Apparently in Southern USA fried chicken and waffles is a staple meal, to be found in any self-respecting diner. It’s just deep-fried chicken, waffles, maple syrup and butter. Sounds odd, but we’re up for trying it!

We’re gong to bake our chicken, rather than deep-fry it, using Cook’s Country’s technique of including baking powder in a dry rub to crisp up the skin. Also to go with the Southern style we’ll be spicing things up by including some Cajun spice with extra jalapeño powder in the rub:

• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp Cajun spices
• 1 tsp jalapeño powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

That all goes in a zip-lock bag, and the chicken gets added and tossed until coated.

Hehe – it’s all green and in-keeping with the Irish theme for the St Patrick’s Day weekend!

Then it’s onto a wire rack and into a cool 110C fan oven for 30 minutes, before being jacked up to 200C fan for another 40-50 minutes. It then rests while we make the waffles.

For the waffles we’re going to give it a cornbread twist by adding some cornmeal (polenta) instead of some of the flour, so the recipe (which gets made the night before and popped in the fridge over night) becomes:

• 1 cup refreshed rye sourdough
• 1/2 cup wholemeal flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal (polenta)
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp golden caster sugar
• 2 tbsp canola oil

As always 5 minutes cooking time in the waffle machine, and serve with maple syrup & butter!

Wow – that really works! Spicy chicken, sticky maple syrup, crisp waffles… delicious! No wonder this dish is so popular across the pond!