Monday, January 10, 2011

Sweet Potato Whole Grain Waffles

DSC_0206

Fake seems to have become a real fact of life these days. Think about it. No one is who they purport to be on facebook or twitter. In fact, on the internet, not being your real self can be a major selling point (ruth bourdain anyone?). And, as food goes, sure there are all the artificial flavors and colors. But, even with the new “real food” movement, think about the pictures. Many of those pictures have been styled, artificially lit, and preened to within an inch of their existence. For years, there have been accusations from psychologists that the plethora of airbrushed, surgically enhanced models in magazines and in video games would make young men unable to appreciate the normal female body. I am starting to think the power of food photography is affecting how I see regular food.

Multigrain Waffles
Multigrain Waffles

These waffles spring forth from their iron looking a little like a patio tile. Not the pretty Italian-made ones, mind you. More like the ones at the edge of the patio that have crumbled after putting up with one too many cold winters. And, if you aren’t used to whole grains, their bespeckled nature might concern you. And, then there is the sort of unfortunate orange of the dough. The marketer in me might call it terracotta. In other words, these are not the prom queen of waffles; instead, they make the wallflowers of waffles look like Miss America. And, then here is where my brain thinks societal conspiracy. I actually thought they are so ugly I wonder if they taste good. What? Why? My brain somehow placed visual data ahead of smell when it came to food. Who the heck cares what it looks like? I guess some food stylist/ lizard part of my brain. Luckily my husband, who abstains from all types of food porn on principle, is immune from such stupidity. He dug in and quickly attested to their deliciousness.

Recipe:
Whole Grain Sweet potato Waffles
In a blender combine:
250 grams cooked sweet potato
1 buttermilk
2 eggs
2 heaping T oil

Cook 100 grams bob's red mill hot cereal plus 3 T chia seeds with 1 cup almond milk. Cool and add to the wet. Mix.

In a large bowl combine:
145 g whole wheat flour
40 g chestnut flour
15 g flax seeds
10 g oat bran
60 g corn meal
1 T yeast
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 T brown sugar
2 T white sugar

Add the wet to the cold. Mix heartily. Let rest in covered in the refrigerator overnight. Bring to room temperature. Add 1/2-1 cup more buttermilk (or almond milk if you wish) to create a batter like consistency. Cook in a waffle iron at medium for about 5-7 minutes. These take longer to cook than other waffles we have made. Ours dings when it thinks they are done. So, we went through three of the regular cycles.

I am submitting this recipe to yeastspotting run by the lovely Wild Yeast.

19 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Here's to being REAL, for sure! And here's to delicious waffles ;)

Foodwanderings said...

I don't believe I ever made waffles before!! maybe this will inspire me).

Unknown said...

Well I think their gorgeous, they truly appeal to me. I would gladly make them for my daughter & myself.

FOODalogue said...

I was immediately intrigued by the whole grain and sweet potato waffle title. It looks mighty tasty to me. I'm with your husband on that count, but I thought your description was pretty funny.

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

There is nothing like real food. I often stared at grocery carts and so many people are buying fake food at the market. My son told me the other day that people must think we are foodies when they look at our cart.

dining tables said...

This is really tempting! I suddenly craved for some waffles.

Jenn @leftoverqueen said...

I think they look good, but then again, I am used to how "real food" looks. My photos are hardly stylized and I am who I am on facebook! So I say, truth-sayers unite! :)

TS of eatingclub vancouver said...

But, they actually look *good* to me! Good-looking photos and good-looking food are two completely different things to me. =D

Johanna GGG said...

honestly I can show you much uglier - I was thinking how good these looked and half way through the post thought I was going to get some tips on food styling to go from tiles to glam! Most important is that they tasted good - hurrah!

lisaiscooking said...

Maybe I have different brain wiring, although I understand what you're saying about food styled photos, but I think these look fantastic! I'm so wishing I had a plate of these in front of me right now.

Marisa said...

The sweet potato must add such wonderful flavour & moistness to these waffles! On my to-try list.

Elizabeth said...

Ha! And the first thing I thought when I saw your waffles photos was "those look fabulous!! I want some of those NOW". And the second thing I thought was "Rats, we don't have any sweet potatoes in the house".

Maybe tomorrow....

(Interesting thoughts you've brought up though. I had a not unsimilar thing happen recently with coriander leaf. It looked fantastic but had zero flavour.)

Unknown said...

Your husband's a wise man. Your imperfect patio tile waffles look so real and heartwarming!

Muriel Miller said...

I foundvyour blog through foodie blog roll. Your pictures are amazing! Cute blog!

Reka said...

I absolutely LOVE your blog!!!!!!!!! :)

Dharm said...

Those waffles look just great and they sound healthy too!!

Anonymous said...

Looks fabulous! You should also submit this to the Bloggers Recipe Contest for Sweet Potatoes!
http://ncsweetpotatoes.com/bloggers-recipe-contest.html
I can't believe the little ones are so grown up now! My goodness they grow like sweet weeds!

Indian Food Rocks said...

food blogs are all beginning to look like clones of one another. i think as long as you don't lose sight of why you blog, it doesn't matter what the rest of them do. those waffles look pretty darned good and definitely real to me!

OrGreenic said...

This is a perfect first day of school recipe. Healthy and adorable. Thanks for the great post!