Smoked Salmon Waffles

A couple of weeks back, I became the proud owner of a waffle pan. I had wanted one ever since watching Jamie Oliver make waffles on one of his Christmas shows. The turnoff was that waffle irons and pans are hideously expensive here for a one use utensil, so I just put it off.

However, my waffle pan dream came true when I walked into a kitchen shop in Elizabeth Street, and there was a mini waffle pan for $30, complete with a recipe. Perfect!

Making waffles is definitely a weekend activity, so the waffle pan took up real estate, unused, in my pantry until today.  This morning, I hankered after waffles for breakfast, so I bit the bullet and made them. They were quite simple, once I'd oiled the pan - despite the non- stick surface, without oil, batch one stuck hopelessly.

I got 9 mini waffles from the recipe below, counting the ones that stuck. For breakfast, I topped 2 waffles with cream cheese, smoked salmon, lemon juice, capers and dill.  They were delish! As "dessert", I topped another waffle with honey.

Here's the waffle recipe that came with the pan - enjoy:

1 cup buttermilk (or one cup ordinary milk mixed with a tablespoon of lemon juice)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup plain flour

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until smooth.  Oil and preheat the waffle pan over medium heat. Pour roughly a quarter of a cup of batter into each well of the pan. Cook for around a minute per side, turning over with tongs and pressing down with a spatula to cook the other side. Once the waffles are golden, flip out of the pan onto a plate. Serve warm with a topping of your choice, or save  until later in the freezer and toast them.