Since we've started getting sweet potatoes in the farm box (around November or so), I've been wanting to make waffles. We tried these last year and they were delicious. Not only does the flavor of sweet potato go really well with brown sugar and cinnamon, but it adds interesting texture, and the moistness of the potato helps keep the waffles from becoming dry. Besides, since sweet potatoes are vegetables, I feel slightly more virtuous eating sweet potato waffles than regular ones, despite their still-dubious nutritional value (see below).
I used this recipe from Alton Brown as my guide, with a few modifications. After steaming 1.5 cups of sweet potatoes in a glass dish in the microwave, I just mashed them up with 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, the grated rind of one large satsuma (probably less than the suggested 1 Tbsp), and 2 eggs (rather than the six egg whites suggested by Alton). In a separate bowl, I mixed together 2 cups flour, 1 Tbsp. baking powder, and 1/2 tsp. kosher salt. I added the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stirred just until everything was wet - it's important not to overmix or the batter can become tough. The batter is super thick, almost like a dough, but it cooked up fine.
We have a relatively inexpensive two-square Belgian waffle maker that takes about 1/4 cup of batter per waffle and cooks them up in about 5-6 minutes. Other types of waffle makers will operate differently, obviously. :) If I could go back and do my waffle iron purchasing over again, I'd probably get a large round one rather than the two-square, since it's easier to get the batter to spread and cook evenly in a round iron. But c'est la vie.
I decided to top the waffles with a little bit of apple - cut up one large apple into thin slices, melt 1/2 Tbsp. butter in a small saucepan and sautee the apples. Add 1-2 Tbsp. brown sugar and 1/4-1/2 tsp. cinnamon and cook until the apples are nice and soft. The waffles are pretty moist, especially with the juicy and buttery apples on top, but maple syrup (and/or whipped cream) would still be a welcome addition.
Time: Overall, this took me about 40 minutes to get together: 20 minutes to cut up /steam the sweet potato and mix the ingredients, and then another 20 for the four 'batches' of waffles to cook (while I made coffee and the apple topping). Not an insignificant investment of time, but not bad for a fancy schmancy breakfast.
Dishes/kitchen mess: As someone who owns a food processor, stand mixer and pizza stone but no dishwasher, I often find myself evaluating recipes based on how big a pile it will leave in the sink. This one dirties two large bowls and a waffle iron (plus a small saucepan for the apples) and involves some chopping as well, so I'll give it a 5 out of 10 on my arbitrary kitchen mess scale.
Nutrition Info: 227 calories per waffle (6g fat/37g carbohydrates/6g protein - more here). The sauteed apples add another 77 calories (2g fat/15g carbohydrates/0g protein - more here). Maple syrup and whipped cream both up the calories considerably, too.
So, okay, it's not health food, but there IS a lot of vitamin A (150% of your daily value in two waffles!) and hey, there's nothing wrong with a sweet breakfast treat once in a while. Especially if you have a couple pounds of sweet potatoes lying around.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Sweet Potato Waffles
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Butternut "bruschetta" on sourdough toasts
I'd suggest to start by peeling and chopping all the ingredients, as this is the most time consuming part of the recipe. I used:
4 c. butternut squash (about half of a large squash), peeled and finely diced
4-5 strips (soy) bacon, also diced
1 c. firm apple (about one Granny Smith or similar), diced. Toss with a little lemon juice to keep from browning.
2-3 Tbsp. good quality maple syrup
4-5 leaves fresh sage, crushed
1/2+ tsp. chili powder (adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp. salt
a few grinds fresh black pepper
1 large sourdough baguette (or 2 small), sliced into 1/4-1/2 inch thick pieces and toasted under the broiler
If you choose to use real bacon, start off by cooking this over medium heat in a large saucepan, until the pieces have crisped - this should happen pretty quickly. [If you use the fake bacon, skip this step and instead heat up 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil in the pan] Add the butternut squash, maple syrup, spices (sage through pepper) and sautee with occasional stirring until the squash has softened, about 10 minutes. Add the chopped soy bacon at this point. Cook another 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and mix in the apple - I left it mostly raw so it would give a nice crunch (to contrast the 'mushiness' of the squash). Spoon ~1 Tbsp. or so onto each toasted slice of sourdough and arrange on a plate. These taste best warm or at room temperature.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Apple chunk coffee cake
Something about October makes me buy several pounds of apples every time I go to the grocery store. I don't know if it's nostalgia for my childhood, when my family would go apple picking, bring home three bushels of apples and just bake bake bake for the next week straight, or if I just really like apples. Either way, I've been looking for new ways to cook them. This one is adapted from a recipe in "The Apple Lovers' Cookbook" and it came out beautifully. It's moist, a little crumbly, and perfect for breakfast, snacking or even dessert. Plus, it gave me an excuse to use the sunflower bundt pan that I got for my wedding.
Ingredients:
1 c. sugar
1 c. vanilla yogurt (can substitute sour cream)
1/2 c. butter
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. chopped apples
----
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F, and grease and "flour" (use confectioner's sugar to avoid a floury exterior for your cake) a bundt pan. Beat together liquid ingredients (sugar through eggs) until most chunks of butter have disappeared. Sift together the dry ingredients (flour through allspice) and add them to the wet mix. Mix until all the dry ingredients are moist, then add the vanilla. Beat another 2 minutes, scraping sides of bowl often. Fold in the apple chunks.
Prepare the streusel by combining the butter, cinnamon and sugar (just use your hands for this) until crumbly. Add in the nuts, if desired (I didn't).
Spread about half the batter into your prepared pan. Layer with the streusel, leaving the outer 1/2 inch or so bare, and then top with the rest of the batter. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted at the fattest part of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes at least, then invert on a serving plate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving, if desired (the cookbook suggests a glaze of 1 c. confectioners sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 3 tsp. milk, but that seemed like overkill to me). Makes 12-16 servings.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Fall Classic: pork loin, baked apples and acorn squash
I love fall food, squashes and apples especially. This week, we picked up a couple nice looking Niman Ranch pork loin chops, and prepared them simply with some acorn squash and baked apples on the side.
Sweet acorn squash: Slice a medium acorn squash in half, through the stem. Scoop out the seeds and strings. Using a fork, poke the flesh liberally - this allows the flavoring to sink into the flesh while it's baking.
Place ~1 tsp. butter in the hollow, sprinkle in about 1-3 tsp. brown sugar (depending on the size of your squash), two pinches of cinnamon and, if you have them, a pinch each of allspice and nutmeg (preferable fresh grated). Bake 30-50 minutes at 400°F, until the flesh is very soft. I think it makes a nice presentation to serve just like this, but you can also scoop the flesh out and mash it up before serving. Adjust the sugar/spices at this point if desired.
Pork 'chops': Rub your pork chops with olive oil, kosher salt and a couple grinds of black pepper. We had some fresh sage on hand, so we chopped that finely and rubbed that on as well.
Heat about 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a small oven-proof pan. Sear chops 5 minutes on each side and transfer to oven. Cook another 10-15 minutes at 400°F until meat is at 150°F - but be careful, it's super easy to overcook pork (as I did this time, boo) and nobody likes a tough chop. Remove from oven to a clean cutting board, cover with foil and let rest 5 minutes.
Baked apples: Core and slice (no need to peel) two medium-firm apples like Gala, Cortland, or the more tart Granny Smith.* Place the slices in the center of a sheet of aluminum foil. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon, similar to the squash, and wrap the aluminum foil up into a cup shape. Add 1 tsp. butter, if desired, and bake at 350° for about 15 minutes. *I sometimes add a handful of raisins (golden or Thompson) or cranberries to the mix for an extra visual and taste dimension, but didn't do that this time.
There's a lot of stuff going in the oven for this meal, so it takes a little thought to organize. I find it's easiest to prepare the squash and put that in the bottom rack of the oven first. Prepare the apples and set them aside. Start the pork, get that in the bottom rack of the oven too, and then put the apples in the top rack after five minutes or so. You can turn the oven down to 350° after removing the pork, that will finish off the squash and the apples by the time the pork has rested.
