Freezer Burn

Ahhh the freezer. How I love thee. You keep all my food safe and cold until I want to devour it. Whether it’s salmon, chicken, or that ground turkey on sale, you wrap them tight in your tiny ice crystals. Spinach, coffee, and ripe bananas−to think, all these lovely foods would go bad before I could finish them, but not with a freezer! A pound of ginger? Not a problem. Organic French bread for $1? Put it in the freezer.

I am in awe that housewives 100 years ago made due without a freezer. It is the perfect solution for economical eating. What did people do with their entire pig or cow carcass? Well, there is smoking, pickling, canning, drying, fermenting, confit…I guess they figured it out. Now that I think about it, I’m really lazy. I don’t use many of the convenience products available today, like instant rice or frozen entrees, but I definitely don’t grow all my food, eat only in season, or cook everything from scratch. I do a little bit of cheating. No, scratch that, I utlize my resources effectively. That sounds much better.

A perfect freezer food are waffles. All they take is a little defrost in the microwave, a crisping of the toaster, and a drizzle of something sweet. Or better yet, waffle PB & J’s; now that’s a breakfast that will keep you going. However, I have never uttered the words “leggo my eggo”, because those cardboard-like, fake yellow crisps just don’t do it for me. I like something a little more substantial, with flavor and texture. Nothing beats whole wheat waffles made from scratch; crispy golden brown edges, a fluffy steaming interior, and pockets for syrup to drip into.

Not only can one keep homemade waffles in the freezer for a couple months, but the whole wheat flour used in them should be kept in the freezer as well to keep it from going rancid. Syrup can be a little predictable, but a delightfully easy sauce can be made from pureed frozen berries. Or for an easy an delicious dinner one could defrost some of their frozen Bolognese sauce to top their waffles along with a fried egg and some grated Parmesan cheese.

Preserved food is an art. And I commend those people that figured out how to make pig bladder, spleen, and intestines tasty for months after slaughter. I enjoy beef jerky and kimchee as much as the next epicurean, but sometimes I just want dinner now. And for that reason (among many others) I love my freezer.

Freezer Lovin’ Whole Wheat Waffles

Ingredients:

¾ cup all purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 ea large eggs
1 cup lowfat buttermilk OR 1 scant cup skim milk with 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
¾ cup skim milk
1 tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
nonstick cooking spray
Butter, syrup, fruit sauce, peanut butter, jelly, honey, or powdered sugar to serve.

Directions:

1. Preheat the waffle iron.
2. Whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until thoroughly combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk (or substitute), skim milk, brown sugar, and vanilla until thoroughly combined.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold together with a wooden spoon. The mixture should be lumpy, but there should not be any dry ingredients clumped on the bottom of the bowl.
5. Spray the waffle iron liberally with the nonstick cooking spray once it is ready. Use a measuring cup to ladle in about ¼ cup of the batter per waffle. Close the waffle iron and cook until golden brown and crispy, about 2 minutes. Keep the waffles warm in a 200° oven if you plan on serving all of them, or let them cool to room temperature if you plan on freezing them.
6. Put cooled waffles to be frozen in a heavy duty zip lock bag and seal squeezing any excess air out of the bag. Can be frozen up to two months.
7. To defrost waffles, pull out desired number and place on a microwaveable plate. Microwave for 30 seconds, until no longer frozen but not hot. Transfer to the toaster for a minute or two to get hot and crisp.
Makes about 10 large waffles