Chicken and Waffles

Even though I have lived in LA for quite some time, I have never been to Roscoe's and had their chicken and waffles. Last weekend, Raul and I got the bright idea that we should make breakfast this weekend. We traded recipes all week and finally on Friday we settled on chicken and waffles. It took a while to find a waffle that we both liked and finally we settled on one of Emeril's recipe for waffles. I decided to serve my portion with a pomegranate syrup that I had experimented with last weekend. The generous people at Pom Wonderful sent me a whole bunch of juice so I used some for the syrup. For the fried chicken we just cut a couple of chicken breasts into strips, marinated them in some buttermilk and then coated them with some seasoned flour before tossing them in the deep fryer. Despite running in to a couple of complications (Raul doesn't have baking powder and we ran out of eggs so we had to make Jen pick a couple up), this turned out to be a really great meal that we devoured before settling in to a marathon of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. A hot Saturday with good friends, good food, and good wine, what could be better?


Chicken and Waffles

Waffles
(Adapted from Emeril Lagasse)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon, cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, separated
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups whole milk
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Nonstick cooking spray, optional

Chicken:

2 chicken breasts, sliced into strips
Buttermilk for coating the chicken
Kosher salt and black pepper
All-purpose flour
Paprika
Garlic salt
Cayenne pepper

Pomegranate Syrup
8 ounces pomegranate juice
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

To make the waffles:
Preheat a waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Into a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved and eggs have turned a pale yellow. Add the milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract and whisk to combine. Add the flour mixture to the egg-milk mixture and whisk just until blended. Do not overmix.

In a third bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form, about 1 minute.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the waffle batter, being careful not to overmix.

Coat the waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray, if required, and pour enough batter in the iron to just cover the waffle grid. Close and cook as per the manufacturer’s instructions until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. (Do not open the waffle iron for at least 1 minute.) Repeat with the remaining batter.


To make the chicken:
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Lay the seasoned chicken in a medium bowl and cover with enough buttermilk to coat all of the chicken. Let the chicken marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a large skillet or deep fryer to 350 degrees.

Pour flour onto a plate, season the flour with garlic salt, paprika, cayenne, and black pepper to taste. Toss the chicken in the flour to coat all of the pieces.

Fry the chicken for 6-8 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.