Crispy Chicken with Scallion Waffles
What you need:
For the spicy maple butter:
- 1 stick butter
- 3 tbsp. maple syrup
- 3 tsp. hot sauce
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
For the chicken:
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 tsp. hot sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 2 lbs. chicken tenders*
- Vegetable oil
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp. smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper
- 3 cups panko bread crumbs
- 3 tbsp. ancho chili powder
- 3 large eggs
For the waffles:
- 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 3/4 tsp. vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup seltzer
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 cup chopped scallions
- Cooking spray
For serving:
- 2 tomatillos, cleaned and sliced
Directions:
For the spicy maple butter:
- Mix all butter ingredients together and keep chilled in fridge.
For the chicken:
- Mix together buttermilk, hot sauce, salt, garlic, and onion. Place mixture and chicken tenders into a large ziploc bag. Marinade for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 200* and put some wire racks onto 2 baking sheets. You will use these for keeping your chicken strips warm while you make them in batches.
- Heat about 1 inch of oil in a large skillet to around 350*
- Mix together flour, paprika, and salt and pepper in a shallow dish. In another, mix together panko, chili powder, and salt and pepper. In a bowl, beat the eggs together.
- Dredge chicken through flour, then eggs, then panko. Don't overcrowd your skillet. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes per side. Place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with all tenders.
For the waffles:
- Preheat waffle iron and spray with cooking spray.
- Mix together oil, vanilla, and eggs. Then add buttermilk and seltzer.
- In a separate bowl, whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
- Add dry to wet and mix in scallions.
- Pour batter into waffle iron and cook until golden brown. Repeat with all batter.
For serving:
- Spread maple butter on waffle, top with tomatillo slices, a few chicken strips, and another waffle.
Recipe from Jeff Mauro
*2 lbs made enough chicken tenders for us to freeze and have for a lunch with fries one day. So you could easily just use 1 lb. It's up to you. I would say 1 lb would feed 4 people, 2 lbs would feed 6-8 people.