Savory Not-Exactly-Waffles Adventure

Do not buy a waffle maker. Do not buy one. Don’t do it.

Every few years I contemplate the purchase. Imagine the brunches. Sweet waffles! Savory waffles! Chicken and waffles! Everything waffles!

After a few fun meals, though, the contraption would probably end up occupying valuable space deep in a cabinet never to be used again. By us, at least.

The familiar pang returned recently while watching a Junior Bake Off episode where Ravneet Gill challenged the young contestants to make crispy baked chicken sandwiched between cheesy waffles.

Her dish reminded me about the café in Longmont, Colorado, that we frequented for takeout after the Marshall Fire. We gravitated toward their savory waffle with chorizo, feta, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, chipotle sauce, and a fried egg. The flavor balance was just right.

Without a waffle maker, the next best thing is the cast iron we’ve already got. Guillaume uses a cast iron skillet to make Deb Perelman’s tasty Parmesan Dutch baby with creamy mushrooms recipe fairly often for dinner.

A Dutch baby, which has half a dozen other names, is essentially a giant puffy pancake baked in the oven. They can be sweet or savory. Similar to a Yorkshire pudding, the exterior gets crispy while the inside has a softer, eggy texture. Okay, so it’s not a waffle. But there’s some overlap.

Most Dutch baby recipes call for adding toppings at the end rather than messing with the bake by incorporating any into the batter. Yet piling on all the different flavors for this one seemed like overloading a taco. My inclination was to try carefully layering the elements instead.

The result was remarkably close to those savory waffles, especially since they usually softened by the time we unpacked and ate them. I cooked chorizo for the early versions, but switched to soy chorizo after having trouble finding the meat again in local grocery stores. The vegetarian version tasted better anyway.

For the chipotle sauce, I used La Costeña chipotles in adobo sauce, which isn’t as spicy as other brands. To adjust for heat, you could use half or even just a quarter of one chipotle pepper. Or add more yogurt. This makes a nice dip before adding the milk.

Ultimately this turned into a decent weeknight dinner. Even better: No waffle maker needed.

Not-Waffles Savory Dutch Baby

Makes 1 large savory pancake with two servings

Chipotle Sauce:
½ C. yogurt or mayonnaise
1 chipotle and ~½ tsp. adobo sauce
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Whole milk to loosen
Salt to taste

Fillings and Toppings:
Approx. 1 oz. baby spinach or trimmed spinach leaves
4 oz. uncooked chorizo or soy chorizo
¼ C. sun-dried tomato, loosely packed
1.5 oz. feta cheese, diced or crumbled
Batter:
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
4 large eggs
½ C. (65g) all-purpose flour
½ C. (110-115g) whole milk
½ tsp. salt

Equipment: Immersion blender, 11-inch cast iron skillet, wide nonstick skillet.

Sauce: Add the yogurt or mayonnaise, chipotle, adobo sauce, and lemon juice to an immersion blender receptacle. Starting on low, blend until completely uniform. Loosen with whole milk about a teaspoon at a time until reaching the desired sauce consistency. Salt to taste.

Set a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chorizo or soy chorizo and brown, breaking up into smaller pieces with a wooden spatula. Allow some edges to get crispy. Remove from the heat, scrape into a bowl, and set aside to cool.

Remove any long stems from clean and dry spinach. Roughly chop the spinach and set aside, keeping it separate from the other ingredients. Dice or crumble the feta. Dice the sun-dried tomato.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the large eggs. Whisk in the flour and salt until no lumps remain. Add the whole milk, continuing to whisk until the batter is smooth.

Place a clean, dry cast iron pan on a center oven rack. Preheat oven to 425F.

Carefully remove the hot pan, add 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and let it melt. Tip the pan to coat the bottom evenly. Pour in the batter. Sprinkle the cooked chorizo or soy chorizo and chopped spinach over the top.

Put the pan back in the hot oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until browned and puffy. Keep the oven door closed during baking.

Remove the pan from the oven to a trivet. To serve, sprinkle the crumbled feta and sun-dried tomato over the top. Cut in half and drizzle with the chipotle sauce.