After a rough week at ACL last week I’m back with some tasty college football feedings.  We’re getting a little weird here in Austin what with the weather dipping below 50 degrees and myself sporting sweatpants and hoodies.  Fortunately, Kansas State is not playing so Uncle Billy can’t witness the weirdness.  What will he miss?  Mashed potatos fried in a waffle grill.  Let’s let that sink in.  And let’s sink our teeth into it.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups mashed potatoes
• 3 tablespoons chopped chives
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 8 slices of HEB jalapeno bacon
• 1 cup sour cream

Directions

I essentially nabbed the recipe form Joy the Baker’s idea but added my own twist: cooked bacon.  Yup, you mash the taters and then you mix in the flour, but you also added some crumbled up cooked jalapeno bacon.  Get that all to a crisp and continue on with the recipe.  Which is just taking the completed tater waffles and broiling them to melt the cheese and chives on top.  I also opted for some sour cream to add instead of syrup.  Although I might try that.

So earlier in the week, I went to Dorkbot here in Austin and had a tasty Ten Fidy to start out on.  I brought it back this week because it was so sweet and so stout.  Sometimes you can can have stout without the twang.  And no, I’m not talking about the stupid beer salt.  Give it a go if you get a chance to get it.  Now let’s see how it paired with the Bacon Bashed Potato Waffles.

Let me tell you it was a total surprise on how tasty the potato waffles were.  The batter mixed with the taters provided a fluffy chunky base to mix with the chives and jalapeno bacon.  Seriously.  The spices in there with the melted cheese on top hit a home run.  Even the sour cream dob on top mixed well.  It was like a baked potato from heaven.

The Ten Fidy rocked it as well.  The motor oil thick beer poured slow and created an almost chocolate mouse type head in the glass.  The stout kick up front gently gave way to a sweet back taste.  That sweetness rocked the heavy-ish feeling of the potato waffle.  Baked potato and stout beer are a match made for great food finders.  The Oskar Blues Ten Fidy is a sweet version of the standard Imperial Stout and everyone should take a chance to get a sip.

I took a chance on this type of food this week.  I deviated from the original recipe and added the jalapeno bacon just in case.  I didn’t need it.  It would’ve been awesome anyway.  But the bacon came through about as sweet as the Ten Fidy.  Another week is in the can so now it’s time keep the recovery nap rocking from this kick ass meal.