Waffles from morning to midnight

I may have mentioned that we have lived in Texas for a little over nine years now.
One of the pluses about this place is the opportunity to experience Southern Cooking.

Oh yeah. Cooking so good, you just wanna stand right up and SLAP somebody!
(They actually say that around here. I personally have never tried it. Sounds like assault and/or battery to me.)

One morning a couple of years ago when we were up in Dallas we went out for breakfast for Fried Chicken and Waffles.
There are actually "Fried Chicken and Waffle" restaurants up there.
It took about six years for us to work up to giving the cuisine a try, but one Sunday (Sunday being THE day for Fried Chicken and Waffles) we were there and it just seemed like the right time to dig in.

Fried Chicken and Waffles, with butter and syrup, strong coffee, and maybe some juice is just the ticket for after church service brunch.

Unless of course your church preaches later, in which case you move right along to Barbecue and Soul Food.

Pork chops, greens, sweet potatoes, ribs, beans with bacon, corn bread....

Umm, umm, umm.

(Hold on a minute, I going next door to slap my neighbor.)

(I'm back. No one was home. Darn.)

The second time Bernie and I had Fried Chicken and Waffles we just swung by Kentucky Fried Chicken on the way home from church and got an order of extra crispy chicken, and then I whupped up a batch of regular waffles.

Talk about fast...those waffles were cuddled up to those chicken pieces in minutes. While it sounds weird, it actually is pretty tasty. I'm saying having fried chicken and waffles about once every five years will be about right for us. Unless we have visitors. In that case I'd be willing to have the combo just for the "Huh?' factor.

As a kid, I wasn't a fan of waffles. My mom always made them the way my dad liked them, which was very crisp. The crispy edges always cut my mouth; I loved soft doughy pancakes instead.

When I got married I got a waffle iron, of course. Doesn't everyone get a waffle iron when they get married? Isn't that written somewhere in the Bible, or the US Constitution or something; for a marriage to be valid the couple must own a waffle iron?

Occasionally I would try to make waffles. Even with Teflon they seemed to stick, and take way too much time to make.

Then one day I was shelving books at the library in San Diego, and I saw this:


An ENTIRE cookbook devoted to waffles!
How weird was that?

I flipped through the pages, and saw recipes like this one:

(with suggested topping below...)

And this one:

Sweet waffles...sure. I had figured that out already.

I had done blueberry waffles, banana waffles, chocolate chip waffles.

But then the book took a turn.

Wild Rice Waffles with Mushroom Sauce?

The recipes cranked my mind wide open. Soon I was making french toast in my waffle iron (try it...just make french toast and stick it into a Belgian waffle maker. Yummy!)

Other ideas included:

Polenta Waffles with Creamy Goat Cheese Sauce.

Blue Corn Chip Waffles with Black Bean Salsa

Smoked Salmon and Dill Waffles

Basil-Parmesan Waffles with Balsamic Tomatoes

(In that recipe you make the waffles, then cut them into bite sized pieces, and place them in the oven to bake for an additional hour. The little squares in the waffles are just perfect for holding dip. Any waffle can be treated in that fashion by the way.)

Mash Potato Waffles with Garlic-Rosemary Oil.

Well, I think you get the idea. There is a LOT you can do with a waffle iron once you start thinking about it.

I do recommend the book.

It's called:

Waffles from morning to midnight

by

Dorie Greenspan

Next time you give a bride a waffle iron, expand her cooking horizon as well.

Get her the book to go with it.

And seriously, do try Fried Chicken and Waffles, just once.

Just be careful not to spill the coffee when you reach on up and slap somebody.