Chicken and Waffles

I have been wanting to try this dish for years.  It seems like such a strange combination but it is so popular in the South I thought they must be on to something.  I already have a my own buttermilk waffle recipe, I have my fried chicken recipe so it was just a matter of coming up with what I was going to top it with.  I looked up a couple of different ideas and saw that some people just use maple syrup, some use gravy and then I remembered once seeing someone make a maple gravy.  I thought about a recipe that my sister-in-law made for us when she was visiting that was a sweet gravy that went with savory meatballs.  It had chicken stock, brown sugar and balsamic vinegar so I decided to go that route with maple syrup instead of the vinegar. I omitted the corn meal I normally put in my fried chicken recipe. I have to say, it was pretty good.

For Chicken:

Chicken tenders or breast cut into strips, 3-4 pieces per person

1 1/2 cups of buttermilk

1 tbsp hot sauce

1 cup of flour

Creole seasoning

Vegetable or canola oil for frying

Set-up a coating station. Combine buttermilk and hot sauce in one container and flour and creole seasoning to taste in another (I used about 2 tsp of creole).  Put the chicken in the buttermilk mixture to marinade while you prepare the waffle batter.  Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Take the chicken out of the buttermilk and let the excess drip off and then place in the flour to coat.  You can double dip this again into buttermilk and flour if a thicker coating is desired (I did one coat).  Fry the chicken on one side until brown and mostly cooked through flip and cook on the other side to brown and finish cooking (about 5 minutes per side depending on thickness).  Drain on paper towels until ready to serve.

For Gravy:

2 tbsp of butter

2 tbsp of flour

2 cups of chicken broth

1 heaping tbsp of brown sugar

2 tbsp of maple syrup

Melt butter and add in flour to create a roux.  Stir the roux for 2-3 minutes to cook out the flour taste.  Add the chicken stock and whisk to combine.  Add in the brown sugar and maple syrup and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for about 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened and set-aside to serve.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup buttermilk (plus some extra for waffles)
1 egg
2 tbsp water
1 tsp butter
1 tsp baking soda

Place flour, buttermilk and egg is a bowl.  Stir until well combined but not smooth.  Bring water and butter to a boil and then stir in baking soda (note: water must be boiling and the mixture will foam up). Mix into flour mixture while still hot. Stir to combine and let mixture sit for ten minutes in order to give baking soda and buttermilk time to react.

Add batter to a hot waffle maker and cook according to equipment instructions.  Be sure not to overfill, batter spreads when the waffle maker closes and makes a big mess if over filled.