Recipe of the Week: Chicken & Waffles

This dish inspired the Duck & Waffle, and what a dish it is – humble, comforting and, most importantly, healing, I truly love cooking and eating this old classic – it makes the best brunch. Whenever I’m in the States I make a point of finding the local fried chicken spot.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 8 hours including marinating, 30 minutes without
Cooking time: 15 minutes

4 chicken legs, jointed (or 4 thighs and 4 drums)
salt
vegetable oil, for oiling
maple syrup, to serve

Marinade
100ml (3½fl oz) buttermilk
a pinch of sea salt flakes
a pinch of freshly ground black
pepper
a pinch of chilli flakes

Crust
200g (7oz) plain flour
1 teaspoon paprika
a pinch of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon mustard powder

Waffle batter
180g (6oz) plain flour
15g (½oz) caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
a pinch of salt
340ml (12fl oz) buttermilk
60g (2¼oz) butter, melted
1 egg

Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and massage the mix into the chicken. Leave in the fridge for at least 8 hours to marinate.

Mix together all the ingredients for the crust.

For the waffle batter, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl. Whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter and egg in another bowl, then whisk this into the flour mixture until just combined. The batter will be quite thick, which is perfectly normal. Store in the fridge until needed.

Before cooking the chicken, take it out of the fridge for an hour to allow it to come back up to room temperature. Preheat a deep-fat fryer to 160°C (325°F). Take the chicken pieces out of the buttermilk, scraping off all the excess marinade. Roll the chicken in the crust mixture to coat all over, then carefully lower the chicken pieces into the oil and deep-fry for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

When cooked and crispy, remove the chicken from the fryer and strain on a rack for 2 minutes, then transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper. Season with salt.

To make your waffles, turn on your waffle iron. Brush the hot waffle iron with oil and pour a ladleful of batter into each waffle mould, spreading it all around, as the mix is quite thick and won’t spread on its own. Cook until golden and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Serve a leg and a drum per waffle, with a good splash of maple syrup.

Extracted from Toast Hash Roast Mash by Dan Doherty. Available here