OMG a Recipe: A Waffle-y Big Adventure

I blame the punchy buzz of morning coffee for doing a post mash-up about waffles and a 1995 Hugh Grant/Alan Rickman movie called An Awfully Big Adventure. It makes for a somewhat pun-ny post title, and maybe one could argue these Spiced Waffles with Greek Yogurt and Apple Compote have sweetness cut with a bit of tart sourness -- much like the movie -- but that would be really stretching relevancy, no? Meh... let's just continue on this waffle-y bad pun.

I waffle for homemade waffles - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I actually put together this breakfast combo a while back, when family was in town last spring. Call them vintage waffles. I meant to post the recipe sooner, but if you write a blog, you know how life happens, posts back up, and then you find yourself trying to make this stuff look freshy-fresh when you know you made this thing like, a year ago. But it doesn't mean it's bad, quite the contrary, as I was reminded I should make these again when there's a brunch needing to be had. I wanted to make an apple pie-inspired of waffle, substituting Greek yogurt for ice cream. You could make it more dessert-like and used whipped cream, but the goal behind this particular breakfast combination was to balance a little bit of health with treat-value. The waffles are made from whole wheat and oat flour; there's still eggs and butter in it, so it's not totally health-conscious, but I tried to keep the sugar content low, knowing it would be topped with fruit. I prefer using a Belgian waffle iron -- I love the big-toothed grid, leaving larger spots for other flavors to seep in -- but any ol' waffle iron would do. You could make these as pancakes, the conversion is included in the recipe below, but come on -- drag that waffle iron out. It's lonely. It needs to feel useful, no matter how much of a pain it is to clean. And that's the thing about waffles -- you make it in large batches, so that's why it's great to feed a small group you're entertaining on a Sunday.

The movie you shouldn't see while entertaining guests is the post's namesake -- An Awfully Big Adventure. I linked the preview if you want to get a peek, but let me assure you, the charming preview was the exact opposite of what the story was. It was marketed as a clever comedy, and I got roped in by the perennial charms of Alan Rickman. Frankly, I was a little scarred for life after seeing it. I know it was years ago when I rented it on Ye Olde VHS format, but to this day, I still have a little bit of a beef with this movie. It went from slightly melancholic British comedy to "whoa, things got super-dark, super-fast," leaving you with the feeling that maybe you should make some warm and toasty waffles with a comforting apple compote to calm your disturbed nerves. Or make a really stiff drink, repeat as necessary. It wasn't a bad movie, the performances were all very solid and the story was quite compelling, but dangit, I was expecting something sweet and got the equivalent of a punch in the face. But at least I got to use it as a play on words for a waffle post; build those bridges one carb at a time.

How breakfast feels like dessert - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Spiced Waffle Mix
Dry Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oat flour (oatmeal ground up in food processor
to flour consistency)
2 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
2 tbsp pumpkin spice powder
Wet Ingredients:
2 cups water or milk
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

This mix can be used for pancakes if you don’t have a waffle iron, just reduce the butter/oil amount to 4 tablespoons.

You can also mix the dry ingredients ahead of time to always have a pancake/waffle mix handy for future use, and then add the wet ingredients when you’re ready to prepare them.

To make the waffles, sift all the dry ingredients together in one bowl. In a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Slowly drizzle the wet ingredients in with the dry, mixing until just incorporated – it’s OK if there’s a few lumps in the mix. Do not over mix or the waffles will be tough.

Spiced Apple Compote
3 small Granny Smith apples, skinned, cored and diced
4 tablespoons of butter
½ cup of sugar
2 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp grated nutmeg

In a sauté pan, heat to medium high and melt butter. Add in the sugar and stir until the sugar melts down and begins to caramelize into a light brown. Add the diced apples and continue to stir, cooking down the apples, releasing most of their liquid and becoming soft and almost translucent. When the apples are fully cooked down, resembling the filling in an apple pie, add the vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg, mixing well. Turn off the heat and serve compote immediately over waffles or pancakes, or refrigerate and reheat until ready to serve.

This is also good served with plain yogurt. You can serve the compote spooned over a dollop of Greek style yogurt, on top of the spiced waffle for a sweet breakfast.

UnRecipe: Lazy Sunday of Lazy Chicken and Waffles

Whew. Another Christmas come and gone. It feels like tornado came and went; a storm of energy and fury, and then... nothing. But of course, plenty of leftovers and several more days of downtime to throw together creative ways to not eat the same things twice. Result? Chicken and waffles.

Cheater, cheater, chicken n' waffle eater - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I never grew up eating chicken and waffles and was somewhat confounded at the idea of the combination the first time I'd heard of it. But it's kind of awesome, with the mix of crispy, savory-sweet deliciousness. My at-home version was a waffle batter made up of whole wheat and oatmeal flours mixed with a bunch of pumpkin pie spice, hence it's darker color. Combined with the maple syrup, it makes for a richer flavor. And don't skimp on the maple syrup. The Mrs. Butterworths stuff is not, in fact, maple syrup, just a caramel-dyed plastic tube of corn syrup goo. I was raised on the corn syrup goo for so many years, and when I finally had the real stuff, I felt like a light from the heavens shined down upon me and slapped me upside the head and said, Stop buying that crap, Wasabi. Thanks, heavenly light. Duly noted.

The chicken, however, was a total cheat. It was just torn up leftovers from a store-bought fried chicken. Boo, right? Ain't no shame in not wanting your kitchen to smell like a fast food restaurant, coated in a light spray of fry oil. When I have leftover chicken, it tends to wind up in things like chicken salads and this was just a different way of enjoying it outside of the household norm. Most cold chicken tends to mysteriously disappear from the fridge, as Mr. Wasabi just snags pieces of it and eats it as-is. Yet another ritual of comfort food eating I have yet to appreciate -- cold chicken or pizza. I appreciate that it's a well-loved appreciation likely honed during college, I just have yet to acquire a taste for it. And I know I'll never look as good as Nigella Lawson when she does it during the closing credits of her cooking shows. That biyotch makes anything look good, even digging around the fridge in your jammies at midnight with a cold turkey leg wedged into your mouth.

Adding a bit o' spice to waffles - Photos by Wasabi Prime

It was nice to use the waffle iron again -- we so rarely do, so it's a treat to bust it out. This applicance was a windfall from a friend who had an extra one after her wedding. It's a Belgium waffle maker, so it makes those big, beautifully puffy waffles with the hefty divots. Although I like a bit of crunch to my waffles, so I'll make the waffles and then put them in either the toaster oven or whole batch in the oven for extra crisp time. At some point, I'll have to see about making a savory waffle, maybe doing a ham and cheese sandwich between fluffy bread, pressing it in the waffle iron and creating a strange waffle/panini hybrid. It sounds more like a hangover special, but whatever, I'll take my carbs however I can have 'em.

Looking at the week, I see one more holiday hoop to jump through -- New Years. We're keeping it local, as in our living room, likely with all three Lord of the Rings movies back-to-back. Maybe by the time the walls of Helms Deep are being stormed by the angry horde, we'll be chowing down on some ham and cheese waffle/paninis.