WAFFLE PARTY USA

This waffle party is like the firework grand finale in your mouth.

Celebrate American Independence from those tax-collecting limeys. Those redcoats just took and took and never bothered to give their colonists a reach around. King George shouldn’t have been surprised when they stopped sucking him off with a smile. Perhaps if the British were more inclined to reciprocate with the oral gratification Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and the rest of their posse wouldn’t object to being colonial fluffers. But alas, history unfolded and now the yanks are free from British money shots splattering their bespectacled, wig-wearing faces. If not the taxes and tariffs, chances are the Yankees would have rebelled against the piss poor British cuisine. So celebrate Independence Day with a distinctly American dessert. Oh say can you see?

Total time: approximately 15 minutes
Projected cost: $4
Drinking Buddy: Champagne

Ingredients (serves 2):
1. 2 tbsp powdered sugar
2. ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
3. ½ package
4. 2 frozen waffles
5. ½ tsp vanilla extract
6. 6-OZ dark CHOCOLATE

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Slice the strawberries up, removing the stems. Place the slices on top of each frozen waffle. Chop the dark chocolate up into shards and place them on top of the strawberries

Step 2
Whisk up some homemade vanilla whipped cream into frothy awesomeness. You can just use canned whipped dream if you are lazy and don’t enjoy it fresh.

Step 3
Throw the waffles into the oven and bake until the chocolate melts (approx 10 min). Sprinkle powdered sugar over them and crown it all with whipped cream.

Serve the waffles up like a proper patriot .

Feed Usa, Day 3: Eggplant Veggie Burgers

I’ll do just about anything to avoid eating a ground-beef burger (with a few exceptions – like In-N-Out!). And so when Emily sent us her summertime burger creation, I knew we had to give it a go (be sure to visit her lovely blog for many more delicious recipes.)

The verdict on these burgers – they have a very good flavor. The texture needs a little work though, they lean towards the mushy side of the spectrum. We added a good bit of panko breadcrumbs, and I’m not sure what else you could add that would ‘beef’ up the texture. Emily suggested maybe brown rice… I’m thinking bulgar?

We topped our burgers with lettuce, fresh tomato, and a bit of goat cheese.

And we made our own buns.

Maybe it’s just me, but Whole Foods does not have a great selection of breads. And what they do have is either frozen and expensive or gluten-free. Maybe I missed it? Anyways, much like we were forced to make our own pitas when the store selection was slim, we decided to make our own burger buns.

I followed the recipe here. While I wouldn’t dare call these easy, they were quite good. I’m not sure if I had too much moisture in my dough, they formed some pretty pathetic balls… I’d call them disks. So when we cut them in half each half was a bit thin. Maybe using two buns, one on top, and one on the bottom, for a little more substance.

Homemade buns? Eggplant burgers with goat cheese? I’d call it a successful meal!

Eggplant Veggie Burgers

Makes 6-8 burgers

INGREDIENTS
5-6 Japanese or Italian eggplants, peeled and cubed
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 small zucchini, peeled and grated
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup wheat germ or wheat bran
1 tablespoon basil, chopped
1 egg, beaten
olive oil
6-8 burger buns, homemade or not :)
lettuce
tomato
goat cheese, crumbled

DIRECTIONS
Place eggplant cubes in a colander suspended over a large bowl, generously sprinkle with salt. Allow to sit for 20-30 minutes, then pat dry with a paper towel.

Meanwhile, drain grated zucchini in a dish towel. Simply gather and squeeze until as much water has been removed as possible. Transfer to a large bowl and season with pepper (easy on the salt, since the eggplant has already been salted).

Heat a few teaspoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add eggplant and cook approximately 5 minutes. Add a splash of water (1/4 cup or so), and cover. Cook until browned and tender, another 5 minutes or so.

Transfer warm eggplant to food processor, and pulse 2-3 times until just broken down (you don’t want to turn it to liquid.) Add eggplant to zucchini mixture, along with bread crumbs, wheat bran, basil, and beaten egg. Mix well to combine.

Form mixture into patties, approximately the same size as your buns (they will shrink slightly when cooked).

Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in large non-stick skillet. Cook patties, a few at a time, 4-6 minutes per side, or until browned.

Assemble burgers, stacking patties, lettuce, tomato, and topping with crumbled goat cheese.