Every so often I come across a dish that grabs me, and regardless of the calorie count, I have to have it. This happened with poutine sandwiches, and again last week with another indulgent dinner.
One of the housewarming gifts we received when we moved into our condo two years ago was a waffle maker. Due to a lack of pantry and cupboard space (and our preference for pancakes instead of waffles), the appliance languished in storage, unopened.
But when I saw this Bon Appetit recipe for ham and cheese waffles, I knew I’d be reaching for the dusty waffle maker. A savoury waffle, studded with bits of crusty ham and melted cheese? Sign me up.
The batter was easy enough to pull together, though it did require the separation of egg whites from yolks to ensure the waffles were light and fluffy. There was also A LOT of butter (an entire cup of it!), but this wasn’t the time to pull back. Cheese and ham were sprinkled on top, once the batter had been transferred into the hot iron. We found that we could have easily tripled the amount of cheese specified in the recipe, as we didn’t get the desired melt-y factor we were looking for.
Inspired by Under the High Wheel, we chose to eat these dinner waffles with poached Sunshine Organic eggs on top, the rich yolks acting as the “syrup”. Yum.
Ham and cheese waffles with poached eggs
As we had two waffles left the next day, we enjoyed them for breakfast (heated up in the waffle iron), served with warmed maple syrup. They weren’t bad with this touch of sweetness, but I think I preferred the savoury version.
With maple syrup
If you’re looking for a breakfast-for-dinner idea, I’d highly recommend these waffles. I know we’ll be dusting off our waffle maker again some time soon.
Only Here for the Food 
oh sharon!
sweet or savory these look great
guess the waffle iron will see a little more action now!
cheers
su 🙂
Ooh, this is a great idea. I’ll be trying something similar for sure.
If you want to make more use of your waffle iron, you should try the overnight waffles in Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian” (could be in the regular version, too, but I don’t have that). It’s a yeast batter, and the ingredients (other than the eggs) are mixed the night before and left to sit overnight. I make a modified version to suit my family’s needs/tastes (no sugar, less fat, no dairy), but they are the weekend favourite around here.
yum, looks delicious!
This waffle maker looks strangely familiar…lol… (From Colin Firth/ASH/Victor Admirer 😉 )