Fried Chicken and Waffles

Dan and I have the winter blues. It's getting a little bit better now that the flowers are showing signs of life, but we're both just ready for some sunshine. These doldrums are manifesting themselves in various small ways--we want to lounge around in comfy clothes; we find ourselves staying in more than usual; and when meal planning, we go for comfort food. I didn't realize that is what we were doing until I looked at last week's food: hamburgers; lasagna; and chicken and waffles. Definitely not our healthiest week. At least we also had salad and veggies every night. And you know what? I don't regret a thing.

I've mentioned chicken and waffles before. Now here are the recipes!

Fried Chicken

Original recipe from here

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup milk (I used rice milk)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning (here's an easy recipe)
• 1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 3 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup milk (I used rice milk)

Directions:

• In a medium bowl, beat together 1/2 cup milk and egg. In a resealable plastic bag, mix together the flour, garlic powder, salt, paprika, pepper and poultry seasoning. Place chicken in bag, seal, and shake to coat. Dip chicken in milk and egg mixture, then once more in flour mixture. I did a few pieces at a time so as not to crowd the pan. Reserve any remaining flour.
• In a large skillet, heat oil to 365F. Place a few pieces of coated chicken in the hot oil, and brown on all sides. Reduce heat to to medium-low, and continue cooking chicken until tender, about 20 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet and drain on paper towels. Repeat for remaining pieces.
• Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the frying oil. Over low heat, stir in 2 tablespoons of the reserved flour mixture. Stirring constantly, cook about 2 minutes. Whisk in chicken stock, scraping browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. Stir in 1 cup of milk, and bring all to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about five minutes. Serve immediately with chicken.

Waffles

Original recipe from here

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs (separated)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups milk (I used rice milk)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used apple sauce)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat waffle iron. Beat egg yolk in a large bowl. Add in flour, milk, oil/apple sauce, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla. 
• Beat egg whites in small bowl until frothy. Gently fold in whites to batter mixture. 
• Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour approximately 2/3 cup mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.

Notes: The waffles reheat beautifully. Just stick them under the broiler for a minute and they crisp back up. Same with the chicken; don't microwave it to reheat. Put the chicken in the oven or under the broiler and it will stay crispy. The gravy can be microwaved.