Poppy Seed Waffles...

This week, we prepared 8 new recipes - our tops this time where those Caramel Apple Cupcakes, the Chicken and Ham Wild Rice Soup and the Steak Frites with Shallot Pan Reduction.

Finally... we've come to another breakfast-for-dinner night! I don't know why I get excited, but it is just fun to do something that isn't alway so savory in nature for dinner. I should probably try and prepare a few "dinner-for-breakfast" dishes in the morning, but that just doesn't appeal to me as much for some reason!

I chose these Poppy Seed Waffles tonight as those blueish-grey seeds call out to be every time I open the freezer and notice them sitting there sad and unused. I keep them there because they can go rancid fairly fast and while they probably wouldn't kill you if they did, who wants to do all the work in making a nice meal and have it ruined by a not-too-tasty flavor?

Before we tossed the seeds into the dry ingredients, we covered the bottom of a small skillet with the pearls and let them quickly toast over moderate heat to intensify their flavor (just like you would toasting nuts, just a bit less time). While the original recipe called for using plain yogurt for the bulk of the wet ingredients, I used a scoop of thick and luscious Greek yogurt and vanilla yogurt as that's what I usually keep on hand in the refrigerator. The original recipe called for "plain yogurt" - so while the vanilla I used was sweetened, the Greek was plain and its richness negated the extra sweetness (or at least that was my plan!).

Since lemon and poppy are like two peas in a pod (see here, here, here or here for examples!), a couple teaspoons of fresh lemon zest is added to the billowy batter for a bright note. Feel free to use either a Belgian or American-style waffle machine - we used the latter as the batter was a little light on the fat side and wasn't going to produce an extra-crisp crust you would expect with a Belgian waffle anyway. These were not floppy or soft by any means though - just crisp enough to know they are still waffles. Even though our machine makes 4 individual squares at a time, there was plenty of batter to make 3 full batches - to keep the waffles warm while I prepared the rest, I stashed them in a warm oven, on a rack, to keep them from getting soggy as they sat. If you prefer extra-crisp waffles, but still want them without the added fat, you could send them through a short trip in a toaster to achieve that texture without loosing much moisture.

While a nibble of a plain waffle let me know they were just sweet enough as is, we enjoyed ours with a simple dusting of confectioners' sugar and drizzle of warmed pure maple syrup. However, I would love to try these again and serve with a fresh, homemade chunky blueberry sauce to take these over the top for a special occasion!

Recipes
Poppy Seed Waffles