Inspired by his Jamaican heritage, Nathaniel Smith shares his playful take on classic dishes
photographs STEPHEN JOYCE
Nathan worked in various London restaurants, eventually moving from front-of-house to the kitchen. He then began posting recipes on social media in 2020 and The Grub Works Kitchen was born. He was also a guest judge on BBC Three’s Hungry For It.
@thegrubworkskitchen
Plantain waffles
I love Caribbean food and if I can add island flair to a dish, I’ll do it! This recipe was a happy accident. When I first made these, I only had one plantain, so I had to make it work with sweet potato and realised it adds the perfect colour and extra layer of sweetness. These waffles are a great base for fried chicken, brunch or dessert.
MAKES 6 PREP 20 mins COOK 6 mins EASY V
150g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
100g oven-baked or steamed
sweet potato, cooled
1 ripe plantain
60g light brown soft sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
60ml vegetable oil, plus extra for the
waffle maker
2 eggs, separated
200–220ml milk
To serve
blueberries and raspberries
1 banana, sliced
almond butter
golden syrup
1Heat your waffle maker to medium-high. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, grated nutmeg and 1/2tsp salt in a bowl and set aside.
2Blend together the sweet potato and plantain. If you don’t have a blender, you can mash them together instead. (The little lumps of plantain add a great texture to the waffles.) Add to the bowl of dry ingredients.
3Tip in the brown sugar, vanilla, vegetable oil, egg yolks and 200ml milk. Whisk until the mixture is a smooth batter. Whisk in another 20ml milk if it looks a bit dry.
4Beat the egg whites in a large clean bowl until stiff peaks form, about 3-4 mins by hand or 1 min using an electric whisk. Carefully fold the egg whites into the waffle batter – you don’t want to knock all the air out.
5Spray your waffle maker with oil spray, or brush with oil. This step is crucial, otherwise your waffles will stick.
6Pour the batter into the waffle maker, leaving about 1 cm gap at the edge as it will spread once you close the lid. Cook for 4-6 mins.
7Serve with the berries, sliced banana, almond butter and golden syrup on top. You can also keep the waffles in the oven at 110C/90C fan/gas 1/4for up to 30 mins until you’re ready to serve.
PER SERVING 320 kcals • fat 13g • saturates 2g • carbs 43g • sugars 17g • fibre 3g • protein 7g • salt 1.1g
