Waffles with Roasted Sweet Potato, Ham, and Gorgonzola Cheese

It’s a long name, I know.

Actually, the full name today’s recipe is “Savory Waffles with Roasted Sweet Potato, Ham, Gorgonzola Cheese, and Browned Sage Butter”. That seemed a bit excessive though, so I left out the browned sage butter and savory part.
Trust me though, the long name is worth it. These waffles rock.

It all started at Starbucks. Hisa and I somehow started discussing waffles (go figure), and then we started talking about what make good savory toppings for waffles. This is one that I came up with, and it sounded so good, I ended up making it for dinner later that week.

These waffles exceeded my expectations in the best way. They’re really, really good. They’re regular waffles topped with roasted sweet potato, green onions, diced smoked ham, crumbled Gorgonzola cheese, topped with a fried egg (although a poached egg would be great as well), and then lightly drizzled with browned sage butter.

The flavors complement each other wonderfully. The sweetness of the roasted sweet potato is fantastic paired with the tangy Gorgonzola cheese. The smoked ham adds a wonderful depth to it, and the browned sage butter pulls it all together in the best way possible. Hisa and I were both surprised at just how good these were.

These waffles would be great for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner, but I think they would be particularly great for an elegant brunch.
If you’re tired of the same old waffles with syrup, and want to try something different, give these a try.

First, peeled and cut one regular sweet potato into cubes. Drizzle lightly with extra virgin olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Mix it up a bit so everything is well coated, then bake in a 350° F oven for about 20 minutes, or until tender.

Dice several green onions (or chives) and ham. Cook them in a skillet together over medium heat for 3 – 4 minutes. You don’t need to add any salt, as ham has enough salt in it.

Mix up your favorite waffle batter, and make your waffles like normal. I don’t add any sugar to my waffle batter, but if you do, you should probably leave it out for these.
While your making your waffles in your waffle maker, fry or poach an egg for each person.
Also while your making the waffles, melt some butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add fresh sage leaves, if you have any, or dried sage if you don’t. Gently cook the butter until it turns brown (don’t cook it on too high heat or it will burn!). Remove from heat and remove the fresh sage leaves if you used them (leave in the dried sage if you used that).

To assemble, put two waffles on each plate. Spread some of the roasted sweet potato onto to the waffles, and then some of the ham and green onions. Sprinkle the crumbled Gorgonzola cheese on top.

Place the fried or poached egg on top of everything, and then drizzle a small amount of the browned sage butter over everything. Sprinkle a little bit of dried parsley on top (optional), and serve.

Yum.

Savory Waffles with Roasted Sweet Potato, Ham, Gorgonzola Cheese, and Browned Sage Butter

(serves 4)

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes
• 1/2 c. diced green onions (or chives)
• 2/3 c. diced smoked ham
• waffle batter (enough to make 8 regular waffles or 4 Belgium waffles)
• crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 c. (half a stick) butter
• 8 fresh sage leaves (or 1/2 tsp. dried sage)
• dried parsley for garnish (optional)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Place cubed sweet potato into a baking pan, drizzle lightly with extra virgin olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Stir around so sweet potato is well coated. Bake about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, or until sweet potato is tender.
2. Add green onions and ham to a skillet over medium heat. Saute for 3 – 5 minutes, then remove from heat.
3. Make waffles in waffle maker like normal.
4. While waffles are cooking, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When melted, add the sage leaves (or dried sage). Continue to cook gently until butter turns brown in color (don’t cook on too high a temperature or for too long or butter will burn). Remove from heat, and remove the whole sage leaves (dried sage can be left in). Set aside.
5. Fry the eggs sunny-side up or poach them.
6. To assemble: Place 2 waffles (or 1 Belgium waffle) on each plate. Spread some of the roasted sweet potato onto to the waffles, and then some of the ham and green onions. Sprinkle crumbled Gorgonzola cheese on top. Place one fried or poached egg on top of everything, and then drizzle a small amount of browned sage butter over everything. Garnish with a little dried parsley (optional), and serve.

Gaulois Sandwiches

One of the things I missed while living in Japan was good sandwiches. They don’t really have many sandwich places, so it’s hard to find a good sandwich (No, fast food burger places don’t count. They’re not sandwiches. They’re burgers. They’re different). About the closest you can get is Subway (yes, they have Subway in Japan), and believe me, Hisa and I ate at Subway many times when we were out and wanted a sandwich.

I always like finding new and interesting sandwich recipes. This one sparked my interest as it has pecans, brie cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes in it; A combination I would probably never think to try, but sounded delicious.

Enter the Gaulois sandwich.

From what I found online, this recipe originates from a little cafe in Philadelphia owned by a French couple. I originally found the recipe at Eat, Live, Run, but I’ve found it since then on other websites.

If you’re pressed for time, but want to try something new and somewhat gourmet tasting, I suggest you give this sandwich a try. Unless you’re a vegetarian and/or hate cheese (really? really?!), I think you’ll like this sandwich.

I’m not putting specific amounts for the sandwich ingredients, because everyone is a little different, and likes their sandwiches different ways. Some people may only want one or two slices of ham, whereas some might want four. You may want a lot of cheese or just a dab. Who knows.
I’m just going to list the ingredients, and simply put on as much or as little of each ingredient as you like.

Layer ham, sun-dried tomatoes, and Brie cheese on the bread, then put it under the broiler.

Until the cheese gets all melted and delicious…. Mmmm, melted cheese…..
Add toasted pecan pieces, torn leaf lettuce, and drizzle it with lemon juice and olive oil.
C’est magnifique!

 

Gaulois Sandwiches

• French baguette or Ciabatta rolls
• black forest ham
• Brie cheese, cut into pieces
• sun-dried tomatoes, diced
• toasted pecan pieces
• any leaf lettuce, torn into pieces
• 1 lemon wedge (per sandwich)
• drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

1. Pre-heat the broiled in  your oven or toaster oven.
2. Cut open the French baguette or Ciabatta roll, and layer the ham, sun-dried tomatoes, and Brie cheese on the bread.
3. Place under that broiled for a few minutes until the cheese melts. Remove from broiler.
4. Add pecan pieces and lettuce, then squeeze lemon juice and a light drizzle of olive oil over everything. Serve.

 

Asparagus and Ham Strata

A new recipe! Yay!

Sorry it’s taken me so long to get around to posting one! But what with moving…and then moving again… I’ve barely had time to even think about cooking anything new or post about it.

This is a dish I made several weeks ago and didn’t get the chance to post about it before the moving frenzy began.

If you’ve never had a strata, it’s a layered casserole consisting of bread, eggs, and cheese, usually with the addition of some kind of meat and/or vegetable. It’s quite similar to a quiche or frittata, except that it doesn’t have a pie crust, like quiche, and instead it has torn up pieces of bread in it.

It’s a really easy, but delicious dish, and honestly, it’s good anytime of the day. Even those times in the middle of the night when  you wake up ravenous, and you raid the kitchen thinking know one will ever know….but they know….they so know.

Feel free to substitute any vegetable of your choice for the asparagus. Broccoli, zucchini, spinach, and summer squash would all be great alternatives.
You can also add any kind of meat you want instead of the ham, or leave it out altogether.

Asparagus and Ham Strata

(serves 6)

• 10 baguette slices (or 5 – 6 regular slices of bread), torn up
• 1 lb fresh asparagus, cut into 1 1/2 in. pieces
• 1 c. cubed ham
• 1 c. grated cheese
• 1 1/2 c. milk
• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• black pepper
• 1/2 c. heavy cream (optional)

1. Pre-heat oven to 325° F.
2. Bring a large pot of boiling water to a boil. Cook asparagus for 3 – 4 minutes, or until just tender. Drain and set aside.
3. Grease a 3 qt. rectangle casserole dish. Spread half the torn up bread pieces in the bottom. Top with ham, asparagus, and cheese. Top with the remaining bread pieces.
4. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, yogurt, mustard, onion powder, a dash of pepper (and salt if not using ham), and the cream. Pour evenly over the mixture in the casserole dish.
5. Bake, uncovered, for about 60 minutes, or until egg is completely cooked and the top is golden brown. Let set 10 minutes before serving.

Mmmm, yummeh in my tummeh~

Marmalade Glazed Ham

My family never ate ham that much growing up (probably something to do with the face that my dad’s a vegetarian. just a guess), and we never really had a traditional Easter dinner that we ate every year.

Since there was no prerequisite foods that I needed to make, I was able to make whatever I wanted, hehe. I’ve never been a big fan of pork, but I do like ham, so in the end I decided to make an Easter ham.

Having never prepared a whole ham, I turned to the expertise of Martha Stewart. Good ol’ Martha. She never lets me down.
I used her Marmalade Glazed Ham recipe, and I have to say, it was awesome. Easy, and awesome.

I meant to take a picture of some of the sliced ham on my plate with the other food, but by that time I was so hungry that I just wanted to eat. Maybe next time. 😉

You can check out Martha’s original recipe here, or read my take on it below.

Marmalade Glazed Ham

(serves 8)

 

• 1 smoked bone-in ham (about 10 pounds)
• 1/2 cup orange marmalade (5 ounces)
• 3 tablespoons dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 navel orange

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Cover ham with parchment paper and then aluminum foil. Place ham, widest side down, on a heavy rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour.
3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat marmalade, sherry, lemon juice, and juice of 1/2 the orange until runny, about 5 minutes.
4. Remove ham from oven, and completely remove parchment paper and foil. Score ham all over in a diamond pattern. Brush 1/2 of the glaze over ham. Thinly slice remaining 1/2 orange, and arrange slices over glaze, covering the ham. Use toothpicks to secure.
5. Increase temperature to 425° F. Bake ham, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
6. Brush with remaining glaze, and bake until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes more.
7. Let rest for 15 to 30 minutes before slicing. Top with orange slices, and serve.

Gumbo

I love gumbo.

Mainly because it’s spicy and has okra in it; two things I love dearly.

Did you know “gumbo” is the Bantu (language spoken in certain parts of Africa) word for okra? That is why no matter what gumbo recipe you use, you must always have okra in it. Okra-less gumbo is just wrong. I will be morally offended if you make gumbo with no okra in it. Okay, so maybe I won’t be offended, but seriously, the okra makes gumbo so good. Just sayin’.

I keep my gumbo pretty simple. Saute onion, celery, garlic, and green pepper, make a roux with flour and oil or butter, add broth, whisk to thicken, and your spices, okra, and 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, add your chicken and sausage/ham (if using), let it simmer a good 30 minutes, and you shrimp, let it cook another couple minutes, and serve. Bam. Some people will only eat gumbo with rice, but I prefer it with some fresh crusty bread or even cornbread.

 

 

Gumbo

(serves 6 – 7)

• 4 – 5 Tbsp. melted butter or oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 – 5 Tbsp. unbleached flour
• 4 c. chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 3 – 4 tsp. cajun seasoning (depending on how spicy you want it)
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 3 c. sliced okra (frozen or fresh)
• 2 (14 oz.) cans crushed tomatoes
• 2/3 c. sliced andouille sausage or diced ham
• 2 c. chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 lb. shrimp, shelled and de-veined
• salt and pepper to taste

1. If using andouille sausage, heat a skillet to medium-high heat. Add sliced sausage. Stir sausage and cook until slices browned on each side. Drain off fat, and set aside (if using ham, you can skip this step).
2. In a large pot, heat butter/oil over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper, and saute gently until tender, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and saute another 2 minutes.
3. Add flour and stir until all oil is absorbed. If flour is still powdery add a little more oil. Cook 2 – 3 minutes.
4. Whisk in chicken broth, and continue whisking until broth thickens slightly.
5. Add bay leaves, thyme, cajun seasoning, oregano, okra, tomatoes, sausage/ham, and chicken. Bring to a boil, then lower temperature to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
6. Remove bay leaves. Taste and check spiciness. If you want it spicier, add more cajun seasoning.
7. Add shrimp, and cook for 3 – 4 more minutes.
8. Season with salt and pepper to taste [note: a lot of cajun seasonings already have salt in them, so you may not need to add any extra salt].
9. Serve with fresh crusty bread, steamed rice, or cornbread.