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.

Grilled Steak with Cebolitas

When I was in my second year of college, I discovered Food Network and more importantly, Emeril Lagasse. I was obsessed with his shows. I literally used to make sure my classes were done by 5PM so I could race home and catch his shows. It wasn't just Emeril. At this time, I discovered Julia Child (who's repeats they used to show at around 2AM just when I was returning home from fraternity parties), Two Fat Ladies (who's dvds are coming out soon!), Bobby Flay, Tyler Florence, and Wolfgang Puck (who I saw at the farmers market a few months ago and almost crapped my pants!!!). Anyway, last year before I started food blogging, I found this great recipe of Emeril's for a grilled flank steak. I am not the hugest steak eater, but I love this marinade so much. It is so flavorful and the steak can be used in so many dishes it is definitely a keeper. I always make sure to marinate the steak overnight to get as much of the flavor into the meat as possible. I had a little mishap when I was making this and spilled my original batch of marinade all over my kitchen. I didn't have enough limes to use the second time around, so I replaced one of them with a lemon and it still turned out great.

PS, Totally un-food related, check out this clip of the lovely and insanely talented Adele on Conan. I had the greatest pleasure of seeing her perform back in May and I am hoping to see her again next month although there may be a scheduling conflict. She is really an artist that everyone should get to know and love.

Grilled Steak with Cebolitas
(From Emeril Lagasse)

1 Angus beef boneless Sirloin fillet
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, plus kosher salt, for seasoning

1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bunch green onions, plus 1/4 cup chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Cilantro sprigs, for garnish
Lime wedges, for serving

Combine flank steak, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, 2 tablespoons lime juice, cilantro, salt, pepper, and 1/4 cup chopped green onions in a large zip-top plastic bag. Allow steak to marinate at room temperature for 45 minutes, turning occasionally. Alternatively, marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat grill to medium-high.

Remove steak from marinade bag and remove as much of the marinade as possible. Discard remaining marinade. Place the steak on the preheated grill and cook steak for 2 1/2 minutes, then rotate on same side 45 degrees (to create grill marks) and grill for another 2 1/2 minutes. Flip steak and cook for an additional 5 minutes on the other side, rotating 45 degrees after 2 1/2 minutes. Remove from grill pan and allow the steak to rest for 10 minutes under a foil tent.

Meanwhile, trim the root ends of the green onions and toss with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and salt, to season. Place the green onions on the grill and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, (depending on the size of the onions), or until softened and slightly charred. Remove the onions from the grill and toss with the remaining 2 tablespoons of lime juice.
Slice the steak against the grain as thinly as possible and divide evenly between 4 plates. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Top each steak with several grilled onions. Garnish each plate with fresh cilantro sprigs and a lime wedge.