They’re Even Better Than I’d Imagined!
I’ve mentioned in the past that I have a friend, Jamie Parrish, who calls me frequently to tell me, amongst other things, about something he’s recently eaten. One of those phone calls lead me to develop my recipe for Blueberry Sausage Biscuits with Miso Maple Sauce.
This time around he told me about something he saw in a seafood restaurant. He hadn’t ordered it, but saw it being served to another diner – a crabmeat waffle. Well, this got my attention! A crabmeat waffle. Let that sink in. The more thought I gave to this, the more I loved it. I saw no need for adding anything to my basic waffle recipe other than crabmeat, lots of scallion greens, and some lemon zest.
My waffle batter is very light. I separate the eggs and add the yolks to the simple buttermilk batter, along with club soda. Then I beat the egg whites with a tablespoon of sugar and fold them into the batter. This makes for an exceptionally light and fluffy waffle.
After scooping some batter into my hot waffle iron (an 8 inch round model) I scattered on a couple tablespoons of lump crabmeat and plenty of chopped scallion greens. I always cook my waffles until they’re really nicely browned and crisp. Brushing the waffle iron with a little melted butter before cooking each waffle makes for a nice crispy crust. I use a traditional waffle iron, not a deep Belgian waffle maker.
I had concerns about the heat of the waffle iron drying out the crabmeat, but that did not happen. The crabmeat sunk into the waffle and stayed moist and tender. The way I envisioned eating these waffles was to top each one with a sunny side up egg. I thought the soft yolk would be so good seeping into the crabmeat in the waffle. And yep, I was right.
But here’s what surprised me. I thought these should be purely savory. Add some hot sauce and they would be perfect. Well, I was wrong. After the first couple of bites I knew what was needed – hot honey. Oh, yeah. A small drizzle, or more, depending on your personal preference, intensified the flavors of both the crabmeat and the scallions. The sweet balanced out the salty and I had something more scrumptious than I’d even imagined. A new take on waffles. And a big thank you, once again, to Jamie for the inspiration. Keep ’em coming!
Crabmeat and Scallion Waffles
4
servingsJust imagine lump crabmeat and scallion greens cooked into a waffle scented with lemon zest. Then top it with a fried egg, hot sauce, and/or hot honey. Oh, yeah, it's out of this world good!
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Ingredients
210 grams (1 1/2 cups) unbleached all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder, preferably non-aluminum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs, separated into yolks and whites, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
3/4 cup club soda
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 bunches scallions
8 ounces lump crabmeat, drained
4 tablespoons salted butter, divided
4 - 8 eggs - the amount depends on how many eggs you want for each serving
Salt
Black pepper
Hot sauce
Hot honey
Directions
- In a large bowl combine flour and next 3 ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk until combined, egg yolks, buttermilk, and lemon zest. In another medium bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until medium stiff, gradually adding the sugar once they become foamy. Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients, along with the club soda and stir until well combined. Fold in the egg whites.
- Cut off the green portions of the scallions and slice them thinly. Reserve the white parts of the scallions for another recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 200°F with a rack in the center. Place a metal rack in a sheet pan and set it aside. You will use this for keeping the waffles warm and crisp as you cook them.
- Heat your waffle maker according to the manufacturers recommendations. My waffle maker is a round one and makes waffles that are about 7 inches in diameter. Melt 2 tablespoons butter and brush both sides of the waffle maker with a light coating of the butter . Pour a heaping 1/2 cup of batter into the waffle maker, scatter approximately 2 tablespoons crabmeat (tearing apart some of the larger pieces) and 3 tablespoons scallion greens on top of the batter. Close the top of the waffle maker and cook until it is nicely browned. Place on a rack in the oven to keep warm and continue cooking the rest of the waffles in the same manner, brushing with melted butter each time before adding more batter. This makes between 7 and 8 waffles.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Crack 4 eggs into the pan, and cook until done to your liking, seasoning well with salt and pepper. I definitely prefer a runny yolk for these waffles. Repeat with 4 more eggs if you wish to serve 2 eggs per person.
- Place 2 waffles on each plate and top with 1 or 2 fried eggs and as much hot sauce and/or hot honey as you’d like. Enjoy!
2 Responses
These look amazing and sound so yummy–definitely gonna try it! By the way, what kind of waffle maker do you have? Mine is square, about 8 inches, but is a stove top model (because we are on solar). Been flirting with the idea of an electric just for ease of use. Thanks!
Hi, Sharon. Sounds to me like your stovetop model is a Belgian waffle maker. Mine is not deep like a Belgian type maker. It is a traditional shallower electric waffle maker. 8 inches round made by Cuisinart. I replaced an older one with this model about 2 or 3 years ago and couldn’t be happier with it. It’s so easy to clean (non-stick), heats up quickly, and gets good and hot. I looked online and I see that it is available on Amazon for about $25.00. Here’s the link: