So you want to go out for breakfast?

People love going out for breakfast in Portland, so much so that it's become a joke of sorts. Seriously, there's a Portlandia skit about it. Any given Saturday or Sunday morning (or early afternoon, for that matter), a quick glance at any restaurant serving breakfast will provide you with the vision of a trail of hungry humans snaking out the front door, around the corner, and so on. They'll wait an hour+ for even average eggs, but I'm often hesitant to participate. I mean, it's breakfast, I haven't eaten in over 12 hours, I'm hungry, and the last thing I want to do is wait another hour, often outside in the cold and rain, for the honor of gracing their overpriced tables.
Yesterday, however, I discovered a trick to circumnavigate such drudgery: The Waffle Window.
Sure, it was 10:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Yes, we were on Hawthorne. That's ground zero of weekend breakfast waiting. But did we wait? No. Did we shell out a crapload for a fried egg or boring french toast? No. Was breakfast incredibly delicious? A resounding YES!
We went to Waffle Window, a little walk-up and order window cropping out of the Bread and Ink Cafe on SE 36th Ave. It was busy, but there was no wait, no line. There are sweet and savory waffles, the most expensive topping out at $5.00. And even though there's a walk-up window, there's still seating, both inside and out. It was raining and cold, but we were able to find a table inside without any trouble, and five minutes later we were happily munching our waffles and slurping our lattes.
So how are the waffles? Amazing. Best waffles I've ever had.
We order two and shared them: one savory (the jalapeno cheddar bacon waffle, pictured above) and one sweet, whose name I don't recall, but I will describe momentarily.
Both waffles are coated with a sweet, crunchy, sugary layer outside, and somehow, this even works well with the savory one. The Jalapeno Cheddar Bacon waffle was topped with a wondrous guacamole with nice little chunks of jalapeno, a couple of meaty strips of bacon, and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese. SO. GOOD. The sweet had a base-layer smear of lemon curd, strawberries and raspberries, whipped cream, and a tangerine on top. The waffles were just the right size. Not too big, but not dainty either. Everyone there was happy and comfortable: kids, adults, whatever. What's better than a wait-free Saturday morning brunch?
I'll be back.

Christmas Cookies

It was Christmas Cookie time, but I wasn't sure what to make, as the possibilities are seemingly endless. I narrowed it down to only recipes whose ingredients I already had on hand. Then, since I planned on giving the cookies away, I wanted a variety, or contrast at least. So it came down to this: one chocolatey/fruity and one nutty: Raspberry Brownies and Cottage Cheese Rugelach with Walnuts.

I'll start off with the Rugelach. Yes, it's a Jewish cookie, and I'm making them for Christmas, but so what? I'm an equal opportunity cookie baker/eater, and when I see a good recipe, I go for it. Also, what with them being rolled and shaped and so on, you'd think they would be complicated. But they're not. SUPER EASY. Seriously. Few ingredients, and the shaping process is a million times simpler than the pretty results would lead you to believe. My only alteration: the recipe calls for margarine, but I used butter. Not sure why it called for margarine, maybe it's some sort of kosher rule or something. But they're sweet, flaky, tender, and delicious. You can find the recipe for Cottage Cheese Rugelach with Walnuts on Epicurious.

Now for the Raspberry brownies. It's a dirty little secret. These are seriously the best brownies you will ever eat. I'm not joking. Everyone who has one says so. They're moist, fudgy, with a fruity tang. I got the recipe from my friend Alex, who is known for making complicated, elaborate desserts from scratch. Are you ready yet?

It's brownie mix with frozen raspberries thrown in. For real. But for whatever reason, the raspberries (or any other berry you have on hand, for that matter) make mediocre, ordinary brownie mix into a revelatory experience. You think I'm exaggerating? Try them, and you'll know I'm not.

So here are the instructions for Raspberry Brownies:

• Prepare brownie mix according to instructions on the box (I used Duncan Hines and followed the "Fudgy Style Instructions" (that's opposed to "Cake-Like Instructions").
• Pour half of it into the tray.
• Sprinkle a decent amount of berries over.
• Top with remainder of brownie mix.
• Bake according to box instructions.
• Bowl people over with the best brownies of their lives.

Pumpkin Muffins

Something needed to be done with the leftover pumpkin puree. Muffins sounded like a great idea, and after consulting several sources, the recipe I found on Epicurious was the most appealing. Pumpkin, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and cloves, studded with golden raisins and pumpkin seeds. While baking, the kitchen smelled like pumpkin pie. I'm looking forward to breakfast tomorrow!

Best Pumpkin Pie

Isn't that the most perfect pumpkin pie you've ever seen?

It's called Yankee Pumpkin Pie with Maple Whipped Cream from Williams-Sonoma Savoring America.

This is the same recipe I used last year, but for whatever reason it came out amazing, and my mom said it was the best pumpkin pie she's ever had. I did change a couple of things from the original recipe: 1) I switched out the heavy cream for evaporated milk and 2) I used only butter in the crust instead of a combination of butter and shortening (since that's all I had).

Williams-Sonoma Yankee Pumpkin Pie (with Laura's Alterations)

1 3/4 cups pureed pumpkin

pastry for a singe crust 9-inch pie (recipe follows)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

4 tsp flour

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

pinch of ground cloves

pinch of salt

1 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup maple syrup

3 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 tsp vanilla

Maple Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream

3 Tbl maple syrup

• On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pie pastry into a 14-inch round. Drape the pastry around the pin and carefully ease it into the pie dish, pressing it into the bottom and sides. Trim the overhang so that it extends 3/4 inch beyond the edge of the the pie dish rim. Roll the overhang under and crimp attractively. Freeze pie shell for 30 minutes.
• Heat over to 425ºF. Line the frozen pie shell with foil, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake until set to the touch, about 15 minutes. Remove the weights and foil and continue to bake until golden, 4-5 minutes longer. Transfer to a rack and let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325ºF.
• In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin purée, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt and whisk until smooth. Add the evaporated milk, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla and whisk until just smooth. Pour into the cooled pie shell.
• Bake until the center jiggles slightly when the dish is nudged, about 50 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool.
• To make the whipped cream, in a chilled bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Add the maple syrup and continue to beat until well blended and the cream forms soft peaks, about 30 seconds longer. OR pour cream and maple syrup into a cream whipper (such as isi) and dispense.

Pie Pastry For Single-Crust Pie

1 1/4 cups flour

1 Tbl granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

7 Tbl chilled butter cut into little pieces

3 Tbl very cold water

• Throw all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until the dough thumps together into a ball.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into a 5-inch disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled.

Smitten Kitchen's Nectarine, Mascarpone, & Gingersnap Tart

No, I'm not as good a photographer as Smitten Kitchen's Deb is. But that's not the point of this post. The point is, I'm going to a barbecue tonight, and was instructed to bring a side and dessert. Derek's in charge of the side, so I needed to come up with a dessert. This is what I came up with. And, I believe, it's a thing of beauty, if I do say so myself. It came out perfect. I'm looking forward to eating some. And, I used Lord Grey's Peach Preserves (see previous post) that I made as a glaze for the nectarines in this. Oh boy!

Lord Grey's Peach Preserves

This month's Bon Appetit had an article devoted to preserving, including a recipe for peach preserves fragranced with Earl Grey tea. It sounded so good! I like to make a batch or two of jam every summer, but am still overloaded with jars of strawberry and raspberry from previous years, even though I give some away as gifts (I'm just one person, how much jam can I eat??). But this sounded special, and different from my usual berry routine.

The recipe was very simple: 5 pounds peaches, 4 cups sugar, 5 bags of Earl Grey tea, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. How could it go wrong?

Well, at first, I thought it went very wrong. The peaches were super juicy, and the preserves just wouldn't seem to thicken, even though I ended up cooking if for twice as long as the recipe stated. The kitchen smelled unbelievably good--Chanel or Dolce & Gabbana or somebody should make "Lord Grey's Peach Preserve Perfume." But the consistency seemed WAY too thin. I thought I had just made the best smelling preserve fail ever.

But NO! After sitting for a day, the preserves thickened up a bit, and are AMAZING on toast. Oh, my gosh. So good. So make some. Really, it's good.

Tinga Poblano

I made Tinga Poblano a couple of weeks ago, and it turned out to be a versatile dish: it can be eaten either as a stew or used as a filling for tacos. Either way, it was smokey, spicy deliciousness. I found the recipe in Williams Sonoma Savoring Mexico. Pretty darn simple too.