Buttermilk Fried Chicken
This dish is brought to you straight from Harlem. Fried chicken and waffles was invented by the singers and musicians who performed in Harlem’s storied jazz age. Those gigs would last until the early hours of the morning, when the musicians spilled out into the neighborhood’s restaurants. Hungry after a long night and still in their evening clothes and mind-sets, they found fried chicken fit the bill. At the same time, the sun would be rising, and a breakfast of waffles sounded pretty good, too. And so waffles became a bed for fried chicken, and a soul-food classic was born. I put my own riff on the dish by adding nutty wild rice to the waffles and serving the whole thing up with a sauce of honey and sweet, mildly peppery pink peppercorns.
Recipe information
Yield
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
Chicken
Wild Rice Waffles
HONEY–PINK PEPPERCORN SAUCE
Preparation
Step 1
To cook the chicken, whisk together 4 cups of the buttermilk, 2 tablespoons salt, and the chile de árbol in a large bowl or baking dish. Add the chicken, turn to coat, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Step 2
Pour the remaining 2 cups buttermilk into a bowl. Stir together the flour, garlic and onion powders, paprika, and cayenne in a large bowl, season generously with salt and pepper, and then divide between 2 shallow platters. Drain the chicken in a colander and pat it dry. Dredge the pieces a few at a time in one platter of the flour mixture, pat off any excess, then dip in the buttermilk and allow any excess to drain off. Dredge in the second platter of flour and pat off the excess. Put the chicken pieces on a wire rack set over a baking sheet.
Step 3
Pour about 3 inches of oil into a deep cast-iron skillet; the oil should not come more than halfway up the sides of the pan. Put the skillet over medium-high heat and heat the oil to 375°F on a deep-fat thermometer. Add the chicken to the hot oil, 3 or 4 pieces at a time, and fry, turning the pieces occasionally, until evenly golden brown and cooked through, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a rack to drain; repeat to cook the remaining pieces.
Step 4
To make the waffles, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Step 5
Whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and oil in a separate large bowl. Pour over the flour mixture and whisk until the mixture just comes together. Add the wild rice and fold until just combined. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Step 6
While the mixture is resting, heat the waffle maker. Brush the waffle grates with some melted butter and cook the waffles according to the manufacturer’s directions.
Step 7
Serve the fried chicken with waffles and drizzle both with some of the honey–pink peppercorn sauce.
HONEY–PINK PEPPERCORN SAUCE
Step 8
Stir together the honey, peppercorns, lime zest, and juice in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Cover and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or refrigerate for up to 1 day. Bring to room temperature before serving.
