Posts in Ali's picks
Calzone Waffles
Ali Hedin | Making kid food look elegant!  Calzone waffles for the win.

This is 1000% a kid dinner. But sometimes that’s exactly what you need. It’s a huge hit - especially if you have everyone choose their own toppings. Go more elegant with prosciutto and pesto - or keep it basic with pepperoni and black olives. All that’s really needed is the sauce and cheese - everything else is up to you!

When layering up the waffles, the size of your waffle maker will determine a lot. I used this Belgian maker that has really deep wells. The deeper the wells, the more filling I can get into the waffles and the more batter I can use. If yours has shallow wells, just use slightly less batter.

I also push down super gently and let it cook and melt as I push. If you get too forceful, the hinge will break and then you’re out of luck.

Don’t forget to serve with extra sauce! The best part is dipping bites into the sauce!

Ali Hedin | Making kid food look elegant!  Calzone waffles for the win.

Calzone Waffles

serves 4

 

2 cups flour

2 tbs sugar

1 tbs Baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 cups buttermilk

8 tablespoons butter

2 eggs, beaten

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup Pizza sauce

¼ cup olive tapanade

¼ lb sliced Salami

2 cups Shredded mozzarella

  

STEP 1

Preheat your waffle maker.  Mix together buttermilk, melted butter and eggs.

 

STEP 2

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cheese.  Pour in wet ingredients and stir until just combined.  Let rest 5 mins. 

 

STEP 3

Place ¼ cup waffle batter on the hot waffle maker.  Top with pizza sauce, salami, tapenade, shredded mozzarella, and another scoop of pizza sauce.  Cover everything with another ¼ cup of waffle batter.

 

STEP 4

Press waffle maker top down and cook 10 minutes or until waffle is done. Serve with more tomato sauce on the side.

 


30 minute Flaky Tapenade Bites
Ali Hedin's 30 minute Flaky Tapenade Bites | perfect for your next cocktail party

These are actually the perfect appetizer. I had forgotten about them for years and then I was scrambling for the perfect appetizer for a party and remembered I used to make these all the time. Like ALL THE TIME. The first time I made them for a group people - twenty years ago - everyone was RAVING about them. And that was one of the critical moments in my life when I realized food was my special skill.

These are not hard. My go-to ingredients are tomato paste + tapenade. It’s salty, mostly premade, simple, and kind of tastes like pizza. But I also use pesto when that’s what I have. I have tried fresh vegetables - spinach, tomato, even fresh basil leaves and that doesn’t work. It’s too liquid-y and it makes the pastry all weird. You’re always welcome to try it, but I tried it for you.

Ali Hedin's Fast Cocktail Party Appetizer that looks like a million bucks

Flaky Tapenade Bites

makes 2 dozen



1 package puff pastry

1/2 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup tapanade



STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Unroll the puff pastry sheet onto a floured cutting board and roll out slightly until you can’t see the lines anymore.


STEP 2

Use half of the tomato paste on each roll. Spread it out evenly over the sheet. Top with the tapenade in an even coat. Roll up the pastry and slice into 1/2 inch pieces.


STEP 3

Pop each slice on a lined baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes until puffed and crispy. Remove from the baking sheet and cool on a cooling rack.

Serve warm or room temperature.


Americano Cocktail

Delightfully simple and totally refreshing. Simple enough to make a batch of them, and a perfect compliment with the flaky tapenade bites!

Breakfast Tots

My favorite food is tater tots. FAVORITE. Crispy, recently fried, and served with ranch is my usual order. Highly recommend if you haven’t tried. And tater tots are just a quick skip away from hash browns which is when I realized BREAKFAST TOTS!

Breakfast for dinner, football game snacks, actual breakfast, late night snacks.

I like these to be simple with just the basics. But what do you like with your breakfast scramble? Onions? Add them! Green bell pepper? Add it! You do you - but simple is pretty epic.

Breakfast Tater Tots perfect for game day!  by Ali Hedin

Breakfast Tots

1 package tater tots

6 strips of bacon

4 eggs, scrambled

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

hot sauce

STEP 1

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Place bacon in a cold skillet and begin cooking over low until crispy.

STEP 2

Pour out tater tots on a baking sheet in one even layer. Don’t over crowd the pan! Use two if you need to! Pop into the oven and bake about 20 minutes until crispy. If they aren’t crispy on the edges, don’t pull them out.

STEP 3

Scramble those eggs!

STEP 4

Pour out the crispy tots on a plate and top with half of the cheese. Top with scrambled eggs and crumble up the bacon. Top with remaining cheese.

STEP 5

Turn on the broiler and pop the tots in - it only takes two minutes to get the cheese crispy on top. Pull out from the oven (carefully! the plate is hot) and serve with hot sauce.


Espresso Martini

I love these - but only if it’s decaf. Some of us are just too old for caffeine + booze in the same moment.