Chicken and Waffles Anyone?

I have had chicken and waffles three times in my life.

The first time was at an classy Beverly Hills restaurant called Bouchon.  The second time was when I made some good old fashioned buttermilk fried chicken and decided to jump on the C & W bandwagon to see if I could pull it off at home (I sorta did...but the sauce was not quite right!).  And, just like the saying goes...third time's the charm!  It was just last weekend for our seventeenth wedding anniversary.  I had heard so much about Calgary restaurant Model Milk, specifically about about their chicken and waffles for two, I HAD to have them.

Crispy fried (and not greasy) tender chicken, waffles (more like squished Yorkshire puddings...but they were delicious) served on top of a chicken maple gravy (and a side salad with fresh greens and radishes in a light lemony dressing).   Of course we also had the foie gras for our appie,  which they made twice by mistake...lucky us!

 It. Was. Heaven.

Foie gras with cornbread toast to start (twice....)

Followed by chicken and waffles for 2....

Lets load up my plate!!!!

Ah yes...pass the salad please!!!!

So what is the history of this unique combo, that has crispy savoury chicken and delicious fluffy waffles served with a maple gravy?

The Chicken Story...

• 1300's: Chicken Fricassee popular in French Cuisine...fried chicken braised in a sauce.  By the 17th Century, it evolved to a more traditional fried chicken, coated in egg and breadcrumbs and fried in butter....
• 1800's:  Fried chicken evolves by the African slaves in Southern kitchens
• 1940's:  Harlan Sanders (aka Colonel Sanders) developed his signature fried chicken

The Waffle Story....(and how these two foods got together)

• Waffles were seen in the middle ages and made by bakeries that also made communion wafers
• 1600's: Pilgrams brought waffles to America after seeing them during a brief stop in Holland.  The earliest combination of chicken and waffles was seen in Pennsylvania Dutch country..waffles topped with pulled chicken and gravy
• As with everything...the combination evolved...soul-food inspired versions were seen at jazz clubs in America in the 1930's. 
• 1976:  A restaurant in America opens called Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles.  
• The dish continues to gain in popularity today, being recreated and reinvented from a fast food style to a high end restaurant style C & W dish. 

Happy Anniversary!   

I for one am a fan, and will definitely be going back to Model Milk for more!

Chicken Marbella Anyone???

Mixed brown and white rice, chicken marbella and
wilted kale salad with hot balsamic dressing

As a Dietitian, I am constantly talking about food.  When I am not talking about food, I am usually eating food or thinking about food, meal-planning,  recipe-searching or just wishing I was eating more food.  I have really tried to get into the habit of meal-planning for our week to make things a bit easier on our time and our wallets (less chance of eating out if something is planned at home!)

Mondays is usually "slow-cooker-Monday" as our daughter has piano, and usually there is at least one ice time.  The rest of the week will be me cooking three times, leftovers or pull-something-from-the-freezer two times, and then one meal where we just leave open and it could be anything from our Finger Food Friday meal, to soup and sandwiches

What's on the menu this week?

Chicken Marbella....marinated in prunes, figs,
garlic, wine, olives, capers....

Monday: Spaghetti (cooked on weekend, froze it, and dumped it in the slow cooker on low yesterday...yummmmmmy!)

Tuesday:  New recipe, and the inspiration for this blog post...Chicken Marbella......

Wednesday:  Sausage and pasta with broccoli coleslaw (simple, quick, everyone will eat it, done.)

Thursday:  Quick Moo Shoo Pork (from Canadian Living a few months ago...delicious!)

Friday....Finger Food Friday up in Sherwood Park as we are going to visit the in-laws!

Tonight's meal was inspired by a friend of mine who gave me some to try....I died and went to heaven in that moment...it was just so tasty!   It is a recipe from a series of cookbooks called "Whitewater Cooks" (and coincidentally, these cookbooks are on my Christmas Wish List).  This recipe is super easy as you mix it all up the night before in a casserole dish, and then pop it in the oven when you get home from work!


Chicken Marbella
1 large pack of chicken thighs, boneless and skinless (my pack was about 3 - 4 lb)

Marinade
6 cloves of minced garlic
1 TBSP dried oregano
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 cup red wine vinegar **
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup pitted prunes, chopped
1/2 cup dried figs, quartered
1/2 cup chopped green olives (I did very few of these as I have an "olive-hater" in my house)
1/4 cup capers with a bit of the caper juice
3 bay leaves
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white wine

Place thighs in a 9x13 glass casserole dish.  Combine all the marinade together. ** I did not have any red wine vinegar, but substituted some old red wine that was demoted to cooking wine, and threw in a bit of apple cider vinegar that I had.   Once all combined, mixed, chopped, etc...pour over chicken, cover and place in fridge to let the flavours infuse.   Note that this recipe needs to be done the night before to let those flavours sit.  Once ready to cook, bake for about 45 - 50 min at 350 convection uncovered.   Turn the chicken once during baking, basting with the juices.  Once golden brown...its done! Serve with rice and salad.  

It was so delicious, even my "olive-hater" enjoyed it!!

Soulful Chicken Soup

There are days, and there are soup days.   There is nothing like an amazing bowl of home made chicken soup.  Something about the aroma, and the feeling you get from that first spoonful....ahhhhh.....yummy in my tummy!   I went to pick up the kids today from my friends house and she had just made a pot of home made chicken soup.  Everyone was having a small bowl for a snack, and I was also offered a bowl.  Best. Soup. Ever.  I have posted the recipe below, but its more of a method than a recipe as it has no amounts, but with soup you really can't go wrong.

For the broth:

• Next time you roast a chicken for dinner, save them bones!  Real bones make the best broth, and you can always toss the carcass in a ziploc bag and freeze it if you aren't going to use it right away.  
• Another tip:  save your washed vegetable peelings (i.e., carrots, celery ends) and freeze them.  Add these to the broth and strain them out afterwards.   Flavour, flavour flavour!
• Throw in a bay leaf; salt and pepper to taste.

For the soup:

• Save some of that roasted chicken for the soup.  You can cut some up ahead of time, and after you strain the bones from the broth, you can strip off all the meat.
• Add some chopped celery (including some of the nice leaves), chopped carrot, 1/2 can of garbanzo beans, some green peas,  frozen lima beans, a bit of corn, chopped onion and fresh chopped parsley
• 1-2 cups of Orza pasta (which I typically don't like, but it was AMAZING in the soup!) 

This soup freezes well, is great for a snack (as evidenced today), great for a meal, and great for lunch-leftovers!   And today with that cold wind blowing and the sun not shining, it really was a soup day.  

By the time the first spoonful made it down into my belly, all the days troubles melted away.

And then my son told me his iPod had been stolen at school.  At least he waited until near the end of my bowl to tell me.  Enjoy the soup moments while they last.  They apparently don't last long.   So long, and thanks for the soup!

What's for Dinner?

I love to cook, honestly I do, and I think I am good at it. But what I don't love is the time that I don't have to do it. Being a bit of a foodie, and a bit high maintenance (oh you know I am!) I really try and plan my meals ahead of time. It doesn't always work, and there are some nights where we have toast and eggs but that's okay too. I find the more effort I put into meal planning, the more I get out of the time I don't have to prepare the meal. This past week, for example, I roasted not one, but two whole chickens, with the intention of eating leftovers the next day. Unfortunately, my plan backfired, as nobody was happy with leftovers yesterday. Sigh. Fortunately for me, I have a very proactive husband, who took matters into his own hands, and used the leftovers in a chicken pot pie and made home-made biscuits! The kids loved it! Today was day 3, and there was just enough for a nice big pot of chicken soup. We loaded the soup with potatoes, celery, carrots and some macaoroni, seasoned it up, and had it with some bread. Another success! So my chicken lasted for 3 days...and did I mention my husband and I even took some leftover pot pie for lunch today? Now what the hell am I going to cook tomorrow? Better start planning!