B&B Belgium Waffles

This is my favorite waffle recipe. We love to eat this for breakfast and dinner. It takes much longer than your Bisquick-type waffles because of the yeast in it. But they are worth the wait. I cook these on my regular waffle iron but they would be even better on one of those restaurant/hotel style waffle irons.

Bed & Breakfast Belgium Waffles

Combine dry ingredients:

2 ½ c. flour
2 T. sugar
1 tsp. salt

Stir together in medium bowl:
1 pkg. yeast
2 C. warm milk
Let this stand for 5 minutes to dissolve yeast
Stir in 4 large egg yolks, and 1 tsp. vanilla until blended. Stir in dry ingredients until smooth, then stir in ½ c. melted butter or margarine. With rubber spatula, gently fold in 4 large egg whites, beaten until stiff. Cover and let stand in a warm draft-free place for 45 minutes. Cook on greased waffle iron.

Asian Grilled Salmon

Here is a tasty and very simple way to cook salmon. I like to buy the fresh salmon from Costco and then I cook it on my gas grill. I am sure you could easily pan fry it on the stove.

Asian Grilled Salmon from the Barefoot Contessa

1 side fresh salmon (about 3 pounds)

For the marinade:
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons good soy sauce
6 tablespoons good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

Cut salmon into 4 equal pieces. Whisk together the mustard, soy sauce, olive oil, and garlic in a small bowl. Drizzle half of the marinade onto the salmon and allow it to sit for 10 minutes. Reserve the other half of the marinade.
Grill for 4 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Turn carefully with a wide spatula and grill for another 4 to 5 minutes, or until it looks flaky and done. It will continue to cook for a few minutes after you remove it from the heat.
Transfer the fish to a flat plate and spoon the reserved marinade on top. Allow the fish to rest for 10 minutes.

Spring Fever

In anticipation of the return of warm weather, here are three of my favorite summer recipes.  

P.S.  Where is everybody?!

Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken

1 can (20 oz) sliced pineapple

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

4 slices provolone cheese

Drain pineapple, reserving juice; refrigerate pineapple.  In a small bowl, combine teriyaki sauce and reserved juice.  Pour 3/4 cup marinade into a larger resealable plastic bag; add chicken.  Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.  Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade for basting.  Drain and discard marinade.  Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat until juices run clear, basting frequently with remaining marinade. 

Grill 8 pineapple slices for 2 minutes on each side, basting with remaining marinade.  Top each piece of chicken with cheese and 2 slices pineapple.  Grill, covered, for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted.  

Strawberry Lemonade

1 cup frozen sweetened strawberries, thawed

6 cups cold water

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 6 lemons)

Combine strawberries, 1 cup water, and sugar in blender and puree until smooth.  Strain through sieve to remove seeds.  Combine in a tall pitcher with lemon juice and remaining 5 cups water.  Serve over ice.

Tropical Salsa

1 ripe mango, chopped

1/2 cup chopped plum tomato

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped purple onion

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 1/2 tsp minced jalapeno pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1/4 cup lime juice

1/2 tsp hot sauce

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients.  Tastes best if not served right away - let flavors mix for awhile first.  Store in fridge.

Mac n' Goat Cheese

So tonight I made this new recipe for dinner, it was a hit! Filipe told me he never new there were so many ways to combine pasta, tomatoes and cheese!

3/4 lb. elbow macaroni (I used whole wheat and it was great)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic (I used 5)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 (9 oz) bag spinach
salt & pepper
6 oz goat cheese, broken into chunks
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped & toasted
Cook mac according to directions (save about 1/2 cup pasta water). Saute garlic in olive oil for about 4 min (until garlic is golden) add tomatoes, spinach, reserved pasta water & cook until heated through (about 5 min). The recipe said to combine everything but the walnuts together in a bowl and add walnuts on top, but I left the heat on and added the pasta, cheese and walnuts to the garlic, tomatoes & spinach so the cheese melted with everything and the walnuts were mixed in.
PS- you can add 1/2 crushed red pepper to the garlic for a little extra heat if you want to