Chicken and Waffles

 

A wonderful Southern dish, that the whole family will enjoy!

 

Ingredients

For the marinade:

2 cups buttermilk

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

 

For the waffles:

2 ¾ cups milk, divided

⅓ cup plus ¼ teaspoon sugar, divided

¼ teaspoon active dry yeast

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the waffle iron

2 large eggs, separated

3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

 

For the coating:

Canola oil, for frying

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup buttermilk

Cooked, crispy bacon and maple syrup, for serving

 

Marinate the chicken by combining the buttermilk, onion powder, pepper, salt, and cayenne in a large glass mixing bowl or ziptop bag. Submerge the chicken in the sauce to properly coat it. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to overnight.

Make the waffles as follows: Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Warm 1/4 cup milk with 1/4 teaspoon sugar in a medium pot over low heat for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the yeast, and let it bloom for 15 minutes, or until it foams.

Whisk in the remaining sugar, melted butter, and egg yolks to the milk-yeast mixture. Whisk in the flour, followed by the remaining 2 1/2 cup milk, until smooth. Whip the egg whites in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment for 3 minutes on high speed, then fold them into the waffle batter.

Butter a waffle iron and cook the waffles, 1/2 cup batter at a time, according to the manufacturer's directions. While you cook the chicken, keep the waffles warm on a sheet pan in the oven.

Cook the chicken: Heat a cast-iron skillet with 112 inches of oil to 350°F.

Whisk together the flour, onion powder, pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper in a medium mixing bowl. In a separate basin, combine the buttermilk. Allow the excess marinade to drain off the chicken before removing it from the marinade. Coat the chicken in the flour mixture first, then in the buttermilk, and then in the flour mixture again, brushing off any excess at each stage.

Working in batches, fry the chicken until golden brown and cooked through 7 to 8 minutes, rotating once, and allowing the oil to come to a temperature between batches. Keep heated in the oven between batches by transferring to a platter. Immediately serve with bacon and maple syrup.