Savory Grits Waffles, Take II

My friend Pooja is visiting for the week, so I decided to make her some of my favorite grits waffles. 

After a nutritious breakfast of leftover chocolate cookies, we got to work. 

The grits, butter, and milk get all melted together. I tried to convince Pooja it was lemon sauce and get her to eat it, but I guess that trick only works once. 

I need to start growing my own chives so I don't have to buy them!

The batter was still as beautiful as last time.

 And they were just as delicious :)

Ain't no party like a Pooja party!

Click here for recipe from previous post!

Tomato Feta Pancakes

 I had a bunch of tomatoes, so obviously I put them into pancakes. It seems like not many people have tried this before, so I had to make up the recipe somewhat. I based it off one I found on the internet, but it was in French and all the measurements were in grams so I had to make some adjustments.

I dropped the tomatoes in boiling water to take the skins off. Naked tomatoes look kinda gross.

Then I sliced each one in half and scooped the seeds out.

Chopped them up, added feta, soy milk, an egg, baking powder, white and whole wheat flour.
I finally used the griddle - it made cooking these go so much faster.

My main worry was that these wouldn't stay together but they did surprisingly well.

The taste however was not the best. I think the tomato was too moist, so the inner parts didn't seem all the way cooked.
Next time I think a little more flour. Sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh would definitely be better.

But we ate them anyway!

Tomato and Feta Pancakes Makes 8 small pancakes Inspired by Alter Gusto 5 tomatoes (chopped, with skins and seeds removed) OR 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (recommended) 1/2 cup feta cheese 1/4 cup whole wheat flour 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 egg 1/2 cup soy milk Mix flours and baking powder, then add all other ingredients. Add milk last - use more if necessary to create a liquid consistency

Goat Cheese Pancakes with Dried Cranberries and Thyme

A couple weeks ago I was at Whole Foods and I decided to buy the largest package of goat cheese they had, because goat cheese is awesome. In the following two weeks I proceeded to eat only pizza and cupcakes until I realized that all this cheese was going to go bad at some point. 

So I made it into pancakes! 

I wanted just the leaves of the thyme, so Stef carefully removed them all for me. It's harder than it looks.

Hooray for giant sized bags of Craisins from Costco! The recipe I based this off used fresh raspberries, which I'm sure would be absolutely delicious as well. Stef was so involved de-leaving thyme that she looked over when I was done mixing and didn't believe I had actually added the cheese.

These have no butter or oil in them, which would be great for the health-conscious. It's great for me too because I hate melting butter. The goat cheese made the batter very smooth and moist.

I ate one plain, then I ate one rolled up with more goat cheese spread on the inside. I highly recommend this method.

 

A few hours later I ate another one cold from the fridge. Still good. 

PANCAKES!

Goat Cheese Pancakes with Dried Cranberries and Thyme Makes 9 medium pancakes Inspired by MyCommunalTable 1.5 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup white sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1.5 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 cup goat cheese 3/4 cup milk 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice 3 eggs 1 tablespoon thyme leaves 1/3 cup dried cranberries Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl In a smaller bowl, mix together goat cheese, milk, and lemon juice until relatively smooth. Beat eggs and add to mixture Add wet ingredients to the dry then mix in thyme and cranberries Cook in a small skillet over medium heat. Use about 1/3 cup batter per pancake.  Serve with additional goat cheese on top, or use instead of bread in a sandwich!

***Deliciousness Update: 

I have been using the leftovers to make sandwiches and they are wonderful! I put the cheese and stuff on top then microwave it for about 40 seconds.

Cheddar cheese and tomato

Cheddar cheese, tomato, and parmesan 

Gluten Free Grits Waffles

I went home for Easter and decided to make gluten free pancakes since my little sister has celiac. And I had a lot of grits to use up from the last waffles. 

My mom has this new fantastic sign hung above the stove. It's so practical! 

I used essentially the same recipe as the non-gluten free ones, but replaced the flour with this.

I asked my mom if we had any grated cheese. Her response: "No. ... But there's cheese. And a grater." 

Sooo haaaard. 

They were not as thick with the gluten free flour, so I ended up using more batter per waffle. I also replaced the butter with oil out of sheer laziness.

 I also omitted the chives because all our chive plants were still covered in snow and I kept forgetting to stop at the grocery store.

We ate them with butter. My family kept trying to add maple syrup but I stopped them. Maple and cheese? Gross.

I'm actually not sure if my little sister ate any. By the time she woke up, I was already taking my morning nap.

Yum.

Gluten Free Grits Waffles Makes 10 waffles  Adapted from Joy the Baker  1 cup water 1/2 cup dried grits (polenta) 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 cup milk 1 cup Bob's Red Mill GF flour 3/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 egg 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese Boil the water, then add grits and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes Remove from heat and stir in oil and milk In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, pepper, and baking powder Whisk egg and stir into dry mixture Pour grits mixture into bowl, then add cheese. Stir until evenly mixed.  Cook in waffle iron!  I used about 1/2 cup of batter per waffle and left them in until most of the steam coming from the iron had died down.

Ricotta Cheese Crepes with Zucchini

 Every Tuesday night, my two best friends and I take turns cooking dinner. This week was my turn, and as I flipped through my favorite cookbook for inspiration, I found this recipe.

The batter is fairly simple (eggs, flour, milk) seasoned with thyme and parsley. The cookbook also suggested marjoram, but I didn't have any and figured that if I bought I would never use it again.

I don't have a special crepe maker, so I just use a frying pan. The trick is to make sure your pan is already hot and seasoned with butter. Then wait until the edges of the crepe start to curl up. Then it's time to flip. After a few false starts, I got the hang of flipping.

And ended up with a plate full of beautiful crepes!

The filling is made by sautéing zucchini, then adding ricotta, nutmeg, and pepper and simmering for a few minutes. The recipe also calls for zucchini flowers and pine nuts, which I omitted because I couldn't find pine nuts at the store, and I'm pretty sure they didn't have zucchini flowers. 

The crepes are then folded, covered with light cream and cheese, and baked in the oven. 

 The finished product:

They were enjoyed! They have the benefit of looking pretty fancy, but not requiring that much work. In fact, I made them in a groggy daze, having just woken up from a nap, and they turned out alright!

These would also be good to try with a different kind of cheese in place of ricotta. I am not the biggest ricotta fan myself. I would also add a bit more Parmesan to the top before baking.

For dessert, we ate leftover jellybean pancakes!

Ricotta Cheese Crepes with Zucchini Adapted from Simply Delicious Vegetarian cookbook Makes 10 crepes - serves 4-5 people Crepes: 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups milk 4 eggs 1.5 tablespoons finely chopped thyme 1.5 tablespoons finely chopped parsley 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 tablespoon butter Filling: 10 oz zucchini, cut into rounds 2 tablespoons butter 1 2/3 cups ricotta cheese 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 cup light cream 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese Mix all crepe ingredients together, excluding the butter Melt the butter in a medium sized frying pan and cook the crepes over medium heat. Use just enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan. Flip when edges begin to curl.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees and butter a large baking dish Saute zucchini in butter in frying pan for 10 minutes. Add ricotta, nutmeg, salt, and pepper to zucchini and simmer for 3 minutes.  Place about 3 tablespoons of filling in each crepe and fold twice to make triangles.  Arrange in prepared dish and pour cream over top. Sprinkle with Parmesan.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake for additional 8-10 minutes.

Savory Grits Waffles

I found this recipe online from Joy the Baker. It was originally called "Gluten-Free Lunch Waffles with Apples and Prosciutto." I did not make them gluten-free, nor eat them with apples or prosciutto. I did eat them for lunch though!

The first part of this recipe involves cooking grits. Everyone knows I hate grits, so I don't really know what possessed me to buy an entire bag and make this recipe. There are still a lot left over, so expect more grits creations.

Last time I was at the store I guess I was feeling really healthy or something because I bought imitation butter. Yum, buttery sticks. It is actually pretty good.

The grits are mixed with butter and milk, the dry ingredients, and one egg. Then you add cheese and chives. 

It made a perfect lunch to fuel up on after a sunny walk through the park and before a bike ride to Harvard Square. 

The batter was thick, and the waffles were delicious.

Seriously, really delicious. Like possibly the best recipe so far. It was something about the mix of cheese and black pepper and chives that made them flavorful, and the grits gave them a lovely hearty texture.
I ate them with broccoli, because why not.

Here is my recipe, so you all can make them too and be happy!

Savory Grits Waffles Makes 10 waffles  Adapted from Joy the Baker  1 cup water 1/2 cup dried grits (polenta) 1/2 cup butter (or something like it), cubed and softened 1 cup plain almond milk 1 cup flour 3/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 egg 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese 3 tablespoons chopped chives Boil the water, then add grits and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes Remove from heat and stir in butter and milk In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, pepper, and baking powder Whisk egg and stir into dry mixture Pour grits mixture into bowl, then add cheese and chives. Stir until evenly mixed.  Cook in waffle iron!  I used a little less than 1/2 cup of batter per waffle and left them in until most of the steam coming from the iron had died down.