Off The Counter: Waffles Of Insane Greatness

We had a wonderful weekend with family and friends complete with lots of yummy food.  One of our favorite breakfast activities when hosting overnight guests is to make waffles and cottage cheese pancakes.  The waffle recipe is literally titled:  Waffles Of Insane Greatness for good reason.  They are perfect every time, a little crisp, light and tasty.  Our other favorite breakfast treat is to be found at the back of  Trader Joe's Buttermilk Pancake Mix box:  lemony cottage cheese  pancakes.  These lovelies are creamy on the inside, toasty on the outside and so lemony fresh.  We serve them with fruit, yogurt and honey.

What are some of your go-to recipes when hosting overnight guests?

Waffles Of Insane Greatness

Ingredients: ¾ cup all-purpose flour ¼ cup cornstarch ½ tsp. baking powder ¼ tsp. baking soda ½ tsp. salt 1½ tsp. sugar 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk ½ cup buttermilk 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 large egg, lightly beaten ¾ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions: In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.  Whisk together to blend.  In another mixing bowl, beat together the whole milk, buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients in the bowl and whisk until incorporated and very few lumps remain.  Set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat a waffle iron.  Fill waffle wells and cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Cook until crisp and golden.  Serve immediately.

Off The Counter: Grilled Feta, Tomatoes And Orecchiette

This week's Off The Counter features a recipe that has been in our family's repertoire for quite a while.  With time, it has evolved into one of our 'go to' dishes for guests with children because it's great served deconstructed.  Each person, either adult or child,  can build a bowl of yumminess to their own liking.   Mint and oregano give this pasta dish a fresh and unexpected flavor while the grilled feta creates a subtle creaminess.    Our take on the original recipe from Food & Wine :

Ingredients:

cherry tomatoes, mint, oregano, salt, pepper, olive oil, orecchiette pasta, sausages and feta

Recipe:

Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and put into a bowl.  Add mint, oregano, salt, pepper and olive oil.  Let sit for an hour at room temperature.

Prepare the pasta, grill the sausages and feta.

Serve the ingredients separately, so your guests can add as few or as many as they'd like and create their very own tasty pasta dish.

Off The Counter: Mache*

This week's Off The Counter features mache lettuce.  As a salad lover I'm always happy to introduce a new leaf to the mix.  There are three main ingredients in this simple salad:   mache, fennel, and hazelnut oil (and, of course, salt and pepper).  Mache's sweet nutty taste is enhanced by the hazelnut oil, while the fennel adds its unique flavor, crunch and color.   Pair this salad  with this one and you have a satisfying, healthy meal. Don't forget the wine...

If you have a recipe you'd like to share with me, please do.  My counter will soon be filled with packing boxes, tape and bubble wrap and I will need inspiring recipes to sample when we're finally settled in California.

Off The Counter: Toasted Cumin Seeds, Fried Chickpeas And Other Newly Obsessive Ingredients

Toasted cumin seeds, fried chickpeas and hazelnut oil are just a few of the ingredients that fancied my palate at a recent dinner party hosted my husband's colleague.  Ever since then, I've been obsessed with two amazingly tasty salads that combine spice, aroma and texture. This week, you're introduced to:  Roasted Beets, Fried Chickpeas, Nyons Olives, and Ricotta Salata salad.

After simmering a while with bay leaves and cinnamon sticks,  the chickpeas are then fried and tossed with roasted beets, olives and toasted cumin seeds.  The recipe can be found here.  It's a bit labor intensive ( a little more than I like) but well worth it.

For next week's Off The Counter I'll share the other salad's ingredients I'm obsessing over.

Many thanks to CT and DL for a wonderfully tasty and entertaining evening!

Off The Counter: Roasted Pistachios and Honey Pizza

This week's Off The Counter features one of my husband's favorite flat pizzas:  roasted pistachios and honey.  Ricotta cheese, salty pistachios and local honey make this unusual pizza delightfully yummy.  Serve with a simple salad and a bottle of dry white.  Ingredients and instructions below.

Ingredients:

pizza dough (store bought or home made), ricotta cheese, pistachios, honey and crushed red pepper

Instructions:

Roast the pistachios, roll out the dough, spread the ricotta cheese, cover the cheese with pistachios, add a pinch or two of crushed red pepper and drizzle as much honey as you like  (the more the better, I say).  Enjoy!!