Sticky Fingers Dessert! A Happy Accident!

Sometimes you do something in the kitchen without thinking about it and you end up with something miraculous. Usually this doesn't happen, but this happened to be one of those times when it did! So I'll share it with you, no worries.

Side note: I AM the Iron Chef of leftovers, as you'll soon see.

A few days ago I made my Award Winning* Beer Batter Waffles. I made enough so that there'd be some for lunch the next day.

I had forgotten that BIL would be out the next day and that MIL doesn't usually eat large lunches. I had some batter LeftOver! No dramas though, this is the point where I cook it all up in the waffle iron, chuck the finished ones in the freezer, then use em in the toaster for brekkie for the week.

This time though, I needed the large mixing bowl the batter was in to make The Dish that crowned me Iron Chef of Leftovers and I had already put the waffle iron away.

I casually reached into the cupboard and pulled out the first thing I found that would hold waffle batter. It happened to be a 9 inch diameter glass pie dish! No worries, poured in the batter, rinsed the bowl and proceeded to make The Dish.

Later on I puzzled over the fact that the waffle batter was in a pie dish. Hmmmm, I hadn't buttered the dish, no crust, and there wasn't too much --about 1.5 cm or just over 1/2 inch.

"I wonder how it'll bake like this," I thought. Next thing I knew I had chucked it into a cold oven, turned the heat to 180 C (350F) and went on to other tasks... completely forgetting to set a timer.

tick

tock

45 minutes go by and I notice a nice odor emanating from the cooker! Ah, memory is jogged!

As I took the waffle pie out of the oven I notice it had (quite predictably) foofed up whilst baking. I left it in the dish, set it on a cutting board, and continued with whatever it was I was doing.

In 10 minutes it had fallen back down to level. "Hmmmmm, maybe if I dust it with icing sugar they might actually eat it," I thought.

dust

dust

dust

cool

cool

cool

When it came time for dishing it up for dessert, it was very easy to cut, had a cheesecake-like texture, and had formed it's own bottom and top "crust"! See, here's proof:




When Wifey-Poo saw it she said it'd be perfect with some maple syrup and cream on top! Ummmm, yes dear, that's exactly what I had in mind.**

So the beer batter waffle pie (which had been previously dusted with icing sugar) was cut into thin wedges and then had maple syrup and fresh cream drizzled over it.

Sticky Fingers Dessert was born!




Yes, it tasted even better than it looks!

*dave is lying his *ss off, but they are darned good tucka!

**quick thinking on my part mates!


Stay tuned to this channel as next time dave learns how to boil water!

Beer Batter Waffles

Alight, confession time... This is another post from my other blog before this here food blog was hived off. So you'll have to put up with my silliness.

But trust me, these are ultra delicious! Serve em with butter, dollop of freshly whipped cream, and maple syrup, side of bacon and you've got some seriously happy campers.

And here for your reading pleasure is THE recipe for Dingo Dave's Extra Special Beer Batter Waffles!

Special Beer Batter Waff-lees

You may notice something here as time goes on (ummm, besides the ticking of the clock), and that something is the fact that you'll see quite a few beer battered goodies from yours truly (or at least from me).

Remember, the founding fathers of the US of A were home brewers (we'll just go along with modern revisionist history about ignoring them pretty much all being slave owning folk too, eh) and I believe it was one of those dudes (I can't remember which, my memory is hazy from that long ago) who said in reply to a tax on beer "But sirrah, it is liquid bread!"

Alrighty, enough waffling already: here's what you need for some really great waffles:

One waffle iron --well, DUH! However, I am soooo glad that I brought my waffle iron down here from Alaska as I have yet to see a single waffle iron of ANY kind for sale here in the land down under... SHEEESH, the Belgian immigrants must be furious.

Alrighty, no dramas, here we go...


What you need:

2 1/4 cups (533 mls) flour --note, not self-rising!
3 (45 mls) tablespoons sugar --I use raw sugar for everything (well, almost, snicker snicker)
1/2 tsp (1/2 teaspoon) salt (NON-iodised sea salt --see a previous rant of mine somewhere)
6 tbsp (6 tablespoons or 90 mls) melted butter (not clarified... ah, perhaps I should clarify that term...)
2 eggs (chicken eggs, not platypus eggs) lightly beaten --don't forget to crack them outta their shells before beating them suckers
1 tsp (5 mls) vanilla essence --imitation or real, don't matter except for the price
1 tbsp (15 mls or 1 tablespoon) orange juice --if you don't have an orange tree out front (snicker, I gots a lemon tree out front too), then try to
use the freshest you can obtain (orange, not tree)
1 can of brewskie --a light pilsner works best, but hey, to each his/her own


Here's what you do:

Mix flour, sugar, and salt. Ummmm, I'd suggest using a large bowl to mix it in...

Melt the butter and let it cool --How to melt butter: microwave for 20 seconds (1/3 minutes), then stir, then nuke another 1/3 of a minute (20 seconds)... repeat till it's all melted (the butter you fool).

Chuck everything (including melted, cooled butter) into the bowl with the flour, sugar, and salt. Beat the heck out of it with a wooden spoon until the batter is smooth.

Let the batter sit at room temp* for at least an hour (overnight works too).

Give the batter a quick stir before using it in your waffle iron. If I have to tell you how to use and clean your waffle iron then I think you are on the wrong blog.


*room temp... Damn how I LOVE that term!!! The room temp here when the a/c is off is around 100 F (38 C). In the mornings room temp in the back can be 5 C (41 F).

So, like, try it, you'll like it!

Cider Fadge

Hmmm, methinks there might be a term or two that needs to be defined. Ya think?

Fadge

Knowing how The Urban Dictionary likes to use obscure words to mean other (usually crude) things, I would not be surprised to find "fadge" in their listings. I, however, don't go there. So whatever crude, vulgar, or slang term you think "fadge" means; just don't even go there. This recipe has nothing to do with whatever The Urban Dictionary thinks it means.

Many of you may know of Irish Fadge. It's a pan fried bread made with leftover mashed potatoes (and various bread type things). This post is nothing like that.

Ok, some of you may be thinking of the fadge made in Durham county using a piece of old bread as a starter (the original sourdough). Close, but no cigar.

This type of fadge is made in the south of Durham County and most of Cleveland County (at least it was a hundred years ago) and the starter is the leftover yeasty sludge from the bottom of your primary beer fermenter tank. If you haven't guessed yet, I'm not talking about Cleveland, Ohio, USA but rather Cleveland County, UK.

I got the idea for making this when I was bottling the latest round and had remembered that Cooper's Brewery down here recycles their yeast. That meant the yeasty sludge from the bottom of the tank must be active!

I then chatted about that with a certain octogenerian I know (from Stockon-on-Tees) and she said, "Oh great! I haven't had fadge in over 60 years!" Hmmmmm, well it should work then!

The first batch didn't turn out well. Firstly it was from a batch of dark ale so it didn't have the colour I was hoping for. Secondly I treated it more like a baking powder bread. It ended up tasty, but was very thick and heavy. Good for frying though.

The second batch was PERFECT! I'd just finished up bottling some apple cider and the yeasty sludge at the bottom was not only the colour I wanted, but it also smelled ohhhhhhhh so apple-y. This time I also decided to treat it as a yeast bread (this was a big DUH moment!) and to write down how much of what I used and the procedure.

Now don't think that you can't make this if you don't homebrew cus I've come up with an idea. It has to do with sourdough so if you are familiar with sourdough baking you can probably guess where I'm going with that.

But I'll tell you about that after I get finished with the recipe. You'll just have to read along and be patient.


DINGO DAVE'S CIDER FADGE

What you need:
6 cups high quality baking flour
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 and 1/4 cups yeasty cider sludge
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup of flour for dusting and kneading


What you do:
First, let your yeasty cider sludge "age" in a small, covered (but not tightly sealed as it needs to breathe) container for 3 to 5 days. Don't worry if it separates cus it's supposed to. When you take the lid off you'll be hit with a beautiful apple smell. Mmmmmmmmmm! Give it a good stir to recombine it (just like you'd do with sourdough starter).

Now follow the "whut yoo due" directions in my easy white bread post. The only exception is when you are supposed to add the 400 mls of water you instead add the cidery, yeasty, sludgy goodness (plus that extra 1/2 cup of water). Oh yeah: DON'T add any yeast! Just use the ingredients from this post, but the procedure from the Easy White Bread post.

The second rise will take anywhere from one to two hours, so be patient! It's worth it, trust me.

Here's some pics of how the cider fadge turns out:



The crust is nice and soft, not sure if you can tell by these next two shots. The first is with my finger on top of the crust and in the second I've pushed the crust down a half inch and the crust sprung right back:






And the texture is ohhhhh so good --along with the apple scent when you slice it!




This loaf lasted approximately 12 hours. Gone in a day!

But Dave, I don't homebrew so how can I make this?

Easy. Take some sourdough starter and add a few tbsp of apple sauce to it. Let it sit in a covered (but not tightly sealed, it needs to breathe) container for a couple of days and use it in the recipe where it calls for the yeasty cider sludge. Should be perfect!

But Dave, I don't have any sourdough starter! Help!

No worries. To make sourdough starter all you do is take some leftover mashed spuds, add some water, some flour, some sugar and a bit of yeast. Cover it (but let it breathe and stir a few times per day) and keep it in a warm spot for 3 days --it'll then be nice and bubbly and sour. As far as the amounts go here's a good rule of thumb:

1 medium spud, cooked and mashed
1 cup water

Mix them so you get potato water and then add
1 cup flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 pinch of dry yeast

Easy stuff!

Once your sourdough is ready (3 or 4 days) then add your apple sauce and let it "mingle" for a few days before using.

Yeah, the initial set up may take some time (for the starter) but after that you can make this every day by just keeping some of the starter back to make a fresh batch the next day and then again the next day, etc.

Does this mean I need to make a post about sourdough?

Spicy Roasted Almonds

Yes, it's that time of the year when everyone roasts nuts. Anyone remember the old joke about Chet's nuts? This post has nothing to do with Chet's nuts.

These almonds are spicy. If you don't like spicy, then just halve (or quarter) some of the seasonings.

Now, I've done this for a small amount of almonds (the cockatoos ate the rest before I got to the trees) so just double or ten-tuple everything if you've got a lot of almonds.

What you need:

1/2 cup of shelled almonds (with the skin on) --that's 50 grams or about 2 ounces.
3 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp chilli flakes
1 or 2 tbsp crushed garlic

What you do:

Add everything except the garlic to a steel saucepan or wok. Heat on low heat for 5 or 6 minutes (the almonds will have just started to plump up). Stir often and keep them nuts moving.

After 5 or six minutes, add the crushed garlic. Stir together. You can turn the heat off one or two minutes after adding the garlic. Keep it moving cus you don't want anything to burn.

Turn the whole mess onto a plate and let it cool.

Last thing... ummmmm, eat them! With a beer! While watching sports!

BTW, these are some of the most tasty treats to me.

Onion Rings

I was thinking about starting a series of posts about pickling and drying, but I first decided to talk about one of THE BEST deep fried foods ever: The humble onion ring. I was reminded about onion rings not only from last weeks' post about deep frying, but from the death of a canoe story on my other blog.

There was, and I really hope it's still there, a restaurant in Los Anchorage called The Arctic RoadRunner.  They made great cheeseburgers and the worlds best onion rings.

I hope they are still there...

Anyways, I make my own onion rings. You can use batter if you'd like, but it doesn't stick to the rings very well and the oil gets in. So use breading! Many folks use buttermilk before dredging in the breading mix.



But there's a better way



Dingo Dave's Onion Rings:

What U Knead:

3 good sized onions (what? aren't you having company to enjoy these?)
2 cups flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp of cayenne powder (or less or more, your choice)
1 tsp mild paprika

and the secret... 2 cups of plain yog(h)urt

Don't worry if you don't like yoghurt, you won't even notice it's there. But it makes the breading stick GREAT and absolutely no oil gets into your onion rings.


What u due:

I think you can figure this out, but I'll go through it anyways. Slice the onions into rings (see, I told you you coulda figured it out). Mix all the dry ingredients. Give the yog(h)urt a good stir so it's not lumpy. Drag the rings through the yog(h)urt and then dredge in the flour mix. Notice how the breading REALLY stays on?

Deep fry in hot oil for 2 to 3 mins only, won't take long at all.

Now here's the really easy part: EAT THEM! Oh, they are best had with a light, hoppy, lager on a hot day.

enjoy


Oh wait, I just gotta tell you about my lunch today. Here's what I had:

sushi
cocktail prawns (shrimp)
dolmades
chilli marinated New Zealand Green-Lipped Mussels
fried squid rings
battered fish
veggie egg rolls (healthy!)
sliced roast beef w/horseradish (not sauce, pure horseradish)
honey chicken
sweet and sour pork

and for dessert:
chocolate truffles
chocolate mousse
banana cake
profiterolles

I then took a two hour nap, and am NOT planning on having any dinner tonight.

THE Holiday Feast Down Unda

I'm a little late getting this years holiday feast typed in. In fact, we've already started on it --3 days ago! Some of you may notice it's a wee bit similar to last years feast; that's cus we've got many favorite recipes. Also, I've some new ones, and some that are just too darned expensive.

This is in NO particular order, but it'll feed four adults for two weeks. Oh, we're having a pool party and barbeque on the 28th, so the 4 or 5 kilos of snags are for the sausage sizzle.

Unless otherwise noted, everything is homemade by yours truly, or adapted (by yours truly) from recipe book --of which I have LOTS.

If'n any of you'd like a recipe for any of the following, just let me know via a comment, no worries.



Highland oat cakes

Shortbread

Peanut butter cheesecake with hot fudge sauce

Polynesian pork spare ribs

Pineapple pie

Cinnamon raisin bread

Polynesian ham

Pineapple sherbet

Chocolate mint ice cream with choc chips

Banana jam

Pineapple-Coconut pie

Miti (it's a dip)

Charlotte rouse

Banana leaf wrapped pork roast

Roast chook (at least 2 of em)

Candied yams

3 apricot cobblers (had one of em last night)

3 kinds of stuffing

4 types of gravy

3 types of salsa

Guacamole

5 kilos of sausages (for the bbq pool party)

2 kilos onions (for the above sausages)

Herbed spuds on the grill

My special homemade Dolmades

Waldorf salad

Tzatziki dip

One of my special sushi platters

Maple syrup candied pork roast

Corn chips and potato chips fresh made

Green beans and red capsicums with bacon and peanut sauce

Champagne with strawberries

Buttered roasted pumpkin pieces

2 cases beer

2 casks red wine

1 cask white wine

spicy marinated onions

Tequila, triple sec, and lime juice (mum-in-law has requested my special margaritas)

1 bottle brandy

1 bottle Father O'Learys Irish Cream

1.5 liters bourbon and coke

1 bottle dry cider

1 bottle sweet cider

Hot fudge sauce

Fudge brownies

Mince pies (lots)

Banana tarts

1 homemade bottle of chilli pepper and honey mead (I'll be the only one having that)


I think that should pretty much cover it. Remember, if you want a specific recipe then just ask.

Just cus I feel like it

Herein lies the account of Dingo Dave and the finding of the Food Of Power!

No, not really... I just thought I'd give everyone the first recipe I posted back on my other blog. I'll eventually be copying all the recipes over to here (hear) so that all my many thousands of (k)new readers don't have to trouble their tired fingers by scrolling through the archives. Ain't I nice?


FIRST RECIPE!

I got the original version of this from a book called Real Beer and Good Eats. I had originally bought the book as a pressie for a friend, then I saw how good it was and decided to keep it. I bought him a drink-mixing book instead and he was happy (we both were, it was a great party).

I modified the recipe to make it a helluva lot easier and quicker, so I think it counts as one of mine, eh?

Dave's beer and bleu cheese toasted croutons:

What you need:

Croutons (duh) --check out this footnote **

Olive oil (without poppy (popeye) seed --did you get it? nudge, wink)

Bleu cheese (double duh)

a beer --light lager or light pilsner is fine (that means cheap crap)

**Make your own croutons, any flavour (flavor), it's easy. Take a slice or two of fresh bread and cut it into crouton sized pieces (don't use a serated bread knife for this, you'll only end up tearing the bread if you do). Chuck in whatever seasonings you want (salt, white pepper, lemon pepper, cayenne powder, ground coriander (cilantro) and so on). Toss it all in a wok, add some olive oil, crank the burner up and lightly toast them suckers. Poof, instant croutons.
 

What you do:


Crumble 50 to 100 grams (gms) (1 1/2 to 3 ounces (oz)) of bleu cheese in a bowl.
Add a tablespoon or two of beer. Mix and mash the concoction. Then nuke (microwave) in 20 second increments (stir between increments) until you have a thick (or thin: more beer=thinner sauce) bleu (blue) cheese goop (sauce).

Lightly coat a baking tray with olive oil, then spread croutons on the baking tray. Drizzle the bleu cheese goopy sauce over the croutons (the ones on the tray, dummy) and chuck that tray in the oven. Hmmm, 200 C (392 F) for around 12-15 minutes (720-900 seconds) should do the trick. They'll be done when they are crispy and lightly browned.

Drink the rest of the beer and eat the bleu cheese croutons (you could have figured this step yourself, eh?).



So, like whaddya think? Easy stuff, right? Don't worry, they get more interesting... I promise!