When you eschew gluten, pun intended, the first thing you notice about baked goods is that they suck. They fall through your fingers like dry sand, have a mouth feel of dry sand, and taste pretty much like dry sand. Baked goods without gluten are a waste of time. Or, so I thought.
Weekends around our house, in the time of gluten, were for sleeping in and making waffles. After being sort-of diagnosed with gluten intolerance, the only things the breakfast table had to offer were blank stares and the uneasiness of a foreign land full of strange foods.
How we longed for the good old days of waffles with real maple syrup, and our parrot Marcellus trying to steal them off our plates.Then one day the fog lifted as the Gods of Baked Goods flung their thunderbolt into my neocortex. From the depths of my memory emerged an image of buckwheat pancakes. Buckwheat is not really wheat, but they make a damn tasty pancake. They have a lot of protean, but no gluten. What if the protean in buckwheat flour could take the place of gluten in a waffle recipe? And the rest, as they say, is delicious.
The following recipe is a variation on the Rombauer/Becker version in “Joy of Cooking”. It has been the staple in our house for years. Had I not committed it to memory, this revelation might not have come to pass. First, one needs the proper equipment. There is no point in trying this recipe without the proper tools; disaster awaits. Your equipment must also be made of the proper materials. Plastic is revolting and will not be countenanced. Here’s a list of must-haves.
Large bowl, glass or ceramic
Medium bowl, glass or ceramic
Medium copper bowl.
One-cup measure, metal
One-half-cup measure, metal
One-teaspoon measure, metal
One-half-teaspoon measure, metal
One-tablespoon measure, metal
Balloon whisk
Table knife
Waffle Iron (duh)
You will have to make a pilgrimage to the local heath food store for the three kinds of flour required. All the rest can be found in the usual places.
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup sorghum flour
1 ½ cup tapioca four
4 tsp double acting baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
9 Tsp oil (corn, canola, safflower, etc. Olive if you’re Sicilian)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups rice milk or water
Now is a good time to warm up your waffle iron. Our iron makes round waffles that are 6 ½ inches in diameter. I use a ½ cup measure to scoop batter onto the iron. The yield is about a dozen. Parking the ½-cup measure in the 1-cup measure avoids a spot on the counter and fishing it out of the batter when it tips over.
As you’re allowed a balloon whisk as your only stirring implement, the sequence is key. Combine the dry ingredients in the large bowl with the whisk. Remember to strike the measuring cup and spoons with the table knife.
Next, you must separate the yolks from the whites, leaving the whites in the copper bowl and the yolks in the medium sized bowl. Your fingers are the best tool for separating egg whites. Deposit any egg white separating gizmos in the trash. Strike the egg on a flat surface and drop the contents into the copper bowl. Scoop your fingers under the yolk and lift and squeeze your fingers together. This cuts the white away from the yolk and keeps the yolk intact, usually. It is paramount that no yolk be left with the whites.
Deposit the remaining wet ingredients in the medium bowl, but do not stir them just yet. Oil or yolks on the whisk will ruin the whites.
Don’t give in to the temptation to use a mechanical mixer to beat egg whites. This is the coward’s way out. Nay, I tell you learn the proper technique and revel in a skill normally reserved for the elite. It’s quite simple really. Tip the bowl until the whites are just about to spill. I do this over the sink to allow clearance for my hand. The bowl rests on the edge of the sink. Place the whisk in the whites and keep your wrist low. Rotate your wrist so that the balloon end of the whisk lifts the whites and fully aerates them. In a minute or so, you should have soft peaks.
Now return to the wet ingredients and stir them with a few swift strokes. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix thoroughly with the whisk. A good approach to this is to scrape down the sides of the large bowl toward the center and rotate the bowl. The stirring action remains stationary while the bowl and ingredients move. After a couple of revolutions, a few more swift strokes will disperse any lumps. Next, fold the whites into the batter. The same rotating motion of the bowl will preserve the whites as they combine with the batter. When the batter is a uniform color, you’re done. Too much stirring will deflate the batter.
Some waffle iron directions tell you to remove the waffle when the light goes out or steam ceases to issue. This recipe requires you to wait about a minute longer to completely cook the waffle. You might have to experiment with this to be sure no batter remains in the center of the waffle. The result is a waffle to warm the cockles of any parrot’s two-chambered heart.
By Gregg Senne