Chicken and Waffles My way

I never truly understood the concept of Chicken and Waffles until this week. It's quite the popular dish in the Northeast part of the country and in the South, but until I couldn't decide on whether to have a late breakfast or an early lunch the idea of having both completely eluded me.


The original dish of Chicken and Waffles is made with fried chicken and delicious buttermilk waffles. I gave mine a spin and made a spicy chicken salad with cornmeal waffles. Being a chocoholic, I suppose I could have cooked up some spicy chocolate waffles and served it with chicken mole, but I was hungry and wanted a quick meal. I think the addition of mangos and pepper jelly is what really made this dish so tasty.

I heard a story told by a lady up in New York how the custom of chicken and waffles came about. Apparently it started back in the late 40's or early 50's when diners would remain open late at night to serve musicians a meal after their late night gigs. The dilemma with them was the same one I ran into in deciding whether to have breakfast or lunch. So a menu item of chicken and waffles soon became popular to satisfy these late night customers.

It was a perfect "brunch" for me with some left-over’s for Bob when he got home for work. Hope it gives you some ideas of your own in recreating this fabulous dish. Enjoy.

Spicy Sweet Mango Chicken Salad

¼ cup mango-lime-pepper jelly syrup reduction sauce
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp. honey
2-2 ½ cups diced chicken, cooked
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1 cup diced mangos
1/3 cup toasted macadamia nuts
Salt to taste
¼ cup sliced green onions with tops

Reduction Sauce:

1 can mango nectar (I used Kern’s)
¼ cup jalapeño pepper jelly (I used Reese’s Hot Pepper Jelly)
1 tablespoon lime juice

In a small saucepan, combine mango nectar and pepper jelly. Whisk to combine and heat over medium-high heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes until reduced by half and syrupy. Stir periodically during this process.

Remove from heat and add lime juice. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes while combining the chicken salad ingredients. When cool, combine ¼ cup sauce with ½ cup mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon honey.

Combine chicken, celery, diced mango pieces, macadamia nuts and sliced green onions. Add salt to taste. Mix mayonnaise mixture into chicken ingredients.

Cover and chill. Serves 4.

Cornmeal Waffles

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs

Directions
Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add milk, oil, and eggs; stirring until smooth. Pour batter onto hot waffle iron and bake in batches. Set aside and keep warm.