Red, White & Blue Waffles

Happy 4th of July!  Hope you all have a wonderful day that includes family, friends, fun, fireworks and lots of yummy food.

We decided to start our morning off with some patriotic red, white and blue waffles.  It was a little bit of a mad rush because I also needed to get the baked beans into the slow cooker (recipe to come a little later). In a very short amount of time I managed to use a good number of bowls, measuring spoons, pots, and utensils.  Usually I try to clean as I go but that wasn't an option this morning.  Luckily for me a magic genie appeared and washed up everything for me.  Well, really it was my wonderful husband, but it was magical.  In between doing this he also whipped up a White Sangria (another recipe to follow soon), and had it in the fridge to chill.

These waffles were inspired by ones that appeared on Kita's blog, Pass the Sushi.  Her post made me laugh because it was entitled "Blueberry Sour Cream Waffles for When Gerard Butler Visits".  The waffles sounded amazing, and who doesn't want an amazing recipe when someone like Gerard visits?  I mean you have to be ready don't you?

My refrigerator contained a plethora of berries - blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries - but I decided to use blueberries and raspberries for my waffles.  I used only all-purpose flour, mainly because I did not have any whole wheat pastry flour, and I added some cinnamon to the mix.  A little dusting of powered sugar gave them the red, white, and blue look.  I do agree with Kita that a dollop of cream, or even sour cream, would make an excellent addition but these were gobbled up too quickly to do so today. All that accompanied them was some maple syrup.

I wanted to pass on a tip for transferring the batter to the waffle maker.  I have always used the little cup that came with the waffle maker.  It holds about one cup, but it is always difficult to get all of the batter out of it.  Previously I have resorted to using a mini spatula to scrape the sides as I pour the batter into the waffle maker.  This morning I decided to grab my largest ice cream scoop and measure how many scoops equaled the amount of batter in the cup.  It worked out to two full scoops.  I cannot tell you how much easier it is to use an ice cream scoop to transfer the batter, and the built in scraper means that all of the batter is transferred with a squeeze of the handle.

Red, White, & Blue Waffles

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 eggs
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• ¾ cup blueberries
• ¾ cup raspberries

Preparation

1. Preheat your waffle iron on medium-high heat.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the milk and sour cream, and then whisk in the eggs. 
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and stir just until combined. 
5. Fold in the butter, and then the blueberries and raspberries, stirring minimally.
6. Pour 1/4 cup of batter per waffle onto the iron and cook until the waffles are a light golden brown. Keep cooked waffles warm on a platter in the oven.
7. Serve waffles with a dusting of powdered sugar and maple syrup (a dollop of whipped cream or sour cream would be great too). 
8. Makes approximately 6 waffles.

Recipe adapted from Pass the Sushi.

Beer Battered Mahimahi and Chips

My favorite fish to eat is definitely mahimahi (except for the Misoyaki Butterfish at Roy's but that is another story.....).  Mahimahi is also known as dolphin fish - don't panic,  it is not related to an actual dolphin. In the Hawaiian language mahimahi means very strong.  It is a firm, white-fleshed fish that has a mild taste.  One of my favorite ways to enjoy this fish is to coat it in a coconut crust and then pan fry the fillets, but tonight I had other plans.  I was in the mood for fish and chips.

When we visit our relatives in Australia we always look forward to Friday night fish and chips.  I am partial to the grilled fish we can get there, but I also enjoy battered fish, potato scallops, and pineapple fritters.   Not exactly good for you, but oh so good if you know what I mean.

Frying battered fish is not as easy as it looks.  First you need a batter that is not too thick that it over-coats the fish and prevents it from cooking through, and not too thin that it just runs right off the fish into the oil.  It is a definitely a delicate balance.  Then you need to make sure that you have the oil just right  - not too hot that the outside burns and the fish is raw, but not too cool that the fish ends up a soggy mess.  I think we probably had out oil a little too hot but I couldn't find my thermometer to check out how hot it was.  Of course now that I don't need it I am sure I could find it right away.  Such is the law of the kitchen.

We served our fish with oven-roasted potato wedges.  I simply took 2 large russet potatoes, peeled them, and cut them into wedges.  The wedges went into a large roasting pan with a little olive oil to coat, and just a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  They cooked at 400°F for approximately 40 minutes (I turned them over once at about 20 minutes).  A little lemon and some yogurt sauce and we were ready to eat.  We did have a lot of batter left over so next time I would probably make potato scallops rather than fries.

Beer Battered Mahimahi and Chips

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 12 ounces beer
• 2 large fillets of mahimahi, each cut into 3 pieces
  

Preparation

1. In a large bowl add flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, eggs, and beer, and beat until smooth.
2. Season fish with salt and pepper.
3. Use at least 3 inches of oil to  fry fish.
4. Dip each fillet into the batter and drop into the oil, two at a time.
5. Cook each fillet until golden brown, turning once during cooking. 
6. Drain on paper towels.

My batter was made from this batter recipe.