Gingerbread Waffles with Citrus Sauce

These are a deliciously spice-scented waffle and when paired with the citrus sauce, makes a wonderfully aromatic and tasty breakfast or brunch.  From Better Homes and Gardens' New Baking Book, p. 321.

Prep: 15 min, Bake: per your waffle iron directions, Makes: 12-16 (4 inch) waffles

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 Tbs ground flax seed + 6 T water (OR 3 tsp EngerG Egg Replacer + 4 T warm water)
1-3/4 cup RiceMilk
1/2 cup cooking oil
2 T molasses
1 recipe Citrus Sauce (see below)

1.  Combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves; set aside.  In another mixing bowl combine "eggs", milk, oil, and molasses.  Add "egg" mixture all at once to dry mixture.  Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).

2.  Bake on preheated, lightly greased waffle iron.  Close lid quickly; do not open 'til done.  Bake according to your iron's directions.  When done, use fork to lift waffle off grid.  Repeat, serve hot.*


CITRUS SAUCE:
In saucepan, combine 3/4 cup honey, 2 T cornstarch, Stir in 1 cup water, 3/4 cup orange juice (I used about 1/4 cup), and 1/4 cup lemon juice.  Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.  Cook and stir 2 minutes more.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 2 T Smart Balance, 2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel, 2 tsp. finely shredded orange peel.  Serve warm. (Store remaining sauce in refrigerator).

*NOTE: Freshly baked waffles turn soggy if stacked.  So, to keep waffles hot, while still cooking others, arrange cooked waffles on a wire rack atop a baking sheet in a 250-300 degree oven.    (Reheat leftovers the same way or toast in toaster.)

Lemon Chicken

Lemon chicken has been one of my favorite ways to eat chicken for a long time.  During our first year of marriage, Dicy cooked Chicken Picatta for the two of us.  We fell in love with her recipe.  This recipe has a similar taste with a little less labor and time involved.   It tastes great paired with Rosemary Rice Pilaf

Yield: 4 servings

Chicken:

4 chicken breasts seasoned to taste with salt and pepper. 

Cook 'til tender in oven or on stove top.  (We often use the pre-frozen "select-size" from Costco.  Sprinkle it with salt and pepper and cook in the oven at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, until done, turning half-way through the cooking time.  The chicken can be cooked on the stovetop too, but I like to free up the stove top for cooking the sauce and sides, simultaneously.)

Lemon Sauce:

6 T Smart Balance

8 T Flour

2 cubes or 2 t. Chicken Bullion

Dash of Salt

1 c. Water

1/2 c. RiceMilk  (substitute whatever milk you use)

1-4 T Lemon Juice (depending on how lemony you want it to be)

Over medium high heat, melt 'butter' and add flour, whisk together to make a roo.  Add bullion, water and milk and whisk together briskly to avoid lumps in the sauce.  When the chicken is done, cut into strips and pour sauce over the top of the chicken in the 9x13 serving dish (Or, if serving over rice or noodles, you could drizzle sauce directly over the chicken on each plate).  Pretty and delectable!

Hawaiian Haystacks or Chinese Sundaes

This recipe is known by two different names in our family to describe the same dish.  Steamy cooked rice topped with warm chicken gravy and your choice of favorite toppings.  A 'create your own favorite' recipe!  I've even tasted it with a curry gravy which is tasty too.  This recipe multiplies easily to feed large groups.  This was one of my favorites as a child and still is.  Our children love it too!

Yield:  At least 8

Some possible toppings:

Tomatoes, diced

Pineapple, crushed

Green onions, diced

Chow Mein Noodles

Celery, diced

Bell pepper, diced

*Carrots, diced

*Peas

Shredded Coconut

Sliced almonds are great for those who can eat them

Same for shredded cheese...

Use whatever tantalizes your taste buds

(* Never tried these toppings, and I imagine I'd like them steamed to tender before using them on this.  Our friend tells me she usually fixes theirs with these two toppings.)

Cooked Rice:  2 cups water to 1 cup rice;  I often cook up 3 cups rice, part of which is a wild rice mixture thrown in for flavor, aroma and texture (which I compensate for with a little more water and a little longer cook time).  If everyone is hungry there's enough rice for left-overs.  If they're not as hungry as usual, I have enough rice left over for Rice and Raisin Cereal at a breakfast soon.

Chicken Gravy:

Cream of Chicken soup thinned with a bit of water or milk works unless you avoid milk like us...we make our own now using the following ratios.

Thin: 1T butter, 1T flour, 1 1/2 c chicken broth, and salt and pepper to taste + shredded cooked chicken.

Medium: 2T butter, 2T flour, 1c chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste + shredded cooked chicken.

Thick: 3T butter, 4T flour, 1c chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste + shredded cooked chicken.

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat.  Blend in flour, salt and pepper to make a roo.  Add chicken broth all at once and whisk quickly, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and bubbles.  Add in cooked shredded chicken.  (If I use canned chicken, I usually figure the broth accompanying the chicken in the can for about 1/2 cup of what I need total and I usually make up 3 to 4 cups of gravy.)

Put it all together now: 

Layer a large scoop of steamy rice topped with creamy chicken gravy and sprinkled with your choice of favorite toppings.  Careful....all the layers pile up fast and looks like more than you had planned to eat....but it is so tasty!