waffled by cheese

After my success with cinnamon rolls and toast, I was feeling pretty confident about my waffle skills. At about eleven o'clock in the morning one day, I started to feel a little hungry. When I looked in my fridge I found a slice of processed cheese, a slice of deli mozzarella, some wilted lettuce, a bottle of beer,  half a loaf of bread and some mushrooms that were about to go stems up. I figured why not try a grilled cheese and mushroom sandwich in the waffle iron?
Since I wasn't making the traditional grilled cheese I didn't need butter, but I wondered if mayo would be good to put on the inside.

to mayo or not to mayo?

                                                      I mean, how would that taste while being grilled?  I assembled a half sandwich with mayo to try it out. I added a slice of the processed cheese and a few mushrooms. Then, I placed the creation on the heated waffle iron and closed the lid. Shortly after, I heard a lot of crackling and popping going on between the irons. When I lifted to lid to investigate, cheese was giving out on all sides and creeping out toward the edges of the waffle iron. At least now I knew what the commotion was. I wasn't sure if I should close the lid or not, so I did. What more could happen, right? More crackling and popping pursued so I removed the mess and river of cheese that would not coagulate or crisp. Ok, so processed cheese is no good. Got it.

When I assembled the next sandwich, I used the deli mozzarella, mayo and mushrooms. I placed the new sandwich on the irons and closed the lid. This time crackling and popping was very minimal. I peeked inside after about a minute to see that the cheese had oozed out but was crisping. I closed the lid and waited another minute. Now I lifted the lid and found a perfectly cooked waffle-shaped grilled cheese. My only problem now was, what, if anything, should I put in the "flavor holes"? If I had been able to use deli Cheddar, then I think a nice apple jelly would have been good. Since I had mozzarella, I think some marinara would have been good, but I didn't have any. Put that on the grocery list for next time.

So, in conclusion, I don't recommend processed cheeses, but deli slices seem to work great. The first sandwich gets a half of a square out of 4 and the second gets a 3, only because I didn't have anything to fill the "flavor holes".

the river of uncoagulating cheese

the good sandwich!

A toast to the waffle iron

I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner: Of course toast bread in the waffle iron!

Yes, I do have a toaster oven, which is useful for cooking small meals. But, of course with the success of my cinnamon rolls, I wanted to try something else easy.

Since I often eat buttered toast at night for a snack, just thinking of delicious creamy butter filling the waffle holes convinced me to plug in my waffle iron again.

This experiment was quite simple because the bread wasn't doughy and didn't really need to cook. I placed a slice of white bread on the grate and closed the lid. I didn't need to grease the insides because my waffle iron is teflon coated.

In less than a minute I checked on the bread and it was ready! Was this faster than the toaster over? Another experiment to be had, which I immediately tried. At the same time, I plugged in both appliances. The waffle iron started to heat up. I placed a slice of bread in the toaster oven, turned the knob to my desired darkness and closed the lid. The waffle iron was now warmed up again, so I placed a slice on the grate and closed the lid. As the timer ticked away on the toaster oven, I peeked in on my waffle shaped bread, which was done a few seconds before the timer dinged. So, maybe it wasn't faster than the toaster oven, but there is a delicious difference. As I spread the butter on the waffle iron bread,  chunks of creamy goodness oozed into the flavor holes made by the waffle iron. That doesn't happen on regular piece of toast! Sprinkling on cinnamon and sugar made it better.

Another success. I give this one 4 squares out of 4 squares.

Waffle in the First

Until a few weeks ago, I was totally unaware that a waffle iron cookbook and blog existed. Even though I'm not the first, this news is still exciting. I'm reassured that I'm not the only crazy one.

I first thought of using a waffle iron to cook delectables other than just waffles the day I wanted cinnamon rolls. I had a tube of the ready to bake kind but didn't feel like turning on my oven. (The scorching month of June in Dallas, TX tends to dictate what you eat and how you cook it.) So, there I was, standing in the middle of my tiny kitchen glancing back and forth at the package in my hand and the waffle iron on the counter. Then the proverbial light bulb flickered.

Plugging in the appliance, I thought, "Let's just see what happens." Not having any directions on how long to leave the rolls in between the iron plates left me feeling like I was discovering something totally new. I slipped one roll onto the waffle iron and slowly closed the lid. Some steam began to escape through the sides so I lift the lid. The cinnamon roll still looked doughy and undercooked, yet was crisping on the edges. I closed the lid again and let the steam pass for about another minute before I peeked inside. This time I saw a tan, crispy roll, but was it done?

I lifted out the roll with a fork and set it on a plate. Slicing through the roll with a knife, I found that it was cooked - all the way! This twenty dollar appliance managed to make me a nice treat in just 2 minutes as opposed to the 14 minutes it would have taken in the oven, not to mention the pre-heat time. I squeezed some icing from the packet and let it seep into the holes made from the iron. I enjoyed each sweet, chewy yet crispy bite.

I ended up cooking the whole tube, two at a time. I called my friend Marci over to witness this event.
"That's crazy!" she said as she took a bite and smiled.

So, a success. I give this one 4 squares out of a possible 4 squares.