Mochi Waffles - Vegan, Gluten Free...and Delicious!

This afternoon I was going through some photos on my camera, and came my first try at mochi waffles. I cannot believe I forgot to post about this. It is so, so good! I had read about this in Alicia Silverstone's, the Kind Diet, but was a bit skeptical. Mochi is really good, but I didn't see how it would make a good waffle.

What is mochi you ask? Well, it is a yummy Japanese creation that involves soaking and cooking rice and then pounding it into a block. When you cook it, it melts and puffs up, making odd shapes. I have been eating it for about a year now and tend to pan fry it with a bit of soy sauce and brown rice syrup. It is really easy.. the steps for the basic pan-fried mochi:

First, cut up a block of mochi into 1-2" square blocks while heating a frying pan to medium low heat with a bit of olive oil (about 1 Tbsp). Add the mochi and cover and let it cook for about 4 minutes. Flip the mochi and take a spoonful of soy sauce and pour over top (note, this is going to splatter, so beware nice clothing!). Cover again and cook another 4 minutes.

Check the mochi and it should be all puffed up and melty. If it isn't, then put it back on the heat for another minute or two. Once it is done, transfer to a plate and drizzle brown rice syrup. That's it! Breakfast, or a snack... this is yummy.

OK, back to the real recipe at hand.. Mochi Waffles. I have seen this in the Kind Diet. It is also on the back of the mochi package. Finally, I took my mochi and a few other ingredients for a sauce over to my sister's (I don't own a waffle iron... yet...) and convinced her to give this a try.

Mochi Waffles
*Adapted from the Kind Diet

•  One package of mochi
•  1/2 cup of Maple Syrup or Brown rice syrup
•  1 cup walnuts
•  Juice of 1/2 a lemon
•  1 Tbsp of lemon zest (optional)
•  Strawberries, chopped
•  Mint, chopped and/or for garnish

First, toast the walnuts in a dry skillet on medium heat and pre-heat the waffle iron. Once toasted, remove from the pan and chop. Next, slice the mochi into strips about 1/4" wide. I found that each waffle requires about 5-6 strips of mochi.Put the mochi on the waffle iron and cook until it puffs up and is a little crispy. The book said about 3 minutes, but I found it needed closer to five. Keep an eye on it.

While the waffles are cooking combine in a small pot the syrup, 3 Tbsp of water, lemon juice and the walnuts. stir over medium heat until warmed.

Put the waffles on a plate and top with the syrup, berries and mint and serve.

Now the book says to use the brown rice syrup, but I found that the sauce was too mild this way and ended up put maple syrup on top the first time. So, judge accordingly based on your sweet tooth.

Udon Bowl - My New Comfort Food

Whenever I am having a bad day, I crave starchy, salty, carb-rich foods. Potatoes, pasta, rice, noodles are all in my top ten. Something about it just makes me feel better. I have been slowly acquiring the ingredients for a good stir-fry or Asian soup and today was the day.

As soon as I finished my big Udon bowl I felt immediately better... Actually, as soon as I finished my seconds. To go with my noodle bowl I made Braised Daikon from the Kind Diet, get the recipe here. I saved the liquids that it cooked in to flavour my Udon noodle bowl broth. If you don't want to make this, flavour the broth with about 1/4 cup of mirin and 1-2 Tbsp of Shoyu.

Cure-all Udon Bowl
- Package of Udon (or any kind) of noodles
- one celery, sliced
- one leek, sliced
- handful of mint leaves
- 2 leaves of bok choy, chopped
- 2-3 kale leaves, chopped
- 2" daikon, chopped
- 1/3 block of silken tofu, chopped
- handful of shiitake mushrooms, chopped
- 2 to 3 Tbsp of miso
- liquids from braised Daikon
- 4 to 5 cups of water
- 1 to 2 vegetable bouillon cubes

Now, I think I have said this before when making something like a noodle bowl or stir fry. Use the veggies that you have. I forgot to include carrots and I think they would have been awesome here. In the world of veggies, there is not much that wouldn't work.  I even thought about throwing in some lima beans, but got scared... next time!

Put water and bouillon cubes in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. While waiting for it to boil, prep the veggies. Once the water is boiling add in the vegetables in order of cooking time. Then add in the noodles and last, add in the tofu. Let it simmer for a while (I simmered it about 15 minute).Add in the reserved liquid from the braised Daikon or add the mirin and shoyu.

Once soup is looking ready take out about a cup of the water and stir into it the miso paste. Take the soup off the heat and add the miso in and stir.  Let it sit for a few minutes and then taste. Adjust seasonings as needed.

I have to admit, I did not really follow the instructions here. I was so tired when i got home, I just threw everything into a pot as soon as the water boiled and crossed my fingers. Surprise - It worked OK! I did end up adding a little bit extra miso to mine because I was craving something salty. I will leave that one up to you.

Something tells me this is going to be one of those things that tastes even better on day two. Can't wait! Thank you Udon bowl, bad day has been kicked to the curb!

One Long Cookie Night! Part Two: As Healthy as Cookies Get

Part one: Not so Healthy Cookies

So cookie night continues. It is late.. Really late and I just finished my last of the cookie recipes. I was planning on doing three types of cookies. I ended up with four. I have done enough quality checks now that I actually made kale chips when I finished! I needed some veggies to offset all the sweetness. Cookies for dinner seemed like a good idea at the time. It still is, but maybe don't have cookies for a midnight snack after.

Before the cookie hangover fully sets in, let's get on to part two of the cookie night. I labelled these as the healthy cookies. I don't know if I would go so far as to ever call cookies a health food, but in the grand scheme of cookies, these two recipes have a few more nutrient dense ingredients so you are getting more than just sugar and flour. I also used two different egg replacers again to give a comparison.

I have to say of all the egg replacers I have now tried, they all do the job as they said, but I think the chia and flax eggs are the most eggy and they both gave the best consistency for the recipes. That say, use your discretion. What ever you use will change the taste of your food. This means use a replacer that makes sense. If you don't think banana goes with your recipe, don't use banana as the replacer. Easy as that.

Cookie #3: Lemon Sugar Cookies * Chia egg replacer
Adapted from Light-Hearted Everyday Cooking
- 1/4 margarine, softened
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 chia egg (1 tsp ground chai seeds and 2 Tbsp water)
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
- grated rind of 2 lemons
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Make your Chia egg, combine the chia seed and water in a small bowl. Whisk then let sit for a couple minutes. Whisk again until it forms an eggy texture.

In a large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar with an electric mixture. Combine the chia egg and lemon juice and beat until fluffy.

Combine the dry ingredients together (flours, lemon rind and baking soda). Pour the dry into the wet and mix until combined. Shape Tbsp sized amounts of dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Using a fork, flatten the balls and then sprinkle the remaining sugar. Bake for about 10 minutes and then let cool for another 5 and transfer to a plate. Makes 30 - 40 cookies.

Cookie #4: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies * Apple sauce egg replacer

From Cookie Madness via James Frederick (Thanks James!!)

- 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (3.25 oz)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 scant teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar (3 ½ oz)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/4 cup applesauce, drained on a paper towel
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup raisins, plumped and patted dry
- Walnuts chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. Mix both sugars, maple syrup, apple sauce, oil and vanilla together in a medium bowl. Add the flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in the oats, followed by raisins. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Let cool for about 5-8 minutes on cookie sheets then carefully scoop up onto a wire rack. Makes 2 dozen.

So, what did I learn from all this? First, I love cookies and they make a great Sunday dinner. Second, there is a very simple formula to making a decent cookie. Cream fat with sugar, add bonding agent and wet ingredients, then mix the dry ingredients into the wet and bake. Presto - Cookies. I also learned the egg replacers are easy and only seem weird because I hadn't tried them before. You would have thought I learned my lesson about this already... I think this time I have!

What's your favourite cookie recipe?