Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Pennsylvania German Tuesday-Chicken and Waffles


Yes, you read that correctly. I said chicken and waffles. I know right now some of you are thinking I've finally gone around the bend. Trust me ok? This is good stuff. And just so we are clear there's no syrup involved because that would be gross. Basically it's chicken and gravy over waffles. Listen, if you can eat S.O.S. you can eat this. It's the same idea. And yes, I do like S.O.S. Yes, this is Pennsylvania German food although down south you find some folks who fry their chicken, sit it on a waffle, and pour gravy over that. I'm sorry, that's an abomination.

The non-abomination version is Depression food. I don't mean "woe is me, my boyfriend broke up with me so I need a pint of Ben & Jerry's to console me." I mean " I got a houseful of hungry kids and not a lot of money so how do I stretch what I have?"

Backing up a bit, Sunday was the first Sunday since October when no in at Casa de Lime had to go anywhere and there were no impending holidays. I decided it was time for a nice family dinner and I had a new recipe for chicken roasted in a cilantro orange marinade that I wanted to try. It was a bit of a disaster. I'm not sure if my oven temp is off or the bird wasn't completely thawed or what but after roasting it to a perfect golden brown, checking for doneness (I thought I had it right) and letting it rest before carving into it I discovered it was pink in the middle. Very aggravating and entirely disappointing. After we picked off the done parts I made a big pot of stock with the rest of it. It made a gorgeous pot of stock and a big pile of chicken after I picked the rest off the bones. Thus we came to have chicken and waffles. (See? It's that whole stretch the food dollar thing...in theory we had one good meal of roast chicken and now we have another good meal of chicken and waffles off the same carcass.)

Ok, the recipe. It's way easy. For the waffles I just use this recipe. I won't bother commenting on it except to say I love me some Alton Brown. I like the humor and geek factor he brings to cooking. I've used a lot of different waffle recipes but this one has become my favorite.

Now, the chicken and gravy part. Here's what I did.
1/4 C. butter
1/4 C. flour
pepper to taste
2 C. chicken stock

1. Melt the butter, toss in the flour and pepper to make a roux. Mix it all around.
(I once described the recipe to a friend who is a chef and now teaches chef wannabes. I thought he'd weep with joy when I used the word roux because he said his students failed to recognize the importance. Roux Roux Roux your gravy, gently on the stove. Merrily, merrily, merrily merrily, life is such a ....um....what rhymes with stove? Never mind, moving on..)
2. Slowly add in the stock as you keep whisking.
3. Bring to a boil over medium heat and let the gravy thicken.
4. Stir often.
(A real chef would probably stay stir constantly. I had other stuff going on, so it was often, not constant. I mean I had to change the CD player because I gotta have my tunes when I cook. For this recipe I recommend Amos Lee and Sheryl Crow. They were the perfect accompaniment. Some folks do wine pairings. I do music pairings. But ya know, if you'd rather some death metal with your chicken and waffles who am I to say otherwise. Just never, EVER use Neil Diamond. I am violently allergic to him. He will ruin your gravy mojo. Really, just mentioning him makes me break out in hives. Henceforth, he shall be "the singer who is not named.")

5. After your gravy thickens toss in some of the chicken you pulled off the bones from making stock. How much? Hmm, a couple of handfuls or so.
(I have small hands. If you have big hands you probably won't use more than a hand and a half. Andre the Giant might just use a pinch. Verne Troyer, well, he might need half a dozen handfuls. What? You didn't make your own stock so you didn't pull any chicken off any bones? This guy will tell you how if you need to know. Ok, well then if you used bouillon and water anyway, go grab a piece of leftover chicken and pull some meat off some bones so you can throw it in the gravy. And seriously, aren't you glad I opted to limit comment on Alton's waffle recipe? You're already wondering if you're ever going to get through a simple gravy. )

Finally, thrown some waffles on a plate, ladle the chicken and gravy over them and voila! You now have a plate of food that looks like someone hurled on it.




Yes, I know it's not pretty food. The Limelettes all talk about how gross it looks but they all like this dish. They all slurp it up with gusto. They are all happy to eat it. I think part of their joy is making barfing sounds when they are served it. They get away with that because I know they actually like this stuff and will eat it.


Besides, if you've gone to the trouble of making waffles to pour chicken and gravy over you get to have this for dessert...but only if you've eaten your dinner.

36 comments:

furiousBall said...

whoa... that looks awesome. did i ever tell you that abbe is penn-dutch? her family is from longswamp, pa

Maddy said...

I for one appreciate any recipe that fills the masses. As it is I'm already making two loaves and 24 rolls daily [the rolls are pretty little]

I'm keen on waffles but I hate cleaning the machine as all the batter seems to get in the hinge / lock part.

Top of the class for 'roux, roux, roux your boat!'
Cheers

Bijoux said...

For someone who is German, I just can't handle that style of "truck driver eating" but I'm glad you carry on the PA Dutch tradition, Lime. I don't even eat waffles!

EmBee said...

Grove... Grove rhymes with stove.

And HEY? A little 'Cracklin' Rosy' can be a culinary delight... We've often had waffles or pancakes on a Sunday morn or even a 'September Morn' and Neil... Uh, I'm sorry, 'He who shall not be named' made our meal all the more delightful.

As for that greenish tinged... Ungh, I can't look at it anymore, I have to make breakfast for myself soon and I don't want that pic floating around in my head while I do... I'll just take your word for it that it's delicious and cost effective but well... To me, it's YOUR Neil Diamond. That dessert though, well... You had me at hello!
:-)

G-Man said...

Syrup over waffles with fried chicken is FAR from gross!!!
Get that out of your mind right now!
Places that serve a version of Chicken Nuggets, usually serve it with honey.
When you get honey always with buttermilk biscuits, if you get that as your side with most fried chicken places..
Many people LOVE saurkraut...
Some people hate it..
I HATE liver, some weirdo's love it!
And how about venison?
Don't be food trashin Trini!!!
But thanks for sharing your recipe'.
I'm not being difficult, I like peanut butter and bacon.

Craver Vii said...

Ewww... the presentation doesn't do it justice; I'll have to take your word for it. In Puerto Rico, we have "pasteles." They're funny brown things that look like they've already been digested, but they taste great.

The dessert picture took me to a happy place. Thanks for that. :-)

Jocelyn said...

I thought chicken and waffles was a classic Harlem dish! Hmmm. Are the Pennsylvania Dutch actually African-American? I think I'm onto something here.

No surprise, sista: I adore Alton Brown, too.

Desmond Jones said...

Looks good, Lime. I admit, serving the chicken/gravy over waffles is a new twist for me. We'll serve something like that over toast, or even bread, but waffles is interesting. . .

But that dessert is just pure decadence. . .

Unknown said...

Aww man, I love me some chicken and waffles! I haven't had that since I was a kid, and now, unfortunately, that's considered to be not the best type of food for these hips. I will enjoy it vicariously thru your photo instead. Thanks for keeping the dutchie food alive and well!

S said...

No! Not happening over here.
Can I please skip to the dessert waffles mom?

There is this sandwich called the monte cristo which is something like swiss cheese, corned beef or ham or something...and WITH syrup.

EWWW

Have you ever seen that Arthur where a new little girl moves in next door and DW goes over for dinner. The little girls peas and potatoes are touching which sets the girl off into a scream.
The wiser older 5 year old DW quickly takes a butter knife and separates the potatoes from the peas which makes the little girl very happy.
"It's a 3 year old thing," Dw explains to the parents, "All foods on the plate must never touch each other"

:P
Im kindof like that.

Im sure its delicious, but not pretty at all.

S said...

Oh yeah, and I am a Navy brat of a lifer, but I have never had SOS.

Ananda girl said...

I will have to try this one! We do S.O.S. quite regularly. I have boys, so gross is always good and so is volume.

Craver Vii said...

(gasp) "S" doesn't like the idea of the Monte Cristo? Oh man, I've had that sandwich and WOW, that tastes sooooo good! S, I wish you would just try it.

~Dragonfly~* said...

I'm from Pennsylvania and Dutch.... but never had chicken and gravy... our version... just as much "depression" food as ever... was waffles with butter and sugar on them and split pea and ham soup to go along with them.

Funny though... as the grand kids came along and we always had Tuesday night dinners with my mom.... she made the soup and waffles for us... and just went right to waffles with strawberries on them for the kids!!! Dessert for dinner!!! I still prefer the soup... as do my thighs!!! :)

Another favorite "depression" recipe... apples and noodles!!! Yummy!!!

DF

Suldog said...

I'm such a northerner, even to someone from PA. Whenever anyone says "chicken and waffles", I always picture a big drumstick wrapped up in a waffle.

Anyway, that looks pretty good to me, even if you think it looks like someone yakked. It looks not unlike chicken a la king, which was something my Dad cooked for Sunday breakfast on occasion. He'd serve that over toast.

Anonymous said...

Sweet!!! Being new to the Chicken and Waffles, it's awresome to see your recipe! We'll definitely have to try it!~

EmBee said...

I'm with Craver Vii... S shouldn't be dissin' the Monte Cristo without trying it, because that there combination of ham, turkey, swiss, french toast and jam is heaven on a plate... Not to mention a caloric nightmare, but we won't say anymore about that.

lecram said...

Dang! You've made me hungry.

Mona said...

I wonder what SOS is here!

But the chicken looks great & the treat to follow looks greater! :)

Anonymous said...

My dad and I were visiting my sister in Texas last week and we brought up chicken and waffles. :)
It was big in NC. I lived there for a year. My sister said it was on a menu in Southern CA. Never tried it but I do love waffles and I do love chicken.

jillie said...

I am thinking that the syrup, fried chicken and waffles have the salty sweet thing going on.

I like my waffles, Belgium and PLAIN...lol! Yes, I am a wierdo when it comes to my food. It more about texture and once something gets soggy...that's it for moi. I gag...LOL! You are SOOOOOOOOOOO lucky you didn't have me for a kid. If it wasn't PB&J on white bread no less, chicken soup, PLAIN hamburger or grilled cheese, I wasn't eating...lol. My poor mother.

RennyBA said...

You always give me credit for learning something from my post about Norway: Now you got me! I've never heard about German waffles with chicken and was a bit sceptical at first. However, after reading the story and gone through the recipe, I am convinced - sounds a looks great to me.

Anonymous said...

Oh my God! I mean no offense but the look of it doesn't work for me. Not that I eat chicken anyway, so I guess it's irrelevant. But waffles I like.

for a different kind of girl said...

Oh...I'm just not sure I could do that! Now, if you had put all that over a heaping pile of mashed potatoes, you'd never see my face because it would be buried in that, but for me, waffles, butter and some warm syrup is the only way to go. At least until it was time for the waffle sundae, that is!

airplanejayne said...

You know I love you

-but-

yuckyuckyuckyuckyuck.

Gravy on chicken. Fine -- as long as the gravy doesn't go all commando and start touching other things on the plate - like the veggies and applesauce.

Waffles - yum. with ice cream, with syrup, with fruit. all fine.

Gravy on chicken on waffles?!?!?!?!?

yuckyuckyuckyuck.

This is not the dinner-at-your-house that I will come to.

Ummm....but can I come for dessert?

xoxo

g

Fred said...

I would have never put the two together. But then again, I mix eggs with my tuna salad, so who am I to talk?

Jeni said...

Chicken with waffles and also a scoop of mashed potatoes too, used to be a standing Sunday dinner special at one of the truckstops where I was employed over my lovely food service career. And, every Sunday, it was standing room only too for hours as locals waited to get in to a table and order their fair share of this delightful dish. Yep! It is good, damned good, food! You'll get no argument whatsoever from me on this recipe, Lime! And you best be glad this past weekend my son was on his way home from California cause if he'd thought someone, somewhere in southern Pennsylvania was having some good dessert with fresh strawberries involved, I think his radar would have gone crazy until he'd honed in on your place!
Peace.

Cheesy said...

Ok that is IT! I am adding a waffle making to my wish list.. I miss my old broken beast. Ugly food deserves love too!


You are KILLING me with the berries dear one....

KFarmer said...

When my dad made SOS, we kids called it "SAVE OUR STOMACHS!" he put so much crushed red and black pepper in it. We would cry when we found out it was on the menu...

I have left over chicken~ I may just try the waffle trick :)

Suldog said...

Mona - SOS stands for "Sh*t On a Shingle" and is what many military guys called creamed chipped beef on toast. My Dad (ex-Navy) loved it. I found it entirely disgusting.

Hilary said...

Oh that sounded pretty good.. but doesn't look quite as appealing. Somehow it didn't match the image in my brain.

I'll have that dessert now, please, ok?

tsduff said...

It looks like it would taste delicious - but not such a Martha Stewart presentation ha ha

The dessert is beautiful!

Anonymous said...

I have grown up with chicken and waffles since I was a little girl. yummmm. My grandmothers reciped includes a scrambled egg tempered in the gravy . also the waffles are made by folding in the egg whites. my mom would keep the waffle iron on the table and throw us the hot ones when they were ready. In recent years I added peas to the gravy to give the kids their veggies

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing... we had this for dinner tonight to mixed reviews. My husband said it ate way better than it looked. My oldest daughter thought the chicken was good. My youngest daughter loved the combo. My son ate the waffles and left the chicken. Something for everyone!

I didn't have leftover chicken. I boiled chicken in water with a few celery stalks, some onion, a few carrots and some garlic. After straining the resulting broth, with the exception of adding some sea salt, I followed your recipe. Easy, good... didn't heat up the house.

Steve Ziegler said...

Thanks so much for posting this! I especially like the fact that you call our Southern-style Chicken and Waffles for the nonsense that it is. I love our own Lancaster County chicken and waffles more than just about any other meal (well, other than pot pie--no crust!).

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love creamed chicken over waffles. I also grew up eating this in my grandmother's pa dutch home and perhaps it's how we were raised but we got used to these healthy staple foods that our grandparents fed us. Our grandparents were in the Depression and they learned how to make food on a budget almost similar to how we need to do nowadays. Shoo fly pie, baked acorn squash, turnips with potatoes and onions similar to colcannon, baked corn, chipped beef over toast...much more I remember and still do today for my family and friends. They have never heard of these recipies and it feels good to hand down these recipies that are not only good comfort food but easy on your wallet. Creamed chicken over waffles is much better than chicken ala king. I think the waffles add a taste that toast doesnt do. It may look gross on picture but trust me this dish is simply delish and goes down fast.
Thanks for sharing:)