Checking the Larder, and Squash Waffles

A check of the larder led to a delicious supper of squash waffles.

As we hit the end of January (woo-hoo!!), it seemed a good time to check on the garden goodies I stored away for winter and see how we were doing at eating things up. This fall, my husband and I became empty-nesters, at least most of the time. So, we are figuring out new ways of cooking and eating. The good news: More vegetables. The bad news: I still am cooking for three or four, not two, so we have a lot of leftovers.

In any case, I did a brief survey of what we still have from our frozen and canned garden produce. We’ve got plenty of relishes, pickles, pesto and jams, but are almost out of the whole fruit I froze. I checked on the squash we’ve been storing in a very cool part of the basement and discovered that while it was still OK, it was time to cook it off. So Sunday afternoon, I cut up the remaining six large butternut squash and boiled them to a pulp. Most of it was put in containers for freezing and using in soups, breads, and squash custard (a family favorite), but I took a small amount to make a new recipe I developed (based in part on something from Alton Brown‘s latest cookbook) to use up cooked squash. If you have some cooked pumpkin, squash or sweet potatoes, this is a good way to use them up.

Sqaush Waffles

1/2 cup cooked squash, well mashed

3 eggs, separated

2 TBSP butter, melted

1/3 cup milk

2 TBSP brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

Separate the eggs, and give one yolk to the dog. Set the three whites aside in a separate mixing bowl. Whisk together until smooth two egg yolks, the cooked squash, milk, brown sugar, and vanilla. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together, then add to the wet ingredients. If it seems really stiff, add a bit more milk. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Mix about half the whites into the squash/flour mixture to lighten it, then gently fold the rest of the whites in to the mixture.

Follow directions on your waffle maker to make about four largish waffles. You could probably do these as pancakes, too, and they would still be tasty. We topped ours with syrup and homemade applesauce, which was delicious.