A Southern Style Birthday

When you think of a Southern Style birthday, what do you think of?

Do you think of a honkytonk? Or do you think of gumbo over grits? Or, do you think of the colors yellow, green, and purple during Mardi Gras?

Whatever you think of, it is likely super Southern. But for me, what I thought of was chicken and waffles! On Monday, my sweet significant other celebrated his birthday. As per tradition in my household, I decided to treat him to a meal he would enjoy. Although he didn't know what he wanted, I am super glad to have been with him for over five years that I knew he would like chicken and waffles.

The reason he loves Southern cuisine is that in his late teens he actually lived in Virginia.

Virginia is a state that is considered to be part of the "south", though I never understood that until I looked it up.

You can see on this picture that Virginia is the northern part of the region that is called the South. I learnt last year during all the craziness that is 2020, that there is actually a smaller tornado alley that has formed and that happens to be where the states that call themselves part of the "south" are. Yikes!

Side note about the south. Because I was raised going to American schools, I think of the south to be southern United States, but Canadians think "down south" as being Mexico, the Dominican Republic, or Puerto Rico.

Anyway, enough about the south as a location! Because ShoJo lived in Virginia, he was introduced to the odd mix of sweet and savoury. I was NEVER fond of that combination. If my dad put raisins in his couscous or curry, I HATED it. But, here I am, an individual who hates sweet added to savoury and loving the combination of chicken with waffles!

Normally, this meal is served with fried chicken, but most people today would rather enjoy less deep fried goods and more oven or air "fried" things. So, that is exactly what I did. I decided to find a basic oven "fried" recipe to help us have the best meal possible! The recipe I followed was for 6 chicken thighs, but I much prefer chicken breast, so I added some large chicken breasts to the recipe.

This is the recipe I followed:

• 3 Thicken Thighs (bone in)

• 2 Chicken Breasts

• 1 tsp Dried Oregano

• 1 tsp Salt

• 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour

• 1 large Egg

• 2 Tbsp Buttermilk

• 1 tsp Garlic Powder

• 3/4 tsp Himalayan Salt

• 1 tsp Paprika Powder

• 2 tsp Cayenne Powder

• 1 tsp Chili Powder

• 1 3/4 cups Panko Breadcrumbs (I went with Italian seasoning flavoured Panko)

• 1 tsp dried parsley

• 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 390°F (198.8°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil, spray tin foil with cooking oil in spray form; set aside

2. Season each chicken thigh and breast with oregano and salt. Set up a work station with 3 shallow bowls. In the first bowl, add the flour and set aside. In the second bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and all seasonings (excluding parsley) and Himalayan salt. In the third bowl, mix Panko with the dried parsley and add vegetable oil

3. Working one by one, evenly coat chicken in the flour, then dip into the egg mixture, finally dredge in the Panko mixture, pressing to coat. Place chicken onto prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining chicken thighs/breasts

4. Lightly spray each chicken over with cooking oil spray and place tray in the oven to cook for 45 minutes or until crust is golden and crisp

Chicken looks like this before entering the oven for 45 minutes

For the waffles, I decided to buy a miniature waffle maker. Without one, I have been out of luck and had to buy store-bought waffles. The waffle maker was one of the best buys in a good while! I then searched for a great, but pretty basic waffle mix! If you read my previous post on cakes, I suggested that you buy a hand mixer. For this waffle mix, a hand mixer is needed. Your forearm will hate you otherwise.

While your chicken is in the oven, start putting together your waffle ingredients to make your waffles! That way once the chicken is ready, your waffles will already be plated and ready to be topped with your chicken!

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour

• 1 Tbsp Baking Powder

• 3 Tbsp Sugar

• 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

• 2 tsp Chili Powder

• 2 cups Buttermilk

• 1/2 cups Vegetable Oil

• 2 large Eggs, separated

• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat waffle maker and coat with nonstick oil spray

2. Beat egg whites in a small bowl (with the hand mixer you bought) until peaks form

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and chili powder together in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together buttermilk, vegetable oil, egg yolks, and vanilla

4. Whisk wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then gently fold in egg whites. Pour batter into heated waffle mold and cook until preferred doneness

5. Serve with chicken and syrup and enjoy!

I'm sure your kitchen will look like a disaster from the chicken and waffle making! But you will not be done yet! No sir! There's still the syrup that goes on top! Now, you could just stick to basic maple syrup or Aunt Jemima's syrup, but I wanted to add an Indian twist to our meal!

This recipe is super simple and will be done in less than five minutes!

Best maple syrup mixture

All you will need is:

• 1 tsp Coriander Seeds, ground

• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds, ground

• 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes

• 1 cup Maple Syrup

Instructions:

1. Grab your pestle and mortar and ground the coriander and cumin seeds up

2. Add the chili flakes to the ground seeds, then ground the three ingredients a bit more

3. Pour the ground herbs into a bowl and add maple syrup and mix well

4. Serve with your chicken and waffles and enjoy!

This meal was hands down the best meal! 🙌🙌🙌🙌

I really do not know HOW I am going to top this off next year! Thankfully, I have a year to think and figure it out!

I hope you all decide to try chicken and waffles if you haven't yet, otherwise, definitely try this meal. If you are still uninterested, at least try the chicken! It certainly was the best chicken I have ever made!

Have a fantastic day!

Grace