June 29th is National Waffle Iron Day, and who am I to ignore a holiday? I’ll be whipping up these Breakfast Poutine Waffles on the 29th, and I thought I’d share the recipe with all of you so that you can do the same.
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Have I mentioned before that I love waffles? No? Okay: I love waffles. I love them with maple syrup (Obviously. I’m Canadian… maple syrup runs through my veins), I love them with jam, with jelly, with marmalade, I especially love them with lots and lots of fresh fruits … I even love them plain! What’s not to love about these Light Fluffy Crispy Buttermilk Waffles, for example? Yum!
But I thought that National Waffle Iron Day merited something a little special. I decided to try using waffles in a way I never had before – as a base for this Breakfast Poutine 🙂
But maybe the readers who are not native Montrealers are scratching their heads right now, asking, “What on earth is a poutine?” Poutine – pronounced poo-TSIN – is a Canadian (or more specifically, Québécois) fast food dish, which traditionally consists of French fries, cheese curds, and hot gravy poured over the lot, softening the cheese. Yes, yes, I know … but I believe in moderation, so go easy on the gravy 🙂
During PoutineFest, a summertime festival in Montreal, restaurants, food trucks, and the like put together unique combinations of poutine. I thought this recipe for Breakfast Poutine Waffles was the best of both worlds!
My Breakfast Poutine Waffles vary from the traditional poutine in a few ways. For starters, I didn’t use fries, or potatoes at all – I used a buckwheat waffle as my base, instead. Waffles are naturally pretty sweet, even when they are enjoyed plain, but buckwheat waffles have a rich nutty flavor – makes them perfect for this dish!
Then, instead of hot gravy, I used a warm cream sauce. To be honest, I tried out this recipe with Hollandaise sauce at first… but it flopped. It turned out so thick, and I just can’t understand why! If I had held the bowl holding it upside-down, nothing would have fallen out, ha. But it’s okay – this cream sauce tastes great, too, so all’s well that ends well 🙂 I’ll definitely give Hollandaise sauce another try in the future, and maybe share with you that recipe when I master it. But until then, I thought that maybe my kitchen-failures would amuse some readers anyway! 🙂
A good poutine traditionally calls for cheese curds, which must always be squeaky. In fact, the squeakiness ensures freshness. Cheese curds can be kept at room temperature for a period of 24 hours post manufacturing date. After the 24 hours, the curds need to be refrigerated. In Quebec, fresh cheese curds are easily available. To be honest, I can’t quite imagine poutine without the cheese curds, so this recipe for Breakfast Poutine Waffles holds on to them.
I also added some bacon, and some caramelized onions, because I thought the flavors would balance each other nicely. Bacon is smokey, crispy, and salty, and caramelized onions are soft, squishy, and sweet – a match made in heaven. 🙂 I would like to stress, though, that this recipe is super customizable. I mean, once you make the waffles, all that you need to do is place all of the other ingredients on top, and pour the sauce of your choosing (cream sauce or Hollandaise sauce or something else) over the lot. Try it out with sausages, salmon, scrambled eggs, sauteed mushrooms, roasted red peppers, steamed asparagus, etc… You can even play with the kind of waffle you use, or, if you prefer, can skip the waffle altogether and go for breakfast potatoes as a base instead… but I really don’t understand why you would do that! And on National Waffle Iron Day, to boot?! Blasphemy. But jokes aside, it really is all up to you! Don’t you love the creative freedom? 😉
Origins of the recipe for Breakfast Poutine Waffles:
My daughter tells me that she still remembers the first time she tried a poutine, ever. It was around the time when my son had gotten his first job, and had some spending money for the first time ever. One day, he came home with a poutine for himself, because he had “always wanted to try it”. He let my daughter sample some. Both of them agreed that they didn’t much like it, but my daughter has since eaten her words (she’s also eaten much, much more poutine since then. Haha.) This recipe was her idea, and I decided to go with it – I thought it would be a fun project for the two of us, and a great way to celebrate PoutineFest, National Waffle Iron Day and the Sunday Supper theme in our own way.
Be creative with this recipe for Breakfast Poutine Waffles! Let me know what kind of combinations you try, and how well you like them.
Recipe
Breakfast Poutine Waffles
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Ingredients
Buttermilk Buckwheat Waffles:
- 1½ cups buckwheat
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1½ cups buttermilk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Carmelized onions:
- 2-4 yellow onions
- 2-4 tablespoons olive oil
- pinch of salt
- 2-4 tablespoons white wine
Creamy Gravy:
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup flour
- 4 cups milk
- ¼ cup heavy cream optional
- salt and pepper to taste I use white pepper
Instructions
Buttermilk Buckwheat Waffles:
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together oil, buttermilk,and vanilla. Gently combine with dry mixture.
- Pour about ¼ - ⅓ cup for each waffle. (I use a large serving ladle and drop the batter in the middle of the waffle iron).
- Cook 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.
- Place on a rimmed baking sheet and transfer to oven to keep warm. (set oven to 200℉/93℃)
- Serve with favorite toppings.
Caramelized onions:
- Remove the skins from the onion. Cut in half and slice thinly.
- Heal olive oil in a frying pan over low heat.
- Add the onions.
- Stir. Make sure onions are completely coated with the oil.
- Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes.
- Add a pinch of salt and continue to cook slowly for another 20 - 30 minutes. All the while, keep stirring.
- Once the onions are a deep golden color, deglaze the pan with wine.
- Set aside.
Creamy Gravy:
- Heat butter in a frying pan over medium heat.
- Whisk in the flour.
- Continue to whisk until golden brown.
- Remove from heat.
- Whisk in the milk and return pan to the heat.
- Continue to whisk until thickened.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Cover and keep warm until ready to use.
Breakfast Poutine Waffles
- Place waffle on your plate.
- Top with carmelized onions, cheese curds and creamy gravy.
- Optional: Garnish with bacon and chives.
Notes
Nutrition
Thanks for dropping by.
Ciao for now,
Maria 🙂
Lauren @ Sew You Think You Can Cook
Excellent choice to add those caramelized onions (and bacon, of course)!
Maria
Thanks Lauren …can’t go wrong with caramelized onions! Appreciate you taking the time to comment 🙂
deb@glutenfreefarina
This sounds, and looks amazing. And, thanks for sharing about the Hollandaise sauce. Sometimes I think I’m the only one with fails in the kitchen. I like everything to work the first time. Hollandaise can be tricky. I used to have to make it to serve 60 people and hold it for the 5 hours during service at a restaurant. But, oh how I love it. Thanks for this fabulous recipe.
Maria
OMGoodness …I can’t even begin to imagine how stressful that must have been! Thanks for dropping by 🙂
Alison's Wonderland Recipes
This looks glorious! Best reinterpretation of poutine I’ve seen in ages. 🙂
Maria
Thanks Alison …credit goes to my daughter …we had a lot of fun coming up with this final version. Appreciate you dropping by 🙂
Carlee
That sounds amazing! Of course cheese curds and cream sauce could make anything amazing, but those waffles and caramelized onions are not a bad way to start!
Maria
I have such a weak spot for waffles and from what I’ve been reading, I’m not the only one 🙂 I can’t even begin to tell you how many times the recipe was tweaked …but the caramelized onions was a must! Thanks for dropping by Carlee 🙂
Tammi @ Momma's Meals
Because what is a poutine without waffles! Nice! Great idea.
Maria
Thanks Tammi! Appreciate you dropping by 🙂
Meaghan
Oh my Maria!! I want breakfast poutine now, right now! Holy moly it looks so good. Love the idea. Can not wait to try your recipe 🙂
Maria
lol …thanks Meaghan … enjoy 🙂 Thanks for dropping by!
Laura Dembowski
I didn’t think anything could be better than fries and then you made these waffles. So fun and yummy.
Maria
Thanks Laura! Appreciate your comment 🙂
Stacy
Yes, please to cheese curds, cream sauce and bacon! I am even a huge fan of buckwheat. Lovely dish, Maria!
Maria
Thanks Stacy! This was definitely my daughter’s brainchild 🙂 Thanks for dropping by 🙂
Rachel
Oh my goodness! These look amazing!
Maria
Thanks Rachel! Appreciate your comment 🙂
Liz
YUM! I’ll take mine with bacon, please!!
Maria
Thanks for dropping by Liz. I’m off to see your cake 🙂