Recipe of the week

Jonathan Gold, our newspaper’s recently deceased Pulitzer Prize–winning critic, loved cooking as much as he loved learning from professional chefs, said Noelle Carter in the Los Angeles Times. He once called these waffles “the best you will ever taste,” and before he talked Tanya Holland of Oakland’s Brown Sugar Kitchen into sharing her recipe, he wasn’t above driving six hours up the coast to enjoy them.

2 tsp active dry yeast • ¾ cup warm water • 3 eggs • 3 cups milk • 1 cup cornmeal • 2 cups plus 2 heaping tbsp flour • 1½ tsp kosher salt • 1½ tsp sugar • 1½ sticks butter, melted • vegetable oil • ½ tsp baking soda

• In a small bowl, combine yeast and warm water. Set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. In another bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, salt, and sugar. Add yeast mixture to the eggs and milk. Whisk in flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Whisk in melted butter until just combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to overnight. • Heat waffle iron and grease lightly with oil. Whisk baking

soda into batter. Ladle some batter into waffle iron, close lid, and cook until waffles are golden and cooked through. To keep waffles warm, transfer them to a 250-degree oven. Makes about 12. • For syrup: In a large pot, combine 1½ cups packed brown sugar, 1½ tsp apple cider vinegar, 1 qt apple cider, 2 cinnamon sticks, and 1 stick butter. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cook until syrup is reduced to 1½ cups, about 45 minutes.