This recipe is the first in a series from a collaboration between Wonderffle, KYVANTM Foods, and Vicky CakesTM pancake and waffle mixes. Each recipe and accompanying video will feature a stuffed waffle made with one or more of these companies’ products. In addition, subscribers to the Wonderffle mailing list will receive special discounts on our products.
A Brand Cohort Forms
After a busy holiday season, I had began working on a plan for the new year. Inventory was running low and I wouldn’t be able to restock until after the Chinese New Year holiday. One important goal during this time is to shoot a number of recipe videos to share with those who follow the product.
So in early January, I was pleased to have received a message from Sheila Kelly of KYVAN Foods about possibly teaming up on a special offer to our customers. Sheila had learned about Wonderffle after it was featured on a piece by blackfood.co. I quickly looked up the KYVAN Foods brand and found their products would go perfectly for some of the recipes I had considered.
Sheila, who along with her husband Reggie, started KYVAN Foods following his 13-year career as an NFL tight end with the Atlanta Falcons and the Cincinnati Bengals. Their product line includes a number of southern-flavored sauces and seasonings that will liven any meal from breakfast to dinner and beyond. For more about their inspiring story, check out this video below.
Sheila had planned the collaboration to be three-way, so in addition she introduced me to Christian and Cortney Sargent of Vicky Cakes. Vicky Cakes produces an array of light and fluffy pancake and waffle mixes made from natural ingredients based on a decades-old recipe from Christian’s mother, Vicky. After having learned the story of their product during a long phone conversation with the couple and having tried their products at home, I saw how well their batter mixes worked with my stuffed waffles. You can learn more about their story from the video below.
Honey Apple Butter Pulled Pork Stuffed Waffle
I first discovered the goodness of apple butter years ago during a family gathering in Philadelphia. Some of us had ventured to the famed Reading Terminal Market and landed on a cluster of vendors selling their wares. Among the items I departed with that afternoon was a jar of Amish apple butter.
Apple butter is a highly concentrated form of apple sauce. The slow cooking process causes the natural sugars in the apple to caramelize, actually making it a preserve rather than a sauce. In entrees, apples are commonly paired with pork, as anyone who has ever enjoyed apple sauce with pork chops can attest.
Apple butter goes well in both sweet and savory dishes. I tend to favor the latter in my own stuffed waffle recipes, so I was delighted to find a number of apple butter pulled pork recipes online, where the apple butter is used to make a barbecue sauce that’s poured over a pork shoulder and cooked in a slow cooker.
The KYVANTM Honey Apple Butter is perfect for these recipes, many of which call for the addition of honey in the sauce. The honey and spices cooked with their apple butter give it a rich, homey flavor reminiscent of one of grandma’s home cooked meals.
I used pork tenderloin instead of shoulder because the tenderloin is a leaner cut of meat and typically comes in smaller sized portions suitable for my family. The leaner cut means that it could dry out when cooked over a long duration. However, cooking the sauce over it in a slow cooker prevents this. In addition, the sauce remaining in the slow cooker can be added back to the pulled-apart meat for additional moisture and flavor without it becoming too fatty.
Although I generally prefer making my own waffle batter, that made from Vicky CakesTM Original Pancake Mix is the perfect consistency for stuffed waffles, is easier than making batter completely from scratch, and is healthier and better tasting than the leading boxed mixes.
Optionally, A bit of coleslaw added to the pulled pork filling gives it a little more of that backyard barbecue vibe. Deciding to forego that step takes nothing away from this dish.
In all, this recipe typifies those that I like to feature. It’s a full dish normally eaten in a sit-down meal with a fork or in a sandwich that’s reimagined to be eaten in a hand-held waffle. I hope you and your family enjoy it!
| Ingredients |
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Directions |
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Heat olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan. Add onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the remaining seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Placing the tenderloin in a slow cooker, cover it with the sauce and on low for 4 hours. Remove tenderloin into a foil pan and shred using two large forks. Add the leftover sauce from the crockpot until the desired moisture is achieved. Shape the meat into a 6-ounce patty. For the batter, follow the directions on the packaging of Vicky Cakes PancakeTM and Waffle Mix. |