Friday the 13th (January)

We had a dinner party and a viewing of the movie Silence of the Lambs.  We were preparing for a trip to NYC to see a musical called Silence.  It is a musical about the movie Silence of the Lambs and is supposed to be funny.  Yep, go figure. I will let you know how it turns out.  

Our menu:  LAMB, fava beans, Chianti.  I should have taken a picture of dinner.  It was SO good.  Perfectly cooked everything.  OK, you can't do dinner without dessert and trying to stick with the theme I decided to try S'mores Waffles.  I know, it doesn't stick with the theme at all.  Here we go.


I made the batter before our guests arrived to avoid the chaos of throwing a batter together with a full house waiting on dessert.  I used the malted waffle mix and added cocoa this time.  I crumbled in some graham crackers and tossed mini marshmallows and chunks of dark chocolate into the mix.  

Chocolate Waffle Batter

The batter sat for a few hours in the fridge before use so the marshmallows absorbed some of the moisture and got big and fluffy.  While the batter sat, we had time to eat and be merry and use every movie quote we could think of before the movie actually started. 








I also prepped the sauces in advance.  My trusted culinary adviser (the hunky guy I mentioned once before) found a great marshmallow sauce recipe in one of the many cooking magazines we have around here.  It called for sugar, corn syrup, water, and vanilla.  I boiled the ingredients until the temperature reached 240 degrees F. 

Marshmallow Sauce in the making

Next, I transferred it to the mixer that contained cool water and plain gelatin.  Mixed until it was white and shiny.  The chocolate sauce was easy too. I used a homemade double boiler to melt the chocolate and combined it with a little oil to keep it from quickly finding it's way back to solid form.


Movie started and dessert production began.  I decided to cook small waffle nuggets this time as we had all just eaten way too much and barely had room for dessert. 

Smore's Waffle Nuggets

I drizzled the marshmallow and chocolate sauces over the stack and crumbled graham crackers on top. Served and enjoyed.  The waffles were good but even better was hearing others' reactions to them as they found room in their already full bellies for one more bite of this campfire favorite.  I think this one is a keeper! 

Smore's Waffle

Look forward to my next post about blueberry waffles. 

My first blog is about waffles.

All of my blogs will be about waffles.  I have always liked waffles.  I recently discovered I love waffles.  I love making waffles.  The hunky man in my life gave me a Belgian waffle iron for Christmas.  It is not your everyday waffle iron.  Well, it is not your everyday waffle iron unless you find yourself operating one everyday as your job.  In that case, you know a lot about my waffle iron. 
So far, I have been experimenting with waffles when I find a few free minutes, mostly on the weekends.  I am having the best time.

January 6, 2012

My first waffle weekend began January 6, 2012.  I invited some friends over for dessert.  I wanted to break in the waffle iron with an easy crowd and I thought dessert would be a great way to start.

Bananas

We had some bananas that needed to be eaten so I cut them up and added butter, dark brown sugar, and rum (I'm going to call it bananas foster mix) to a medium size cooking pan.  This mixture simmered until it was combined, delicious looking and tasting.  I used a malted waffle mix for the waffle batter.  My first waffle turned out, and so did the rest!  I went a little asymmetrical and placed a scoop of mix in the middle of the waffle iron so I got just enough into the four quadrants and still had the zig-zag edges on the waffle. I topped each waffle section with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a ladle of the bananas foster concoction.  What a great start!

Bananas Foster Waffle

My waffle juices were flowing and had been since Christmas day.  I have a pages long list of all types of waffles I plan to create and share with my friends/family and now, apparently, the world.

January 7, 2012 (morning)

I wanted to try a savory waffle.  What was in the fridge?  Eggs, spinach, goat cheese?  Onions?  Hmmm, why not?  I sauteed the onions and scrambled the eggs.  I wilted the spinach and crumbled the goat cheese.  Now, this would not going to go well with a malted waffle mix would it?  I didn't think so.  The Bisquick called to me from the pantry.  What the heck.  I followed the waffle batter directions and folded in the sauteed onions, scrambled eggs, wilted spinach, and crumbled goat cheese.

Fold ingredients into batter

Waffle Florentine

The waffle iron was ready to go!  My waffle tester arrived.  Things were coming together.   Time for the first savory waffle.  The aroma was actually appetizing.  The first waffle:  My tester tasted....and liked!  I tasted, and liked.  Production continued.  Next time, I will pair a savory butter with this waffle to finish it off.
I had extras, lots of extras.  Would they freeze?  I decided they must freeze.  Someone told me once that Eggo did not own the frozen waffle world.  They won't own mine!  Monday January 9 was the frozen waffle test.  It worked.  Toast to defrost then to heat.  Breakfast to go!

 

January 7, 2012 (afternoon)                                                             

Green Chile and Cheddar Cornbread

I had a chili event this evening.  I started a green chile chili the night before and put the finishing touches on it the following day.  I wanted to make some green chile and cheddar cornbread to accompany the chili.  Could cornbread be cooked in a waffle iron?  Why not?  I used a box mix for cornbread and added in the green chiles and shredded sharp cheddar.  I wanted to make these bite size and oddly shaped so I added a small dollop on each quadrant of the iron.Closed and cooked.                                                                

Phew!  Cornbread looks and tastes like cornbread....actually, it looks like a waffle but tastes like cornbread.  Tasty cornbread that works perfectly with the chili: 

Green Chile Chili and cornbread

Green Chile/Cheddar  Cornbread

Red Velvet Squares

I went a little waffle crazy this day.  I came across a red velvet cake mix and decided to give it a go on the waffle iron.  Cake batter is significantly different than waffle batter.  I will need to work on that one.  However, I was able to salvage enough to bring a dessert to the chili event. As you can see, I topped each waffle square with a taste of cream cheese frosting for a sweet bite size treat. 







The next post is about my second dessert.  S'mores Waffles...think about that one for a while.