Have you ever had one of those moments of rare genius, where
stars align and it’s as if heaven itself smiles down fortune upon you? Yeah, me
too. I’d like to share one of those with you.
Chicken and waffles is a thing. Certainly not a bad thing. But
also not a thing that I’ve just leapt into with both feet. However, I think I’ve
found a way that I can get behind this marriage of breakfast and dinner.
Introducing my chicken and waffles sandwich. Now you may
think she doesn’t look like much, but that’s because today I’m making a bunch
of bite sized sandwiches for a party and I’m going to take you along for the
ride. The only thing I do differently for a full sized sandwich is, well, keep
everything full sized.
The first thing I work on is the bacon. Instead of just
frying up some bacon, I like to give it some real flair by candying it. If this
dish is all about marrying sweet and savory, there’s no point in only going
halfway.
I mix up some maple syrup (that’s real maple syrup, not
anything imitation here), Dijon mustard, brown sugar, with a bit of cayenne pepper.
Next comes the bacon. You need to spring for the high quality stuff here. Thick
cut and meaty. Toss that in your syrup mixture and after it’s nice and coated
space the strips out evenly on a baking sheet. I line mine with parchment
paper. I will warn you that it’ll leak and get all over your pan anyway, but it
keeps the mess from being worse. Put another sheet of parchment paper over the
top and then put another baking sheet on top of that, so the bacon is nice and
sandwiched between the two sheets. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 20 minutes and
then investigate. You’ll probably have to stick in back in for another 10-15,
or if your oven is anything like mine, another 30 or so.
Eventually, you’ll end up with something that looks like
this.
The bacon will be a nice rich mahogany and when you take it
off the baking sheet, it’ll still be a bit sticky and soft, put the strips on a
plate and let them harden for a few minutes. When all is said and done, you get
that nice bacon flavor together with the caramelized sweetness of the syrup and
sugar, and just a hint of heat from the mustard and pepper. For a full sized
sandwich, I might break the pieces in half, depending on how big they turn out
(the bacon will shrink up on you), for my bite sized, I’ll do them in thirds or
quarters.
While you’ve got your maple syrup and Dijon still out on the
counter, let’s talk about sauce. I honestly believe that the sauce is the key
ingredient to making this sandwich work. Without it, you’ve just got a piece of
chicken and a piece of big stuck between two breakfast breads. With it, you’ve
got a bit of magic that surrounds and penetrates and binds the sandwich
together.
Both the bacon and the sauce you can make ahead of time.
Especially the sauce, you’ll want to refrigerate it for at least an hour before
using.
You’re going to start by mixing together Dijon and the maple
syrup. Start with about five times and much Dijon to maple. Then add in some
honey, about half the amount of maple. Then taste. I prefer my sauce to be
sweeter than this usually gets me, so I add in a bit more syrup and honey,
tasting as I go until I find the perfect balance. Like I said, you’ll want to
stash that in the fridge for at least an hour.
Ok, waffle time. I’m just going to admit right up front
here, I don’t have any special secrets when it comes to waffles. I use a bag of
waffle mix. There I said it. If you’ve got something special and fancy that you
like, go right ahead and try it.
For a full sandwich, I use a whole circular waffle, one half
on top, one on bottom. For my mini take, I’m going to use a shot glass. Just take
a shot glass (or similar sized round object) and cut out perfect little round
mini waffles.
The first time I made the smaller scale sandwiches, I made
full sized waffles and cut the smaller version out of those. The problem I
quickly found is that there is a very distinct scientific difference between
waffles and biscuit dough. When you make biscuits, you can cut out a bunch of
individual biscuits out of the dough, gather up the left over bits, roll it out
again and punch out more biscuits. Waffles on the other hand don’t work that
way. I ended up with lots of left over waffle edges that weren’t good for much
other than snacking on. So if you read that and thought, “mmm! Waffle bits!” then
you don’t need to read this next part. If you want to get the most bang for
your waffle buck, make smaller waffles. That way when you cut out the circles,
you’ll be wasting a lot less waffle.
My final waffle secret is after you’ve got your circles o’
waffle, butter up both sides and stick them in the toaster oven for a minute or
two. That will toast up your sandwich bread and give it that delicious
satisfying crunch.
The final component is the chicken. Good ol’ fried chicken.
And everybody and their dog has their own special recipe (believe me, I’ve
checked). So this is another one of those areas where you can do whatever makes
you happy. Let me give you a few technical tips here.
I will take chicken breasts and pound the out thin. This
helps the chicken cook faster and makes for a more even patty for your
sandwich. For my bite sized version, I’ll cut the chicken into, you guessed it,
bite sized nuggets. Bread the chicken
and fry.
Once the chicken is cooked it’s
time or assembly.
Stack a piece of bacon on one of
your waffle rounds, add a piece of chicken on top of that, drizzle with your
maple honey mustard sauce and top with another waffle. Stick a toothpick in her
and she’s done!
