A Deep-Fried Hug: Savory Chicken 'n Waffles

I have to admit, chicken and waffles has never really been on the top of my bucket list, food-wise.

I don't really know why. I don't think it'd be bad, it just never really got me going like other types of soul food (the amount of mac 'n cheese I eat is somewhat ungodly).

Remember this?

Justin is the opposite on this particular dish. He decided that tonight he was going to fry up some chicken thighs, whip up some waffles with his mom's *borrowed* Belgian waffle iron, and somehow make it all come together.

This is where Justin and I part on certain cooking habits. He's much more adventuresome than I am. To be honest, even though I'm the blogger in the family, I have a habit of burning things much more than my husband.

When bacon burns, the whole world burns with it.

I like cooking classic dishes and making them my own, whereas Justin is always talking about purple grape gastriques and curry-and-honey roasted pistachios (which, by the way, taste ridiculously amazing).

So when Justin started on about chicken and waffles, obviously I was on board. When he has an idea, it's a good plan to let him go with it.

And this was the result:



Pure. Awesome. In my mouth.



Crunchy, perfectly seasoned chicken, crispy warm waffles, a honey-mustard-spicy sauce, creamy American cheese … kind of like a deep-fried hug.

Ok, enough. I'll skip to the details:

Ingredients
2 lbs chicken thighs, bone-in, skinless
American cheese slices (we used Velveeta)

For the marinade:
1 cup buttermilk
4 sprigs thyme
4-5 cloves whole garlic
1 tbsp hot sauce

For the breading:
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt

For the sauce:
1 tsp chipotle mayo (mayo + chopped chipotle and adobo)
2 tsp Dijon
2 tsp honey
2 dashes hot sauce

Preparation

1. Combine the ingredients for the marinade. Take the skin off the chicken if there is any, then dunk it in the marinade. Let it sit in the marinade for 4 hours or more.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and heat up either a deep fryer or a pan with a couple inches of oil.

2. Combine the ingredients for the breading. Drain off the chicken and dredge in the breading.
3. Fry up the chicken until golden brown, about 4 minutes in a deep fryer, a few minutes per side for a pan fry.
4. Transfer the chicken to a baking sheet and put in the oven for 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, make the waffles: We used just a basic pancake mix and used a Belgian waffle iron -- this tool makes for a crispier, crunchier waffle. Cook up the waffles, lay on some American cheese, and pop in the oven with the chicken when you have a couple minutes left.
6. Prepare the sauce: combine all ingredients.
7. To plate: lay down the cheesy waffle, top with some chicken, then drizzle on the sauce.

 

-Katie

Mexican Chicken Parmesan

Chicken parm is one of those universally loved Italian staples. Crispy breaded chicken, smooth, tangy marinara, and gooey mozzarella - what's not to love?

While basically perfected, chicken parm can always be updated into something new. Mexican chicken parm switches out the Italian for something more South-of-the-Border, and ay, que sabor.

I switch out the marinara for salsa and the mozz for queso. Served with rice or pasta (we can't veer too far away from Italian or Justin gets fidgety).

Ingredients
1 lb chicken breast, pounded thin
1-2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg
1 cup salsa
1/2 - 3/4 cup queso blanco
Salt + Pepper

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

1. Bread the chicken by dunking it first in a beaten egg and then dredging in the breadcrumbs. Saute over medium heat in some olive oil until golden brown.

2. Put the cooked chicken on a sheet pan with a cooling rack fitted over it (rack optional).



3. Spoon over a tablespoon or so of salsa.



4. Plop on some queso.



5. Bake for 10-15 minutes until ooey and gooey and good.





It's spicy and creamy and crispy - all things we love here.

What classics do you like to add a twist to?

-Katie

Tequila-Lime Chicken with Fried Plantains

I'm baaaaack.

Yes, I know. I've been away for far too long. But in my defense, I've had several job interviews (yaaay), have been doing some part-time editorial assisting (yaaay), babies have been born in the family (yaaay!!) and I have been sick on and off for the past couple weeks (booo) — and thus did not have the time and energy to blog.

Not that I haven't been cooking/eating. See? Here's proof:

Carrot Cake for cake balls {post coming soon}

Mocha chocolate chip cookies

Chicken salad from The Lemp Mansion cafe

BBQ Brisket sandwich from The Lemp Mansion cafe 

Divine French onion soup from The Lemp Mansion cafe.

Perfect mango

Roasted butternut squash

The only artichoke pesto you'll ever want.

Darla is doing well also, in case you were wondering...

Though she's questioning her fashion sense.

***

Anyway, a little while ago Justin and I decided to branch out of our typical Italian-style dinner and go Central/South American. Fried plantains and rice were the inspiration, and because Justin is an excellent chicken roaster, we thought we'd put a saucy spin on his signature dish with tequila-lime chicken.

Ingredients
For the rice:
1 cup long grain rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 serrano pepper
1 sprig cilantro
1/2 tsp salt

For the beans:
2-3 cups dried pinto beans
2 bay leaves
1 bell pepper
1-2 garlic cloves
1 tsp oregano

For the chicken:
1 2-3 lb whole chicken
3 tbsp tequila-lime seasoning
butcher's twine
roasting pan

Procedure:

1. Soak the beans overnight in a big bowl of water. Drain. Either in a slow cooker or in a heavy-bottomed pot, put in the beans and other ingredients (I cut the bottom off the green bell pepper, you can use about half if you like), and fill the pot with water so that you cover the beans by a couple inches. Simmer for 4-5 hours or until the beans have soaked up the water and they're soft. You may have to add more water as you go. Disclaimer: Don't salt your beans. It'll mess up the cooking process. You can salt them once they're cooked.

2. Pluck out the bay leaves and pepper before serving.

3. For the chicken, smother the meat with the seasoning and roast the chicken at 425 for about an hour.

4. For the rice: combine the chicken broth, rice, the tip of a serrano pepper (don't put the seeds in), salt, and cilantro sprig in a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes, covered. Turn off the heat and let the rice absorb the broth for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

5. For the plantains: Fry them up for 2 minutes on each side in some olive oil. Salt them when they come out.

Plantains are starchier and not as sweet as bananas. With the rice and chicken, they lend a hint of creaminess and crunch with a subtle sweetness that goes very well with the spice of the rice and beans. 

 

-Katie

Food Truck Friday STL

Yesterday Justin and I headed up to our first Food Truck Friday in Tower Grove Park. Food trucks are kind of new in this neck of the woods, at least for this couple. But now that we've found them — and there are a good number in the city now — we will never ever let go.

Along with live music, there was Y98 there for coverage.

Holy. Moly.

These trucks are good at what they do. We ate at three of them: Chop Shop STL, Go Gyro Go, and Hot Aztec, and we scored 3 for 3 in the delicious department.

Kind of hard to see with the trees, but the place was packed, the streets lined with trucks.

For me, the winner was Chop Shop. I'm a sushi fiend and the spicy tuna roll we got was enormous and tasty. Instead of cutting up 8 pieces for you to nibble, they leave the roll mostly in tact, only cutting it in half. It's like a sushi log, so full of fresh fish and rice it practically bursts out the nori.

Sit on that one for a minute.

We devoured the roll so fast I forgot to take a picture. Here's a visual from Feast Magazine:

Photograph by Laura Ann Miller

For Justin, the winner was Feed Me Bahn Mi's meatball bahn mi. We didn't even eat there last night, but we've had the bahn mi before and yes, it is that wonderful. The traditional bahn mi is a little sweet and has traditional Vietnamese flavors, which you may or may not be familiar with (think cinnamon, clove, spice...). The meatball has a flavor profile that we've a bit more used to, and it's juicy, complex, spicy, crunchy with the pickled vegetables, and the local-made bread from Fazio's is dynamite.

Go Gyro Go is obviously a gyro truck. We got the traditional lamb and beef gyro. The meat was incredibly tender, and the tzatziki sauce was honestly the best I've ever had.

Look at the line!

There may have been a touch too much sauce, but the upside is that it's not too pungent — in fact, it's mild enough that it didn't interfere with the flavor of the meat at all. We squeezed a bit out of the pita bread (which was soft, fresh, and warm) and used it as a dip for the homemade chips that come with the gyro. Heaven.

Hot Aztec is gourmet Mexican, and has some really interesting things on its menu. We were really excited to try the mole chicken taco and the cochinita pibil, a succulent pork shoulder roasted in banana leaves and also wrapped in two fresh corn tortillas. Both big winners in our book.

The chicken was my favorite. I'd never tried mole {say: mole-ay} before, and now I can say I'm a fan. Justin's favorite was the pork, so we conveniently did not have to fight over a last bite.

All I wish is that we could've eaten at more trucks. There were some really good-looking ones, but by the time we'd demolished three courses, we were kind of full — not to mention the lines started getting pretty long. Some other ones we wanted to try were

Falafelwich Wagon
2 Girls 4 Wheels
Holy Crepe
Shell's Coastal Cuisine
The Sweet Devine
Sarah's Cake Stop
Papa Tom's Fancy Franks
Cha Cha Chow
The Sausage Syndicate
LuLu's Local Eatery
Guerilla Street Food
Zia's
Seoul Taco (which I've actually had before…a MUST try!)
{Yes, that is all of them}

Also, there's a new food truck in town … Steamroller STL is a bagel & deli truck that I'm wanting to try. And Sarah's Meltdown grilled cheese.

This is making me hungry.

All these guys are on Twitter — go follow them now so you can share in the feast.

Food Truck Fridays are the 2nd Friday of every month from 5-8pm at the Southwest side of Tower Grove Park.

-Katie

Southwestern Wonton Tacos

For Erin's baby shower, I made these bad boys as an hors d'oeuvres, and they flew off the table. I originally got the recipe from somewhere on Pinterest, and if you do a basic Google image search they are everywhere online. These wonton tacos are perfect for a party because you can make pretty much everything in advance and it takes minutes to put them together. Plus, they are shamefully easy to make.

This recipe yields about 18-20 tacos.

{Printable Recipe}


Ingredients
1 package wonton wrappers (about 50 wrappers usually)
1 lb ground chicken
1 can black beans
2 tbsp Penzey's Arizona Dreamin' seasoning or 1 package taco seasoning
1 package Mexican-style shredded cheese
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
handful of baby spinach

For the guacamole:
1 avocado
1/2 lemon
pinch salt
handful cilantro, chopped

Procedure

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Brown the ground chicken in a pan. When about halfway done, toss in the bell peppers and garlic. Cook on medium-low heat until the chicken is done and the peppers are slightly soft. Mix in the seasoning and a pinch of salt.

Drain the black beans, but don't rinse them. Toss them in the chicken mixture along with the baby spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool for five or ten minutes.

Meanwhile, make the guacamole: Smash the avocado with lemon juice and salt. Add a serrano pepper if you like things spicy.

Spray a muffin tin with some nonstick cooking spray, then line the tin with one wonton wrapper each.

Put in a spoonful of the chicken mixture.

Top with cheese.

Add another wonton wrapper and gently press the edges down so that it's tucked nice and snug into the bottom half of the taco. 

Repeat another layer of chicken mixture and cheese.

Bake for ten minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Top with guacamole and sprinkle with cilantro.

-Katie

Family Recipes: Chicken Cacciatore

Yesterday, I edited my thesis. Evidently, passing the oral defense is not enough: I must then go back and edit certain parts that my committee thought were less than perfect. I'm not complaining, but it sort of puts a dent in the celebratory process when you still have a ways to go in graduation.

Still — I'm so close to being done! I sifted through all 125 pages of my paper yesterday, fixing each edit. With so much busy work to do, you know I was itching for a good distraction. Over the weekend I procrastinated by scrubbing down the tops of our kitchen cabinets, which were somehow amazingly filthy. Yesterday I didn't afford myself such a luxury (ha), but instead made an old family recipe that's one of those "set it and forget it" kind of meals.

Using the Crock Pot is perfect for when you don't have time to stir a pot all day. While I drove myself crazy erasing extraneous commas and adding more sources to my paper — and while Justin started his 6-week-long study crusade toward his Step 1 boards (eek) — a pot full of my mom's chicken cacciatore simmered in the kitchen. It made the whole house smell like my home growing up, which is a wonderful thing when you're trying to stay calm.

{Printable Recipe}
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts + 2 thighs/legs
2 small onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup white wine
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
2 sprigs thyme
1-2 bay leaves
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Procedure

This is the best part — it's one step. Throw it all into the Crock Pot.

Simmer on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. 

Serve over hot buttered spaghetti, rice, or polenta
(we did the latter this time, but I grew up eating it with spaghetti).

Taking it easy and eating well are not mutually exclusive concepts —
even when you're a grad/medical student.

-Katie

Truffled Mushroom Ragout

The past week has been really strange for me. I'm done writing my thesis and another paper I had to write for my internship this semester, leaving me with only my research assistant duties and actually going to said internship at the Saint Louis Art Museum. So yesterday, Sunday, I had no papers to write, no pages to edit, no journals or articles to read, nothing.

Is this what Sundays are like for normal people?

I didn't know what to do with myself. I had this whole day, wide open — something that I haven't had in, well, forever. At least not in a way that looked like it might be a consistent occurence. My thesis has filled up every little nook and cranny of my life for the past year, and now it's done and I feel like an empty-nester.

I did some laundry,  half-heartedly dusted the floors, and stood around aimlessly. Darla suggested I play fetch with her, but after ten minutes of that, I still didn't have anything else to do.

So by the time the acceptable time rolled around to make dinner, I pounced on the chance. I really need to get another hobby now that there is more time in the day.

The day Justin and I got engaged, we were on our first trip outside of Rome while studying abroad in Italy. We were in Assisi, possible the most enchanting little village on Earth. It's a town wedged in a perilously steep hillside surrounded by Tuscan countryside. It's narrow cobblestoned streets hide tiny restaurants and shops that you practically need a map to find.

After getting engaged here —

— We ate dinner in one of those itty bitty restaurants. I got truffled mushroom pasta. I'm not sure if it was the high of getting engaged or if the pasta really was that good, but it was unbelievable. I've been trying to recreate it ever since, with no success.

So I was trying, for the millionth time, to make this pasta on this lazy Sunday. It still isn't the same thing, but it's still pretty tasty.

{Printable Recipe}
Ingredients
1 package button mushrooms, sliced
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup half-and-half
1 tsp chopped black truffles (available at Whole Foods in the gourmet cheese/olive section, or online at Amazon)
pinch red pepper flakes
1 sprig thyme
1/2 lb short pasta (we used Casarecce)
2 chicken thighs, shredded

Procedure

Michael Pollan says that mushrooms are symbolism for decay and rebirth due to their nature of breaking down forests and plant life so that others can flourish. Pretty deep for a fungi.

Slice the mushrooms. Saute them in a tablespoon or so of butter along with the red pepper, some salt, and the thyme.

Cook until nicely browned.

Meanwhile, boil the noodles.

Add the chicken broth to the mushrooms and let it reduce for five minutes. Add the half-and-half, chicken, and truffles. Let it simmer while the pasta is finishing up; then add the noodles and cook for an additional five minutes so that the sauce gets nice and soaked up.

Top with Parmesan.

This brings back really good memories for me. Food can do that — especially when you share it with someone you love deeply. So try to remember what you ate on a really good day, and make it for yourself and your honey when you're feeling kind of lost.

You'll feel better. Promise.

-Katie