The Best Savory Waffles Start With Collard Greens
As we reach the final stretch of winter and stumble into spring—and the weird, impatient in-between-season vibes really kick in—the current abundance of collard greens is the one thing brightening my spirits. More specifically, these collard green waffles have transformed my Sunday mornings at home.
The recipe comes from SOUL: A Chef’s Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes by Todd Richards, and at its core is some practical advice: Every time you make a batch of collard greens to eat alongside your dinner, save the leftovers, potlikker and all, and use them to make a delicious, savory breakfast the next day. Richards’s waffles—which feature cornmeal and buttermilk—are a “nod to Thanksgiving cornbread,” he says. The combination of those ingredients always brings him back to “sitting around the dinner table with friends and family.”
SOUL: A Chef's Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes
$20.00, Amazon
When cooked collard greens and their cooking liquid get folded into waffle batter, they bring a pleasant earthiness to each bite, amping up the umami factor. The waffles lean savory—Richards pairs them with pan-fried fish and sweet, spicy maple-laced hot sauce. While the collard greens and potlikker make the waffles more rich and flavorful, they also help the waffle’s texture. The greens in the batter become crispy along the waffle’s edges as it cooks—just like a kale chip—and the potlikker “causes the waffle to steam and get fluffier,” Richards explains .
The key to making delicious collard waffles is to start with really delicious collard greens: “As long as you’ve got that, it’s really simple,” Richards says. When he makes greens, he likes to include some meat, whether that’s smoked ham hock, chicken, turkey, or pieces of bacon. “When you pick up the greens, you get some bits of meat flecked throughout too,” he says. “It brings another layer of savory qualities and salinity, echoing what’s already packed into the greens.”
How you store your cooked collards matters: For the most flavorful leftovers, Richards recommends combining the cooked greens and potlikker in the same container before you store them in the refrigerator or freezer. “As collards sit on the stove prior to being put away, you’ll see a layer of high-fat protein settling on the top,” he says. “Be sure to add some of that fat layer on top, as it helps preserve the flavor of the greens and the potlikker.”
Slow-Cooked Collards in Olive Oil
All that flavor gets carried through into the waffle, but Richards wanted even more: He was on a mission to create a single dish that would satisfy everyone’s palate. That meant capturing all the different types of flavors that we’re able to taste. “There’s salty, sour, bitter, and sweet,” he begins. “Many cooks at home usually capture two of those flavors in a dish—a good cook will capture three, and an even better cook will have more—umami and texture count too.”
That’s why Richards pairs the waffles with trout and a dash of maple-sweetened hot sauce. The fish fillets marinate for 45 minutes in a lemony soy sauce mixture before crisping in a hot skillet. To make the sauce, you’ll simply swirl maple syrup into your favorite hot sauce. “You get the sweetness from the syrup, the salinity from the trout, the bitterness from greens, and sourness from the vinegary hot sauce,” Richards says—as my mouth begins to water. “You want to get all of those flavors.”
While you can make these waffles with chopped, uncooked collard greens, using cooked leftover greens means you get more flavor and dimension into the dish without extra preparation. Which is to say, I’ve finally found a way to get through the giant bouquets of collard greens that I can’t resist bringing home: Making a big batch of collards to eat with my dinner on Saturday night means I’m already halfway to brunch on Sunday morning.
Collard Waffles With Brined Trout and Maple Hot Sauce
Originally Appeared on Epicurious
