As I write this, it's early spring in New Mexico, 2009, at 7400'. We've just survived equinox, the wind is still howling, and although we're approaching the middle of April, the weather doesn't seem to have recognized that it's not still winter. It snowed last night, after a balmy day in town.
Spring in Chinese culture is "liver time." The wind is blowing, which exacerbates liver dysfunction (to which we're already culturally disposed). Anger, craziness, headaches, allergies, and all manner of maladies encouraged by wind are to be seen everywhere. It's important to protect oneself from the wind, as well as its effects. We can do this in the way we dress, the herbal medicines we take, and the foods we eat.
This recipe has a number of ingredients to help us out on such days. The liver loves beets, the lungs love pears, and your mouth will love these waffles! Ginger, coriander, and cinnamon provide lots of warmth on these chilly mornings.
For me, waffles have become an intriguing form through which to receive culinary inspiration. The results have been so delightful, surprising, and varied that I wonder if a waffle cookbook may not be in the making. Waffles are being redefined.
Please understand, when I say waffles, I'm not talking about the insipid, ghastly frozen horrors that America accepts as a quick morning prelude to a day full of glucose crashes, fuzzy headedness, and lethargy. What I mean is the nearly infinite variety of delicious and nourishing foods, herbs, and spices which can be birthed from a waffle iron.
This example is less of a departure from our cultural expectation of what a waffle should taste like than many I make, so we're starting with the relatively familiar.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl:
In a food processor, puree:
In another bowl, beat with a fork 3 large organic Eggs (room temperature);
then add 1 ½ Tablespoon Coconut Oil and mix.
Add the puree to the eggs and oil, mix, and pour the whole works into the dry ingredients. Fold it all together with a rubber spatula until the lumps are gone. Dazzling, isn't it?
These will be thick (add liquid if necessary) and relatively dense, but the batter should be pretty moist. Like food, you know? If you want them to be like air, add some aluminum free baking powder (don't do this now, do it in the dry ingredient stage).
Spoon onto a hot waffle iron. (We like a non-stick VillaWare model which imitates an ailing bird when the waffle iron is hot and when the waffle is done. It does the job well, amuses us, and prevents overdone waffles if our attention has wandered.) See if you can wait until they're all done before you start eating....
Serves two relatively small individuals who don't plan to eat again for awhile.
These will hold me pretty well until lunch. If I precede them with a fat chicken sausage, they'll hold me until around 2 PM. They're very nourishing, and if you're not sensitive to eggs or other ingredients they work well with most constitutional types. (Scampi likes them too.)
If you like these, and if you get the hang of thinking outside the waffle box, cut loose and start experimenting. As long as you're using fresh, organic, whole ingredients, inspiration is your only limit!
If necessary, slather with ghee and maple syrup, but these are so sweet and so moist that it seems like overkill to me. Serve on hot plates with steaming tea.
Yum!
I rarely measure ingredients, so none of this is written in stone. As long as your liquid ingredients, dry ingredients, and eggs are in the correct proportion, the only limit is what you have in the house. Go for it!
2202 Menaul NE
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