Corn Waffles with Warm Lobster Salad for a Summer Brunch

“Brunch:  the socially acceptable excuse to drink before noon.”  Anonymous

“Brunch for me, is an extended breakfast that should be enjoyed whenever you have time properly to engage in cooking and eating.” Yotam Ottolenghi

Throwing a brunch is one of our favorite ways to entertain in a more relaxed way.  Throwing a brunch in the garden, well, that puts me in my happy place!

A year ago Prince Charming dropped the hint he’d really love to try these corn waffles with warm lobster salad from Boston restaurateur Jeremy Sewall.  Corn season had already passed so I filed the recipe and I waited until fresh corn and lobster were in season again to try it.  It was the star of a recent summer brunch menu where it won rave reviews.  It is a quintessential summer dish.  The waffles, chock full of freshly shucked corn, were outstanding.  Topped with lobster salad?  Out of this world!  Thick, fluffy and with a terrific texture, these waffles were the best I ever tasted.  I added pancetta and Old Bay seasoning to the original lobster salad recipe and more herbs to the crème fraîche.  The lobster salad comes together in minutes and was a fresh, light addition to a more traditional waffle meal.

 

Corn Waffles with Warm Lobster Salad

• Servings: 10
• Time: 1 hr
• Difficulty: moderate
• Print

Lobster Salad:

2 lbs of cooked lobster meat

6 ears of corn, shucked, kernels cut off

4 oz diced pancetta

24 fresh basil leaves, torn

4 T butter

4 shallots, minced

2 leeks, cleaned then sliced thinly

2 t lemon zest

2 t lemon juice

1 t Old Bay seasoning

herb crème fraîche, recipe follows

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium high heat.  Add the shallots, corn and pancetta to the pan and cook 1 minute.  Add the leeks and lobster and cook another minute.  Remove from heat and add lemon zest, lemon juice, Old Bay seasoning and basil leaves.

Corn Waffles:

2 c unbleached flour

1 c yellow cornmeal

4 T sugar

4 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

2 large eggs

4 T unsalted butter, melted and colled

1 c warm water

2 c fresh corn, shucked and cut off cob

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal,sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, add the butter, water and corn. Add to the flour mixture until just combined.  Bake waffles on a waffle iron or griddle  until golden.  I chose to make round waffles, dividing the batter in 10 portions. You could make one large square waffle per person instead  and cut it 4 wedges as Chef Sewall recommends.

Herbed Crème Fraîche

1/2 c crème fraîche

4 T parsley, finely chopped

2 T chives, finely chopped

2 T fresh tarragon, finely chopped

2 T lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together.  Drizzle over the lobster salad once, plated.

TO ASSEMBLE:

On top of each waffle, place some lobster salad.  Drizzle with some herbed crème fraîche.  Serve immediately.  If making this for a crowd, having 2 or 3 waffle irons going at once would make the processing more efficient.

 

Delicious!