Cornmeal Waffles with Blueberry Compote

I found this recipe online.

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Blueberry Compote

• 1 cup apple juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 cups blueberries
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Compote

1. In a medium saucepan, bring apple juice and lemon juice to boiling. Reduce heat.

2. Simmer, uncovered, for 8 to 10 min or until reduced by half.

3. Stir in blueberries, lemon zest and cinnamon. Return to boiling. Reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 more minutes.

Waffles

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.

2. In a medium bowl, combine buttermilk, milk, oil, egg yolks and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Whisk into flour mixture; do not overmix.

3. In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter.

4. Make waffles as per instructions on your waffle maker.

Verdict: I found these waffles very grainy. My sister found them bland. The compote was delicious. It had a nice subtle lemon taste and was the best part of the dish.

Belgian Waffles

I found this recipe on another food blog.

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (we didn’t use as we used salted butter)
• 1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sparkling mineral water
• 1/4 cup butter, melted and still warm
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg yolk (I accidentally used the whole egg)
• 2 egg whites
• Pinch of cream of tartar

Night before you serve waffles

1.In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt (if using) and yeast.

2. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat combine milk and water and heat to lukewarm.  Whisk in melted butter and vanilla.

3. Pour into dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Cover tightly and let sit overnight.

Next morning

4. Preheat waffle iron.

5. Whisk egg yolk into batter (or the whole egg if you make a mistake like me).

6. Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar together until soft peaks form. Stir 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter and then fold in the rest.

7. Make waffles as per your waffle iron’s directions.

Verdict: We made about 10 waffles at 1/4 cup of batter a waffle. They were crispy on the outside, which got them rave reviews from my sister. I didn’t really like the crispiness myself.

Berry Sour Cream Waffles

I found this recipe on another food blog.

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (didn’t use because we use salted butter)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup berries, frozen or fresh (we used a frozen mix of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. There may also have been blackberries, I am not sure)
• 1/4 cup flour

1. Heat waffle iron as directed. Lightly grease grids.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt (if using). Make a well in the centre.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, milk, sour cream and eggs. Add to the dry ingredients, making sure to not over mix.

4. In a small bowl, mix the berries with the 1/4 cup of flour. Gently fold berries into batter.

5. Spoon 1/4 cup into waffle irons and cook as directed. (This recipe should have given us 12, but I made 10 waffles).

Verdict: Other than the berries, there was very little taste to this waffle recipe.

Waffles of Insane Greatness

I found this recipe on another food blog.

The original recipe is below. We had a lot of people wanting to eat, so we doubled everything. We made 14 waffles.

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2. Add buttermilk, egg and vanilla.

3. Cook waffles as per instructions on your waffle iron.

Verdict: With a name like this, it seems like it was setup to be a disappointment, but these were really good. They were liked across the board. I think they’ve become my favourite waffle recipe.

Baked French Toast

I found this recipe in a WeightWatcher’s magazine, though I didn’t follow it very faithfully.

• 2 egg whites (we used two eggs, separated)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons egg substitute (because we used 2 eggs, we didn’t use this)
• 2 tablespoons amaretto (didn’t use)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 8 slices bread
• Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 425F.

2. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

3. Combine milk, brown sugar, egg substitute (if using), amaretto (if using) and cinnamon. Beat until sugar dissolves. Fold in 1/3 egg whites. Fold in remaining egg whites.

4. Dip bread in egg mixture. Spray a jelly roll or baking sheet with cooking spray and place bread on it. Bake 7 min. Turn and bake 4 more (ours needed a little longer).

Verdict: I am not sure if it was because of the substitutions, but this was a rather dry French toast. I think that also contributed to the overall tastelessness of the dish.

Rum Waffles

This is another recipe I found in the French Metro Newspaper.

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup icing sugar
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon rum
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 cup milk

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt and icing sugar.

2. Add oil, rum and egg yolks.

3. Add milk, stirring until homogenous.

4.  Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter.

5. Bake waffle according to waffle iron instructions.

Verdict: This probably would make 12 normal sized waffles. I made my first batch too small, so the last batch was small, so I ended up with 14 (10 normal sized ones and 4 small ones). My sister and I disagreed on the taste: I thought they tasted too egg-y, she thought they had no taste. There was no rum taste at all and you couldn’t even tell that sugar had been added.

Rich Buttermilk Waffles (without buttermilk)

I found this recipe on another food blog.

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (omitted because we use salted butter)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 3/4 cup buttermilk (we used one of the recommended substitutes: 1 1/2 cup plain yogurt and 1/4 cup milk)
• 2 eggs, separated
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Cooking spray for waffle iron

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the buttermilk (or substitutes), egg yolks, butter and vanilla.

3. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry.

4. Beat the eggs whites until stiff peaks form and retain their shape. Gently mix into batter.

5. Spread onto preheated waffle iron coated with cooking spray and cook as per directions of your waffle iron.

Verdict: These were good but lacking a distinctive taste to them.

Apple French Toast

I found this recipe on a recipe card at my grocery store.

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 apples peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons raisins
• 3 tablespoons cranberries (didn’t use, because we don’t like cranberries)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom (we didn’t have any so we substituted cinnamon)
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cup milk
• 4 thick slices of bread (we used 8 regular slices of bread)
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1/4 cup pistachios (we didn’t use)
• Vanilla yogurt (for topping, but we just used syrup)

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples, raisins and cranberries (if using). Cook for 10 min, until apples are golden. Add 2 tablespoons honey and the cardamom (or cinnamon). Cook for 3 min, or until mixture is slightly caramelized. Set aside.

2. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, the remaining 2 tablespoons of honey and the milk. Dip bread slices into the egg mixture.

3. In a pan, heat the rest of the butter. Place bread slices in the pan. Sprinkle with nutmeg. (If using, add half the pistachios.) Cook 2 or 3 min per side.

4. (If desired, serve with remaining pistachios and yogurt.)

Verdict: This was an okay recipe. With honey as an ingredient, I thought it would be a little sweeter. I didn’t really taste the honey in the recipe. The apple topping was good. It just wasn’t my favourite French toast recipe.

Bacon and Cheese Frittata

I originally found this recipe online, but I can’t seem to find it again.

• 5 slices of bacon
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 8 eggs (we used 6)
• 1/2 cup Fontina cheese (not sold at my grocery store or, at the least, out of stock this week. We substituted both cheese for 1/2 cup + 2/3 cup of a cheese called Bergeron)
• 2/3 cup crumbled goat cheese (see above note)
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to325F.

2. Cook the bacon. Drain. Crumble the bacon pieces.

3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook on medium-low heat until softened, about 7 min.

4. Beat the eggs in a bowl. Add the bacon, onions, cheese, salt and pepper.

5. Pour into skillet. Cook on burner for 3 min, until sides start to set. Transfer to oven and bake until firm, 20 to 25 min.

Verdict: Like pizza, omelettes and frittatas are not my favourite thing in the world. I keep trying them in the hopes of finding one that will change my mind. This recipe was good. Even with a completely different cheese, it worked really well with the bacon. But it is not the recipe that changes my mind about frittatas.

Toad in the Hole Bake

I am not really sure where I originally found this recipe.

• 8 slices of bread
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 4 eggs
• 2 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled.

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Cut a hole in the centre of 4 slices of bread, using a 1 1/2 inch cookie cutter. Set these bread slices aside.

3. Spread butter on one side of the non-cut slices of bread. (I didn’t do this. I just omitted the butter completely.) Place, butter side down, in a 13×9 inch baking dish.

4. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the cheese over the 4 slices of bread. Top with cut-out bread slices. Break an egg in the centre of each cut-out bread slice.

5. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon.

6. Bake for 15-20 min, until cheese has melted and egg has set.

Verdict: I kind of had the same problem with this recipe as I did with the Baked Egg with Potato, Bacon and Tomato recipe I tried: I am not fond of a non-runny egg. I eat eggs for the runny yolk, so this just didn’t work for me.