The Event
Apparently, I work best with a deadline. I always have great intentions to post every week, but life keeps getting in the way, and the next thing I know, weeks have flown by! But a deadline can sometimes kick my butt into getting something done in a timely fashion.
Take this cool Cooking Improv Challenge, hosted by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker, for instance. What a great idea this is! Each month, she provides a theme, and anyone who’d like to participate gets to go wild, making up whatever kind of recipe that makes their skirt fly up, as long as it fits the theme. As soon as I heard about this, I knew I wanted to play along.
This month’s theme is Corn and Butter. Perfect for a steamy July, don’t you think? Delicious sweet corn has just started showing up lately, and we are loving it. Corn is so versatile, too. Did you know you can make ice cream out of corn? Souffles? All KINDS of fun things can be done with corn.
The Recipe
My first thought was to do a dessert, just because it’s less obvious. However, it seems as though I’ve done nothing *but* desserts on the blog lately, so I decided instead to go for a delicious yet healthy savory dish. I had a feeling this recipe was going to work out, as soon as I came up with it. But WOW! It came out so amazingly good the first time through that we were practically licking our plates.
My boyfriend, who is notoriously picky, was raving after the first bite. Then closing his eyes with each bite to savor. What more can a cook ask for, than a reaction like that?
Plus, these waffles are super quick and easy to make. Just mix up the batter, put the first one in, and clean up the minimal mess while it’s baking. By the time you are ready to serve, you can sit down to eat with everyone else, with no mess hanging over your head. As an extra added bonus, waffles freeze great, so you can save any extras for a quick and easy dinner on another night. Or maybe brunch on the weekend.
The Spicy Maple Butter sauce I made for this is yummy too, but we actually loved it best with just a fried or poached egg on top. Cut up the egg and let the warm, runny yolk run down over the waffle….. it just doesn’t get any more satisfying than that.
So, thanks Kristen, for coming up with such a fun event. I can’t wait to see what everyone else came up with for Corn and Butter! (see the blog hop links at the bottom of this post for other posts).
Adapted from Corn and Cheddar Waffles
NOTE: I use organic ingredients whenever possible. So, even though each ingredient does not list "organic," you can assume it is.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/2 cups milk (I used 1%. Any kind will work, probably including non-dairy types)
- 1 large egg
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 cup corn
- 1/2 cup (about 1.5 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 link andouille sausage, minced (I used Applegate Organic Chicken Spicy Andouille sausage), optional (if you choose not to use this, substitute a healthy pinch of red pepper flakes. The sausage adds a lot of flavor).
- 4 eggs, fried or poached, optional
- 4 tablespoons lightly salted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce, or more to taste
Instructions
Heat oven to 200ºF. Heat waffle iron.
Whisk together flours, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. In a large measuring cup, whisk together milk, egg and melted butter.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined - do not over mix. Gently fold in the corn, shredded cheese and sausage.
Fold in corn, cheese and sausage.
Spray waffle iron lightly with cooking spray (or brush with oil). Pour batter onto iron as per your iron's instructions (mine takes about 1/4 cup) and spread to edges with a spatula. Close iron and cook per your iron's instructions, until waffles are golden brown.
Transfer to heated oven to keep warm until finished baking. Repeat with remaining batter, misting grates with cooking spray before each new batch.
Whisk butter and maple syrup until thoroughly blended. Add 1/2 tsp of hot sauce and whisk until well mixed. Taste and add more sauce, to desired heat level.
Serve waffles warm, topped with fried or poached egg, spicy maple butter sauce, or plain maple syrup.
http://www.dontforgetdelicious.com/2012/savory-corn-waffles-with-spicy-maple-butter-sauce-2/The Stats
This recipe is multi-grain, with a good hit of fiber, high protein and basically just real, wholesome ingredients. One belgian waffle is very filling, especially with an egg on top, so I can eat this for dinner with no guilt whatsoever. The butter sauce is a little less virtuous, but still not bad, especially if made with butter made from pastured cows and organic maple syrup.
Nutritional Information calculated using Calorie-Count
| WAFFLES: | BUTTER SAUCE: | |
| Calories: | 443 | 128 |
| Fat: | 19.8 g | 11.5 g |
| Cholesterol: | 107 mg | 31 mg |
| Sodium: | 521 mg | 99 mg |
| Sugar: | 10 g | 6 g |
| Carbohydrates: | 51.1 g | 6.7 g |
| Fiber: | 4.6 g | 0 |
| Protein: | 18 g | 0.1 g |
Cooking Improv Blog Hop
The post Savory Corn Waffles with Spicy Maple Butter Sauce appeared first on Don't Forget Delicious!.
