Chicken and Waffles

 

This southern favorite may seem a little odd to some at first but trust me, this is one delicious dinner idea that we have also served as a terrific brunch. The fried chicken in this recipe can be also baked by placing it ion a lightly oiled cookie sheet and drizzling a little oil over the pieces before baking for about 50- 60 minutes until the pieces are cooked through. Turn the chicken pieces once, half way through the cooking time.

 

I've added extra crunch to this fried chicken recipe by adding panko crumbs to the crust along with a delicious mix of herbs and spices. This dish is traditionally served with syrup and here I've served it with some good maple syrup but I confess that I have sampled it with a good chicken gravy and absolutely loved it that way too.

 

I freeze any leftover flour and panko mixture in an airtight container to use for next time. 

 

Preheat a deep fryer filled with canola oil to 350 degrees F.

Combine:
2 cups flour

1 cup panko crumbs
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 tbsp powered thyme
1 tbsp powdered sage
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp powdered ginger
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp cayenne pepper or chipotle powder

Cut one whole chicken into parts or use 3 lbs chicken parts of your choice. Dip the chicken pieces in egg wash of 2 eggs beaten together with 2 tbsp water, then dredge thoroughly in the flour, panko and spice mixture to coat the pieces evenly.

 

Drop chicken pieces into hot oil, starting with the largest pieces first. Try and maintain the oil at 350 degrees F throughout the cooking time. Do not crowd your fryer. 4-5 large pieces or 5-6 small pieces at a time is enough. Large pieces can take 12-15 minutes to cook, smaller pieces 10-12 minutes. Remove cooked chicken to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving. 

 

You can also fry until golden and then finish the cooking time in the oven if you prefer; some people find it easier to judge when the pieces are fully cooked that way and it is also a useful method if the pieces brown too quickly in the fryer.

Serve on homemade waffles with maple syrup.

Waffles

Makes about 10-12 waffles

Preheat waffle iron.

Sift together:

2 1/2 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Whisk together:

2 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla extract 
6 tbsp vegetable oil

Mix in the sifted dry ingredients until smooth. Pour about 1/3 cup waffle batter for each waffle onto your waffle iron. Depending on the size of your iron, this amount will vary. Cook until golden brown.

Turtle Cookies

 

Pecans, caramel and chocolate together is a winning combination which is why everybody loves those gorgeous Turtle chocolates and why Turtle Cheesecake is such a popular dessert menu item. Inspired by those great little confections, I set out to make a cookie version that would be worthy of the name. 

I can report that all testers of these cookies declare them to be amazing. A double chocolate chip cookie gets rolled in pecans and topped with a soft chewy caramel candy before baking to crispy chewy perfection. These are destined to become one of our household signature cookies for sure.

Makes about 3 dozen.

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup very good quality cocoa

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 egs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

12 oz semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans

3 dozen individually wrapped caramel candies

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and combine thoroughly.

Add the flour mixture to the sweetened butter. Mix only enough to incorporate flour. Do not overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.

 

Roll into 1 inch balls and dunk one half of the ball into the chopped pecans.

Place on parchment lined baking sheet 3 inches apart with the side dunked in pecans facing upward. Press down slightly. Gently push one caramel candy half way into the center of each cookie ball.

Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees F. Do not over bake or cookies will be brittle.

Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool thoroughly. You can drizzle the tops of the cookies with melted chocolate as well but that's completely optional.

Corn Flour Biscuits with Maple Butter

Here's a scrumptious addition to any brunch. Your guests are sure to appreciate these warm, golden, light and fluffy biscuits with sweet maple butter melting through them.

Make these using a large biscuit cutter and they make the ideal base for your favorite breakfast sandwich. I made this one last weekend with some of our Maple Chipotle Pulled Pork
and an over easy egg on top. Sure, it was a fork and knife kinda sandwich but boy was it ever delicious!

Makes about 18 two inch biscuits

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a food processor, blend together

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups unbleached yellow corn flour

9 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Pulse in

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp very cold vegetable shortening, cut in small cubes (I store mine in the freezer)

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp very cold salted butter, cut in small cubes

Do not over incorporate the shortening and butter into the flour. Similar to making a flaky pastry, small pieces of butter should be visible in the flour. 

Transfer this mixture from the food processor into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Pour in

2 cups buttermilk

Working very quickly with a wooden spoon, fold the dry mixture through the buttermilk, only until the flour disappears, then stop immediately. Drop the sticky dough onto a well floured counter top or bread board. Sprinkle the top of the dough with additional flour as well as flouring your hands to handle the dough. I don't even use a rolling pin for these biscuits, the dough is soft enough to pat it out gently with floured hands to a thickness of about 1 & 1/2 inches. Using a sharp 2 inch biscuit cutter cut the biscuits out an place them, almost touching, on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. I recommend aluminum baking sheets because they tolerate the higher oven temperature without burning the bottom of the biscuits.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits are evenly golden brown. Delicious served warm with Maple Butter.

Maple Butter

Honey butter is simply honey beaten into plain butter in a 2 to 1 ratio of butter to honey.

1 cup butter (not margarine or other horrible butter substitutes)

1/3 cup maple syrup

Beat together with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy.