What's Cooking (Take Two!)

We have only a traditional because I think it produces that crispy on the outside, soft on the inside effect better than the Belgian style.

So glad you said that. I have probably only eaten like six waffles in my whole life, tops, and the classic were crisp where the Belgians were not so this drove my choice, though I supposed that different batters would produce different results. It just stands to reason, in my little pea brain anyway, that thinner = crisper due to the increased ratio of surface to interior. To my eye it's also a more elegant look, and I won't be making dessert waffles that need to catch and hold fruit.

I have had properly crispy Belgian waffles, but only from commercial irons, and they didn't stay that way. A commercial iron draws 1400W, my Cuisinart just 1000W, which I think is just about proportional to the increase in surface area from regular to Belgian. I also feel like the batter for Belgians has to be thinner (read: increased water content) so they get soggy faster. Good luck with yours.

Interesting stuff. I have made sweet potato waffles, but that just means adding sweet potatoes to the regular waffle batter.

And FWIW, there are a couple styles of Belgian waffles. Brussels and Liege. I tend to think of the Liege as softer and the Brussels as crisper, but of course much depends on the execution and the real difference is the shape/batter/toppings.

A friend recently gave me a large quantity of smoked wild duck so I invited him and his family over for dinner tonight to give it a try. The highlight of the meal I made were the smoked duck quesadillas. Cheese and duck together would sound too heavy to most people, but this one worked out fantastically well.

A friend recently gave me a large quantity of smoked wild duck so I invited him and his family over for dinner tonight to give it a try. The highlight of the meal I made were the smoked duck quesadillas. Cheese and duck together would sound too heavy to most people, but this one worked out fantastically well.

That sounds great! A friend of mine hunts duck and (since the rest of his family won't eat it) he's shared it with a number of us over the years. I've never had it smoked, though, and I'll bet that's a good way to prepare it.

[Robin Garr]

Usually I start a plant-based risotto by deeply browning the battuto to get “meaty” umami flavors, but tonight I decided to go for delicacy and leave this asparagus risotto “white,” lifted up with a little organic butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

[Robin Garr]

A quick crimini and porcini mushroom ragout tossed over low and slow heat with free-range local eggs and organic butter; somewhere between an omelet, a frittata and a scramble.

Interesting stuff. I have made sweet potato waffles, but that just means adding sweet potatoes to the regular waffle batter.

And FWIW, there are a couple styles of Belgian waffles. Brussels and Liege. I tend to think of the Liege as softer and the Brussels as crisper, but of course much depends on the execution and the real difference is the shape/batter/toppings.

Oh, I should have said I know nothing about gaufres. I want to, someday, but when I say "Belgian" I should probably use quotes all the time.

Dinner was cabbage rolls. I used bulk ground pork (yum) and skipped milling the tomatoes (probably a mistake). A bit bready, but delicious. Served with quinoa, not a traditional side but they go together like white on rice, so to speak.

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Interesting Italian cabbage rolls. I've only made them with rice, Polish style. On a side note, I know lots of Italian-Americans and lots of Polish-Americans and several people who are half Italian, half Polish. Whenever I ask "What do you prefer, ravioli or pierogis?", the Italian-Americans all prefer ravioli, the Polish-Americans prefer pierogis and in the mixed group, 80% seem to prefer pierogis. I'm 75% Irish and 25% French and I prefer pierogis.

For last night's supper, I made mac'n'cheese with spicy Italian sausage and peas. This time, though, I made the real thing rather than the blue box version. Used sharp cheddar and some parmigiano and topped it all with buttered panko. It was great, with each bite loaded with intense levels of calories and fat.

That Mac & Cheese sounds great, Mike.

Since we had Thanksgiving at a friend's home, we are roasting a 15lb. bird today with most of the fixin's. Love me some leftover turkey and a big batch of homemade turkey noodle soup.

[Robin Garr]

Stir-fry of “beef” with watercress and pea shoots, onions, garlic and ginger with West China spice.

That sounds interesting, especially from a texture perspective. What is "West China" spice?

Sunday's dinner was chicken and tasso jambalaya.

-Paul W.

[Robin Garr]

That sounds interesting, especially from a texture perspective. What is "West China" spice?

Jeff, I'm sorry, I assumed that was self-explanatory, but someone on FB asked also. I was using it as sort of generic for Sichuan-Hunan-Xi'an, although if you hold my feet to the fire, my on-the-fly spicing (kicked up and re-tweaked from the hot-sweet sauce that came with the "beef") was intended in the Xi'an spirit of the Muslim-accented cuisine of the Uyghur culture in Xinjiang.

I figured "West China" sounded less precious, though.

I offered to host the Monday Night Football get together for some members of my curling club tonight. It is sort of an everyone brings something type of dinner. My contributions are bratwurst simmered in beer, onions and butter and then grilled with a side of beer braised red cabbage with bacon.

[Robin Garr]

Conchiglie pasta with fennel-scented Italian-style "sausage" and garlic butter with red and black pepper.

Tonight is a scaled down version of the Trinidad Chinese Chicken from the New York Times. This is one of my go-to chicken dinners.

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014638-trini-chinese-chicken

My wife and I love the flavors in the recipe (originally from Gourmet magazine) for asparagus lasagna. You make a béchamel with butter, flour, and chicken broth. Then stir in some chèvre, goat cheese, and some lemon zest. Meanwhile you roast some asparagus stalks and cut them up into 1 inch pieces and reserve the tips. In the original recipe you layer pasta, the asparagus béchamel, and freshly grated parmigiano and when done, top with the asparagus tips, whipped cream, and more parmigiano and bake at a high temperature.

Tonight I had some asparagus to use up but didn't feel like taking the trouble and time to make the lasagna. So I made the asparagus béchamel and boiled up some egg noodles. Served the egg noodles and the béchamel in a bowl and topped with the tips and more grated parmigiano. I got all of the flavors in a much shorter time, highly recommended dish (no whipped cream).

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aspa ... ecipe.html

The flavors just go very well together.

[Jenise]

Interesting Italian cabbage rolls. I've only made them with rice, Polish style. On a side note, I know lots of Italian-Americans and lots of Polish-Americans and several people who are half Italian, half Polish. Whenever I ask "What do you prefer, ravioli or pierogis?", the Italian-Americans all prefer ravioli, the Polish-Americans prefer pierogis and in the mixed group, 80% seem to prefer pierogis. I'm 75% Irish and 25% French and I prefer pierogis.

Interesting poll. I now live in an area where pirogues are popular, so have gained a bit of experience with them. I'm otherwise a mutt with no ancestral bias. Net net, the best pierogi I've had comes nowhere close to the best ravioli I've ever had, including and inseparable from the complexiTy and variety of sauces, so no contest for me. Ravioli!

I think pierogis fulfill their potential better than ravioli do. By which I mean that ravioli are sensitive to texture, the filling, the seasoning, the sauce, while pierogi are rather more robust. (Sez Jeff, heritages back to Poland and Russia, depending on the year.)

Tonight, the very last of the Thanksgiving leftovers went into a turkey pot pie. I reduced the turkey stock way down, adding 2 tbsp flour and a little cream. I did a quick sizzle of mushrooms, carrots, celery, and peas. I cut the turkey into cubes, sizzled in a little butter and flour. All into the Staub, cover with freezer puff pastry, egg wash, about 40 minutes at 375*.

Maybe not quite as grandma as pastina but it's still home.

Not dinner, exactly, but the Prather Ranch stand had "bacon ends", some with skin on, for $4 a pound. So I cut it up into big lardons and I'll have bacon crumbles for salad and baked potatoes for a year. This is the second pan!

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Then a rotisserie chicken, with Meyer lemon spätzle.

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Dinner last night was doro wat, but with rice instead of injeera.

-Paul W.

A couple of nights ago, I made a risotto that ended up being much darker than what I usually make. There was sausage in it and plenty of peas, but I used red wine instead of white for the first liquid addition and then went with about 2/3 beef broth and 1/3 chicken broth. It also included reconstituted dried porcinis with some of their soaking liquid, a lot of quartered white mushrooms that had been sauteed in butter just enough to get them darkened a bit, and a good dose of grana padano. It was a good winter meal in a bowl.

Tonight, I made what were billed as Baltimore style crab cakes (in honor of the "Serial" podcast, which I've been pretty well addicted to). The recipe was from Gourmet via Epicurious and included mayo, Old Bay, Dijon mustard, green onions, chives, an egg, and panko, both to bind the cakes and to coat them for frying. They were served with roasted potatoes. My wife (who's spent a lot more time on the East Coast than I have) commented that they were very traditional and tasted like they were supposed to. I just thought they were very good.