October 2004 Archives

Do you like Belgian waffles? Have you been disappointed in the Belgian waffle makers for home use? Take a look at this waffle maker by Waring: Waring Pro WMK300 Belgian Waffle Maker, Brushed Stainless. Apparently, to make good, authentic Belgian waffles, you need to flip the waffle iron. That's what this one will do. I don't have one of these (yet), but I'm very impressed with the reviews on Amazon (26 reviews, all 5-star ratings). I have it on my Amazon.com Wish List, so if you want to buy it for me, you can! ;-)

I have other kitchen stuff and cookbooks on my wish list, too, and I've written a few reviews on Amazon.com, so take a look around if you want. If you decide to buy anything from my wish list, Amazon.com has my address so they can ship it right to me. ;-)

Interesting information regarding copyright law and recipes. According to this site, an individual recipe with ingredients and basic instructions cannot be copyrighted. It looks like a recipe with additional explanations, detailed instructions on certain techniques, history, etc., can be copyrighted. Also, collections of recipes can be copyrighted. So ... you can't copy the whole cookbook, but copying a single recipe from it is OK ... at least that's how I understand it. Don't take my word for it, though. Read the article for yourself.

The link disappeared when I moved my blog to the new platform. Here it is: www.ipwatchdog.com/recipes.html

Apple Chutney Recipe.
Looks good!

This looks like a good apple crisp recipe.

Cooking Pleasures is one of my favorite magazines. They have some great recipes! I have to pick and choose due to dietary restrictions, but I generally find plenty of recipes that I can use.

Let's take a look at this issue:

• Caramelized Onion - Sweet Potato Bisque (p. 18) - Use olive oil instead of butter.
• Tomato-Chicken Curry (p. 19) - That sounds good!
• Chocolate Chip Cookies with Toffee and Coconut (p. 19) - I'd have to use all palm oil instead of butter and shortening, but it should work. Self-rising flour? I think it is easy to substitute regular flour and a couple other ingredients (can't remember what, though).
• Greek Beef Stew with Baby Onions (p. 29) - Cinnamon, garlic, lemon, oregano. I'll skip the feta cheese. 8-10 hours in the slow cooker.
• Cranberry-Walnut-Raisin Bread Stuffing (p. 33) - Olive oil instead of butter.
• Apple Cake with Maple-Walnut Glaze (p. 43) - I should make this soon to use up some apples! I can just leave out the walnuts (maybe I'll use sunflower seeds) so Katie can have some.
• Sticky-Top Pumpkin Cake with Brown Sugar Sauce (p. 44) - The cake is fine (I'll have to substitute for the butter), but the sauce has a lot of cream, so I'll skip that.
• Coffe-Fudge Blondies with Chocolate Sauce and Coffee Whipped Cream (p. 45) - Again, I'll substitute for the butter and skip the sauce and whipped cream.
• Broiled Flank Steak with Chipotle Chiles (p. 54) - Sounds really good!
• Curried Chicken, Sweet Potatoes and Onions (p. 55) - It uses coconut milk!
• Baked Mustard-Apple Chicken Breasts (p. 61) - Only 2 servings, so I'll double it (at least).
• Apricot-Balsamic-Glazed Salmon (p. 61) - Again, only 2 servings ... oh, this is in the "Cooking for Two" section ... that explains it!
• Moroccan Lamb Chops (p. 62) - I haven't had lamb for a while. That looks good. ("White and fluffy sheep, the kind I like to eat ...") (That's from a song in Ewe Know.)
• Potato-Corn Chowder with Toasted Sesame Oil (p. 63) - I think I could use olive oil and rice milk to make this.

Not as long of a list compared to Veggie Life and Vegetarian Times, but there are lots of good articles about cooking in the magazine, too. I like to look through the products in the "Kitchen Tested" section as well as the "Cook's Giveaway." Oh, yeah, my name is in this issue, because I won the Chef Paul Prudhomme's Magic Seasoning Blends Set (Very good seasonings, too!)

The Wacky Chocolate Cake (from a post a couple days ago) was great! It didn't last long!

Vegetarian Times doesn't seem to have as many recipes as Veggie Life. Lots of articles, though. A lot of the articles are on natural/alternative living.

Here are some of the recipes we can use (no dairy or soy):

• Chewy Meringue Cookies (p. 34) - not a big fan of meringue, though.
• Lemon-Ginger Glazed Beets and Carrots with Toasted Walnuts (p. 43) - Lemon, ginger, beets, and carrots are all good! 6-8 hours in the slow cooker.
• White-Bean "Cassoulet" (p. 43) - Looks good. 6-8 hours in the slow cooker.
• Main-Dish Lentil-Vegetable Soup (p. 44) - I'll have to substitute for the soy sauce. 6-8 hours in the slow cooker.
• Hearty Winter Vegetable Stew (p. 45) - Soy sauce in this one, too. 6-8 hours in the slow cooker.
• Sweet Potato Hash (p. 51) - I'll substitute chicken sausage for the soy sausage.
• Apple-Potato-"Sausage" Sauté (p. 52) - I'll use chicken sausage, and no cheese. I don't think I really need a recipe for that, though. Just sauté them together in a skillet.
• Barley with Black Beans (p. 54) - Barley, black beans, roasted bell peppers, balsamic vinaigrette, fresh dill. Sounds good.
• Chutney Bulgur with Curried Chickpeas (p. 56) - Sounds like a good combination.
• Lucie's Chestnut Stuffing (p. 72) - I'll use olive oil (organic extra-virgin olive oil, of course) instead of butter. Chestnut stuffing is yummy!
• Pumpkin-Coconut Bisque (p. 88) - Wow! We could eat this!
• Orange Cranberry Bread (p. 89) - This is in the ad for Florida Crystals sugar. Use organic palm oil for the shortening, please!
• Farmhouse Rolls (p. 94) - Organic palm oil for shortening, and olive oil in place of butter.
• Cornucopia Compote (p. 95) - Served in acorn squash halves.
• Egg and "Caviar" Canapés (p. 100) - Made with black olives instead of caviar!
• Vegetable-Bean Spirals (p. 100) - Might be fun to make for New Year's Eve or something like that.
• Sweet Potato Wedges with Rosemary (p. 101) - I'll need to replace the soy sauce. Balsamic vinegar would be good!
• Sweet and Spicy Pecans (p. 103) - I love pecans!
• Puréed Cranberry Soup (p. 109) - No sour cream, of course. I can leave out the optional almond extract and Katie can have it, too.
• Spicy Cranberry Condiment (p. 110) - It says to use it like ketchup! Hey, why not?
• Cranberry-Vegetable Ragout (p. 110) - Serve with polenta or quinoa.
• Sweet-Tart Cranberry Cabbage (p. 110) - Sounds good I'll use cranberry juice instead of the wine.
• Sibi's Crustless Cranberry-Pecan Pie (p. 111) - Pie is good!
• There is a "special advertising section" (pp. 120-121) with a couple recipes that we could use. I could adapt the Banana Bread Pudding. The Mediterranean Vegetable Sandwiches have no dairy or soy.

That's not too bad of a list, but I think we may cancel this magazine. I think Veggie Life is a better magazine for vegetarian recipes.

Veggie Life has a lot of good recipes. We can't use all of them because I can't have dairy or soy. We don't eat mushrooms or seaweed, so that eliminates some others. But ... there are still plenty of good recipes!

Let's see what we have in this issue:

• Black Bean Purée with Fresh Guacamole - Sounds really good! That and a bag of tortilla chips would be great!
• Corn, Rice, and Jicama Salad in Bell Pepper Boats - We could eat this, except it uses mayonnaise. There are some available without soy, but they aren't organic, and we prefer to buy organic eggs and products with organic eggs. Oh well.
• Spicy Pepitas - Sounds yummy! (For those that don't know, pepitas are pumpkin seeds.)
• Chile Almonds - That would be good, too! (No nuts for Katie until she is 3, though.)
• Okonomiyaki - I'll have to adapt the sauce to eliminate the soy, but the basic idea will work. This is the only recipe in the "Savory Japanese Cooking For Winter" article that we could use.
• Provençal Bean Pot - I'll replace the soy sausage with chicken sausage ... just don't tell the people at Veggie Life! ;-)
• Coconut-Pumpkin Soup with Cilantro Gremolata - Coconut milk! Yum!
• Pumpkin Soup with Leeks - Can be made with other winter squash, too.
• Curried Pumpkin and Apricot Soup - Brings to mind the bit about the "apricots in honey" in Notting Hill (and pronounce "apricot" with a long "a").
• Carmelized Pearl Onions with Toasted Almonds - Yeah, but I gotta peel all those little onions!
• Turnips and Brussels Sprouts with Honey-Walnut Glaze - If you cook them right, Brussels sprouts aren't that bad!
• Rutabaga and Sweet Potatoes with Hazelnuts - I'll use rice milk instead of the cow's milk or soy milk. What is a rutabaga, anyway?
• Maple-Walnut Squares - Sounds yummy!!!
• Coconut Macaroons - I love coconut macaroons, and I can make these with organic eggs.
• Crybabies - It says they are like gingerbread but better. I'll replace the butter with palm oil ... it looks like it has enough other stuff to flavor it that the lack of the butter flavor shouldn't be a problem.
• Killer Peanut Butter Fudge Cookies - The name says it all ...
• Lime and Pepita Sugar Cookies - I'll use palm oil instead of butter, and use unrefined corn oil for the vegetable oil to give it some flavor instead.
• Gingerbread Sparklers - I think they had this in another issue that I have, because I'm sure I've made these. Gingerbread cookies with candied ginger pieces on top!
• Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Bundt with Ganache - I'll use rice milk for the ganache ... and don't they know that "Bundt" is a registered trademark? Hmmm ... maybe I should write to them ... or write to Nordic Ware?
• Honey Pumpkin Cake - I should be able to do this with palm oil, too.
• Thai-Style Corn Fritters - Leaving out the soy sauce should be OK for this ... maybe add some salt.
• Rice and Swiss Chard Croquettes - I'll leave out the Parmesan cheese.
• "The Steaming Cup" has many recipes for hot drinks that we could make. Cran-Blueberry Wassail looks good! Grown-Up Cocoa is really a simple way to make hot chocolate - use chopped semisweet chocolate! Spice Coffee would be good ... but I'm not sure if I want to grind the cloves and peppercorns in the coffee grinder ... it may flavor additional pots of coffee, too. There are some others in this article, too.
• Chocolate & Spice Chickpea Cake - Looks good. I was going to make this last night, but we didn't have orange juice. :-(
• Carrot and Coconut Soup with Cloves - I'm not that fond of a lot of cloves, though.
• Wilted Spinach and Shallot Salad with Nutmeg - Sounds fancy!
• Overnight Red Onion Relish with Ginger - looks very simple and good!
• Chocolate Ginger Chip Cookies - Chocolate and ginger is a wonderful combination. Really.
• Garlic Fried Cauliflower - Garlic and ... just about anything ... is a wonderful combination. Right, Maggie? ;-)

Well, that wraps it up for this issue.

Maggie sent this recipe to me. It looks easy! I think I'll try it!

What's in my kitchen? Lots of stuff. Big stuff and little stuff!

Some of the big stuff:

• KitchenAid Stand Mixer - I have the "Ultra Power" 4 1/2 quart model, which KitchenAid doesn't make anymore. Now they have the Artisan model, which has a 5 quart bowl and a somewhat more powerful motor. I've made cookies, bread, meatloaf, and angelfood cake with it. (It does a wonderful job of beating egg whites! Just keep an eye on it ... it's fast!) I also have the food grinder attachment with the fruit and vegetable strainer parts (makes smooth applesauce!). Other attachments that I have not had as much success with are the slicer/shredder (works, but tends to clog up) and the pasta extruder.
• KitchenAid Food Processor - 11-cup Ultra Power model. I use this a lot for everything from coleslaw to hummus. Works great, and is easy to clean!
• Vita-Mix Blender - I actually have the Vita-Prep model, which is the commercial version of the Vita-Mix 5000. As I understand, the only differences are the warranty and the NSF certification. This is an excellent blender. It works great for smoothies, which is why places like Orange Julius use Vita-Mix blenders in their stores. I also have the "dry" container, which will quickly grind wheat into flour.

Well, that's the main kitchen appliances. I'll save the rest for future posts.

I made an eggplant dish last night. I'll try to remember what I put in it:

Slice 2 eggplants and lightly brown in a skillet with olive oil. Place in 9x13 baking dish in 2 layers. Season with salt, pepper, and a pizza seasoning blend. Chop 1 onion and put on top of eggplant. Add some sliced olives. Cover with a 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes. Bake at 350°F for approx. 50 minutes.

I might try adding some vinegar next time (probably red wine vinegar) and some fresh garlic. Bell peppers would be good, too.

Bon appétit!

This recipe is from Veggie Life, with my changes as noted:

• 1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour (approx. 7.5 oz. by weight)


• 1/3 cup soy milk powder or nonfat dry milk (I omit this, since I can't have dairy or soy, and use rice milk instead of water below)


• 3 Tbsp. sugar


• 2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed


• 2 tsp. baking powder


• 1/2 tsp. salt


• 1 1/2 cup water (since I omit the milk powder above, I use rice milk here)


• 2 Tbsp. canola oil


• 1 tsp. vanilla

Combine the dry ingredients. Combine liquids in a separate bowl, and then stir into the dry mixture. Stir until all ingredients are moistened. Fry on an oiled griddle, approx. 1/4 cup of batter for a pancake.

I grind my own flour in the Vita-Mix blender, which is why I use the weight measurement. I put the flaxseed in with the wheat berries and grind them at the same time. I also use aluminum-free baking powder. Add some cinnamon or other spices if you want. Since this is apple season, I'm going to chop up an apple or two and put that in the batter.

Tacos on Monday night, and Sloppy Joes on Tuesday. Amazing what you can do with a pound of ground beef! (Naturally-raised beef from Whole Foods.)