And the fun part about these Chocolate Waffle Cookies? There is no need for an oven as they are made on a waffle iron! For this batter, chocolate is added in the form of unsweetened and Dutch-process cocoa powder to give these cookies a rich depth. To give a spicy contrast to the sweetness, cinnamon is added with the dry ingredients to perk up the flavor. The batter is quite thick, so I found a tablespoon cookie scoop was the best way to get the batter onto the waffle iron - alternatively, you could fill up a piping bag and use that to quickly portion it out. I used the "light color" setting on my iron and it took just 1 1/2 minutes for the cookies to be set - just try out one or two cookies until you get the hang of how long it takes. They will be soft and a little flimsy when they are fully cooked, but they will firm up well as they cool.
Because there isn't enough chocolate already, a simple combination of melted butter, confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder and milk are combined to form a shiny glaze on top of the dense brownie-like treasures. This light glaze is meant to be on just the raised lines and not fill into the pockets of the cookies. Once set, a shower of confectioners' sugar is sifted over the cookies to show off their beautiful dark facade.
So, tonight's dinner brings us a little out of our comfort zone with a recipe for Saag Tofu. This is based off an Indian classic that would typically be made with spinach and paneer, which is a firm yet bland cow's milk cheese. In this recipe, which tries to make the original dish a little lighter, firm tofu replaces the cheese and the spinach mixture is not pureed - instead, the spinach is coated in a creamy mixture of yogurt, curry powder and smoky cumin. Also flavoring the spinach is grated ginger, fresh garlic, thin sliced onions and mustard seeds which bring a pungent heat. The tofu is cut into thick chunky pieces and pan-fried until the sides are golden to bring out a chewy texture. To serve, we decided to plate this over a nutty brown basmati rice as it was a pretty saucy dish. While we cannot compare it to an authentic recipe, as we have never prepared or had this type of recipe before, we both enjoyed the results and decided that the enthralling spinach and sauce mixture was the key component to keep this from being too bland with the tofu.
you know you can make your own paneer , even with low fat milk. It's very easy. Bring a litre of milk to the boil, add a squirt of lemon juice, watch the curds and whey split. Scoop the curds in a piece of muslin and form a tight bundle to squeeze out the remaining whey then put the bundle on a plate with another plate as a lid and add a weight on top (a tin of beans or similar works well) and refrigerate, then cut into cubes when it has cooled. It doesn't keep long but 1l of milk only yields a small qty. You can use the whey for bread if you want. You can also just crumble it and serve with rose flavoured syrup and toasted pistashios.
ReplyDeleteStroppycow - Great info! I'm not sure we are ready to make our own, but good to know it is not too difficult!
ReplyDeleteJoe
ReplyDeleteI like the same of your waffles. The only ones I have seen are the square ones - without the pattern. Where did you get yours?
Anne
Anne - it is a square waffle iron - you just don't fill it up all the way!
ReplyDelete