1 tsp Onion Salt
2 tsp Pepper
2 tsp Celery Salt
1 cup or less of sugar
1 cup Hickory flavored BBQ sauce
1 cup Russian dressing

Make paste with salts, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper. Rub all over roast, coating outside. Put in heavy roasting pan or Dutch oven. Bake at 225 degrees for several hours or over night. (Crockpot is ok too.) Put back in pan. Combine sugar, BBQ sauce, and Russian dressing. Pour over pork and warm for 45 min-1 hour.  EAT!!!


Recipe by Tasha Wilde

Pizza Dough

a single batch serves 2

I've played around with different sizes and thicknesses for the pizza, and here's what I've learned.

Thick Crust
Single batch = one 9-in. round
Double batch = one 9 x 13 or two 9-in. rounds
Triple batch = one jelly roll pan or 12 x 16 cookie sheet with sides or three 9-in. rounds

Thin Crust
Single batch = two 9-in. rounds
Double batch = two 9 x 13 or four 9-in. rounds
Triple batch = two 12 x16 cookie sheets with sides

Note- If you have a pie or cake pan that is 7-in or 8-in round that's just fine too - the crust will just be a little thicker.
(By the way, you should use metal pans, I don't think glass will cook it right.)

Recipe

1/2 tsp. rapid-rise yeast
1/3 c. + 2 Tbsp. warm milk
1 tsp. sugar

*In a measuring cup warm the milk in the microwave, then add the yeast & sugar. Stir. Proof the yeast for 10 - 15 minutes

1 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt

*Mix together and then knead for 3 to 4 minutes - until smooth

Add 2 tsp. olive oil

*Knead for 5 minutes more - until oil is incorporated into the dough

*Brush your pan with 1 tsp. oil

*Roll dough out to a size that is slightly larger than the pan you are using, because it springs back.
*Lay your dough into the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 - 1 1/2 hours. (We put ours in our car if the day has been warm/hot and can get it to rise in an hour or less.)

(Alternate method is to heat oven to 150 degrees, turn it off and then while you're making the dough let the oven cool a bit - hopefully it will be the right temperature to put the dough into for rising. Check to make sure it isn't too hot because you don't want to melt your plastic wrap. I can usually get my dough risen in 45 minutes that way. But you HAVE to remember to take your pizza out of the oven while you preheat for the baking.)

*Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
*Bake for 5 - 7 minutes.
*Top with your sauce and toppings.
*Return to oven for 7 - 10 minutes more - until cheese is melted.


Note - If you use regular yeast you'll have to raise the dough twice. (make a dough ball, let rise, then punch down and roll out) And that makes the pizza dough take twice as long to make.

Appetizers Galore!!!

We had a LOT of appetizers for this month's cooking group.. here are the pics of each- and their respective owners :)   If you'd like to get a recipe for any of these listed, just let us know by leaving a comment!

Taco bites:
Basically use "tostitos scoops" chips and fill them with taco stuff, then bake them till the cheese melts.  I put a bit o' sour cream and salsa on top to finish it off once they were done cooking.

Potato Pizzas:
Slice up a potato into thin, round slices.  Lightly coat w/ olive oil and salt/pepper to taste.  bake for 10 minutes in oven on a cookie sheet, take them out and flip 'em over and bake for another 5-10 minutes till golden brown/slightly crispy.   Top w pizza sauce, cheese, grn/red peppers, scallions, and really whatever else you want.  Broil for a few minutes till cheese is melted. Garnish w a snip of parsely.

Apple and cloves Candle holder:
You can really just look at this and see what you need to do :)  Just used toothpicks for holding everything into place, and I used grapes and blueberries, but you can use anything you want...

This made me feel creative, so I made a "Potato Mouse" (This is fun to do for baked potatoes for the kids...) Made it with raisins for the eyes, and onions for the whiskers and tail.  Zucchini for the ears...

Isn't he cute?

After that I had a lot of scallion heads left over, so I used them and made little peeps for another candle holder...

(This one was just plain silly and fun!)

Here's some of the other yummy things we sampled:

Olive Skewers: Julia S.

Low-carb wraps: Ela  (Turkey, wrapped around feta, alfalfa sprouts, tomato, avocado, cucumber, topped w Bernstein's dressing.)

Sundried Tomato w/cream cheese wraps: Julia S.

Stuffed Mushrooms: Jordan A.

Asparagus Wraps: Tess D.

Lil' doggies in a blanket: Tess D.

Salami and olive skewers: Elena S.

This ugly mess was supposed to look cool, but turned out NOTHING like the picture!  I will not say who made it... You'll just have to guess.

What were the name of these???  By Julia S.

Thanks to everyone who participated!  Great Cooking Group- can't wait to make those asparagus wraps! MMMMMMMMMmmmmmm.

Piggies in a Blanket

Ingredients:
Pillsbury Croissant dough
Package of mini hot dogs

Directions:
1. Preheat oven using package directions
2. Open tube and layout dough. Dough comes divided into 8 large triangles. Cut each of these large triangles into three small triangles.
3. Wrap mini hotdogs starting from a wide side of the triangle towards a point.
4. Lay the wrapped mini dogs on a greased or lined baking sheet and cook according to Pillsbury package directions.

ENJOY!
P.S. If anyone ever finds chicken or turkey mini-dogs - let me know :)

Asparagus in Blankets

I did a quick modified version of a recipe Ela found on disney's family.go.com here is a link


Ingredients

Pillsbury croissant roll dough (in the tube)
Bundle of asparagus, trimmed and cooked* - I used about 3 cut stalks per roll
1 small tomato, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
About 2 ounces cheddar or mozzarella cheese, sliced

Directions

1. Follow directions on Pillsbury package for pre-heating the oven. 
2. Open the tube and layout the dough. It comes sectioned into 8 triangles (makes 8 large rolls, you could make a lot more by cutting the dough into smaller triangles). 
3. Cut the tomato slices in half. 
4. Lay the tomato on the wide side of the triangles, then place a cheese slice and 2 or 3 asparagus spears right on top.
5. Start rolling the dough starting from the wide side of the triangle towards the long point. 
6. Lay the rolls on a greased or lined cooking sheet and cook for about 15 min.

*How to cook asparagus: Boil asparagus in salted water until the stalks are just tender, about 4 minutes, then chill them.

Braised Short Ribs:

Ingredients:
4 pounds beef short ribs (or the canned beef in gravy from Costco - 2)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
5 Roma tomatoes, cut into eighths (or one can of tomatoes with the juice)
1 cup red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon (or cooking red wine)
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard (or just ground mustard)
2 cups low-sodium beef broth (if you use the canned beef in the gravy, no need for the beef broth)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:
Place an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the ribs with salt and pepper. In a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or ovenproof stock pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. In batches, add the ribs and brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the ribs and set aside. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, wine and mustard. Bring the mixture to a boil and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Return the ribs to the pan. Add the beef broth, cover the pan and place in the oven for 2 1/2 hours until the meat is fork-tender and falls easily from the bone.

Remove the ribs from the cooking liquid. Using a large spoon, remove any excess fat from the surface of the cooking liquid. Using a ladle, transfer the cooking liquid in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture is smooth. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and keep warm over low heat. Remove the meat from the bones. Discard the bones. Using 2 forks, shred the meat into small pieces. Stir the shredded meat into the sauce. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

*I have used short ribs before, but for times sake, I use the canned beef in gravy from Costco.
*I used canned tomatoes instead of fresh
*I use cooking red wine
*If you use the canned beef, you don’t need to actually braise it and no need to take out the beef, I just add everything together and then cook for about an hour, just so the beef can soak up the liquid.

Email me for questions: britneyericksen@gmail.com