Waffle Maker Recipes

Kayleigh here. If I had to choose a favorite kitchen appliance, one that I would buy before anything else in a new setup, it would without question be a waffle maker. Now, if you have never picked one up for yourself, it is probably because you are not a huge fan of waffles. Okay, I know, it is in the name- waffles are obviously what this thing is made to make. But take my word for it- my iron has seen a lot more than buttermilk batter. It had become my main machine for on-the-spot gluten free meal prep.

When our household runs out of bread, things are not as easy as running to the closest convenience store for an emergency loaf of WonderBread. So, rather than pile the fixings onto a plate and eating as-is, I whip up a biscuit dough and toss it in the waffle maker. Five minutes later, just pull out the crisped biscuit, tear the two halves in half to expose the fluffy insides, and add all the fixings. Sure, the shape is a little off, but it holds up well to any sauce or spread you throw on it.

Another fantastic use we have found is in making perfectly crisp hash browns. Grate up a couple small Russet potatoes, rinse them off to remove some of the starch, then toss in some salt, garlic powder, and a pinch of cayenne. Throw it into the well-greased waffle maker, then remove once the outside is golden brown (may take as much as ten minutes). Strike while the iron is hot, and crack an egg into each quarter- just be careful about closing the top down, if you don't want the yolk to spread out.

Want to get more experimental- try making a moffle! Take out that glutinous rice flour, and mix a cup of it with about 2/3 cups. The consistency should be a somewhat thick paste, but no quite a cohesive dough. Add a pinch of salt, and other spices depending on what you're making, then pour it on the waffle maker until it just starts to brown on the outside. The result will be a thin layer of crisp containing a very gooey, slightly transparent inside- a similar texture to melted mozzarella! I suggest eating it slightly warm, but the toppings are entirely up to you. Strawberries and whipped cream turn it into a lovely dessert, or add shredded cheese and diced pepperoni to the batter, then spread with a thin layer of marinara sauce after it is cooked- moffle pizza!

Jason here. I have been trying to cook crispy hashbrowns for years now. It always felt just a step away, ever eluding me. Well no longer! The hashbrowns have come out crispy and perfect each and every time we cooked them in the waffle maker. To top it off, this made the cleanup even easier.

The moffle dough it creates can only be described as magic. It literally tastes like it has a center of melted mozzarella cheese. The moffle pizza has now become a staple of our diet. It is just so easy to whip up on the spot. Each person can make it their own, by adding there favorite toppings.

Asiana Bistro Review

Jason here. Back in college one of the things I really enjoyed was ordering some Chinese takeout. It was simple, delicious, and cheap meal. The best part was that it always came with enough food for left overs once or even twice more throughout the week. Lately I have been getting a little sick of having sandwiches every day for lunch and wanted a little something else. It also happened that I have really been craving some Chinese takeout. With those two things combined, there was never going to be a better time for us to go searching for a local gluten free Chinese takeout restaurant.

The problem, as I am sure many of you have already discovered, is most Asian food contains soy-sauce in one form or another. While you can buy gluten free soy sauce, it is more expensive, and so it takes some searching to find a gluten free Asian restaurant, and is even rarer for a takeout place. As a quick aside, soy sauce is one of the first items I accidentally ate which got me sick. Of course gluten free restaurants like Long, and Square Lotus exist which we have already reviewed. However they were more sit down places, and I wanted takeout.

We found a little place not too far away in Redmond called, Asiana Bistro. They are a Chinese, Japanese, and Korean takeout restaurant.

The first thing you will most likely be greeted with when you walk in Asiana Bistro is the owner. She has both peanut allergies and gluten allergies so she knows what is what around keeping a gluten free kitchen. She was extremely friendly, giving tons of suggestions on what to try, offering to cook up anything special we could ask for, and making sure to inform us that absolutely anything could be made vegetarian. She even went into the back and got a container of the soy sauce they used to show us what brand they used and suggested where we might be able to pick some up ourselves. For those wondering, she mentioned Uwajimaya would almost certainly have it in stock. I don’t think I have ever been greeted by someone with a more warm personality then her, and I could as I watched other customers come in and leave that they all had the same experience I did.

For my meal, I ordered the same thing I have always ordered from Asian takeout, the General Tso’s Chicken. General Tso’s is one of those items which can come in a variety of different ways. I have had General Tso’s come swimming in sauce and almost soup like, to extremely dry. I have had it extremely spicy, and also very bland.

The General Tso’s at Asiana Bistro was fantastic. It came on a large plate with more than enough for an extra meal which I promptly took into lunch the following week. The General Tso’s was just as spicy as I liked it. I tend to like things spicy, and found myself occasionally reaching for a drink after eating one of those red pepper things. However, the owner informed me they have a scale of 1-10 for spicy, and if I am remembering correctly my dish was only a 6. The 10 she said was something you don’t even want to think about. So if you are looking for something with an extreme kick, go ahead and ask for a dish with a spicy level of 10. The chicken was fried just perfectly, and had just enough sauce to give flavor, but no overpower the entire dish. It had large pieces of green pepper, carrots, and onions which did much to add to the flavor. The white rice on the side was cooked just how I like it, that sweet spot between mushy and undercooked.

Kayleigh here. I hemmed and hawed for the longest time when I came face to face with the menu. Usually, wanting to go vegetarian at a restaurant will end up leaving you with 3, maybe 4 items to choose from. So when I found out that any of their meat-based dishes could be substituted for tofu, I thought: what dish have I always wanted to try? Eventually, with the owner’s help, I settled on Mongolian Tofu. Perfectly spicy, fresh, fried tofu, accompanied with colorful green onions and hot white rice- I was seriously pleased! Although, next time, I may take a page from Jason’s book, and order some General Tso’s tofu!

To wrap this up, if you live near Redmond and are looking for some Asian takeout I cannot recommend this place highly enough. They will cook anything to order, make anything vegetarian, are well priced, and completely gluten free.

Buckwheat Spinach Ravioli Recipe

Kayleigh here. So, I know this is a terribly belated post if I want to make it holiday related, but I'm going to go ahead with it anyways because I think it is darn good any day of the year. What dish am I talking about? Ravioli.

Not just any ravioli, though. Homemade, fresh-off-the-presses spinach buckwheat pasta, enrobing a rich mixture of creamy ricotta cheese and tangy Parmesan. Top it off with a simple tomato sauce and some more grated Parmesan, and you have got a beautiful plate of warm, hearty goodness that is sure to satisfy!

Really, the best part of this recipe is how much faster it goes with two or three sets of helping hands working on all the different pasta making steps. Get one person mixing the dough another flouring the cutting board and prepping the folding space, and a third making sure the filling is ready on time. If you've still got hands to spare, put them on drying out the spinach, or getting garlic bread ready for the oven! It really pulls everyone into the kitchen, and makes an event out of dinner prep. So go ahead, invite those friends over early, and lure that better half of yours into the kitchen. You have pre-dinner entertainment built right in!

Buckwheat Spinach Ravioli

Pasta Ingredients:

2/3 Cups Frozen Spinach (if using fresh, cook and wilt it first)

1 Cup Buckwheat Flour

1 Cup Brown Rice Flour

½ ts Guar Gum

2 Eggs

1 ts Olive Oil

pinch of salt ( about ½ ts)

1 Cup Ice-cold Water (DON'T just add all of this in!)

Filling Ingredients:

2 Cups Ricotta Cheese (or one 15 oz container)

1 Egg

1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese

1 ts Oregano

1 Clove Garlic, minced finely

Directions:

1. Thaw the frozen spinach in advanced, or microwave for 30 seconds at a time until room temperature. Using a paper towel and a strainer, remove as much water as possible.
2. If you have a good blender, pulse the spinach along with the eggs until the spinach is finely minced. If not, simply mince the spinach by hand. If the pieces are too large, it can make the noodles fall apart.
3. Mix the two flours and Guar Gum together in a large bowl, then add salt, spinach, eggs, and Olive Oil. Mix until thoroughly combined.
4. Now, using a teaspoon, add a tiny bit of the ice water at a time, until the mixture forms a slightly sticky ball of dough. If the mixture gets too runny, add more Buckwheat flour. Keep the remaining water on hand.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured (or oiled) cutting board and knead until the dough is no longer sticky, adding flour or oil if it starts to stick to the board.
6. Use a rolling pin to spread the dough out, until it is about ¼ inch thick- you may need to divide the dough in half, depending on the size of your cutting board. Then, cut the uneven sides so the dough forms a rectangle.
7. Meanwhile, combine all filling ingredients in another bowl. Nothing fancy here.
8. Going back to the cutting board, score lines into the dough every 2-3 inches vertically, then do the same horizontally, so you make a grid. Spoon a generous teaspoon onto half of the squares. Use your own judgment here- you want to seal the edges, so don't try to overfill.
9. Now, dip your finger in the cup of ice water, then run your finger along each edge of a filled square, then place an empty square on top of it, pressing down gently. Using a fork, go around each edge and press the tines in, making sure each side is sealed completely. Do this to all the squares.
10. Prepare a pot of boiling water, and dump all the ravioli's in, cooking for about ten minutes. They will brighten in color slightly and start to float when they're done, but I suggest pulling one out to check, too.
11. Coat the serving plate in a thin layer of tomato sauce, then add in the ravioli's, topping with more sauce and some shredded/grated Parmesan cheese. Make sure to put a thin layer of sauce anywhere the ravioli may touch each other, since they will stick once they've cooled down some. Serve alongside a fresh salad and a loaf of garlic bread, and enjoy!

Now, you'll probably end up with some extra filling, but there are tons of things you can do with it, including a mini lasagna, chicken Parmesan, or calzones. You can even enhance a potato pancake recipe by adding this into the batter- grill that richness right in!

Jason here. So I have never associated raviolis with the holidays, and I have never heard of anyone else either. However, watching Kayleigh’s face light up as she explained just how it brought everyone together for dinner, is enough to convince anyone that raviolis are the only thing you eat on Christmas. The green, red, and white colors certainly help.

To convince me though, they would also have to be tasty. Gluten free pasta has been one of those items, that I have found to be a little more grainy in texture then the original. I was pleasantly surprised to find these we’re not grainy at all. They were less elastic and springy then traditional pasta, but it was hardly noticeable and didn’t affect the taste at all. I expected them to taste heavily of spinach, but I can safely say that they really did just taste like a more flavor filled pasta. To be fair, I do enjoy spinach. In the end I also love cheese filled dishes, so the extra Parmesan I loaded on top really took these to the next level for me.