On the Second Day of Waffle Week I made for my True Love,

On the Second Day of Waffle Week I made for my true love....
A Southwestern Waffle with grilled Pork Tenderloin, Black Bean and Roasted Vegetable Salsa, with Lime Cream and Guacamole.

This morning I spent way too much time checking out recipes on the internet and then prepping things for the meal tonight. I did not make it through most of my TO DO list, which included trying to finish up Christmas cards and get them in the mail. Obviously I have a very warped sense of priorities, which explains a few of the piles around our home and some of the dust bunnies lurking here and there. At least I no longer have young toddlers that might try to eat them, just teen age kittens who might chase the dust bunnies all around!

Tonight's culinary extravaganza was not as big a hit as last night, but all in all, was still quite good, and challenged my family's tastes a bit. Last month a friend had made tenderloin with black beans and sweet potato that I thought sounded wonderful, and I had been wanting to try, as it's only recently that my honey has discovered sweet potatos aren't all bad. I thought this would be the perfect occasion. I was off to a rough start to please anyone when I told my husband about the menu and requested grilling support, and he asked "I thought this was a Tex -mex dish, what happened to tex-mex toppings?", and Alyssa saw me mix the sweet potato in together with onion, peppers and beans, and burst into tears, wanting to know why I had ruined it all!

The waffle itself was delicious. It came from grouprecipes.com
Tex -Mex Waffle

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1-1/3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mild chili powder (I used only 1/2 tsp. in deference to Rachel)
1-2/3 cups milk
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped green chilies ( I used canned)
How to make it

Preheat the waffle maker.
In large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, cheese, baking powder, sugar, salt and chili powder.
Add milk, eggs, vegetable oil and chilies and mix just until moistened.
Bake in preheated waffle maker according to manufacturer's instructions.
Serve with your favorite salsa, sour cream and additional grated cheese.

Pork Tenderloin
I made a rub with
1 tsp chili powder
shake of chipolte chili
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
and rubbed it into a 1 1/4 lb tenderloin, along with a little olive oil. Bill later told me that rubs generally go on for no more than an hour, or the salt dries out the meat. Oops- mine went on at noon. He eventually seared the meat on the grill and then cooked over indirect heat for about 25 min.

Vegetable Salsa
Bill only likes onion if it's truly well cooked, so I started with a chopped Vidalia onion in olive oil at 400 F first, for 15 min. or so, then added 2 peeled and chopped sweet potatoes, 1 chopped red pepper, and a bit of a yellow one, again tossed in olive oil, with salt, pepper, and a bit of chipolte seasoning. At the end, I threw in some cherry tomatoes as well. Most of the recipes served this in a salad, but since Bill eats no salads, I thought I could get away with a few more veggies if they were all roasted. This all cooked another 30-40 minutes, then I mixed it with 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained well, and put back in the oven to stay warm. I tossed it all with a dressing as follows:

2 tsp lime juice with zest
4 T olive oil
1 T balsamic
salt and pepper
fresh cilantro, chopped

My sweet potatoes never got crisp, but that might be because the oven accidently was turned off for some period of time.

And finally, it was the sides that truly saved the day and pulled it all together. The lime cream came from a PTO mom at a Chili Cook off at school last month.
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. light sour cream
1-3 tsp fresh lime juice or to taste. Refridgerate at least 2 hours.

By some stroke of luck, I had a perfectly ripe avocado, and sliced half up and made the other into a small dish of quick guacamole (salt, a little tomato, garlic, lime, and cilantro).

All the flavors mixed together were wonderful and the lime cream and guac truly made the dish. The waffle itself was once again a delight of crispy and soft at the same time, and quite flavorful. In the end, it was much as I had predicted. Rachel liked the pork, enjoyed her waffle with butter and honey and picked out the green bits, and ate her tiny "No Thank you" serving of veggies amidst great scowls, rating it a minus 50! Bill was suprised that he enjoyed it all, but would have preferred to leave out the sweet potato, and have something more "salsa-like", and despite not liking sour cream, enjoyed the lime cream inspite of himself. Alyssa enjoyed it all, eating seconds with all the works, stating that the lime cream hid the sweet potato enough she couldn't taste it. She licked the cream bowl practically clean. I think much of this would have also been quite tasty wrapped in a warm tortilla.

I'm sure my parents despaired of my ever liking much of anything to eat, as I was seriously a picky eater growing up. Boy have I come a long ways, as I thought it was all delicious! Could it have all been served with cornbread muffins as a side? Of course! But it wouldn't have been as much fun, and in all honesty, it would not have been as tasty. We'll see what tomorrow brings!