Trying to bust out of a cooking slump, I pulled this recipe from my to-try file on Sunday. Unfortunately, I was outvoted by the guys pizza craving, and it got pushed to last night. With the chaos of a weeknight going on around me, I'm not sure I gave it justice. My kitchen was a disaster when I was finished, but I had a smiling happy family, and that's what really matters to me.
First I got the chicken soaking. Critical error- I'd forgotten to buy buttermilk. No problem, I'll just use regular milk and some vinegar. Uh, no white vinegar, only apple cider vinegar. In it went. I used Sriracha for the hot sauce component.
While the chicken did it's thing, I made the waffle batter. Bacon in waffles around here has been vetoed in the past, so I cooked it up to serve on the side. I used dried chives instead of green onions, it's what I had on hand. Someone had eaten the last of the cheddar, so I used a fiesta cheese blend. Batter ready.
After 30 mins, I breaded the chicken as directed. While it was setting the coating, I started the waffles. I've only got a Belgian iron, so I knew we wouldn't be making sandwiches, just setting the chicken on top. As they came out of the iron, I put them into a warm oven.
Heated the oil and got started frying chicken while simultaneously cooking waffles and fielding questions about book reports, where are my black socks? and is tomorrow a hot lunch day? The chicken was golden brown, crunchy and cooked perfectly.
Wait, the sauce! I grabbed the mustards and the real NH maple syrup and threw that together at the last minute. I ended up being the only one that used it, my guys went the straight maple syrup route.
I wanted not to like this. It was a lot of work, a lot of dishes, and I don't fry very often. It was excellent, dammit. This will definitely get made again in the future, but not on a weeknight. I may even make up the waffles ahead and store them in the freezer until we get a craving. Huge thanks to Jonathan at The Candid Appetite for sharing this recipe and lots of photographs!
Fried Chicken and Waffles
Ingredients:
For the "Buttermilk" Chive Waffles
- 2 cups flour
- 1/4c light brown sugar, packed
- 1t baking soda
- 1 1/2 t baking powder
- 1/2t salt
- 2t fresh cracked black pepper
- 3 large eggs
- 1/3 cup butter, melted & cooled
- 2 cups milk with 2t apple cider vinegar
- 1 heaping cup Mexican blend cheese
- 1teaspoon dried chives plus more for garnish
- 5 slices cooked bacon (served on top)
- Thin Sliced chicken breasts, about 6 or 7
- 1 1/2 milk with 1 1/2t apple cider vinegar added
- 1t hot sauce (I used Sriracha)
- 1 1/2c flour
- 1t salt
- 1t cayenne
- 1t garlic powder
- 1t fresh cracked black pepper
- Vegetable oil for frying
- Real NH maple syrup
- Dijon mustard
- yellow mustard
Instructions:
Make the waffles:
- Preheat waffle iron. Spray with nonstick spray.
- Place dry ingredients in a bowl, whisk together and make a well in the center. In a small bowl, beat 3 eggs. Add to well, along with melted butter and "buttermilk". Stir just until combined. Add cheese and chives, stir to combine.
- Cook waffles according to your iron's instructions. I love my Presto Flipside, it makes Belgian waffles in about 4 mins, and I got 6 from this recipe. Keep waffles warm in a preheated oven until the chicken is ready.
- Combine "buttermilk" and hot sauce in a large ziptop bag and add chicken. Place in fridge at least 30 mins.
- Set up a rack on top of a half sheet pan. Combine the dry ingredients. Double dredge the chicken- from buttermilk to flour, back to buttermilk and into the flour again. Place the chicken onto the prepared rack. Let rest for about 10 mins to set the coating.
- Heat 2" oil in a large skillet or heavy pan to 350º to 375º. Fry the chicken a few pieces at a time, and place on a paper towel lined plate to cool. (I moved my chicken in with the waffles to keep it warm).
- Whisk together ingredients to taste.
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