Heights Eats

Waffles usually disappoint me. The perfect waffle should be crisp–almost crunchy–on the outside but light, fluffy and moist on the inside. Most waffles, even at restaurants, tend to be too heavy and lack much distinction between outside and inside.

The secret to perfect waffles is yeast, which results in highly risen, flavorful and crisp waffles. Unfortunately, yeast batter recipes (called “overnight waffles”) do not generally allow for a quick waffle fix. However, using inspiration from Alton Brown’s English Muffin recipe, I realized that I could speed the process to a little over 30 minutes. The ingredient list is from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything. His overnight recipe can be found here.

We had these for dinner, but they could easily be made quickly enough for a weekend breakfast or brunch.

Quick Yeast Waffles (serves four hungry adults)

2 cups whole milk 8 TB (1 stick) butter 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 envelope yeast, active dry or instant 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 … continue reading

We’ve been lazy about blogging on home cooked meals lately, partially because we can never fit pulling out a camera amidst getting dinner on the table. I did get one decent photo lately, though, so I’m using it as an excuse to blog on some of our more memorable meals this summer.

Above is a pork bun based on David Chang’s recipe in Momofuku. It was made during one of summer’s hotter days, so I used the grill rather than the oven. It’s just cured and slow cooked pork belly with steamed buns, quick pickled cucumber, scallions and hoisin sauce. Our only criticism of this dish was that it was quite rich but too easy to take down. In a restaurant we’d be served a couple of these and leave wanting more. With all that yummy pork available, though, we ate so much we didn’t want breakfast the next day. Jonathan loved the buns (they were sweet and made with pork … continue reading

People often discuss pairing wine and food, but beer’s compatibility with food is sometimes overlooked (although this seems to be changing). As Spicehound has pointed out, there’s a diversity and complexity of flavors found in beer that makes it wonderful with a variety of dishes. I’ve recently taken to enjoying Belgian-style beers with restaurant meals. While the food at Fire would be great with tap water, the Ommegang Three Philosophers (Quadrupel Ale with a hint of cherry lambic) I had lately there took everything up a few notches. The carmelization of the malts in some beers (i.e. Maillard reactions) often work well with seared meats. Alton Brown recently pointed out that both porters and porterhouse steaks originated at restaurants that served British porters, and that, not surprisingly, a porter is great with a porterhouse steak.

Sometimes a beer even only seems to fully reveal itself in the presence of food. I don’t generally like Dogfish Head’s Theobroma (a chocolate-cayenne-honey beer) but it … continue reading

We recently made Alton Brown’s Eggplant “Pasta” based largely on this YouTube clip:

In order to make it more like real eggplant Parmesan, though, i.e. fried and crusty, I made one modification. After sauteeing everything in my large cast iron skillet (it took about 3 1/2 minutes for two servings, i.e. one eggplant and one tomato from City Fresh), I added the following, in order:

A sprinkling of flourOne beaten egg, spread over the top of everythingA coating of bread crumbs w/some fresh Parmesan

I broiled the whole thing in the skillet for a couple minutes to create a nice crust. Finally, I sprinkled on 1/4 cup or so grated provolone and broiled briefly.

The dish was a yummy hybrid of baked “pasta” and cheesy eggplant Parmesan, but without the heaviness of either as it was neither deep fried nor contained much starch. It also paired very well with the Spaten Optimator I had on hand.

We’ll definitely make this again!… continue reading

While I own a book or two on grilling and have frequently done Internet searches, I’ve yet to find a concise compilation of what you need to know at the outset. Here is a list of basics I wish I’d known when I’d started:

Always use a chimney starter for charcoal grilling. Putting some vegetable oil on the newspaper helps insure you’ll get a good fire going, as Alton Brown pointed out on Good Eats.
Charcoal (vs. gas) is best for red meat, less important for chicken and vegetables, and not really necessary for fish as it cooks so quickly.
Lump (or hardwood) charcoal is best for grilling–it burns hot and fast–while charcoal briquettes work better for barbecuing, i.e. slow cooking (indirect grilling… continue reading) with smoke.
Outdoor temperature significantly affects grilling time. If it’s 85+ degrees out (like today), decrease times by 10–20%. If it’s in the 50s, increase by the same percentage.
Wood chips should be

Because of the nice weather, I’ve been using my grill a lot lately. I thought I’d share recipes for Garlic Halibut and Zucchini below, as they turned out really well:

The halibut is basically an Asian preparation. It’s slightly sweet with a rich but mellow flavor of ginger, garlic, sesame and soy. Even Jonathan really liked it.

The zucchini was just briefly marinated in Montréal Steak Seasoning and olive oil and grilled in the basket along with the fish, then grilled a couple more minutes on the grates to get grill marks.

Garlic Halibut

(from Steve Raichlen’s How to Grill; I’ve halved his recipe)

Serves 2–3

1 lb halibut3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped1 1/2 t. peeled, coarsely grated ginger1 TB. minced cilantro1 1/2 TB. sugar2 TB. fish sauce or soy sauce1 1/2 TB. sake, rice wine or dry sherry1 1/2 TB. dark sesame oil (optional, but very good)1/2 t. coarse salt1/2 t. freshly grated black pepper

1. Rinse the fish and pat dry with paper towels. Arrange … continue reading

Better Waffles

Still Cooking

Beer Week Giveaway

Making Andouille and Breakfast Sausage

Baked Eggplant “Pasta”

Grilling

Grilled Garlic Halibut and Zucchini