Fried Chicken and Waffles

I've always thought this combination sounded interesting. This evening as I was looking in the freezer and trying to decide what to cook I saw our frozen waffles (that we almost never make). I just decided what the heck, I'll give it a shot. I know, I know, some of you are saying to yourself frozen waffles? really? Yes. Really.

Let's start with the fried chicken. The first thing to do is get some oil on the stove. I put about what I thought was an inch of canola oil in my cast iron pan and turned the heat on medium. This way the oil can heat up as you prepare the chicken.

I defrosted four chicken thighs (bone in) and batter them very simply. If you've ever been in a spice slump I recommend Emeril's Essence. It's wonderful. I mixed a tablespoon of that into 1 cup of flour which I put in a big Ziploc bag. Shake it up and then removed about 3-4 tablespoons to use later. Add the chicken one at a time to coat it and lay it on a baking rack. I don't have a baking rack so I used one of the shelves in my stove and put it over the sink. Practical and very easy to clean up! Let it sit about 10 minutes. (This is so it can get to room temperature which makes it fry a little more even!)

Flick some water into you oil and if it sizzles it's ready! I added all four chicken thighs. I then discovered I had way too much oil as it spilled all over the stove. Oh well, more clean up. I let it cook ten minutes on each side. Right before flipping, I gave each piece some good pierces to make sure they'd cook all the way through. When they were done I moved them back to the make shift baking rack (over the sink still) and let them drain oil off.

I know I've mentioned before and yes I know it's odd, but I don't really care for maple syrup. I knew I didn't want to cover the chicken and waffles in it. So I had this frying pan with oil and bits of chicken and the leftover flour I put aside...gravy! I dumped nearly all the oil out, leaving about 3-4 tablespoons I would guess. I added the seasoned flour I set aside early and scraped the pan to get all the good drippings into the mixture. Once it was well mixed I slowly added a cup of milk, stirring the whole time. Also, I probably should mention I had turned the heat off. The cast iron pan stays hot enough to make this without any further heat. It will thicken pretty quickly and it will be slightly orange from the seasoning but don't worry. I put a piece of chicken over two of my freezer to toaster waffles and covered them with gravy. I don't think even I was expecting it to taste as fabulous as it did! Definitely recommend it for future meals!