Cardamom Pear Waffles with Drunken Pear Chutney

I admit it, I got inspired while looking at the selection of dried fruit carried by Noggins Corner at the Halifax Seaport Farmer’s Market.  All locally grown (apples, cranberries, blueberries and pears).  I bough several bags and already blogged the apple muffins and cranberry cookies and now I needed to play with the pears.  I wanted something a little different for breakfast today and kept thing about at my three bags of dried pear chips.  Step one is to think about what to rehydrate them with, hmmm amaretto yeah sounds good but sweet, ahh cut it with some white wine, yep that sounds good.  I decided to add in some dried currents and cardamom and make a little sweet chutney.  Now what to eat it with.  I saw a tweet from suzie the foodie aka @suzieridler about being out of maple syrup and thought hmmm how about waffles with a light coat of peanut butter and dried pear chutney.  That was all it took to create a great breakfast.  I have a nice sour cream waffle recipe that I decided to kick up with some cardamom and amaretto and make that to go with my dried pears.  Below is the result:

Ingredients:

Dried Pear Chutney

3 bags about 1.5 cups of dried pear chips

1/2 cup amaretto

1/2 cup white wine

8 whole cardamom pods

Cardamom Pear Sour Cream Waffles

1 1/2 Whole White Flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom

2 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

2 tbsp amaretto 

1 cup real sour cream*

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp honey

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

In a pot on low heat put in the ingredients for the dried pear chutney.  It takes an hour or so to rehydrate these so allow the time or do it the night before.  When all of the liquid is absorbed remove the cardamom pods and chop up the pears.  Reserve to top waffles.

To make the waffles sift together the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix well.  Ensure the dry ingredients are mixed well because we won’t stir much after we add the liquid.  

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs then add in the milk, sour cream, amaretto and vanilla.  Melt the butter and add in the honey stir to combine then add to the other wet ingredients.  This will help combine the honey to the cold liquids.  If you add it directly it wont want to combine. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined.  Do not over mix this will build gluten in your batter and result in tough waffles.  

Add enough waffle batter into a preheated waffle iron to cover the bottom and close the lid.  Cook until the steam starts to slow, take a peak the waffles should be golden brown.    This batch will make 2 - 4 square waffles.

I like these waffles with a little peanut butter and topped with the pear chutney.  They are soft and warm and the cardamon provides the perfect compliment to the pears.  

Thanks to my local suppliers:

Dried Pears : Noggins Corner Farm Market

Eggs: Elmridge Farm

Milk: Fox Hill Cheese House

White Wine: L’Acadie Vineyards

Oatmeal Corn Waffles

I really enjoy waffles.  All those little pockets to hold syrup and butter, or a nice fruit sauce.  They are a real treat on a weekend morning, and the left overs can be popped in the toaster for a nice treat in a week day morning.  I know there are waffle like substances available from your local factory food outlet, but we deserve better.

I will be releasing a number of waffle recipes on the blog, including a traditional wheat flour waffle, a herb and parmesan cheese waffle which is an amazing base for poached eggs and smoked salmon and a chocolate desert waffle which would be amazing topped with Fox Hill Cheese Coconut Gelato.

But for today I am going to give you my favorite hearty waffle recipe.  This recipe is a cross between a waffle and a bowl of flavorful oatmeal.  It is crispy on the outside and soft and a little creamy on the inside.  A couple of these waffles will give you the energy you need to start the day.

Ingredients: 

7 Cups of Rolled Oats

1.5 Cups of Corn Meal

8 Cups of Hot Water

1 Cup of Apple Cider

1/4 Cup of Canola Oil

3 Tbsp of Honey or (Brown Sugar to make it Vegan)

2 Tbsp of Vanilla Extract

1.5 Tbsp Cinnamon

2 Tsp Sea Salt

1/2 Cup Currents

1 Apple Cored and Diced

In a large mixing bowl combine the first 9 ingredients (not the apples or currents) and stir to combine.  Allow this to sit for about 20 minutes to allow the grains to hydrate and absorb the flavors.  

While waiting heat up a waffle iron if it is variable heat it to medium heat.

Using an immersion blender blend up the batter a little bit, it is ok to have flakes of oats left but the batter should be mostly smooth.  Then stir in the currents and diced apples.  You can blend this in small batches in a blender but really get an immersion blender because it is so much cleaner. (Well for me anyway :))

When the iron is heated, spray with no stick spray and cover the bottom plate with batter.  This is not leavened so it will not rise much so don't worry about filling it up.  It wont expand and overflow.  These waffles take a while to finish cooking as they contain a lot of moisture, cook them until they are crisp on the outside and the steam is no longer pouring out of the waffle iron.  It takes 5 to 8 min a waffle.  They should be golden brown in color.  Serve right away, if you are going to freeze the left overs allow them to cool on a cooling rack and then freeze.  They reheat beautifully in a toaster.

These are very flavorful and very good for you.  They are low in fat and oats are one of the best grains you can eat.  For my vegetarian and vegan friends they can be made with no animal products.  Having said that these waffles do not sacrifice any flavor in order to be healthy.  Give them a try.

Thanks to my Local Suppliers:

Oats: Speerville Mills

Honey: Cosman and Whidden Honey Ltd

Apple Cider: Pasture Hill Farm

Apples: Noggins Corner Farm

Also Pictured:

Berkshire Bacon: Active Life Farms

Fresh Mint: Riverview Herbs

As always thanks to the Halifax Seaport Farm Market for giving me a place to connect with my suppliers.