Gluten free waffles with Pears in a Balsamic reduction.

Wow, will you look at that fancy, dancy title.  😏 

It sounds fancy, doesn't it?  But it sure tasted good.   Maybe not the most visually appealing, but the flavour, OMG the Flavour!!!!  

I'm going to participate in this weeks, Sunday Funday (and sorry I don't have the icon on this computer).  The theme this week is Waffles.   It's being hosted by Stacy of Foodlustpeoplelove.com. I'm a super big fan of waffles.  I've been living a semi-nomadic life for a few months now, and love it when I stay in a hotel that features a 'free' breakfast and has a waffle iron in the breakfast room.  Sometimes, they're even in the shape of the state.   In fact, I love waffles so much that I purchased a mini waffle iron and have been using it in various places I've been staying at, mixing up purchased pancake mix.  Not the greatest, but needs must.    

In fact, a lot of stuff happens in my kitchen when I wonder what would happen if I?'  

I had some gluten-free flour I'd purchased to make some gluten-free fry bread for some Navajo Tacos I was making for family.   The fry bread was almost ok, it was all eaten along with a lot of the Chili I'd made.  BTW, that Chili is amazing.  Just sayin... the colder months are ahead of us...  And what is the correct spelling?  Chili or Chile, I use both interchangeably.   

Well, onto my gluten-free adventures with Waffles.    I actually started out with some ripe pears, my brother had given me a few pears, and since I don't like them ripe, I'd been eating them whilst still green, however, one of the pears ripened before I could consume it.    Along the way, in my travels, I'd succumbed to purchasing some Black Cherry Balsamic Vinegar.   So I wondered what would happen if I poached the pear in some of the Balsamic Vinegar, along with some sugar, and WOW, did it taste good. 

 I took the pear chunks out and reduced the liquid a little further, and got the most amazing sauce.   And ummm, ended up with far fewer pear chunks to put on top of the waffle, cause I kept on sampling the pear chunks.  They were that good.  

Here's the recipe for both. BTW, I make more waffles than I could eat at a setting, so I froze the rest and will pop them into the toaster to reheat later on. 

Those frozen waffles, OMG good, toasted, straight out of the freezer.  And ummm, since I like play a little in the kitchen, I caramelized some apples and topped the waffles.  Note to self:  wait until the apples are a little cooler before tucking into them.  They were a touch on the molten lava side until they cooled down just a titch.   And for the Toffee apple topping, I melted some sugar, added apple slices, let the cook for a few minutes, took them out of the molten sugar, added a little butter, put the apples back into the molten sugar and then topped the waffles.   

Gluten Free Waffles with Poached Pears in Balsamic Reduction

Yield: 2 large waffles, 6 single waffles

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking adapted from many recipes

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 10 MinInactive time: 5 MinTotal time: 20 Min

Simple, delicious, and can use up ripe pears.

Ingredients

Gluten Free Waffle

• 1 1/2 cups 1-1 gluten-free flour
• 1/2 cup grated frozen butter
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 2 eggs - Separated
• 1/2 cup + Milk, more if needed to make a batter. You want it a little stiffer than a pancake batter.

Instructions

1. Preheat waffle iron.
2. Separate the eggs, placing the yolks into a bowl along with the milk. Put the egg whites into another bowl and whisk them to a soft peak. Set aside.
3. Into a large bowl, place the gluten free flour and the baking powder. Grate the frozen butter into the dry ingredients and mix together.
4. Stir the egg yolks into the milk and pour into the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Leaving small chunks of stiff egg whites.
5. Place a good dollop (1/4 cup) of the batter into each partition of the waffle iron and close the lid. Cook until golden brown.
6. When done, place on a plate, and add the poached pears and syrup. Enjoy the meal.

Poached Pears

1. Wash and cut up a ripe pear or more into chunks.
2. In a small pan, add 1/4 cup of Black Cherry Balsamic Vinegar or your choice of vinegar, then add 1/4 cup each of sugar and water. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down, and then add the pear chunks, turning them over to coat evenly.
3. Simmer for about 10 minutes, and then remove the pears with a slotted spoon to a small plate. Let the remaining syrup cook and reduce for a few more minutes. Take it off the heat and add the poached pear chunks back to the sauce. Set aside while making the waffles.
4. Add more Balsamic Vinegar and sugar as needed. 1/2 cup of each item will poach up to 3 pears.

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• Apple Cinnamon Waffles from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Bacon Cheddar Spinach Waffles from Food Lust People Love
• Gingerbread Waffles from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Gluten Free Waffles with Poached Pears in Balsamic Reduction from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Keto Spiced Omelette Waffles from Sneha's Recipe 
• Oatmeal Waffles from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Protein Waffles from Our Good Life
• Waffle Cupcakes from Amy's Cooking Adventures

Grilled Cheese, Extra Ordinary

 I honestly had no idea what to call this grilled cheese sandwich.  I thought of calling it a lot of names, but kept coming around to extra ordinary.    

I need to tell you, it's National Sandwich Month.  So here's my latest, greatest, reiteration of a Grilled Cheese Sandwich.  

There are a bunch of bloggers who are also posting their favorite sandwiches, sides, or fillings as well.  You can check them out at the end here.  

I mean, we've all had grilled cheese sammies, haven't we?  It's a kinda go-to sandwich in my household. Pair it with a bowl of tomato soup, and you have comfort food, right?    I'd make it with ham and tomato inside, and that was a substantial meal in itself.   

I'm currently sorta houseless, my house is up for sale, and I'm bouncing around various furnished places, looking for my next home.   I'm staying in a cottage at the moment, which has a full kitchen, (Yippee), and have been using it as my base.   And since it's a temporary place, I've not stocked it up with a lot of food.  Mostly food I can cook quickly, without fuss.   Like grilled cheese sandwiches.  Easy peasy, right?

Last week, I took advantage of a nephew's offer to get me some fresh crab and decided to make some of my award-winning crabcakes for the family.   Said with a tongue in cheek.   They're good, don't get me wrong, but still, they're crabcakes.   They've also got a ton of ingredients in them, so I had lots of peppers, onions, and celery left over. I sautéed them in a pan, thinking I'd just portion them out and freeze them for future omelettes.   

Well, by the time I'd finished cutting all the stuff up and sauteeing them (I added a couple of mushrooms to the mixture as well),  I was hungry.  I was not in the mood for an omelette but decided to see how this would taste on a grilled cheese sandwich.  So I did a bit of a dive into the fridge, pulled out the heel of a piece of Havarti cheese, and some leftover gruyère I'd used in my Roasted Radish Tart.   I had been invited to a party and brought this as my offering to the potluck.  So many people now eat grain-free as well as gluten-free, and this tart is amazing.  It's a great dish to bring, unusual, and tastes amazing. I also had some dried-up (just a little) cheddar cheese, so I decided to go ahead and add it all to the sandwich.  

My mouth would have done a major happy dance if it weren't full of goodness.  

You all know how to make a grilled cheese: butter the bread (of your choice), place the buttered side down in a pan, add the cheese, then cook it until it's golden brown.  I started this one that way, and then added a generous spoonful of the veggie mixture, topped with more cheese, and another slice of buttered bread.  I like to cook mine over fairly low heat so the cheese melts and the bread browns.  But you do you.  

When I sauteed the veggies, I didn't bother adding any seasonings, cause I'm also cooking salt-free (mostly) these days.   And they didn't need any extra boosts, really, they didn't.   And there was plenty of salt in the cheeses, anyway.  

All right, enough of the hyperbole.   Here's the recipe, well, it's more of a how-to.  Cause let's face it, we all know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich, well, many of us do. 

Saute together over fairly low heat - one chopped red onion, one each, chopped Red Pepper, Orange Pepper, Yellow Pepper, 3 stalks chopped celery, 3-5 large mushrooms.   Cut them all into uniform pieces.  And by the way, you can sub in Green Peppers for the Orange and Yellow peppers, but I would counsel keeping the Red Pepper or one of the other Peppers in.  They tend to be sweeter than the Green.   Just sayin...  I sauteed them in a mixture of ghee and a neutral oil.  

Butter your bread on one side, place it in the pan, butter side down.   Lowish heat.  Add your cheese of choice, sliced as thinly as possible; grated is better.   Add some sauteed veggies, then another layer of cheese.   As soon as you see some melty action happening with the cheese,  add the second slice of buttered bread, butter side out, and flip the entire sandwich.  The first side of the sandwich should be nicely browned.  Continue cooking the sandwich until the second side has browned, and then serve it.  You can add some ground pepper or other spices if you like, but I liked them just as they were.  The best part was that I had enough for several sandwiches or omelettes.  

And there you have it, an extra

ordinary Grilled Cheese.  

I also added a sprinkle of dried tarragon to the veggie mixture, but it kinda overtook the veggie taste.  

Take a look at what some other talented bloggers shared for National Sandwich Month. 

• Caramel Pulled Pork Banh Mi Sandwiches by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chicken Caesar Wraps by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Family Favorite Tuna Salad by Food Lust People Love
• Grilled Bombay Sandwich by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Grilled Cheese Extra Ordinary by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Hung Curd Veggie Sandwich by Sneha's Recipe
• Pie Iron Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches by Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sunflower Pesto Turkey Sandwich by Our Good Life

Mushroom Duxelle

 It's Sunday Funday again, and this time round I'm going to share a favorite of mine.  

I don't think I've ever shared the fact that I love mushrooms, I'll cook up a package and just eat them, for breakfast, on toast with a piece or two of bacon.  OMG, one of my all time favorites.  

This week, Camilla of Culinary Cam is hosting and asked us to come up with some nibbles for New Years Eve.   

My idea of a perfect New Years Eve is to stay home and party in my living room, with some good noshes.  And this is perfect, you can make it for yourself or bring it to a party or ?  you choose.   I'll be over here in the corner eating my contribution, well, I might share if you're good.   

I served this with my home made No-Knead bread, made into baguettes.   I first made this bread several years ago as part of a group that used to post once a month, called Secret Recipe Club.  I've probably made hundreds of loaves since that initial loaf.   I used to bake them and sell them at a local farmers market, and they've always been popular.  I make them now for myself, cause I like them.   Actually, I made some baguettes with my No-Knead recipe, baked, cooled and then sliced the bread and served it with the Duxelle.  BTW, this is pronounced Duke-sel, not duxxell.  I got corrected, when I told someone what it was.  

Enough about the bread, you're here to make some of this lovely Mushroom Duxelle.  Cause you've got plans for New Years Eve, and need an amazing and surprisingly easy to make appetizer to bring.   Or to the last minute gathering, you just got invited to.  

BTW, this is usually what is wrapped around a Beef Wellington, underneath the puff pastry.  

To start with.   Pick up some lovely fresh mushrooms, make sure they pass the poke test and aren't spongy.  My personal thing, I like firm mushrooms, and not spongy ones.   I usually buy the white button mushrooms, mainly cause they're readily available and affordable. 

Wash and wipe off the mushrooms, cutting a thin slice off the stem and discarding it.  Then process the mushrooms in a food processor, along with the shallots, and garlic.   Then place the mixture in a fry-pan along with the butter and saute until all the moisture is gone from the mushrooms.  I like to add the fresh herbs at this point and stir them through.  But if I've used dried herbs, I'll put them in right away and let them kinda hydrate along with the cooking mushrooms.   

They should be looking kinda like mushroom paste at this moment.  I do have to say, this is not a great looking dish, it's not all purty and bright, but gosh dang, it sure tastes amazing.  Serve them as I do with some lovely slices of baguette, or toasted crostini or even crackers if that's your vibe.     

Recipe next

Mushroom Duxelle on Toast

Yield: 4-6

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking adapted from many recipes

Prep time: 5 Min Cook time: 15 Min Total time: 20 Min

A festive fun appetizer or nosh for New Year's Eve or any special occasion - also great for a Beef or Veggie Wellington.

Ingredients

Mushroom Duxelle

• 1 lb. fresh mushrooms - button, crimini or mixture of mushrooms
• 1-2 shallots-
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1-2 stalks fresh parsley - just the leaves, finely minced or chopped - you can also use fresh or dried thyme - 1-2 teaspoons if using fresh, or 1/2 tsp. if using dried thyme.
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Melt butter in large pan. Finely chop mushrooms, either by hand or in a food processor. I put the mushrooms in a food processor.
2. Mince shallot/s and garlic and saute in pan with butter, until softened, but not browned. Add the finely minced/chopped mushrooms and cook over medium heat, stirring often until most of the liquid in the mushrooms has cooked off. This will take a while. It did for me. The mushroom mixture will be sticking a little on the pan by then, and will resemble a bit of a paste. Remove from heat and add finely chopped parsley, just the leaves and stir together. Taste a bit and add pepper and salt if desired. Serve on toast triangles, while warm, also tastes great cooled. This is perfect on fresh made baguettes, bruschetta or even slices of toasted homemade bread. The mixture will keep up to 4 days in the refrigerator and can be easily heated up again, in a buttered pan.

 

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• An Elegant Start to a Dinner Party for the 4th Day of Christmas by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Boiled Egg Sandwiches by Sneha's Recipe
• Fried Cheesy Pickles by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• From Cheesy to Chocolatey - Using My Caquelon All Evening Long by Culinary Cam
• Mushroom Duxelle on Toast by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Scotch Quail Eggs by Food Lust People Love

I had some leftover Duxelle and froze it in small cubes, but before I did that, I added some to my brown gravy and served it over some leftover roast beef on top of a Yorkshire Pudding wrap.  That oomphed up the gravy to another level entirely.   I've actually been enjoying these wraps for awhile now.  

Candy Cane Bark

 It's Sunday Funday again, and I'm back for another round.    This time we're featuring Peppermint and there are lots of great ideas on what to make with it.   

I don't know about you, but I seem to collect Candy Canes, the little guys hang around long after Christmas, after their main job of dressing the Christmas Tree is done.   

Personally I like using them as a stir stick in a cup of hot cocoa, but you can only drink so many hot cocoa's and then you're done.  

So this year, I decided to sacrifice a few candy canes and make some candy cane bark.   I also bought some of those melting wafers and then googled how to make bark, and then basically winged it.   I also discovered I rather like that stuff, and had to give the leftovers away so I wouldn't eat more than I already had.   TMI? 

 

I also added some good dark chocolate to the chocolate type wafers to make them more chocolatey, is that a word?  All I know is I nibbled on quite a bit in a bid to make sure it tasted good.  

My original plan was to mix some crushed candy cane in with the vanilla flavored candy melts, but my initial try resulted in some weird looking stuff, so instead I spread it on top of the swirled melts and then added some Christmas sprinkles, cause 'It's Christmas'.  I also had a bit of the white vanilla spread left and decided to dip some pretzel sticks in there and again, 'It's Christmas' and since I had a few sprinkles left, they got coated as well.  I taste tested some, and had to stop myself cause those little suckers were delish.  

And the Candy Cane Bark, was pretty toothsome as well.  Next time I'll spread them out in a larger pan, cause it was a touch too thick, but it still tasted amazing. 

I'd never worked with Candy melts before but I googled and one suggestion I found was to mix good dark chocolate in with the chocolate flavored candy melts so I pulled out a bag of dark chocolate chips and went to town.  OK, so I melted them in with the chocolate, and dang, they worked. 

To start with, I took a few candy canes out and crushed them with my handy dandy meat mallet.    I did put them into a plastic bag first cause I didn't want little bits of peppermint permeating my kitchen.  I didn't crush them into powder, just enough to break them into little pieces.  

I lined an 8x8 inch pan (Next time I'll do a 9x13 pan) with a piece of parchment paper.  Set it aside. 

Next I measured out about 2 cups of the candy melts, into a heat proof measuring cup.  

Read the directions on the bag and proceeded to melt them in the microwave according to their directions.  Stirred it a bit, then added 1 cup of chocolate chips to it, stirred them  in until they melted.     Poured it into the prepared pan and spread it out evenly.  While that was cooling a bit, I melted the white chocolate bark, about 2 cups of the wafers, and poured it over the chocolate layer.  I used a toothpick to make swirls through the layers, but didn't mix them too much.  

I then took the crushed candy canes, spread them evenly over the chocolate mixture, along with some Christmas sprinkles.  I pressed them very lightly into the surface of the bark, with another small sheet of parchment paper, and put them in the fridge to cool and set. 

Once they were set, I broke the bark into smaller pieces and put them into a plastic bag for later.  

 I had a little of the white vanilla melt left and decided to dip some pretzel rods into it, and put them aside on a parchment paper, and sprinkled the last of my Christmas sprinkles on them.  

And now to all the amazing people who participated today, here's what they made and the links to their creations.  

• Candy Cane Bark from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Candy Cane Meringue Kisses from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Peppermint and Chocolate Chip Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chocolate Peppermint Thumbprint Cookies from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Hot Chocolate With After Eight Peppermint from Sneha's Recipe
• Mint Chocolate Cookies (Biscuits) from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Painted Peppermint Cookies from Culinary Cam
• Peppermint Patty Surprise Cookies from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Mini Berry Pies

 You might have noticed I'm not posting as much these days.   I keep meaning to make something I can share but get caught up in real life.  However, a group I'm a member of,  Sunday Funday, happened to post about the fact that December 1 is Pie Day, and I'm not talking the mathematical 'pi', but rather the eat until you can't eat no more pie, pie. 

Now, isn't that cutest little baby pie?  I thought so, then I ate it.  Cause I could and there was no one watching me.  

And as it just so happened, I had cooked up the most delicious fruit filling for pies and thought, I can share this, and have to admit that not only did I bake this luscious, unctuous berry filling into mini pies in my cute as a button, electric mini pie machine, but had also been enjoying the sauce on top of waffles, with some heavy cream on top and just plain as well.   And yes they did get a touch brown, but... 

  I also bake and sell various kinds of bread at a local market and decided to make some pies and bring them to sell.   These were the pies I made for the market and they were a hit.   I sold out fast on these.  And who could blame me.  Each one of these little beauties is about 2 1/2 bites, not even a whole slice of pie, so you can enjoy a couple almost guilt free.  Almost...

This past summer I got on a berry kick and was buying various kinds of berries to eat fresh, as a snack, and freezing what I didn't eat, so they wouldn't spoil.  I ended up with a lot of fruit in the freezer.   I also have the habit of weighing stuff, and writing on the freezer bag how much is in there, just in case I want to use it for a recipe later on. 

I even had a little pastry left over from the mini pies, from this batch of pies, so I did a slightly larger pie for later, and ummm, kinda bobbled it taking it out of the oven so it made a bit of a mess, but I'm eating it anyway.  So there. 

What can I say, my memory is shot, and it helps me to know just how much of anything I have in the freezer, cause I'm in the CRS stage of life.    Look it up, if you have to. 

To make a long story short, (er)  Here's what I did.  All the berries were frozen when I put them into the pot to cook. No water was added. 

Blueberries - 1.5 lbs

Cranberries -1 lb

Blackberries -8 oz

Raspberries 8 oz 

1 oz. Lemon Juice (frozen from my lemon tree)

3 + cups sugar - to taste

Cornstarch slurry

Add all the berries to the pot at once, then add the lemon juice and heat over low heat until the berries start to pop and let out their juice.  Raise the temperature and let come to a simmer, and simmer about 20 minutes.  Next add the sugar, starting with 1 cup, stir to dissolve and then add the second cup.  Taste for sweetness, and add another cup or more of sugar if needed.  (your sweetness level may be different from mine, I used about 3 1/2 cups of sugar).  Make up a cornstarch slurry, depending on how thick you want the sauce to be. I like mine on the thicker side, and have to admit I didn't measure really well. Start with 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed in with 1/4 cup water, swirl into the sauce, let it come back to a boil, and check.  Add more cornstarch slurry if needed.  I did and ended up using 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.   Again, your mileage may vary.  

I also had lots of berry filling left, so I froze it in 2 tablespoon portions, using a silicone cube tray.  

And you can take the berry filling straight from the freezer and put it into the mini pies, but I would suggest thawing it first.  

I also use commercial pie pastry for this, as I find it a little more sturdy and that really helps the pies to come out of the pie cooker.  

I'm loving this little pie baker/appliance.  It bakes a pie in just about 15 minutes.  You can top the pie with a crust or not.  I've done it both ways.  I've also done a little weave on top, and they've come out nicely.   For me, they're perfect.  I can make pie, just for me, and freeze the rest for a snack later on.  I've been playing with different fillings and I think I like the Mixed Berry Filling the best.    

Hey, if you're going to indulge, ya gotta make it worth the calories...

• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Apple Cider Pie 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Impossible Lemon Pie 
• Sneha's Recipe: Magic Crust Custard Pie
• Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking: Mini Berry Pies
• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Mini Pumpkin Pies with Cinnamon Swirl Crust 
• Mayuri's Jikoni: Mini Spanakopita Pies

Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini

 When I saw the theme for this Sunday Funday event, I knew I had to share a dish I've been making for myself and others for awhile.

And the theme this week is Vegan Main Dishes.   

I'm there.  I first made this dish for a wedding I catered last year, and while I made more filling than needed for the one dish I served, I ate the filling with relish. OK, so not 'relish' per se, but I enjoyed the filling just on its' own.   It was that good.  But tucked into a zucchini, and baked, even better.  

I almost feel virtuous eating this.  Almost, but I have to say it is totally delicious as well.  

I've made this as a Vegan Main dish, as well as a Vegetarian Main.  I like it both ways. 

 And as I said, you can make this Vegan or Vegetarian, simply by using either vegan Feta or regular feta as well as Vegan style Parmesan or regular Parmesan.  

I keep vegan butter on hand now.  I found out, it's really very versatile, and tastes great as well.  

Here's the step by almost step directions.  I cut the zucchini in half, lengthwise, then score it, before taking the 'guts' out with my melon baller.

  I like using the melon baller cause I feel like it gives me more control.  

All scooped out and ready to get stuffed.

Ready for the party, or the oven, whichever comes first. 

Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini

Yield: 2+

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking adapted from many recipes

Each Zucchini will serve 2 people.

Ingredients

Filling

• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons vegan butter or olive oil
• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup finely minced sun dried tomatoes (I used the jarred ones in olive oil)
• 1/2 cup chopped collard greens or spinach
• 1/4 cup chopped Kalamata olives or garlic stuffed green olives
• 1-2 teaspoons fresh chopped oregano, optional
• 1/2 cup feta cheese, either vegan or regular
• 1/2 cup toasted pecans
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese - shredded - either vegan or regular

Instructions

Zucchini

1. Prepare the Zucchini. Cut in half lengthwise, and cross hatch the seedy part on the inside, and scoop out the flesh, leaving a good 1/2 inch thickness on the sides and bottom. Reserve the scooped-out flesh for soup or stir fry.
2. Salt the zucchini, lightly and set aside for about 15 minutes. Then take the zucchini and rinse it under some running water to get rid of the salt. Set aside while you prepare the filling.

Filling

1. Saute the onion and garlic in either the olive oil or vegan butter, until translucent. Add in the cooked quinoa, tomatoes, nuts, oregano, and olives. Heat through then add the cheeses. Mound the filling into the zucchini halves and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes.
2. Serve and enjoy.

Estimate only

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Sunday Funday

Vegan Main Dishes

• Crispy Tofu Noodles by Palatable Pastime
• Mushroom Eggplant Stir fry (Indian-style Mushroom Baingan Masala) by Cook with Renu
• Mushroom Ragù by Culinary Cam
• Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Vegan 3 Bean Soup by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Vegan Moonga Gathi by Sneha’s Recipe
• Vegan Tofu Steak by Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Vegetable Biryani by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Old fashioned Cream Dressing for Salads

 I actually posted about this dressing a few years ago, but I've since played with it a lot.  I've mixed various vinegar's in with it, and changed the flavors up quite a bit.  

Why am I talking about this again?  Well, it's time to get back into the baking/cooking saddle again and I'm part of a group that posts fun stuff, called Funday Sunday.

So here it is:   

Well, mostly here it is.  As I said I've played with it a lot, and changed it up and gotta say, that the original way is still the most tasty way, although, there is one that came pretty close.  

I actually made up four separate batches of this, measuring out each one, and here they are from worst (IMHO) to best.    I had some Bibb Lettuce and took out three leaves for each plate.   I also used the 'winners' on a lettuce and tomato salad.  Just for fun, and since I had some in the fridge, I decided it might be fun to try.

I'm using a lot of Monkfruit sweeteners these days, so decided to use it in place of the sugar in the original recipe.  And ummm, while it tasted good, I think real sugar might just be the way to go here.

I used the same quantity on each one.   1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream - 1/2 teaspoon Monkfruit sweetener, and 1 tablespoon each of the various vinegar's.    This taste test was fun too.  And I ate my veggies along the way. 

First one I did was using the pickling liquid from a jar of Kalamata Olives.  This was a major miss.  Meh on the taste.  If I'd added some finely minced Kalamata olives, I bet it would have tasted better. 

The second I used the pickling liquid from a jar of pickled beets, and wow was it colorful.  It also had a lovely flavor, not quite beet, but nice.  

 

The third one I used the pickling liquid from a jar of Bread and Butter Pickles.   Not much flavor from the pickles, but still not bad.

 

The last one, was the more traditional dressing.  Again, I used the same measurements for each one.  This one I used Rice Wine Vinegar and a half teaspoon of real sugar.  This dressing thickened the most and was more of a vinaigrette dressing.  

I then decided to try two of the dressings out on a simple lettuce and tomato salad.  Well, the two that I decided were the most flavorful. 
The classic on sliced tomato and lettuce.  It had more of a vinaigrette leaning and honestly, tasted pretty darn good.  I think you could add fresh herbs to this, to take it over the top again. 

And the beet one.  Which while it tasted ok, it just did not look right.  The pink of the beet clashed and fought with the red of the tomato.  I guess you could eat this one in the dark, but...

Take a look at some of the other fun dressings the Sunday Funday group shared.

Palatable Pastime: Blue Cheese Salad Dressing 

Mayuri's Jikoni: Cranberry Salad Dressing 

A Day in the Life on the Farm: Homemade Celery Seed Dressing 

Sneha's Recipe: Keto Vegan Passion Fruit Sour Cream Dressing 

Amy's Cooking Adventures: Chicken Caesar Salads with Homemade Caesar Dressing 

Bloggetti: Easy Homemade Greek Salad Dressing 

Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking: Old-Fashioned Cream Dressing for Salads 

Culinary Cam: Basic Vinaigrette and Variations

Saucy Lasagna Rolls

 It's Sunday Funday and I'm finally participating again.   

The theme for today is Lasagna, our personal take on it.  Well, this is layered, sorta, but oh so delicious and fun to make and eat. 

I made it meat free as well.  You can use any kind of meat sauce here though, and it would be delicious as well.  

 To start with I used a technique I saw on America's Test Kitchen where they didn't actually cook the noodles but rather poured boiling water on them, and let them sit for 45 minutes or so until the noodles softened.    And it worked great.

Here's my how to. 

I made my own Marinara Sauce, with chunks of onions, cause I like onions. Basically I used a 15 oz. can of Tomato Sauce to which I added an onion cut into dice, along with a couple cloves of mashed garlic and some spinach.   (you can take the garlic cloves, place them between two sheet of either plastic wrap or parchment paper, use a meat mallet and smash them. Makes a great paste). I let that sauce simmer for about 30 minutes while I soaked the lasagna noodles in some boiling water.  These are your standard lasagna noodles, not the no cook kind. While the sauce was simmering, and the noodles softening, I made the filling for the lasagna and the lasagna Rolls. 

 

 

This has been my basic standard filling for years, and I still love it.  Here's the full recipe:

Saucy Lasagna Rolls
Yield: 2-4
Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
This is a fun take on regular lasagna. While this version is vegetarian, it can also be made with a meat sauce.
Ingredients
• 6-8 Standard Lasagna Noodles - soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes
• 2 cups shredded Italian Cheese mixture
• 2 cups small curd cottage cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 15oz. can Tomato Sauce
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3/4 cup chopped frozen spinach, divided into 1/4 and 1/2 cup measures
• 1-2 garlic mashed garlic cloves or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
Sauce
1. Chop the onion into a fine dice and smash the garlic clove(s).
2. Open can of tomato sauce and pour into a shallow pan. Add the onion, garlic, 1/2 cup of spinach and sugar and simmer for at least 30 minutes.
3. While the sauce is simmering, place the lasagna noodles in a shallow 9 x 13 pan and pour some boiling water over them. Let stand.
Filling
1. In a bowl combine the 2 cups of shredded cheese, cottage cheese, eggs and 1/4 cup spinach until smooth. Set aside.
Assembly
1. Turn oven on to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a glass loaf pan with some non stick spray and set aside.
3. Take the lasagna noodles out of the pan they've been soaking in and pat them dry.
4. Spoon a half cup of sauce in the bottom of the loaf pan and spread out. Add a layer of lasagna noodles, and spread about 1/4 of the filling over the noodles, top with a layer of sauce, and then repeat with another layer of noodles, filling and sauce.
5. Cut the remaining noodles, there should be about 3 or 4 left, in half lengthwise. Spoon a good dollop of filling along the length of the noodle and roll up loosely keeping as much filling as possible inside the roll. Place each roll on top of the layers, with the curly side up. Continue until either all the filling is used up or you've run out of noodles. Carefully spoon the remaining sauce around each of the rolls, with a little on top.
6. Bake for around 45 minutes. If you kept out some cheese, add it to the top and bake an additional 15 minutes or so.
7. Take out of oven and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.
8. To serve, cut down through the layers and around each lasagna roll.
 Did you make this recipe?
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