VeganMoFo 2016 #22: Apple and cheddar pie jaffle

22nd: Silly food – What are some silly food traditions/memories you have?

I struggled to think of something for this. Last year I recreated my mother's famous Tuna Glug, which is normally what we think of when we think of silly food from the past. But I'd already done that! There was my dad's infamous lemonade fish curry, which I don't actually remember. But I am not a fan of faux fishy things or lemonade (this is like Sprite, for my US friends), so I wasn't in the mood for that. But then I was watching someone eating an apple and cheese sandwich, which reminded me of something we used to get when I was little.

There is a US diner-style chain called Johnny Rockets, that still exists in the US. For a few years, it also randomly existed in my local suburban Brisbane shopping center. It was very not vegan (but then, neither was I at that point... I believe there may be a vegan option in the US ones now). We used to love going there for burgers, cheesy fries and shakes. And every hour, on the hour, the staff would do some cheesy jukebox dance number. Oh, I bet they hated it. But it delighted my young self!

One of the things they had there was apple pie served with cheddar cheese. Apple and cheese is a pretty standard combination, but something about the apple pie with cheddar seemed so strange and daring and silly to my young self. I wonder what my young self would think of the combinations I eat now (bring me your silliest sounding drinks and I will drink them!). So I figured that youthful perception, combined with the fun and slightly silly atmosphere of the diner itself, qualified this as a silly food memory. Yes? Yes.

So I wanted to attempt to recreate something similar, but with minimal effort. Making pastry did not fit my minimal effort vibes, and I also didn't feel like buying a huge pack of 12 puff pastry sheets for the sake of half a sheet... in theory I am trying to use up stuff in the freezer. Buying empty vegan tart shells here is not a thing. Do you know what is a thing? Jaffles! Jaffles are fun! Making a pie jaffle is fun!

Ideally when making a pie jaffle you would use puff pastry, but see above. So I used some wholemeal bread that I buttered and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, so that it would get a nice sweet cinnamon crust in my jaffle maker. I used some tinned pie apples, and some FYH cheddar shreds. And I put it all in my jaffle maker until it was golden and hot and melty. Then I served it with a scoop of So Delicious Cashew Snickerdoodle Ice Cream that I bought on sale on the weekend.



The end result was a great afternoon snack. I probably should have added some sugar to the pie apple filling, because it really wasn't that sweet (which was kind of OK by me, but not exactly very apple pie-like). However, as the ice cream melted, it shared its sugary cinnamony blessing and it all mingled into a glorious apple pie with melty cheddar that is actually a jaffle made with bread experience! Maybe a bit of a stretch for being silly, but definitely very fun!



What is your favourite pie or jaffle filling?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Dim Sim! My very first only mine kitty. These days she is approaching 17, and has taken to spending a lot of time napping in her chair cave.