Mrs. Hippie really likes waffles. Yesterday she asked if I'd be willing to make some for breakfast this morning. "Of course, my sweet. No task is too arduous to prove my enduring affection." She's also got a nose for sarcasm.
As we were preparing to drift off into our slumbers last night I heard, "Are you still willing to make waffles in the morning?" Sensing the direction of the prevailing winds, I assured her in the affirmative.
She's an early riser who likes some alone time to get the day started. I was a professional early riser, and years of getting up between 3:00 and 5:00 for various jobs have given me a deep appreciation for still being in bed when the sun pops over the mountains. When I stumbled into the kitchen blinking and mumbling she asked once again whether waffles might be forthcoming.
I've made waffles a lot of ways. While I like a good buttermilk waffle as much as the next enthusiast, I much prefer sourdough. The very first cookbook I bought myself straight outta the gate was a sourdough book, which I still have. I make sourdough bread, biscuits, pancakes and pizza crust but have for some reason struggled with any sourdough waffle recipe I've tried. Some of them are too labour intensive, requiring separation of the eggs and whipping the whites to soft peak before folding them into the recipe with melted butter. Others yield a product that might work well for...oh, I don't know...ballasting a ship, perhaps.
About a year ago I finally caught up with the pandemic sourdough fad, and picked up some more recent texts on the subject. I came across a recipe for waffles using "discard" that is my new go-to. A cup of discard collected when refreshing the starter, couple eggs, little sugar, pinch of salt, couple-three tablespoons of buckwheat flour. Whomp all that together and then beat in a pinch or two of baking soda, being careful not to use too much and create a sourdough volcano. It's happened.
My waffle iron is actual iron, a Griswold American #8 that fits on the stove. The batch is just the size to give us two apiece, good enough to start the day. Occasionally I'll make a bigger batch and freeze the extras to heat up in the toaster later.
O.H.
As we were preparing to drift off into our slumbers last night I heard, "Are you still willing to make waffles in the morning?" Sensing the direction of the prevailing winds, I assured her in the affirmative.
She's an early riser who likes some alone time to get the day started. I was a professional early riser, and years of getting up between 3:00 and 5:00 for various jobs have given me a deep appreciation for still being in bed when the sun pops over the mountains. When I stumbled into the kitchen blinking and mumbling she asked once again whether waffles might be forthcoming.
I've made waffles a lot of ways. While I like a good buttermilk waffle as much as the next enthusiast, I much prefer sourdough. The very first cookbook I bought myself straight outta the gate was a sourdough book, which I still have. I make sourdough bread, biscuits, pancakes and pizza crust but have for some reason struggled with any sourdough waffle recipe I've tried. Some of them are too labour intensive, requiring separation of the eggs and whipping the whites to soft peak before folding them into the recipe with melted butter. Others yield a product that might work well for...oh, I don't know...ballasting a ship, perhaps.
About a year ago I finally caught up with the pandemic sourdough fad, and picked up some more recent texts on the subject. I came across a recipe for waffles using "discard" that is my new go-to. A cup of discard collected when refreshing the starter, couple eggs, little sugar, pinch of salt, couple-three tablespoons of buckwheat flour. Whomp all that together and then beat in a pinch or two of baking soda, being careful not to use too much and create a sourdough volcano. It's happened.
My waffle iron is actual iron, a Griswold American #8 that fits on the stove. The batch is just the size to give us two apiece, good enough to start the day. Occasionally I'll make a bigger batch and freeze the extras to heat up in the toaster later.
O.H.