When you’ve been given a gift, you want to do your best to honor it in the best way that you can, so when Gina Metcalfe Lee sent me some of her bottled sauces, I wanted to take the time to do them all justice. One of the first things I decided to make was something that truly defines comfort food at its best…the beloved chicken & waffles.
Making fried chicken is a bit of an art form, and the key is to get as much flavor into the meat as you can before breading. A good crispy breading is important, but the seasoning and the moisture of the chicken inside is even more important.
I love the idea of chicken and waffles, but I don’t want to fiddle with bones, so I decided to use some chicken thighs, which is my favorite cut of the chicken. I decided to marinate the chicken overnight in Gina’s flavorful and spicy Gourmet Sauce and I helped it along by adding a little buttermilk.
I cut up the chicken into long strips and made large waffles that were perfect for folding over the chicken…the waffles did not break or crack and had a lovely pliable texture, which is perfect for this type of recipe or any sandwich that you want to make with waffles. If you only have a large waffle iron, make large waffles if you want to make large individual sandwiches, or you can cut them into quarters for smaller bite sized sandwiches. What would be even better (and cuter, OK I’m such a girl!) is if you had a mini waffle iron for itty bitty waffles…I can see the guys eating those now BUT they are such a great Super Bowl snacks that offer up a man sized flavor.
Chicken & Waffles
4-6 large chicken thighs cut into strips
1 cup buttermilk
1 jar Gourmet Sauce (Crazy Bitch Sauces)
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese (optional)
1 teaspoon garlic salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Blue Agave Nectar or honey
Rinse and clean the chicken thighs and add them to a medium sized bowl with the 1 jar of gourmet sauce and 1 cup of buttermilk. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight, allowing the meat to marinate. When ready to fry, add the flour and all of the other ingredients together in a small bowl. Take out a few pieces of chicken at a time and dredge in the flour and place on a paper lined tray. When you have finished breading all of the pieces, refrigerate this uncovered. This is a great way to begin forming a crispy crust for the chicken. At this point, begin making your waffle batter and make the waffles. If you have a small toaster oven, turn it onto the ‘warm’ setting, so that you can keep the waffles warm and crispy while frying the chicken. If not, you can preheat your regular oven to do the same thing, or if you have help, you can get someone else to make the waffles while you are frying up the chicken. If you like your chicken extra crispy, you may want to dredge it one more time in the flour before frying. Allow the breading of the chicken to set up in the refrigerator for 30 minutes each time. When ready to fry, add the chicken strips to moderately hot oil until golden brown. Remove onto a paper lined plate to drain the oil, and then keep warm in the oven until ready to serve. When ready, grab a waffle and some chicken and pour on your favorite sauce or blue agave nectar or honey.
Soft & Pliable Waffles
3 cups all purpose flour
3 cups milk
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda (this makes it pliable)
2 ½ teaspoons salt
2 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
Sift the flour and the other dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, add the eggs, sugar and vanilla and whisk well. To incorporate everything together with as few lumps as possible, you will add the flour in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions. So, add 1/3 of the flour to the egg mixture and whisk until you have formed a paste, then add half the milk and whisk again. Repeat with another 1/3 of the flour and the other half of milk and whisk again. Finally, add in the last bit of flour and whisk until the batter is completely smooth. Heat up your waffle iron, and once heated, spray it with a good pan release spray. Pour in a ladle full of batter and close the lid. Allow the waffle to cook until it is golden brown, then remove it and place it on the rack in your taster over, or on the rack in your regular oven. Do not put the finished waffles on a sheet pan or they will get soggy.
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