Saintly Blueberry Waffles

Waffles from the grill using Bobby Flay’s Triple Bluberry recipe! On his television show, Throwdown, Bobby challenges an expert to cook their specialty as Bobby prepares his version of their specialty. Then guest judges decide if the expert wins or did Bobby beat them at their own game. On a recent episode, Bobby challenged the master bakers at New York’s Clinton Street Baking Company to a Blueberry Pancake Throwdown. I took careful note and this is want I came up with! On the show Bobby put blueberries right in the pancake batter, while the Clinton Street bakers added them later. I went with Bobby's method and mixed blueberries right into the batter and later added blueberries to the syrup and some right on the plate - triple blueberry.

Dorothy got me this waffle-skillet from Williams-Sonoma. I heated up the skillet on the blazing grill and then sprayed on some non-stick butter spray. When it was sizzling I and I poured in the batter with the blueberries mixed in. They only took about 5 minutes and they were almost baked through. I turned them over on a cookie sheet and put them back on the grill to bake from the other side and to keep them hot while I made a second batch. In a small pan I heated Bobby's maple-butter-blueberry syrup on the grill together with some link sausage. When everything was ready I piled the waffles high and laddled on the syrup and added more fresh blueberries. Snow flurries were falling, but this was a great brunch prepared outside despite the weather.

Today is Super Sunday and even if you think you are a Colts fan, you must respect and cheer for the Saints. The Saints ability to reunite the city of New Orleans has been all over the news, and that is reason enough to be a Saint today. But I saw something else happen that I wish all NFL football owners whould emulate. A player by the name of Deuce McCallister played in New Orleans since he was drafted in 2001. For several years he was the best player on a bad team. He was with the team when they were displaced by the hurricane and lived through losing seasons and painful injuries. In 2008, he suffered a career ending injury and retired from the Saints. That meant he missed the dream season that has landed the Saints in the Super Bowl. But when the Superdome hosted the NFC Championship game for the first time ever two weeks ago, the Saints resigned Deuce McCallister - to a one-day contract. Deuce put on the Saints uniform one more time and lead the team onto the field. He also was the team's captain for the game against Farve, against the Vikings and against history. He saw the tough times, but the team didn't forget who helped them get to the football promise land. After the game Deuce retired again - a Saint and a Champion. The same should have been said for Eddie George and Steve McNair. The fact that they both retired in the uniforms of the most hated teams is sickening and wrong. I understand its a business - but the Saints proved that even billionaire businessmen can do the right thing on occasion.    

Go Saints!

Paul