Return of the Monte Vlahos aka Chicken Waffle Waffle
Fried chicken breast + 2 waffles + coat the whole thing with waffle batter (slightly thinned with some water), deep fry the whole thing, drown in buttery caramel syrup.
You can do this in a large zippy bag, for single breading.
If you want double breading, use bowls.
Cut & pound flat 2 large chx breasts (makes 4 burgers)
1 tbsp of salt dissolved in 1 cup of cold water and brining the chicken for 30 minutes in the refrigerator is my recommended brine.
If you love pickles, you can brine in 1 cup pickle juice in a covered container / large zippy bag in the refrigerator for a maximum of 30 minutes.
You can also go with vinegar (organic apple cider vinegar because it’s all the rage these days) plus 1 tbsp salt and whatever aromatics you want, but for anything under 1 hour of brining, you’ll get very little flavour other than the vinegar.
I tried the pickle brine, and found the pickle taste to be a bit overwhelming, but was awesome on the chicken tendie.
A juicy piece of meat with crispy (seasoned) breading, and the waffle syrup are the main elements in this dish, so my recommendation is to stick with the basic salted water brine.
Patting the chicken breasts completely dry with paper towel will help the batter stick, and this step is not optional.
Drain bag, and fill with 1 beaten egg + 1/2 cup milk
Let the chicken sit in the dip for a minute, drain the bag, and fill with the breading.
Drain the chicken, dredge, repeat for epicness (do all the breading in 2 shallow containers if you’re going to double-dip the breading, which is my recommendation instead of the Shake-n-Bake bag method).
Dredging options:
3 tbsp cornstarch, 6 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp each cayenne, paprika, onion powder, salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
pinch of ground ginger
add another 1-2 tsp of cayenne for extra-spicy chicken!
“Chick fil A” version :
Whisk together 1/2 cup flour + 1 tbsp confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp each ground pepper, paprika, chili powder, baking powder
1-2 tsp cayenne for spicy
Cooking methods, all need a final internal temperature of 165F (possibly 175F, more on that later).
- deep fry at 325 approx 6-8 mins (3-4 per side) or pan fry in hot oil 3-4 mins per side, let cool & dry on paper towel
- bake top shelf on a rack 450F 12 mins, flip, 15 mins
- airfry 370F, 11-13 mins, flip halfway through
Since we don’t want the spicy breading to contaminate the oil, we’ll either need 2 deep fryers, or pan fry the chicken and deep fry the completed sammich, which is my recommendation.
If you have a thick piece of meat, there will be residual cooking after you remove from heat, adding another 10-ish F to the temperature. Depending on your local FoodSafe standards, chicken should be between 165 and 185F, so cook until it’s at least 155 at the coldest part, but no more than 175 because you start to dry out the meat. This is why a medium-rare steak (130-140F) is removed from the heat when the middle is 125F on a steak that’s at least 1″ thick.
A quick note on deep frying at home.
Use a neutral-tasting frying oil (something with a smoke point of 425-450) .
Keep the oil as clean as possible by scooping up any loose bits. When you’re done with the frying, let the oil cool to room temp, and pour through a coffee filter. Transfer the filtered oil into a sealable container, and store that in a cool, dark place. You should be able to get 3-10 uses out of oil that didn’t get discoloured due to particles burning during the frying process, and breading is a huge contributor to this. If the oil looks dark or smells funky, throw it out.
Waffles : only add 1/3 cup of water to turn the pancake into waffle batter. We want the batter to be thick enough to able to stick to the assembled sandwich, but thin enough to still show the texture of the waffles. You might need to whisk in a tablespoon of water between making the sandwiches because the batter will thicken up a bit over time. Using some batter as glue to hold the inside of sandwich together is a great idea.
Syrup