Chicken and Waffles

So Tim and I saw an episode of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" making Chicken and Waffles  last night on YouTube and and we were drooling! We decided to make it together tonight! I would definitely recommend making it with another cook. We felt like you needed one person to man the waffle iron while one person watched the chicken. It was really fun working with Tim in the kitchen ;)
And I am dieting right now, so you might be thinking - WHAT?! How can she eat that and lose weight? Well, I am of the opinion that if you completely deprive yourself of what you are craving, you will never be able to stick with your diet. So I ate like a bird most of the day and then FULLY enjoyed my two waffles and two chicken strips -yum!

I didn't want to do whole chickens, so we used chicken tenderloin and only marinated them for two hours instead of 4. As well, we cut the entire recipe in half because it's a HUGE recipe calling for two whole chickens!

As well,  I couldn't find whole pink peppercorns by themselves, so I got "rainbow peppercorn" and probably used less than they called for. Oh and I couldn't find "chile de arbol powder" so I used hot sauce (tobasco) instead. Does anyone know if chile de arbol powder is just regular chile powder? Anyways, even with our little changes, it was AMAZING!

I was a little bit skeptical with how savory  the recipe seemed to be. But It was the perfect balance of sweet and savory! The wheat waffles weren't too sweet. The honey peppercorn butter was a perfect balance to the chicken tenders and horseradish syrup! Tim, our friend Stacey, and I just kept taking bites and saying how well everything complimented one another so well! WOW! Even if this doesn't sound like something you would like, you should totally try this! It took a bit of work, but it was worth it!

  Have you ever had chicken and waffles before? Does it sound like something you might like? I am finding a ot of people think it's totally weird-haha- well- call me weird ;)

Here is the recipe from the Food Network:

Fried Chicken and Wild Rice Waffles with Pink Peppercorn Butterand Maple-Horseradish Syrup

Wild Rice Waffles:
    * 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    * 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
    * 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
    * 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
    * 2 teaspoons baking soda
    * 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    * 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    * 4 cups buttermilk
    * 4 large eggs
    * 1/2 cup vegetable oil
    * 1/2 cup cooked wild rice (rice should be overcooked) drained well
    * Melted butter, for the waffle maker

Fried Chicken:
    * 1 quart plus 2 cups buttermilk
    * Kosher salt
    * 2 teaspoons chile de arbol powder, or 2 tablespoons hot sauce ( I used hot sauce)
    * 2 chickens (3 to 4 pounds each), cut into 8 pieces - (I used about 15 chicken tenders)
    * 3 cups all-purpose flour
    * 1 tablespoon garlic powder
    * 1 tablespoon onion powder
    * 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
    * 2 teaspoons cayenne
    * Freshly ground black pepper
    * Peanut oil, for deep-frying

Pink Peppercorn Butter:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened
• 1 tablespoon pink peppercorns
• 3 tablespoons clover honey
• Salt and pepper

Maple-Horseradish Syrup:

• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish, drained
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Directions

For the Waffles: Whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.

Whisk together the buttermilk, eggs and oil in a separate large bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until the mixture just comes together. Add the wild rice and fold until just combined. Let mixture rest for 10 minutes.

While the mixture is resting, heat the waffle maker. Brush the waffle grates with some of the melted butter and make the waffles according to the manufacturer's directions.

For the Chicken: Whisk together 1 quart of the buttermilk, 2 tablespoons salt and the chile de arbol in a large bowl or large baking dish. Add the chicken, turn to coat, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Stir together the flour, garlic and onion powders, paprika and cayenne in a large bowl and divide among 2 shallow platters. Season generously with salt and pepper. Drain the chicken in a colander and pat it dry. Dredge the pieces a few at a time in the flour mixture and pat off excess, then dip in the remaining 2 cups buttermilk and allow excess to drain off. Dredge in the second plate of flour and pat off the excess. Put the chicken pieces on a baking rack set over a baking sheet while the oil heats.

Pour about 3 inches of oil into a deep cast iron skillet; the oil should not come more than half way up the sides of the pot. Put the pot over medium-high heat and heat the oil to 375 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer. Working in batches, add the chicken pieces to the hot oil, 3 or 4 at a time and fry, turning the pieces occasionally, until evenly golden brown and cooked through, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a rack to drain; repeat to cook the remaining pieces.

For the Butter: Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until combined.

For the Syrup: In a small bowl whisk together all ingredients.

To serve: Place waffle on plate, top with 2 pieces of fried chicken, and a dollop of butter. Pour syrup over top.