Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Cooking In The Garage: Waffles for Dessert

The kitchen as we knew it has been demolished. The kitchen that we now know is in the garage. These are interesting times.
The microwave oven, a rice cooker (borrowed), a waffle maker, and a toaster oven are all I have. Though a mixer and a food processor are available, they are a pain to use as there is virtually no counter space and the only dish washer is the manual kind (read: the husband).
These are the chronicles of our meals prepared and enjoyed in the garage.


Since the kids (and their father) have been so patient and such great sports these past few weeks, a treat was in order.

Hadn't made dessert yet in the garage-kitchen as it was some what of a challenge, given the limited resources available. Finally zero-ed in on waffles as they don't need any appliance or kitchen gadget that I don't have access to. Nicole's recipe for plain waffles is simple and versatile. The only change made to this recipe was that I used whole wheat flour and a tablespoon of wheat gluten.

In our family, any dessert that doesn't contain chocolate is not fit to be eaten (just a slight exaggeration). So the waffles were served with a drizzle of ganache and toasted pecans.


Variations: Omit the salt and vanilla; add finely chopped onions, green chillies and cilantro for a delicious savoury waffle.
Add chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts) and chocolate chips for a crunchy variation.
Instead of the ganache top the waffles with honey or maple syrup.


Chocolate Ganache
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used Trader Joe's Pound Plus)
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp coffee liqueur or any other liqueur of choice(optional)

Bring the cream to a boil and pour it over the chocolate.
Mix well and let it stand for about 4-5 minutes.
Add the liqueur (if using) and mix well.

Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to a week and can be used to top ice-cream, to make chocolate milk shakes, or for those times when you just need chocolate.
This is probably one of few recipes where I use heavy cream. I've experimented replacing a portion of the cream with whole milk, but the results are less than satisfactory. The good thing is that a little does go a long way.
If anyone any recipe for a lite-ganache, I'd love to hear about it.

Had I managed to get things done on time, this would've been my entry to MBP-Breads .

Coffee very graciously accepted my much delayed entry for this month's MBP-Breads. Thanks, Coffee!
 
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