It was my turn to cook Friday nights dinner so I thought to prepare a dish we haven’t made in possibly three years, maybe longer, Chicken-EN-Waffles.

The “en” in Chicken-EN-Waffles refers to, “entices”… where the golden fried chicken entices the crispy edged waffle to join the dish for an “en”-credible,  “en”-joyable, "en"-gaging dinner.

My wife and I were always fans of breakfast for dinner, where we had the opportunity to create an elevated breakfast dish. This was especially true if we had leftover ham from a holiday meal.

Leftover ham slices sizzling in a fry pan smothered in a glaze of butter, brown sugar and paprika, or with caramelized pepper and onions, served with sunny side eggs and a buttered toasted bagel… oh baby!

Sorry, sometimes I get carried away. Back to Friday nights dinner of chicken-EN-waffles.

To make the best chicken-EN- waffles you need three elements: 

1. juicy, yet crispy fried chicken, 
2. thick and fluffy waffles, 
3. a delicious savory sauce. 

I enjoy a warm honey butter sauce to drizzle over the chicken which floats down onto the maple syrup coated waffles, falling into the waffles indentation, a.k.a. pockets. Imagine that pool of warm honey butter and maple syrup oozing all over your plate. Hmm, hmm, hmm!

What chicken is best to use…

My personal favorite are the boneless chicken thighs. They are naturally juicy and full of flavor. Also being smaller they fry faster than chicken breasts and are harder to dry out.

As Shakespeare may have once wrote… to brine or not to brine, that is the question. 

Brining works because it imparts flavor inside the chicken making the meat very juicy. There are a number of ways to accomplish this -  

• Classic southern style using buttermilk,
• No buttermilk; add the juice of 1/2 a lemon to your milk, or
• Use the brine from a jar of pickles in your refrigerator.

The salt in the brining solution penetrates the meat through the process of osmosis. 

Osmosis! You read that right… Lo and behold, a science lesson. Science 101, in cooking! Oye!

Now that we understand brining imparts flavor, let’s talk fried chicken crispness. You know what I’m referring to? That crisp crust filled with salacious nooks and crannies. Let’s call it a crinchy crust (crispy + crunchy = crinchy). 

Dang… first there was a science lesson, now I’m introducing a math equation into the cooking process. What is going on?

Phew… I need a rum! Anyone ready for a little Kaniche XO? A Barbados artisanal rum aged 18 months in a cognac cask. Smooth as silk.

Hang on… be right back! Keep yourself amused with these jokes...

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What's the best topping for waffles?

More waffles.

How do you make a waffle smile? 

Butter him up.

Haha… now you know why I don’t do stand-up comedy. 

Knock Knock 

Who's there? 

Waffle! 

Waffle who? 

Stop waffling around and let’s get back to making dinner!

Maybe this is why my kids called me corny?

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Cheerio. Onto the waffles:

Waffles really depend on you. In our household, we enjoy the thick and fluffy Belgian waffles, because the thickness holds up well to the syrups and all the knife and fork action that goes into eating chicken-en-waffles. 

What pairs well with chicken-en-waffles:

Hollowed, baked Bartlett pear, topped with crumbled blue cheese, crushed walnut and drizzled with Vermont maple syrup.

Then again-

There is nothing wrong with cooking up a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese. 

Please forgive me for not including any recipe or ingredient listing in my post. Like I wrote at the beginning, it’s a meal we haven’t had in a very long time. I guess it simply got lost in our own “shuffle of life”.

I wanted to remind y’all of this well known southern style comfort meal.

Look in your recipe book or give Google a shout. There are literally hundreds to be found. 

Now if you’ll excuse me, time to pour another rum and put on some classic rock ... hmmm, perhaps a little Jethro Tull?

Care to join me?