Pecorino Romano Waffles with Sauteed Ramps, Mushrooms and Poached Eggs

Yesterday morning I was thinking about how long it had been since I had made belgian waffles and I was getting pretty hungry for them!  There is nothing like a hot, fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside large belgian waffle to make your day more delicious...I used to always make them with strawberries when I was younger and have plenty of butter to melt over the hot waffle!  Although most people usually have them for breakfast or brunch, I often times end up making them for dinner when I am the most hungry.  Afterall, nothing wrong with having breakfast for dinner, or "Brinner" as my friend Matt likes to call it...I love that word!  So last night I decided that brinner was in order, and belgian waffles were it! However I did not feel like the usual sweet waffles, as I was a bit sweeted out from eating a large amount of chocolate cake the day before...so savory seemed like the perfect option! 

I had seen a recent episode of Martha Stewart, where she made savory cheese waffles topped with sauteed veggies and a poached egg.  I loved the concept, so I went with my own version of it!  I had some pecorino romano that I thought would be perfect in the waffles, since it has such a delicious nutty salty flavor, and I had some ramps and local crimini mushrooms that I could sautee and top the waffle with!  I am so excited to finally be able to use ramps again, since they are available in stores for the season, so I use them quite a bit!  Lastly I topped the waffle and veggies off with a perfectly poached egg, which is my favorite way to cook them!  It was a delicious meal...the crispy cheese enhanced  waffle topped off with the savory flavorful veggies and delicious egg with a nice runny yolk to add to the deliciousness, almost like a flavorful built in sauce!  It all had me thinking I should make stuff like this more often!  My waffle maker doesn't get used nearly enough and I need to change that!  It is quick to make, and the waffles are wonderfully fluffy due to the whipping of the egg whites before adding them to the batter!  You should try it out...here is the recipe! 

Pecorino Romano Waffles with Sauteed Ramps, Mushrooms and Poached Eggs

Serves 4

Waffles:
1 cup goat milk
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs, divided
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups shredded pecorino romano cheese

Poached eggs:
2 tsp vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
6 cups water
4 organic eggs

Veggies:
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 bunches ramps, ends sliced and leaves kept in tact
about 16 crimini mushrooms, or whatever is locally available
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste


To make waffles, preheat belgian waffle maker, and preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Whisk together goat milk, olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and egg yolks in a large bowl.  Place egg whites in a medium bowl, and with an electric mixer and clean beaters, whip to stiff peaks and set aside.  Whisk baking soda, baking powder, whole wheat pastry flour, and cornstarch into the milk mixture.  Add about 1/4 of the egg whites and whisk to lighten, then fold in remaining egg whites and pecorino romano until just blended.  When waffle maker is heated, Drop batter by the 3/4 cup onto the iron and cook according to package directions.  When waffle has finished, remove to the oven to stay warm while you prepare the other 3 waffles and toppings.  Repeat with remaining waffle batter. 
To poach eggs, heat water to a simmer in a medium saucepan with the vinegar and salt. Crack an egg into a ramakin. Stir water with a spoon to swirl, and carefully pour egg into it. Let cook for 3-4 minutes or preferred doneness, and remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with other 3 eggs.
To make veggies, heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large non-stick pan, and add mushrooms and bottom part of ramps.  Saute until softened, about 5 minutes, then add tops of ramps, and cook until just wilted.  Add sea salt and pepper to taste. 
To plate, top each waffle with the veggies, then a poached egg, and serve!

Beet and Celeriac Hashbrowns with Fried Egg and Garlicy Mustard Greens

Minnesota woke up to a blanket of white powdered sugar frosting outside today...as it decided to dump snow after being nice and finally up to 50 degrees last week.  Kind of an evil tease on the weather's part if you ask me!  I was a bit bummed about it being cold and all, wanting to run outside today, but opting for the treadmill instead since they did a horrible job of plowing around my neighborhood.  Just looking at the snow makes me feel chilly!  The deli where I work sold gallons of soup and tons of hot food today to the brave souls that felt like venturing out.  I needed some warmth as well and maybe that is why I thought a bit of warming breakfast for dinner tonight might be just the thing!  I was sittting on my lunchbreak trying to figure out what I could make from the ingredients I had at home.  Not something sweet like pancakes, which I always have the makings for.  Something savory and a little salty like hash browns sounded perfect!  But there was one problem.  I didn't have any potatoes.  I did however have celeriac and beets! 

A beet and celeriac hash, how beautiful would that be with the bright red color?!  So that is what I made.  I topped it off with a fried egg, and some garlicy mustard greens, which are my favorite green right now, so I had bought a bunch of them last weekend.  It was beautiful, with the red and green, but most importantly it was delicious!  Salty hash browns crisped at the edges full of veggie goodness and spicy mustard greens with the richness of the egg...yummy!  Made me forget about the icky snow for a bit!  If you think potatoes are the only way to go with hashed browns you should try some other veggies, you just might like them!  Here is the recipe if you would like to try mine! 

Beet and Celeriac Hashbrowns with Fried Egg and Garlicy Mustard Greens

Serves 2

1 large shallot, minced
1 large beet, peeled and grated
1 medium celeriac (celery root), peeled and grated
1/2 tsp sea salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
1 Tbsp Earth Balance butter
1 Tbsp olive oil, or more if needed

2 large organic eggs

1 medium bunch mustard greens
1 clove garlic, minced

In a bowl, mix together the shallot, beet, and celeriac along with pepper.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees.   In a medium non-stick skillet, melt the butter and olive oil over medium heat.  Place the beet mixture into the pan and press down with a spatula.  Let cook a few minutes, then break up, flip over the pieces and press back together to brown other side.  Do this a few times until the veggies are starting to get browned.  When browned, remove from pan, sprinkle liberally with sea salt, and keep warm in the oven.  Wipe out the chunks from the pan, and either spray with non-stick spray or add a little more olive oil.  Place back on heat, and when hot, add eggs.  Cover pan, and reduce heat to medium low until eggs reach desired doneness (or you could do over-easy and flip them to cook the other side, in which case don't reduce the heat or cover with the pan).  When eggs are done cooking, remove from pan, and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and keep warm.  Place pan back on the heat, return heat to medium, and add a little more olive oil to the pan, along with garlic and mustard greens.  Saute greens until they are just wilted, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and remove from heat.  To plate, place a half the hash browns on each plate.  Top each with an egg and half of the mustard greens.  Enjoy!