MULTIGRAIN WAFFLES

The amount of time it took me to purchase a $25 waffle iron makes complete sense in the scope of my personality. I get anxious about making good decisions and wise choices. I try not to waste or have things I don't need or use. If you allow them too, and I regret that I do, little decisions can become big ones getting you caught in the rip current of yes or no, pros and cons, risk vs. gain. I find myself in that current by default - like part of my hard wiring. I swim straight into worry when I could so easily swim around it in the calm, lapping water on the periphery of this angst. Life just happens and mistakes are made. The worry doesn't protect from those truths, it just makes them a bigger deal than they need to be. Ah, yea, I'm not just referring to waffle iron purchases anymore.

So. By way of investing in quality kitchen equipment, I don't expect this iron will last a lifetime. I wasn't sure if we would go in and out of a waffle phase, so I didn't want to buy a super nice one. Do the $200 irons make a significantly superior waffle to the $25 one? I am quite happy with my dinky little guy and don't plan to know the alternative high-end waffle. I've been playing around with flours, butter vs. oil, toppings etc. What I have below is our "everyday" waffle. It's a mixture of a few different flours, nuts and oats to keep them hearty and fiber filled - something not so indulgent that it has to be saved for a Sunday morning. The coconut oil helps them to get a crispy exterior while everything stays moist inside. Breakfast is kind of "a thing" around here, so I suspect there will be variations in my future, but I found this recipe worth sharing from the waffle experiments thus far.

FLAX WAFFLES // Makes 4 seven inch waffles

Inspired by The Fauxmartha and Oh, Ladycakes

Hugh requests chocolate chips in all possible breakfast sweets. It's a tight ship over here. I'll make the mixture, make two without chips then add 1/4 cup chocolate chips to the remaining batter and finish cooking the rest. I wrap up the extra waffles, keep them in the fridge and toast them in the toaster oven the following morning to warm and crisp them back up.

If you don't have these flours on hand, a 1 1/2 cup total of your preferred flours, or GF All Purpose flour will work fine here too. Your milk to flour ratio should be more or less equal regardless of what you use. Almond and oat flours aren't as absorbent as a wheat flour, so my dry ratio is slightly higher here.

• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup milk (great with buttermilk or non dairy beverage of choice)
• 2 Tbsp. orange juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp. flaxmeal
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp. white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 2 Tbsp. muscavado or brown sugar
• dash of cinnamon
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Heat your waffle iron.

Whisk the egg, milk (or non dairy beverage), orange juice, vanilla together. Whisk in the melted coconut oil.

Add the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix well, pressing out any clumps. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and stir until just combined. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes for the flaxmeal to absorb some liquid. Add enough batter to fill your waffle iron, don't over stuff it. Remove cooked waffle* and enjoy warm.Don't stack them, they'll steam each other. You can keep waffles warm on a cookie sheet in a 200' oven if waiting for remaining waffles.

Top with real maple syrup, fruit, whipped cream, jam, nut butter or my consistent stand by, goat yogurt and pom seeds. 

* Some irons have timers or a light that turns off to tell you the waffle is done. I have been judging mine by waiting until the iron stops steaming, then I know the outside will be crisp. By using about 3/4 cup batter, the waffle takes roughly 4 minutes until it stops steaming. This will vary by iron.

LEMON PANCAKES WITH YOGURT + BERRIES

There was a time when I thought pancakes only came from Bisquick boxes. Pancake creativity maxed out at throwing in some chocolate chips or blueberries into the batter on a weekend morning, but my parents were no-fuss kind of cooks. To be fair, I likely wouldn't have recognized boxed from homemade as a kid, but I've found myself fascinated by the more deliberate kind lately. I mean the variety of recipes is endless, with ratios of dry to liquid varying greatly. You can really get fussy about the art of the pancake. Should they be cakey? Thin? Custardy inside? Sweet enough to stand alone or less so, assuming they'll be covered in maple syrup? I'll chalk it up to personal preference, but the vote around here is thin and tender, and faintly sweet. I've used all sorts of grain flours, liquid sweeteners, some dairy free versions with coconut milk, and others bound with flaxmeal... and to think at one point, they only came from a yellow box.

This naturally gluten free recipe from Bea's cookbook is just lovely. They have some volume to them from the whipped egg white, which I appreciated more than I thought I would. She calls for lemon extract, and this would have made that flavor more obvious, but instead of yet another trip to the market, the fresh juice and zest lent a gentle brightness. They are tender from the yogurt and the care taken to not overcook them. You flip when you just begin to see the bubbles and no longer than a minute on the other side. I am sure maple would have worked, but the lemon was begging for creaminess and berries on a sunny spring morning. 

Happy long weekend ahead. Hope there is a slow morning with pancakes in your future. 

LEMON PANCAKES WITH YOGURT + BERRIES // Serves 4, makes about 12 small pancakes

Loosely adapted from La Tartine Gourmande by Beatrice Peltre

I didn't have all the ingredients from Bea's original recipe, but I worked with what I had, still keeping them gluten free. She uses rice flour, quinoa flour and quinoa flakes, which I image would produce a pancake that is slightly more delicate than mine. She suggests in her headnote that buttermilk, milk or yogurt can be used in the batter. I used a mix but you can use whatever you happen to have on hand. 

You don't need to have packaged oat flour. It's a quick whizz in the blender of some rolled oats and poof, you have oat flour. If you don't need or want them to be gluten free, 1 cup total of your preferred flour should work just fine. 

1/3 cup almond meal

1/3 quinoa flour

1/3 cup oat flour (ground rolled oats)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

2 1/2 Tbsp. natural cane sugar

2 eggs, seperated

1 cup buttermilk, yogurt or milk (I used half yogurt and half milk)

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

zest of one meyer lemon 

1 Tbsp. melted coconut oil, plus more for cooking

// topping //

1 cup whole or lowfat yogurt

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

2 tsp. honey

blueberries

In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients and stir to mix. 

In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with the buttermilk/yogurt, vanilla, lemon juice and zest, and the oil. Add this wet mixture to the dry and stir to combine. 

In a stand mixer or with hand mixers, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter. 

In a frying pan, heat a small pat of oil over medium heat. Pour a scant 1/4 cup batter in the pan and repeat with as many pancakes as you can without overcrowding. Cook until bubbles form, flip and cook another minute until golden. Repeat with remaining batter. 

Mix the yogurt with lemon juice and honey. Serve the warm pancakes with a lemon yogurt drizzle and fresh blueberries. 

VEGETABLE EGGS BENEDICT

She really is a character all of her own. My mom doesn't really fit a stereotype, so I'm at a loss of trying to put her in a box for you. She was the mom who took us running through golf course sprinklers, and drove the getaway car for my boy crazy girlfriends when we'd go toliet papering in high school. She dressed my sister and I up in her old clothes, and sent us out to make mud pies when the backyard was a mess after the rain. I mean pies actually made from mud- she's never been much for cooking, but she makes up for that in how fun she is. I may not have recipes for 'mom's biscuits', but I have vivid memories of my mom starting the dance party with paper plates as props at my first boy/girl party. I mean, anyone can find a biscuit recipe, but only my mom can party with plates. I was her cautious child, and she always tried to loosen me up... she still does, actually. There is that cliche that says 'you don't understand the depth of a mother's love, until you have children of your own'. I'm sure this is true, but my mom has made her love crystal clear to us. It is deep, really deep, and I know this from her actions. You can say 'i love you' a trillion times, but it's my late night teary phone calls, the articles she sends me in the mail, or helping me plant my herb garden that speak louder than words.

And just because someone doesn't like to cook, doesn't mean they don't like to eat, and my mom loves things with sauce. Food is just her vehicle for more sauce. This is a great mothers day brunch idea. I was inspired by a sauce recipe I found in the Golden Door Cooks at Home Cookbook. It blends up so quickly and tastes lighter than the typical hollandaise you find on an eggs benedict. As soon as you crack the yolk, it marries the bell pepper sauce and serves as the perfect dipping agent for the rest of the stack. If you are not one for poached eggs, you could substitute a fried egg or even a heap of scrambled eggs as an alternative. Experiment with whatever vegetables you have, as I imagine any sauteed green could be used instead of spinach or some caramelized onions or leeks would be wonderful too. For the record: A. This is my new favorite breakfast and B. I love you, Mom.

VEGETABLE EGGS BENEDICT // Makes 4

The sauce recipe is written using jarred roasted peppers. The yellow ones make a sauce that most resembles hollandaise. When bell peppers are sweet and in season near you, I am sure the flavor would be exceptional if you roasted them yourself. Though jarred will save you time regardless of the season. If you don't care for goat cheese, you could use cream cheese instead.

2 Whole Grain English Muffins

4 Large Eggs

5 Cups Fresh Spinach Leaves

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

Zest of One Lemon

12 Spears of Asparagus

1 tsp. Garlic Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper

Fresh Parsley for Garnish

// BELL PEPPER SAUCE //

1 1/4 Cup Roasted Bell Pepper Pieces, drained

3-4 oz. Chevre/Goat Cheese (richness to taste)

1/4 Cup Milk

1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard

Splash of Hot Sauce

Salt/Pepper

Oven to 500'

1. Start with the sauce. Warm the milk in the microwave for about 30 seconds. In a blender or food processor, combine the warm milk, goat cheese, mustard, lemon juice and the drained roasted bell peppers. Blend until smooth. Cover and set aside.

2. Warm the olive oil in the pan, add the fresh spinach and lemon zest and saute until just wilted. Turn off the heat and let it sit, it will stay warm enough while you finish everything else.

3. Toss the asparagus with a bit of olive oil, garlic salt and some fresh ground pepper. Put in the upper third of the oven for 8 minutes (this all depends on the thickness of your asparagus, alter your timing to get tender but not soggy spears).

4. Bring one quart water + 1 Tbsp. vinegar to a boil, then down to a simmer. This is your egg poaching liquid, there are good directions on how to poach eggs here. If you are doing them one at a time, you can keep them in a bowl with some of the warm poaching liquid until ready to use.

5. Toast the english muffins and get ready to go. Toasted muff+spoonful of sauce+sauteed spinach+asparagus spears, halved+poached egg+another spoonful or sauce+maybe a lovely fruit salad on the side=perfection.