Smoked Salmon Waffles

A recipe with smoked salmon is sure to grab my attention. So are ones with cute stacks of things made in mini versions. There were a lot of great ideas in Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table, but these savory waffles were first on my list of things to try. There are two ways you could go with these waffles. You could make whole waffles, cut them into quarters, top them as you please, and serve them in one, single layer. They’d be great as small bites for a cocktail party. Or, as I did, you can make mini waffles by just placing a spoonful of batter in the center of each waffle square assuming you’re using a square waffle maker. Then, the mini waffles can be topped and stacked into towers for brunch. The toppings here are creme fraiche, smoked salmon, and chopped chives, but in the book, salmon roe is also shown as an optional topping. You could get creative and use these as vehicles for all kinds of things though. For instance, the pate de jardin made by Kocurek Family Charcuterie that I brought home from the farmers’ market was another delicious thing to set atop these waffles. The batter for them was made with chopped green onions, chives, and smoked salmon in it, so the savory flavors ran through each bite.

Making the batter was as easy as it always is for any pancake or waffle. Flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper, in this case, were whisked together. In a separate bowl, milk, eggs, and melted butter were combined and then added to the dry ingredients. Everything was stirred together but just barely. As usual, some lumps are fine. Last, chopped smoked salmon, green onions, and chives were folded into the batter. I heated my waffle maker, and mine happens to make kind of big dents in waffles rather than little, dainty ones. In this case, a daintier dent might have been nicer, but mine worked well enough. When the machine was hot, I spooned a bit of batter into the center of each of the four waffle squares. They cooked for the usual amount of time which for my machine is about six minutes. When they were all done, I stacked three mini waffles per serving with creme fraiche and more smoked salmon between each layer.

There’s enough butter in these waffles to give them good, rich flavor which fit well with the salty, savoriness of cured salmon. Salmon, chives, and creme fraiche is a mix that works every time. Sweet, syrup-covered waffles are a welcome treat at brunch too, but having a buttery, crisp waffle without the sugar was a fun change of pace. One other suggestion from the book was to offer these with various toppings in a build-your-own setup for a party. I like that idea too, and I’m already thinking of more topping ideas.

Thai-Style Scallops and Asparagus

Scallops plus asparagus and Thai flavors was all I needed to know. I saw this dish in the food section on The New York Times site last week, and it immediately became a part of our weekend dining plans. With the current fling I’m having with asparagus and scallops’ unwavering appeal, this meal was sure to be a hit. That being said, I made some minor changes to the suggested preparations. First, Kurt and I both prefer for large scallops to be seared. While we agree on that point, Kurt also feels that sauce should never cover scallops once they’re seared because tampering with that seared bit of crust on the surface should be illegal. So, rather than cooking the scallops in the sauce as was recommended, I seared them separately and set them on top of the asparagus and sauce for serving. Another change I made was simply due to laziness. I didn’t feel the need to make fish stock for a mere one-third cup, so I used water and added a little fish sauce instead. Last, since I have a cute, little kaffir lime tree growing in a container on my front porch, I grabbed a few leaves from it to slice thinly for garnishing.

I made the curry paste mostly as directed by the recipe. Shallots, cores of lemon grass bulbs, ginger, garlic, anchovy paste, coriander, lime juice, and lime zest were mixed in a food processor. Oil was heated in a saute pan, and the curry paste was added. Asparagus, and I used more than suggested because I couldn’t help myself, was cut into small pieces and added to the curry paste. Then, I added water and fish sauce instead of fish stock, more coconut milk than suggested because I used more asparagus than suggested, and sriracha, and allowed the asparagus and sauce to simmer. Meanwhile, I seared the scallops in a separate pan, and all the while jasmine rice was steaming. The rice was served on the side, and the scallops were set on top of the asparagus and sauce making sure that nothing sauce-like came in contact with the top of the scallops.

The spiciness level can be determined by the amount of sriracha added, and I boosted it just a bit, but I didn’t want to overshadow the flavor of the scallops. The simple curry paste was a breeze to make, and I’m now certain I need a mortar and pestle. It was such a small amount to pulverize, it took longer to make the paste in a small food processor, with several stops to stir, than it would have by hand. Still, it made a flavorful sauce for this fresh, spring-like dish.

Pistachio Tart with Strawberries and Rhubarb

I wasn't sure if anyone grew rhubarb in central Texas. For the last couple of years when I was looking for it, I never saw any at our farmers' markets. Some people even told me that rhubarb is more common in the north than it is in the south. Then, all of sudden this spring, I started hearing rumors of locally grown rhubarb being available at markets and farm stands. I stopped by the farm stand at Boggy Creek Farm one morning, and they indeed had freshly cut rhubarb. It wasn't as big or as red as the stalks I see in the grocery store, but it was grown with no chemicals right here in Austin, so I was proud to bring it home. I had a mash-up of a plan in mind for it. In Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, there were ideas from two different tarts that I wanted to combine into one dessert. The rhubarb tart recipe in the book suggests cooking big pieces of rhubarb in a sugar syrup with a vanilla bean and beet wedges. The beet wedges give the syrup and the rhubarb more red color. Once the rhubarb was tender, it was removed, and the syrup was reduced to a thick glaze. The other tart from the book was made with a pistachio crust, was filled with a creme fraiche and whipped cream mixture, and was topped with berries and whole pistachios. I wanted both.

I made the pistachio dough as instructed by finely grinding shelled pistachios and adding them to butter mixed with confectioners' sugar. Egg yolks were added to that followed by flour, salt, and a little cream. The dough was soft and slightly sticky, so it was necessary to chill it before rolling. Then, rather than making individual tartlets as shown in the book, I made one rectangular tart. There was extra dough, so I did make a few tartlets as well to freeze and use another time. The tart crust was blind baked with pie weights and then allowed to cool. Going back to the rhubarb tart in the book, I cooked the cut pieces of rhubarb as suggested with sugar, water, a vanilla bean, and one beet cut into wedges. Since my rhubarb was more green than red, it required a little extra cooking time to become tender and sweet. Then, it was removed and allowed to dry on paper towels. The sugar syrup was strained and then poured into a clean pan to reduce until thick. One more flip back to the pistachio tarts to make the filling which was a mix of creme fraiche, cream, and sugar. That was spread in the cooled crust and then topped with halved strawberries, whole pistachios, the drained rhubarb, and last was drizzled with the cooled red, sugar syrup glaze.

The glaze was bright red from the beet, full of vanilla flavor, and was delightful. It was so pretty, I wanted to boil it to a higher temperature so I could turn it into lollipops. The pistachio crust was a winner too. It was easy to shape it in the tart pan, and the faint green tint contrasted well with the filling and toppings. I had no uncertainty about the creme fraiche and whipped cream layer under the strawberries and rhubarb, and it was tangy and rich as it should be. So, this mix of two tarts made one pleasing dessert.