You know when you have cheese and fruit and bread and nuts with a glass of wine and you kind of want to say “screw the main course, this is all I need in the entire world”? Well this recipe is for you. It is a riff off of a really famous Brazilian dish called Pão de Queijo, which is a gloriously puffy, cheesy, ball of pastry that is sort of similar to gougères. And I turned it into a waffle. And it happens to be gluten-free. Win.
Allow me to paint the picture: Savory, light-as-air, cheddar-rosemary waffle. Served warm. With a crisp, apple, walnut, and cilantro relish. A dash of pomegranate molasses (or honey) to offset the bitterness. Cheesypuffyherbysweetandsalty ALL IN ONE BITE. I know. I know.
Allow me to paint the picture: Savory, light-as-air, cheddar-rosemary waffle. Served warm. With a crisp, apple, walnut, and cilantro relish. A dash of pomegranate molasses (or honey) to offset the bitterness. Cheesypuffyherbysweetandsalty ALL IN ONE BITE. I know. I know.
This dish is multi-functional. I venture to say that it would be appropriate to eat at any meal, and to serve for any crowd (as long as the crowd isn’t dairy-sensitive/avoidant, because holy shit there is a lot of dairy in these waffles). You can make a gigantic batch of the waffles ahead of time and keep them warm in a very low oven, and the relish can be made up to 3 days in advance.
I served my cocktail hour waffles for brunch just last weekend with a spring veggie frittata, a winter fruit salad (it is STILL winter here in Chicago. Shut up. I don't want to talk about it), and champagne (thanks for the champagne, Krista!), which complimented everything perfectly, if I do say so myself.
Also, if you don’t have a waffle iron, you can DEFINITELY still make these! Just pour out the batter onto a pan and make pancakes! Actually, that’s a really cute idea to make silver dollar-sized pancake versions for a cocktail hour… IT WAS MY IDEA FIRST!!
I served my cocktail hour waffles for brunch just last weekend with a spring veggie frittata, a winter fruit salad (it is STILL winter here in Chicago. Shut up. I don't want to talk about it), and champagne (thanks for the champagne, Krista!), which complimented everything perfectly, if I do say so myself.
Also, if you don’t have a waffle iron, you can DEFINITELY still make these! Just pour out the batter onto a pan and make pancakes! Actually, that’s a really cute idea to make silver dollar-sized pancake versions for a cocktail hour… IT WAS MY IDEA FIRST!!
Relish:
2 large Granny Smith apples
1 1/4 cup of walnuts
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 lemon
¼ cup pomegranate molasses (or honey)
salt & pepper
Waffle (makes 6-8 waffles or a shit ton of pancakes)
4 eggs
1 cup of whole milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup melted butter
2 cups tapioca flour*
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
4 tablespoons of fresh rosemary, chopped
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
*Seriously, tapioca flour isn’t as hard to find as you think. I checked. All the grocery stores I have been to in the last month carry it. Sometimes it is called “cassava” flour and can be found in Asian or Latin sections of stores.
2 large Granny Smith apples
1 1/4 cup of walnuts
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 lemon
¼ cup pomegranate molasses (or honey)
salt & pepper
Waffle (makes 6-8 waffles or a shit ton of pancakes)
4 eggs
1 cup of whole milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup melted butter
2 cups tapioca flour*
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
4 tablespoons of fresh rosemary, chopped
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
*Seriously, tapioca flour isn’t as hard to find as you think. I checked. All the grocery stores I have been to in the last month carry it. Sometimes it is called “cassava” flour and can be found in Asian or Latin sections of stores.
Step 1: Make the relish:
Chop up the apples, skin and all, into small pieces. Squeeze the lemon over the apple to prevent them from turning brown. Throw the walnuts into a dry pan and toast them until they are warm to the touch and you can smell them. Chop the walnuts and the cilantro up and throw them into the bowl with the apples. Drizzle over the pomegranate molasses, add a few big pinches of salt and pepper, and taste it. Adjust the seasoning as needed, but it should taste clean, crisp, and not-to-sweet.
Chop up the apples, skin and all, into small pieces. Squeeze the lemon over the apple to prevent them from turning brown. Throw the walnuts into a dry pan and toast them until they are warm to the touch and you can smell them. Chop the walnuts and the cilantro up and throw them into the bowl with the apples. Drizzle over the pomegranate molasses, add a few big pinches of salt and pepper, and taste it. Adjust the seasoning as needed, but it should taste clean, crisp, and not-to-sweet.
Steph 2: Make the waffle/pancake batter:
Break the eggs into a large bowl and beat them thoroughly. Throw in all of the other ingredients except for the cheese and mix until it is smooth. Might take a minute to get the tapioca flour incorporated, but it will get there. This is a pretty thin batter. Don’t be weirded out.
Step #3: Cook your waffle/pancakes:
Heat up your waffle iron and grease it up with a little melted butter or some non-stick spray. Ladle in a little less than a cup of the batter at a time and evenly sprinkle a big handful of cheese over the top. THIS IS IMPORTANT: Be sure 1) NOT to over-fill the iron because this shit will puff up and 2) make sure each well of the iron gets the same amount of batter. Also, expect the puffiness to deflate once you remove the waffles from the iron. No biggs. They still taste awesome.
Step #4: Top the waffles with the relish, and enjoy!
Break the eggs into a large bowl and beat them thoroughly. Throw in all of the other ingredients except for the cheese and mix until it is smooth. Might take a minute to get the tapioca flour incorporated, but it will get there. This is a pretty thin batter. Don’t be weirded out.
Step #3: Cook your waffle/pancakes:
Heat up your waffle iron and grease it up with a little melted butter or some non-stick spray. Ladle in a little less than a cup of the batter at a time and evenly sprinkle a big handful of cheese over the top. THIS IS IMPORTANT: Be sure 1) NOT to over-fill the iron because this shit will puff up and 2) make sure each well of the iron gets the same amount of batter. Also, expect the puffiness to deflate once you remove the waffles from the iron. No biggs. They still taste awesome.
Step #4: Top the waffles with the relish, and enjoy!
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