Fresh Start Grill off Champions | A Porked out Waffle + Chutney

More Guts More Glory.

I almost said no. I had never competed in a cooking contest before. Could I pull it off? Would I embarrass myself? Who am I -Just a passionate Food Ambassador and home chef... not professional- to do something like this?

And then, of course, I started thinking about athletic competition... the challenge, the unknown, the thrill, getting to meet new people... and I thought about how I coach my pitchers, how I want them to mentally and physically show up on the mound amidst fear & unknown outcomes...  I thought about how much I love talking to people about food, how many successful market demonstrations I have been a part of (thank you Melissa!!) and my love for spreading awareness of Jamie Oliver's global Food Revolution Campaign.

Well, hell YES I'll do it.

I didn't want to cook alone (It's so much more fun pitching to a catcher!). Enter in Christina Erickson, amazing girlfriend, Lake County Food Revolution teammate and Stevenson High School Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher. Thank you for saying YES and for teaching me how to start a grill with charcoal!

Throw like a girl.
Grill like a girl.

We planned (Christina's husband Kurt was a fellow brainstormer), we tested (Chris and Kurt both about passed out from the gloriousness of our dish), we conquered. 

So without further ado, here she is in her full paper plated glory.

Introducing the Fresh Start Business Incubator's 3rd annual Grill Off Champion Dish! 

A Porked-out Waffle + Chutney 
I try and cook with as many organic ingredients as possible to protect gut health. Veggies are best but sometimes, you need a little comfort food.
Recipe is listed in layered order. 

• A gluten free waffle + bacon

3.5 c Pamela's Gluten free flour pancake mix (Pamela's all-purpose flour mix is awesome too (batter will be much thicker FYI. Just increase baking powder to 2 T.)
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 organic, pasture raised egg yolks (whites separated into another bowl)
3.5 c organic rice milk (regular dairy milk works fine too)
1 c organic butter (avocado or coconut oil works well to make it completely dairy free)
1 package cooked and rough chopped Applegate's Organic Sunday Bacon

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. Whisk in vanilla, egg yolks and rice milk. Whisk in melted butter (My Grandma Dorothy's top waffle tip: If using hot butter, do this last as it will clump if you do it before the cold milk!). Let batter sit and thicken up for at least 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, whip up the egg yolks into stiff peaks. Fold in egg whites + bacon bits. (Tip: You should have little clumps of egg whites throughout your batter.)

• 12 hour honey marinated pork tenderloin
(I could only find hormone + nitrate free within my budget. I sure wish I could have found antibiotic free!)

For every two pork tenderloins, marinate them in a plastic gallon bag with the following ingredients:
1/2 c local honey
1/2 c organic gluten free soy sauce
1.5 lemons juiced
4-5 small cloves of garlic

• An organic nectarine, peach and plum chutney (Inspired from this recipe.)

1 cup organic goji berries
1.5 c organic diced onions
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp sea salt
6 organic nectarines pitted and diced
6 organic peaches pitted and diced
4 organic plums pitted and diced
1/2 c organic maple syrup
1 c organic lemon juice
1 c organic apple vinegar
4 cloves garlic rough chopped

Dump everything a big stock pot, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is reduced to your desired "chutney" thickness. Christina and I decided to puree this, however you can certainly leave it chunky for your dish!

• Organic apples (sliced into matchsticks)

• Sage salt (Christina and I chopped up my fresh kitchen garden sage!)

• Organic maple syrup (just a drizzle)

Big thanks to Mariano's Market (Thank you Manager Gary at the Meat Counter!) for making my shopping so easy, ONE STOP and under budget!

To Rebekka, John, Bruce, Zach, Phillip and David - on behalf of Christina and myself, it was a pleasure to meet + cook + eat with you all!

We'll see you next year, for Christina and I now have a trophy to defend!!!!

To the mullies we go,
xoxoL


ps

Have a dream of starting your own business but need a little help? The Fresh Start Business Incubator program is out.of.this.world and here for YOU (Link to their incredible wealth of FREE services here). 

pps

It was the biggest batch of waffles I have ever made;)

grandma on the farm's waffles...tweaked

 get ready for the best waffle recipe ever.  

perfectly tweaked:)

this recipe inspo comes from my grandma who lived out in pecatonica, il - total awesome farm country.

whenever we would visit, she would would make us meals completely from scratch.  i aspire to cook like her one day.

one of the biggest food change freak out moments was over these coveted waffles.  how could i adapt the recipe to fit our new food fetishes and continue our waffle tradition!?  

these are a weekend mullies staple.

i couldn't wait to try out my brand spanking new waffle maker.  the non-stick finish on my old one started coming off.  super gross.

crap.

the first waffle on a new belgium griddle...always gets stuck, doesn't it!  i even told myself, "don't forget the non-stick spray"...and still freaking forgot.  

ah, much better.

mullies on the farm sprouted spelt waffles

with adaptations to suit your food fancy

2 c sprouted organic spelt flour (need gluten free?  substitute bob's red mill gluten free all purpose flour)

3 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/2 - 1 tsp salt

1 3/4 c organic rice milk + 3 T coconut milk combined (or organic dairy)

2 eggs (whites separated)   OR  1/2 c applesauce + 1 tsp baking powder mixed

1/2 c earth balance vegan buttery sticks melted (you can also use the buttery spread or organic butter)

1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

makes 6-8 waffles depending on size of waffle maker.

note: if you use real eggs, whip up the egg whites separately and fold into batter right before pouring into the waffle maker.  do not over mix - you should still see the fluffy egg whites throughout the batter.

mix all ingredients in order (notice the melted earth balance is last so it doesn't get clumpy).

make a double batch!  freeze the leftovers and use them throughout the week - pop em into the toaster.

BADDA-BAM!

get ready for the lightest, fluffiest most-crazy-good waffles ever.  

thanks for the inspo grandma:)  

loves you.

ps

here is the company that make the organic sprouted spelt flour.  i bought mine on amazon.  before you lose your panties at the price, here is how i have rationalized the increased cost: i checked out the prices of peapod's organic boxed waffles.  for a count of 6 waffles i will pay $2.29 (the cheapest one).  one box would feed mac and abbie only!  so, i would need at least 2 boxes for 1 breakfast $2.29x2=$4.58.   following me yet?  i stuffed my family of 5 and only used two cups of my sprouted flour.  i had one leftover waffle.  my 2lb bag cost $7.67 and i have enough to make at least 2.5 more batches.

i'll add $2 for the other ingredients (i don't have the time to calculate all that out!!!)

that is 3 mornings of breakfast plus leftovers.  

3 breakfasts of boxed organic waffles = $13.74  

3 breakfasts of homemade organic waffles = $9.67 

so yes, this flour is more expensive than all purpose white flour, but not nearly as much as buying organic (albeit more processed) boxed waffles...

not to mention they taste like doo doo compared to mine.

making my own food will ALWAYS be cleaner, better tasting and cheaper than buying the box and that's how i will save more mullah going organic.

in regards to that whole "time" thing...i'm looking into that sweet new cloning machine on the market.

there really is nothing better than the homemade waffle smell in my house on a weekend morning...

and bacon...bacon always makes it better.