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Showing posts with label waffles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label waffles. Show all posts

The Uncarved Block Waffle
Aka The "Andrew Needs Adult Supervision in the Kitchen Waffle"

Finally, The Uncarved Block Waffle! It's not an easy waffle to make, but for the official waffle of The Uncarved Block, why should it be? It is fluffy inside, crispy outside, and sweet with a multi-layered flavor. It is a profound waffle. (Not at all modest, am I?)

Wet Ingredients:
  • 1 whole egg
  • 1 13.5oz can of coconut milk (As with so many products, Chaokoh has downsized their coconut milk instead of increasing the price.)
  • 2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tsp Tahitian vanilla
  • 1/8 cup Malibu coconut rum
  • 1 cup fresh, ripe sweet mango, medium dice
  • 1 cup cooked white rice (preferably Jasmin)

Dry Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup rice flour (NOT glutenous rice flower)
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp sugar (heaping)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • pinch salt

Method:
Preheat waffle iron (the first step in all waffle recipes, doesn't this go without saying?)

Whisk the egg, coconut milk, vanilla, butter and rum together in one bowl (note: the butter should be melted but not hot). Then gently add the mango and rice. Sift together the dry ingredients in another bowl, making sure they are thoroughly combined. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring until fully combined into a thin batter, but without beating up the mango too badly. Note that there aren't many glutens present, so you don't have to worry too much about overworking the batter.


The last instruction in most waffle recipes is "Make waffles according to waffle iron manufacturer's instructions," or some such. However, for this recipe do NOT necessarily follow the the manufacturer's instructions.

I recently got a fancy schmancy new waffle iron that purports to tell you when your waffle is ready (the Chef's Choice M840.)  I don't know how it decides when the waffle is done. Perhaps it thinks it is done when the heating element returns to a certain temp after being cooled by the batter? Maybe it is just a timer? I don't know. But, in any case, this is a very moist dough and the mango and rice are full of water. The Chef's Choice instructions say that you should not watch for the steaming to slow or stop as with old fashioned waffle irons, but rather to open the iron and remove the waffle when the buzzer sounds regardless of steam. With this recipe, if you follow those instructions, you get a waffle that comes out beautifully crisp, but 10 seconds later it is a soggy noodle.

My best results come from setting the M840 at #4 (out of 5) darkness, and letting it go through two whole cycles before removing the waffle. Also, placing the waffles on a cold plate causes instant condensation and sogginess. Resting them first on paper towels cured this problem.  If you have an "old fashioned" waffle iron that requires you to pay attention, wait for the steam to dissipate as usual but be prepared for it to take a relatively long time.




Serve with fresh fruit (preferably more mango,) or powdered sugar, or both. Maple syrup is definitely not recommended.

Notes:
  • The rice must be cooked, but need not be freshly cooked. Last night's left overs are fine.
  • This can result in a very thick batter depending on a lot of factors like weather, water content of the flour and the rice, etc. Add water to thin the batter down as needed.
  • If your waffle iron has a temperature adjustment, you may find better results at a lower temperature than usual (and longer time) to allow the center of the waffle to cook thoroughly.
  • I like Tahitian vanilla for this recipe. It has a sweet cherry-like tone that I find goes nicely with coconut. If you don't have Tahitian, Madagascar will do.
  • Don't use glutinous rice flour, it is just too gloppy.


A few weeks ago I posted a blog about gin flavored waffles. I decided to submit it to PunkDomestics.com in their "Infusions and Liquors" section. I knew that it didn't really count as an infusion or liquor, but it seemed like such a unique way of using gin that they might like it anyway. Well, it wasn't much of a surprise that gin flavored waffles didn't fit the criteria for PunkDomestics. However, they did say that if it had been waffle flavored gin that would've been another story. Of course, waffle flavored gin is a ridiculous notion. Or is it? Waffle flavored gin? It was too much of a challenge to ignore. So I sat down with some waffles and a glass of gin and thought about what waffle flavored gin would be.

The biggest hurdle was that waffles themselves have a very subtle flavor. They are really much more about texture than taste. Making a waffle flavored liquid inherently eliminates that textural element. Perhaps Nathan Mhyrvold has some magic that will give a liquid the texture of a waffle. If so, I am not privy to it.

But what about the flavor of a plain waffle; assuming there are no berries, nuts, or other flavorings added, an unadorned waffle is slightly sweet and has nice elements of caramelized flour. That's about it. It is a "quick bread," so there is no yeast involved and none of those yeasty flavors that you get in bread that uses "biological leveners." The egg and milk in a waffle seem to contribute little or nothing to its flavor. There are subtleties to waffle flavor that can make one waffle better than another, but unless we're talking about a burnt waffle, they are all so delicate that alcohol obliterates them. I concluded that waffle flavored gin was about the experience of eating waffles and drinking gin, not about trying to actually make gin take on the flavor of a naked waffle.

 

Most of us in the USA use waffles as a substrate for butter and syrup. A quick survey of some of my waffle-loving friends confirmed that they prefer waffles to pancakes because the texture is crunchy and the holes hold onto the melting butter and maple syrup. Since crunchiness was already ruled out, it seemed to me that it was butter, maple syrup, and caramelized flour that would define the waffle eating experience in a liquor.

The next question was the gin. The most common type of gin in America, London dry gin, is a spirit with a fairly high alcohol content infused with herbs, principally juniper berries. The flavorings other than juniper in gin vary from maker to maker. Taken straight, gin is a very powerful flavor. There was no way that any component of the "waffle experience" would survive infusion into gin. I decided that for my waffle flavored gin I would start with relatively flavorless vodka and add elements of juniper and waffle in a way that would provide a pleasing balance.

What follows is my experiment creating waffle flavored gin. To be honest, when I started I did not expect to succeed. However, to my surprise I did indeed create an alcoholic beverage that I believe provides the experience of waffle flavored gin. Is it good? I think so. Would I want to drink it every day? No, not really, its a bit on the sweet side. Is waffle flavored gin a good idea? Well, that's for you to decide; all I can say is that waffle flavored gin turns out to be feasible, whether or not it is desirable.

I'm afraid there are no measurements here – I played it entirely by taste, you'll have to do the same.

For the "waffle experience" I started by coarsely shredding a waffle and putting it in a pint mason jar. To this I added a couple tablespoons of maple syrup and two or three tablespoons of ghee. I used ghee because I wanted that buttery flavor, but I was worried about butter going rancid. I figured ghee in alcohol in a closed container would last just fine at room temperature, and I was right.

 

For a mild gin flavor that wouldn't overpower the waffle, I added 4 or 5 juniper berries, a fresh bay leaf (true bay – Laurus nobilis,) some nutmeg, and a sliver of lemon zest. To me, gin always has a certain pine-like quality. I considered adding pine needles, but ruled that out as too unpredictable, so I tossed in a small piece of chios masticha (gum mastic) instead. [Note: all of these quantities are small. I didn't want to make a large batch because I really exected that in a few weeks I would simply be throwing out a jar full of disgusting mush.]

 

I filled the jar with Smirnoff vodka, sealed it, and let it sit, shaking it and tasting it from time to time. After two weeks I felt like the maple, butter, and mild-gin flavors were pretty much there, but the waffle was almost imperceptible. I strained out the ingredients and then poured the liquid over a fresh waffle in a new jar to double-down on that element. About a week later my palate said that all the elements were there, so I put it through a coffee filter and declared it ready to face a waiting world.



An alcoholic infusion that is reminiscent of gin and the "waffle experience?" Who knew?



One final thought – if I try this again, I might forego the gin infusion elements and simply infuse the waffle flavors then add gin to taste.

This morning a friend of mine on Facebook posted that she was making Eggo waffles. I had been intending to make khao thom for breakfast using last night's leftover rice, but instead I thought, "Mmmmmmmm, waffles." Not Eggo waffles, but homemade waffles. Not just any homemade waffles, Cardamom Sour Cream Waffles from a recipe I got from ImportFood.com (which they, in turn, got from Gourmet, February 2008.) Yummy.

 I warmed up the waffle iron, started getting my ingredients together, and began toasting cardamom seeds. There on the counter was a bottle of gin. Last night I made a martini nightcap and hadn't put the bottle away. My brain said "No! Don't do it! Go back! It's a trap!" All the while my hands were adding one jigger of gin and then another to the batter.

 To my surprise, even with two jiggers of gin, the juniper flavor was surprisingly subtle. Then I had the insight to sprinkle more gin on the cooked waffles. Shazam! [Note: one only wants a light sprinkling – too much makes the waffles, and the diner, soggy.] These are not waffles that I would feed to my neighbors’ kids; the elements of sour cream, cardamom, and juniper are not likely to appeal to children (not to mention the alcohol.) But for adult friends I think I have a new crowd-pleaser.

My recipe, a modified version of the Gourmet Magazine original, follows:

Ingredients:
  • 1.5 C all-purpose flour 
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder 
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda 
  • 1/4 tsp salt 
  • 3 Tbs sugar
  • 1+ tsp ground cardamom (preferably, start with cardamom seeds (not the whole pod), dry toast in a pan, then fresh grind in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.
  • [optional] 2 or 3 juniper berries, dry toasted and ground as above.
  • 1 C whole milk 
  • 1 C sour cream 
  • 2 whole eggs, slightly beaten
  • 3 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 jiggers gin for batter plus extra to sprinkle on top.
    [I wasn't sure what the alcohol would do to the structure of the waffles, but it seems that its rapid evaporation actually made the waffles lighter.]
Method:
Preheat a waffle iron. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and cardamom.
 Mix remaining ingredients in another bowl, then blend into the flour mixture until just combined.

Cook waffles according to manufacturer’s instructions.
 Serve with butter and maple syrup and sprinkle with gin to taste.


In January of 2000 my friends Mike, Richard, Heather, and I visited Wat Suthep, the magnificent temple atop Mt. (Doi) Suthep outside Chang Mai, Thailand. There is a long, steep stairway leading up to the Temple with golden sea dragons on each side acting as banisters. It had taken some time for us to get to the Wat, so we were all anxious to get going on the long climb up the staircase. But just as we were about to begin our ascent, a food vendor at the base of the stairs shouted out, "Waffle!"

“No, thank you,” we replied.

"Waffle! You want waffle?" She asked again.

"Mai ow. Mai ow, khrap,” (No. No thank you, in Thai.)

"Banana inside!" She added, undeterred.

“Oh my God,” we all said to each other in unison, “banana inside.”

So of course, we stopped for waffles. As with virtually all street food in Thailand, they were spectacular.

Several months ago, I got on a pancake and waffle kick for a while. I began searchingfor different kinds of pancakes and waffles to make for breakfast. Eventually I thought, "Hmmmmmm, Thai waffles… with banana inside!" I searched around in the books I own and online, but didn't find a recipe for Thai waffles with bananas inside. I did, however, find a recipe for Thai coconut waffles with pandan extract that are delicious.

Pandan extract is a flavoring that is extracted from the leaves of the pandanus tree (pandanus utilis), though frequently it is artificially made. You should be able to find pandan extract at any Asian market, or it is available at ImportFoods.com. Pandan leaves give a really nice mild coconut-like flavor to things, and in sufficient concentration turn foods slightly green. Pandan extract is made with prodigious quantities of green food coloring turning everything it touches bright, vivid green. These waffles are no exception. Kids go crazy for them. A while back my friends David and Eva were visiting with their children. David and Eva had bought a box of Lucky Charms for the kids to eat for breakfast. I made these coconut pandan waffles, but the kids had had their hearts set on Lucky Charms, so they didn't want any. They didn't want any, that is, until they saw them. Their bowls of Lucky Charms turned soggy as they devoured plate after plate of waffles.

The recipe originates from Viet World Kitchen, to whom I am indebted. However, I have made many of edits to their version, including doubling the quantities. My rendition of this recipe follows. It makes 4 waffles on my Black and Decker 4-square waffle iron.

Ingredients:
2 Cups all-purpose flour [see note 1]
¼ Cup sugar
3 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs, separated [or whole if you are feeling lazy – see Note 2]
1 13.5oz can coconut milk [see Note 3]
3/4 Cup water [see Note 3]
4 Tbs. unsalted, melted butter
2 tsp. pandan (la dua)

Method:
Preheat waffle iron

In one bowl sift together the flour, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder.

Separately combine the egg yolk (or whole eggs), coconut milk, butter, and pandan extract.

Stir and fold the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, using a rubber spatula. The resulting batter will look lumpy. Expect the batter to be thick. Avoid over-working the batter, which will toughen the glutens in the flour, making the waffles tough.

[See Note 2 below] Separately beat the egg whites until they hold peaks but don’t become dry. Gently fold into the batter.

Cook on your waffle iron as per the manufacturers instructions.


Note 1: I sometimes use 1 cup AP flour and 1 cup pastry flour for more tender waffles.

Note 2: Separating the eggs, beating the whites, and then folding them in makes a lighter, fluffier waffle; however, it is a pain in the ass, especially early in the morning, and especially when you are hungry. The result will be almost as good if you just use whole eggs above.

Note 3: The original recipe calls for 2 cups of coconut milk (16oz). Where I live in California, USA, coconut milk comes in two sizes of cans. For me, the most convenient size is 13.5 oz. To make 2 cups of liquid, I would add 2.5oz of water. However, I have found that the resulting batter is just too thick. So, I have taken to adding 6 oz. (3/4 cup) of water along with one 13.5oz can of coconut milk.

These waffles don’t have banana inside, but they are delicious with banana on top. I am told that they freeze well, but I’ve never managed to retain enough of them to try that :-) .