Almond Mocha Waffle Bowls

I love gadgets. No, it has nothing to do with me being Asian because there is no Hello Kitty on any of them...

I'm talking about kitchen gadgets. I once paid $20 for an ice cream scoop, and when my bf asked me what is so special about it, I went on for a good 2 minutes about the shine, another 2 minutes about the rubber grip, almost 3 minutes on the curves, and then about 1 whole minute on the way the "tongue" pushes down.

I could have continued for a long time but the blank look on his face made me stop.

...*sigh*...

So, today, the waffle (cone) machine came out to play. I've always had a love & hate relationship when it comes to rolling a waffle into a cone. Why? Because after it's baked, you have FOUR seconds to roll it around the cone thingy to take shape. It's burning hot and of course, I have no gloves. After the 4 seconds, it begins to harden and will crack if you try to bend it...

So, I made the bowl version as well.

Almond Mocha Waffles
(adapted from the recipe on the box of my Rival Waffle Maker)

• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted & cooled
• 1 tsp almond extract
  
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup ground almond
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp instant coffee granule

Beat eggs and add sugar slowly until well incorporated. Add butter & extract.
Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl, sift if needed. Then blend into egg mixture until smooth.
Bake as directed then roll into cones with utensil provided.

To make the waffle bowls:
You will need 2 bowls, same size. Turn 1 bowl upside down and drape the just-baked waffle over the bottom. Immediately stack the other one on top, also upside down, to shape it. Let sit for about 30 seconds. Remove and cool completely.

They taste soooo good!!! With or without the ice cream, as a bowl or a cone, whole or broken, I accept them unconditionally.

Banana peanut butter pie

This pie might look small but it actually feeds 2 people

This is one of those what's-in-the-fridge creation. There's no actual recipe except for the crust which I always have a batch of, in the freezer. But you can use any home-made or ready to use store-bought crust.

I used the same crust that I made for my fruit tarts here. (And since I only made two, I actually used the toaster oven, baked them for 20 minutes at 400F)

For the filling, I really just eyeballed it, so this is approximately for two 4.5 inch pies:

• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 1/2 smooth peanut butter
• 1 cup mashed banana (2 bananas depending on the size)
• 1/2 tbsp of amaretto cream (optional)
  

In a bowl, soften cream cheese & peanut butter in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds on medium power. Stir well.

Mix in mashed banana. Make sure to stir everything til mixture is smooth. Add about 1/2 tbsp of amaretto cream if you want. I've never tasted banana liqueur but I'm pretty sure it could work too since... well... it's banana!?

Let cool about 10 minutes and spoon into baked shell.

If you like, you can drizzle some melted chocolate on the top, or whipped cream.

Piri-piri spiced steak with chimichurri sauce

Last summer we went to a friend's BBQ, and there were sausages, steak, fishes, etc, you know, the usual. And then there was chimichurri, which my bf fell head over heels for, and smeared it on everything he ate.

Then he kept talking about it for days.

So, since one of his favorite food is steak (i can almost hear him agreeing with me: "hmmm... ya... steak...") me stumbling onto this over at the awesome Chef Gone Wild (who now has a new blog at Zen Can Cook) was way too much of a sign.

Piri-piri spice mix
recipe by Chef Gone Wild

• 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 - 1 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix it all together and rub the steak really well with it.
Then while the steak and the spice are getting to know each other, make the sauce

Chimichurri
recipe by Chef Gone Wild

• 1 large bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley, washed, stemmed and dried.
• 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 2 Tbsp minced onion
• 1 small carrot, grated (my bf asked that I omit this next time)
• 5 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp chili flakes
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a food processor, whiz the parsley & garlic. Then add everything else except the olive oil & continue. Drizzle the oil through the top in a thin stream.

Done! Now, grill your steak and spread some sauce & the I'm-ignoring-my-better-half-because-I-love-steak scene begins from there.

Lemon sorbet

Ice cream machine?
Check!

"The Perfect Scoop"?
Check!

Lots & lots of empty tubs waiting to be filled with cold sweet goodness?
*wiping drool*
Check!

I am definitely equipped for the heat!!!

Lemon Sorbet
from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz (page 116)

• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/4 cup sugar (or 1 cup for a more tart taste)
• zest of 2 lemons (preferably organic or cleaned of wax & spray)
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4-6 lemons)
• 1-3 Tbsp of limoncello or vodka (since alcohol doesn't freeze, it would help to keep the home-made sorbet from freezing too hard)

In a saucepan, mix the sugar, 1/2 cup water and zest. Melt over low heat, stirring frequently until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the rest of the water. Chill in the fridge for a few hours.

When ready, stir the lemon juice into the syrup and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Here comes the first brain freeze of 2009 and like a moth, I keep going back for more
...*sigh*...

Prosciutto & ricotta wrap

• Whole grain tortilla wrap
• Ricotta cheese
• Mesclun mix salad
• Halved cherry tomatoes
• Prosciutto slices
• A crack of pepper

Wrap & roll!!!

A side of sliced Lebanese cukes & yellow bell peppers. Lunch is ready!!!!

Green tea frozen yogurt

Yup, it's exactly what the title says.... Green tea frozen yogurt! YUM!

I found this recipe on Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy who got the basis from David Lebovitz, one of my favorite chefs, whose book "The Perfect Scoop" I just bought yesterday, aaaaahhhh!!!!! (I'm so happy!!!!)

...*catching my breath*...

(I only had full-fat yogurt, not Greek, so I drained it over night. And I also halved the recipe because I only had 2 cups of yogurt left)

Matcha Frozen Yogurt
by Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy

• 2 cups yogurt
• 1/2 cup sugar (I used powdered sugar because I was paranoid that it wouldn't dissolve)
• 1 Tbsp matcha powder

Mix everything together until completely blended. Chill in the fridge for a few hours then churn the mix in the ice cream machine* as according to the manufacturer's instruction.

Freeze & enjoy. I know I couldn't stop...

*(If you don't have an ice cream maker, the beat-it-every-30-minutes-for-3-hours will probably work. I made vanilla ice cream like that once and it worked perfectly well)

I'm off to go buy more yogurt for my next batch.