Chicken and Waffles

Trying out the new waffle iron

One of the strangest things about planning a wedding is that a few weeks after invites go out, you start getting random presents in the mail. One of the early wedding gifts we got recently was a waffle iron from my Aunt Connie. It has been ages since I made a waffle so obviously I had to try it out. I’m not sure what the policy is on using wedding presents early, so forgive me if I violated some unwritten rule.

Usually I just skip the monologue at the beginning of the recipes I find, but this one actually had a pretty interesting section on the history of chicken and waffles. I had always assumed Maxine’s chicken and waffles here in Indy had invented the recipe since they clearly perfected it. Someday I will get that peach butter recipe.

Ingredients:

For the Chicken:

• 1 Lb of chicken tenders

• 1 Cup of buttermilk

• 2 Cups of flour

• 1 Tablespoon (or more) of hot sauce

• Seasoning: garlic salt, white pepper, onion powder, smoked paprika, thyme

  For the Waffles:

• 1.5 Cups of flour

• .5 Cups of corn meal

• 2 Teaspoons of baking powder

• 1 Teaspoon of baking soda

• 1 Tablespoon of sugar

• .5 Teaspoon of salt

• 2 Eggs

• 2 Cups of buttermilk

• 2 Teaspoons of vanilla extract

• 1 Stick of butter

• Butter and syrup for serving

Directions:

1. Dry your chicken, and then marinate it in a large bowl with your buttermilk, garlic salt, white pepper, onion powder, smoked paprika, and thyme. You can add some hot sauce as well if you want some kick. Fully coat your chicken in the mixture and marinate this for at least 3 hours or overnight.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla together until combined. Add your flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt and continue whisking until smooth. Add your melted stick of butter and whisk that into the mixture too. Set aside for now.

3. In a wide, shallow dish, combine your flour with more garlic salt, white pepper, onion powder, smoked paprika, and thyme.

4. In a wide, deep cast-iron skillet or a dutch oven, heat about half an inch of oil over medium-high heat. You can know your oil is ready by flicking a pinch of flour into it and if it sizzles it’s ready.

5. Preheat your waffle iron. If you put your waffle in around the time your chicken is finishing up, it should be done by the time the chicken has cooled to an edible temperature.

6. Remove your chicken from the buttermilk marinade, and fully coat it with the flour mixture. Once it’s coated, place it into the oil. Make sure to not overcrowd the skillet. Fry your chicken until you get a nice deep golden brown. It usually takes about 4-5 minutes on one side and 3-4 minutes on the other side but in my experience the timing is inconsistent so I would rely on color more than timing.

7. Place your chicken on a wire rack to cool and drain any excess oil.

8. Follow the instructions on your waffle iron. Once fully cooked, place on a plate and cover with butter and syrup. Top with your fried chicken and enjoy!

Annoyance Rating (1-10): 4 (6 if you have not fried chicken before)

Honestly the most annoying part of frying anything is the cleanup process. The toughest part of actually frying the chicken for me at least is not fussing with it too much while it’s in the oil. The waffle was a breeze.

Erica’s Review:

“This meal was so delicious. I could eat it every day of my life, I think. Our new waffle maker made the perfect waffle, and the chicken was perfectly crispy. I’m so lucky Jake is such a good cook.” (I didn’t make her say that last part I promise)

Recipe I ripped off:

https://www.butterbeready.com/chicken-and-waffles-recipe/

https://www.butterbeready.com/buttermilk-waffles/