The problem with a lot of waffle recipes is that there’s so many things that can go wrong. They’re too crispy, or not crispy enough - too tender, too soggy, blah blah blah.

This is the best, most perfect waffle recipe, ever.

EVVEERRR.

It’s adapted from the overnight waffle recipe devised by good buddies over at cook local. While their version is excellent, the waffles are super airy - which is great, but I like a little bit more substance to mine. Also, their recipe calls for the first part of the batter to sit out overnight, but I never plan that far in advance for anything. Instead, these sit for only an hour or two, so you can make them when you get up, go do stuff that’s fun for a while, then come back and eat waffles when everyone else is awake. 

This recipe combines the awesomeness of yeasted waffles that sit out with the ever present problem of things going south in the fridge after you bought a bunch of fruit but never got around to eating it all week because you ended up eating out every night instead of cooking. (whoops?)

I present:

Best most perfect waffles known to man, in the history of the universe, that also just happens to use up the last bit of milk that just went sour.

Adapted from THIS RECIPE at Cook Local, which is also pretty awesome. 

Part 1:

• 2.5 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 warm water
• 1 cup sour milk (or regular milk if you drink it in time)
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1-2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp tea masala (optional)

Part 2:

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Part 1 -  

 add the warm water to the bowl you’re going to have your batter in and sprinkle the yeast into it. 

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium low and add the milk once it’s melted. Test the temperature with your finger - you want it just past lukewarm. DON’T LET IT GET TOO HOT (it’ll kill the yeast). If it DOES feel too hot, leave it off the burner to cool. 

Combine sugar, flour, salt and spices in a bowl. 

To the yeast-water mixture, add the milk and butter and dry ingredients. Cover and let the bowl sit out on the counter while you go do some fun things for a few hours. There isn’t a set time here - the longer you leave the mixture the more airy the waffles will get.

Part 2 - Whenever you’re ready for waffles, heat up the waffle iron and fold in the part 2 stuff to the mix. Also, chop up whatever fruit you had lying around (I had strawberries and raspberries on their last legs)

From there, you’re in the hands of your waffle maker. We fill these with chopped fruit and eat them like big fruity waffly tacos. 

Stone fruit season in full force now, with various sorts of cherries, peaches and apricots piled high, and I couldnt help myself but to stuff my bags with them at Alemany this morning.

What I didnt count on was more than a few of those fruits being so burstingly ripe that they did just that - burst. In my bag.

Nothing pisses me off more than fruit that goes into my bag looking nice and round and coming out looking, well. Oblong.

(actually many things piss me off more, but nothing else has come up yet this morning)

Anyway. Fruit enthusiasts like myself (Should I refer to my self in such a way? It sounds…dirty) know that bruised and broken fruit must be culled from the rest of the group immediately so that the malady does not spread. And by malady I mean that all that lovely (probably expensive) fruit you just bought getting moldy by the next day.

Squishy fruit no longer looks nice and it a big messy to eat out of hand, but the flavor is still great - especially when the squish part has happened recently.

Here’s one thing you can do with squishy fruit: Make a squish. It sounds gross but tastes wonderful. Roasting fruit brings out a whole new side of the flavor.

This would be really good on yogurt or scones, but to my shame, I ate it as is.

Yes, there is a kick from the cayenne, don’t be a wuss. (but omit it if you are.)

Roasted Stone Fruit Squish:

Bruised or broken peaches, nectarines, apricots, de-stoned and chopped. I kept the skins on because I’m lazy.

5 mint leaves, chopped into leetle bits

Mint sugar (mint+raw sugar, pulsed in a blender) to coat- or honey works too if you’re not a wierd food nerd like me that has that sort of thing lying around.

Lemon juice, cayenne pepper to taste.

Mix together. 

Cover a baking pan with tinfoil and lay the mass out on the pan. Bake at 350 until the whole thing becomes a gooey, yummy mass.

If you don’t want to roast it, this is very good cold as a fruit salad, but as the fruit will be squishy I’d add nice looking fruit like sliced strawberries, raspberries, mango or grapes to supplement.

This recipe uses the fresh cheese I made in my last post, but you could substitute any soft fresh cheese (goat or whatever)

Eggs on onions are my go-to sunday breakfast, mostly because they don’t take any higher cognitive thinking whatsoever to make. This makes enough for two people.

Use the freshest eggs you can get - the yolk on older eggs will break if the burner on your stove is uneven (like mine) and then this dish just won’t work.

Ingredients for Eggs:

one sweet onion, thinly sliced

4 fresh eggs (preferably free range) 

Salt, pepper

Ingredients for quesadilla:

Flour tortillas

Labneh (or other fresh cheese), including the herbed olive oil it was packed in. If you didnt make cheese, you can use just a teaspoon of olive oil with some salt and pepper or herbs mixed in.

In a heavy skillet, melt a tablespoon of butter and a little dab of bacon grease if you have any lying around.

Add the onions with a pinch of kosher salt and cook until translucent.

With a spatula, smush the onions down until they cover the bottom of the pan and turn the heat to medium low. Carefully crack the eggs on top of the onions. Try not to let the eggs touch.

While the eggs are cooking, heat another skillet on medium.

Smear a bit of the cheese (not too much) on a tortilla, and drip a teaspoon of the olive oil into the pan. Fold the tortilla in half around the cheese and fry until both sides are brown.

set aside. I made about 2 of these per person.

The eggs are done when the whites are no longer runny, but before the yolk is completely set.

I use the quesadilla as a platform for the ensuing yummy onion and egg mass. Hot sauce is a winner too.