Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Buttermilk Waffles: The Ultimate Comfort Meal!

I remember being a snooty little rugrat when I first heard of chicken and waffles...it was actually when I was watching an episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air". I remember thinking, "Why the hell would you eat fried chicken and waffles together?" I thought that because my mom was old school, I wouldn't be here making this blog post if I had said the "H" word out loud. Back to the story, I was just weirded out by this strange combination. Waffles- ONLY eggo waffles for me- were breakfast with pork sausage, bacon and or scrapple. And fried chicken was only for lunch or dinner. NO way can you combine the 2!

Fast forward to my adult years as the microwave queen, I still couldn't stomach it. Then when I got into cooking and being the from scratch gal that I am, I could dig the combo. In fact, I wanted to try this last month before my husband left, but was distracted. Then last week, I asked my eldest child after his 2 week stay with his father, what he wanted for dinner and he asked for chicken, waffles, rice and something else in a soup. I liked the idea of chicken and waffles together so I went to work.

I marinate my chicken up to 12 hours prior. First I season, then pour buttermilk over for the juicest most flavorful fried chicken you will evah eat. Adding cornmeal makes a nice crunch, but a little goes a LONG way. No need for more than a scant 1/4 cup or you'll break yo' teeth. The waffle recipe I found on www.cooksillustrated.com. I wanted a great recipe and you can not go wrong at all with America's Test Kitchen! These were some AMAZING waffles, too. It uses powdered buttermilk which is different, but it made the lightest dry mix! I also like it because you don't get the  sour buttermilk taste. 

Also oil instead of butter was used for a crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle waffle. It's damn good! Definitely a hit with my children and my German friends! All you chicken and waffle virgins must try this and pour some good grade b maple syrup on both waffles and chicken! Don't look at me like that, I know you like BBQ chicken and one of the main ingredients is some kind of sweetener! Give this a shot!


 
Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Buttermilk Waffles
Printable Recipe here!
Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Ingredients

• 1 Whole Chicken about 4 pounds, cut-up (alternatively you can purchase your favorite chicken pieces totaling 4 pounds)
• 2 cups buttermilk, shaken
• Pre-floured seasoning:
• 1- 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Seasoned Salt (I love McCormick's Season All)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning or dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 onion powder
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper or white pepper
• 1/8 tsp cumin
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal

Flour seasoning:

• 1- 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Seasoned Salt 
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning or dried thyme
• 1/2 onion powder
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper or white pepper
• 1/8 cayenne pepper

• 24- 36 ounces peanut oil

Directions

If you're using a whole chicken, cut up into 8 pieces- remove backbone two breasts, two wings, two legs, and two thighs.

Place chicken in a large resealable bag or large bowl. Season chicken all over. Pour buttermilk over chicken and allow to sit in the fridge 12 hours to overnight or as little as 30 minutes.

While marinating or next day, add flour, additional seasonings and cornmeal to a large bowl.

Once marinated, remove chicken from bag or bowl allowing excess buttermilk to drip from piece. Dip chicken into flour and place on paper towels or a cooling rack with paper towel under.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet (I prefer a cast iron skillet!) 350 degrees using a good thermometer or candy thermometer.Once heated, place as many pieces in the skillet as possible. The reason is so each piece cooks evenly and crisp. Cook about 20-25 minutes. Wash or use another cooling rack lined with paper towels to place cooked chicken- to avoid any sogginess. Remove each piece except breast. I usually let the breast cook another 5 minutes since they're the biggest pieces.

Allow to rest about 5 minutes.

Buttermilk Waffles

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients 2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 3/4 teaspoon table salt 1/2 cup dried buttermilk powder (can be found in the baking aisle) 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 cup greek yogurt* (see note) 2 large eggs 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup peanut oil or vegetable oil 1 1/4 cups unflavored seltzer water *I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream in the original recipe. I allowed it to thicken by placing a paper towel on a slotted spoon on a bowl to catch the whey. Directions Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 250 degrees. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and place baking sheet in oven. Whisk flour, sugar, salt, buttermilk powder, and baking soda in large bowl to combine. Whisk Greek yogurt, eggs, vanilla, and oil in medium bowl to combine. Gently stir seltzer into wet ingredients.  Make well in center of dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir until just combined. Batter should remain slightly lumpy with streaks of flour. Heat waffle iron and bake waffles according to manufacturer’s instructions (use about 1/3 cup for 7-inch round iron). Transfer waffles to rack in warm oven and hold for up to 10 minutes before serving with butter and maple syrup. Place waffles and chicken on plate and add some good grade B maple syrup to both! You'll be sent to comfort heaven for sure! Eat Sparingly or every Saturday morning I don't care it's really good! Enjoy!!!!!

Also check out Salty Seattle's GENIUS take on this classic American dish: http://www.saltyseattle.com/2011/01/chicken-and-waffles-meet-modern-gastronomy/

Fotografie Fridays: Mama's Babies

When I started this blog, it was mostly cooking, but I also rambled about my life and photography from time to time. I used to do Fotografie Fridays which was just a cheesy spin on Wordless Wednesday since I live in Germany. Haven't done it in a while but thought it'd be fun to start again :)

So last night I told you all that I was going to purchase a new lens today and that I did. My children accompanied me from store to store as I searched for a new 50 mm lens. This time I wanted 50mm f/ 1.4 instead of the 1.8 I had before. This lens is a bit more sturdy for someone like me with curious children and me being very erm..forgetful! I LOVE it! Can not wait to take more photos with it.

I treated my children to lunch at Pizza Hut after a week of long boring errands. I NEVER sit down at any restaurant because my youngest can't sit down anywhere longer than 10 minutes. Today he sat for 15 minutes. That's a bit of progress!

Standing up on the chair. Don't let the smile fool ya.


My sweeties sharing :)



My little Iron Man at his Fasching Kindergarten Party a couple weeks ago.


Hope you all enjoy your weekend!!! Am planning to cook up a recipe with my son's chicken, waffle, rice, soup idea...only it will not be that, but close! Stay tuned :)

Mama's Not in Rehab

Do you have a muse? You know someone who inspires you to go that extra level?

Well, my husband is the that person. I know I've said many times here about how after I got married he inspired me to get in the kitchen- because he wasn't going to! He was honest when I made some messed up "food", is willing to try meals/ingredients he can't spell or never heard, just supportive and a huge confidence boost for me. I've been in a confidence funk and with everything going on, I needed a break.

I don't blog everything I cook and bake, if I did I would never spend time with my family. In fact, there are days where I bake or cook and take photos of everything but never publish a post.  During this time, I cooked and baked so much. I was surprised the husband could fit into his uniform! Maybe subconsciously I was trying to fatten him so he couldn't go haha. But friends, I cooked up a storm. I made Thanksgiving look like a snack. As I was packing my husband's snack- homemade brioche loaves, Homemade Chicken Burgers (made my own spice blend), and Peanut Butter Heath Bits Cookies, it hit me pretty hard. He's left before and I cried...but this time I was  Florida Evans mad. Must have to do with having 3 young children who miss him dearly, the lack of quality time we were able to spend with one another prior. Who knows. On top of the husband leaving- we were incredibly unlucky from February 11th on. It felt as if someone put a hex on us! We got through it and learned so much from it. I am almost happy it happened, and know I will do everything I can to keep it from happening ever again.


During the last day of the hellish month of February, my lenses broke, yes plural (only have my telephoto lens which is not good for food flicks), so I am going shopping tomorrow. Plus my eldest son made a dinner request that I've been wanting to do for a while. To be exact he said, I want chicken, broccoli, waffles, rice in a soup...er OK. Guess what's coming out of that ;)

Plus my little Ninja turns the big TWO this month. He started the terrible twos at 9 months, and we are hoping it will end soon hehe. Anyway, I have a great cake in mind for him and  am planning a Peppa Pig/ Toy Story Party for him at his favorite place! Peppa Pig and Toy Story? A lil ghetto because I could only find some pieces of each hehe ;) He loves both at the moment so why not? Can you guess what's on his face? It's the star ingredient of his cake ;) I may regret this a few days after....



Also HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!

Mr. Flavor Bakes? Fudge Brownie-Banana Vanilla Ice Cream Sundae

First off, Happy Valentine's Day! It's important to show love all 365 days of the year, and we all know it's a Hallmark holiday- but it nice to be a bit more gushy on this chocolatey romantic day! We honestly do not have anything planned. We worked, paid a ginormous bill, and budgeted- how romantic! Paying bills is sexy to me...ok not really...

Saturday, my daughter wanted ice cream after a cold day's out at the playground. She really does ask for random things at random times. She asks for sausages when she first wakes up, or asks where's my doughnut before we kiss her goodnight. Haha...food is always on her mind!  Anyway, she asked for ice cream- BANILLA ice cream to be precise. For some reason when she asked for it, I became nostalgic for Baskin Robbins Hot Fudge brownie Banana Sundae. Not sure what the name is exactly, all I know is I ate it by the bucket-loads during my first pregnancy. When we told the little ones about the dessert plan, they were most certainly down.

The brownie recipe was my first successful baking recipe  a few years back. It's posted here with some changes.  This time, my husband and I agreed thinner brownies are better for this and we also added about 1/3 cup of semisweet chocolate chips to the batter. Use any brownie recipe you like. This one is a good one, though! Also, if cooking in a 13 by 9 pan bake for about 17-23 minutes.

The husband took the lead on this one and he didn't do bad at all :) Great way for us to spend some much needed time together, too. Happy Valentine's Day! This is great for anytime of the year if you ask me ;) We forgot to buy heavy cream to make whipped cream, but you don't really need it. Unless you're kinky like that ....

You will need:
A Brownie Recipe
Vanilla Ice Cream- homemade or purchased (we bought Haegen-Daaz)
2 ripe bananas
Your choice of toppings such as melted semi-sweet chocolate, toasted walnuts, whipped cream cherries, etc

Directions:
Once brownies are slightly cooled, cut 'em up, top with ice cream, sliced bananas,  melted chocolate and nuts (or whatever you want)

And voila! Easy peasy husband pleasy ;)



His toes are curlin' ;)

Enjoy!!!