Waffled

Peanut Butter French Toast Waffle

The sounds of the rustling of the newspaper, noise of blender swiveling, butter melting on toast…contentment…Saturdays mornings are my favorite time of day definitely …short but sweet. Many things are planned usually…after breakfast…the grass is getting longer, my husband noticed…perhaps I murmured it too loudly?

On weekdays, rushed breakfast of kefir or vegetable smoothies but on Saturdays my husband is all about carbohydrates. This hearty peanut butter French toast waffle is French, Belgium, international whatever.  Having one of those fills you up until 3 in the afternoon.   Read interesting facts about ‘waffles’ here.

Ingredients and Instructions for 4 waffles (Print Recipe here)

Necessary equipment – Waffle iron, blender or food processor

• 8 slices of whole-wheat or white bread, crust removed.
• 8oz of frozen mixed berries, thawed.
• 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons seedless raspberry preserves
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 4 Tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
• Nonstick spray

1. The night before - Put bread on a baking rack, let stale overnight.
2. Make berry sauce- Combine the fruit and sugar in a medium sauce pan, bring to boil, stir occasionally, until berries soften about 10 minutes.
3. Transfer berry mixture to a blender or food processer. Add the raspberry preserves and lemon juice blend until smooth. Note: if you have a hand held mixer, blend directly in the pan – careful for the splat!
4. Crack eggs into a medium baking dish and whisk lightly. Add milk. sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix well.
   
5. Spread 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter on 4 slices of bread. Top with remaining slices to make 4 sandwiches, flatten slightly. Soak in egg mixture (process #4), 4-5 minutes per side.
6. Heat waffle maker according to the manufacture’s directions. Spray top and bottom grates with nonstick spray.
7. Remove sandwiches from the egg mixture and hold it over the baking pan for about 10 seconds so that excess liquid drips back into the  pan.
8. Place sandwich on the grates. Press down and close completely. Cook until golden brown about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Serve immediately with Berry sauce
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More fabulous eats…

We have been trying to have a dinner at Nodoguro (means ‘ black throat’ in Japanese), for some time but our schedule prohibited it until now. A pop-up restaurant only open Fridays and Saturdays in borrowed space. My husband with young chef Ryan and local celebrity – Mr.Yoshida, the creator of Yoshida’s Marinade and Cooking sauce was one of the guests.

Ryan studied under some well regarded chefs also apprenticed work in Fukuoka, Japan. He speaks fluent Japanese.The restaurant offers 9 plus courses of creative Japanese cuisine. The dishes are prepared with high quality local produce, and the well developed flavor wowed us throughout the affair – we spooned out chilled charred white turnip, tofu mousse with salmon roe topped with matsutake mushroom shaving…the exciting start. 
Thinly sliced tender flounder. The yuzu paste enhanced the flavor. I adored –scallop, sea urchin and the beans, specks of red water pepper is visually effective and had nice kick.Matsutake clear soup…I feel so lucky!

Other dishes were equally fantastic but I don’t have good photos…the place had low light.

A friend shared her homemade miso paste.
Naturally, I made miso soup with Satsuma sweet potato and radish sprouts…the best miso paste ever!

My husband came through with my request – to make fruit tart for my birthday from scratch. See my other fruits tart recipe here

In Karuizawa, we had a over $10 per slice fruits tart. I expected my husband to make one just like it and he did an amazing job! I think I must post the recipe in near future…Honey, can you make it again? And next time, don’t forget to take the process pictures…ok?
Nagano purple (tart) – name of large variety seedless grapes have thin skin.

Having good food like that is a huge part of our trip…At the end of our holiday, I started get melancholy…how we were fortunate to have that experience but it’s time to say good bye…I think I’m going to cry…(Totoro shop in Old Karuizawa)

 

So Thai

Chicken Satay/สะเต๊ะไก่

I have such admiration for my uncle who retired from Honda Motors a while back. He was assigned to a job in Thailand for a few years. He sent me some pictures but they were lost in my fine filing system somewhere…too shay.
Basically Thailand has three seasons- cool, hot and rainy. Their cool season and hot season temperature difference is mere a few degrees…sounds like Hawaii ya? But with much humidness. A long rainy season –July to October – brings heavy rains of course though, typically afternoon flash down pour and sunshine the rest. He thrived there in such a paradisiac, tropical land.

In this recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine, the use of nam chim sate /peanut sauce instead of turmeric so it won’t stain my hands.
By the time my husband was ready to grill the chicken, it had started drizzling outside. Plan B? No, he braved the rain and grilled them to perfection.

Ingredients and instruction for 8 to 10 skewered chicken (Print Recipe Here)

Necessary equipment: bamboo skewers, oven or grill

• 1/2 cup orange juice (freshly squeezed if available)
• Zest of 1 orange (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (no sugar added)
• 2 Tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (I used gluten free type) 
• 2 teaspoons peeled grated fresh ginger
• 4 medium cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1-1/2 pounds boneless,skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch wide strips
• Oil for grill grate
• Skewers –have plenty just in case 12-16
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/3 cup roughly chopped roasted salted peanuts

1. Make marinade sauce - In a large bowl, whisk together the orange juice, orange zest, peanuts butter, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes until smooth. Reserve 1/3 cup of the mixture in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Put the marinade in a resealable gallon plastic bag. Add chicken and seal tight. Put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
3. Soak bamboo skewers in water for 20 minutes.
4. Heat grill to medium heat (350 F), and rub the grate with paper towel dipped in oil.
5. Thread 1-2 chicken strips on each skewer. Grill the chicken until thoroughly cooked, 2-3 minutes per side and until they have a nice charred mark.
6. Sprinkle with cilantro leaves and peanuts. Serve with reserved peanut sauce as dipping sauce.

 

An un-invited guest was already there at the grill. Yeeek!

Life after retirement…not only nice and generous, musically gifted, my uncle taught himself to play piano and guitar, made an amateur band with friends with his family’s blessing. As the vocalist/lead guitar, he and his buddies do some occasional gigs at local establishments. I sincerely hope to have the opportunity someday to watch him play.

 

My husband’s pet project…Kefir kimuchi is about ready for consumption.

Here is something you don’t see everyday…I drove by…What the heck!
A turkey in the middle of the road. Temperature in low 70’s. It already smelled foul. I pinched my nose and took this photo.

I hope you have a not stinky but pleasant week!