Mdln here's another one!

Everyone to his own taste. The pictures above are something I wouldn't eat. Mother's been dead for 12 years and no pictures remain of her chicken and waffle dinner. I looked thru her recipe book last night and found the waffle recipe...No wonder they were so good and light, she beat three egg whites into the batter.

First time I had them was years ago at the Motown restaurant in New York, they were so delish. Since then I've had them twice, not quite as good.

Rhizo wrote:

"I know that lots of foods are regional in origin but chicken and waffles
in various forms have been served in all manner of restaurants across
the country for a century or more"

IDK, I've been in LOTS of restaurants in the PNW for 60+ years and have never, ever seen or heard of this dish, nor had it referenced or served by anyone I've ever known. This may be one place it missed. There are so many transplants here now, I wouldn't be surprised to find it on a menu these days though.

Just the thought of it makes me gag. I've heard of it and I think it's becoming somewhat "trendy", even though it's been around a while. A waffle, soggy with gravy, and greasy chicken to boot. Sorry, not for me.

My mother would find it strange that this ancient recipe is now 'trending". The chicken was not greasy, just stewed and pulled off the bone covered with her home-made gravy which none of us can duplicate. That said, I don't eat this kind of food now..the good old PA Dutch chicken pot pie, Chicken and waffles and other wholesome comfort food. Way too much food for me. And gravy...ewww.

It's a very big trend in the San Francisco Bay Area. An extension of KFC, which around here stands not for The Colonel, but for Korean Fried Chicken.

Here it's mostly a waffle, sometimes Belgian, sometimes cornmeal, sometimes a regular waffle, with thick-battered fried chicken (no bones or at least partially boned out), butter and maple syrup. A few Southern places serve it with cane syrup but that's rare.

I've had one to see what all the fuss was about, at a very well-regarded breakfast spot. Wouldn't bother ordering it ever again. Like poutine, what's the point in making a crispy, crusty starch and then turning it soggy? The style of fried chicken here is so heavily battered you can barely find the chicken sometimes, LOL.

I love fried chicken, but to me it's all about the chicken, not the batter.

I love Korean chicken (I've never seen it with a waffle) and Korean food in general. The hotter the better. Korean chicken is the one exception I make in trying to avoid fried food but I don't have it frequently.

Korean style chicken has been a big deal in SoCal for a long time. There's a much larger and more visible Korean-American presence there. And many more very good Korean restaurants.

I adore chicken and waffles. Pennsylvania Dutch version for me. Toasted waffles covered with shredded chicken and gravy. Give me mashed potatoes with corn and gravy on top or French fries with gravy. Mmmmmmmm. And mmmmmm again!

I will admit, I never even thought about putting syrup on them. Not with the chicken and gravy. Now.......waffles with butter and syrup with a side of bacon or sausage?.......I'm in. :)

I have never heard of the Pennsylvania version with gravy and stewed chicken. I would definitely try it. I don't like soggy waffles either. The type I eat are not at all soggy and the fried chicken is not greasy, it is possible to make fried chicken that is not soggy and greasy. Two very distinct versions of chicken and waffles.

Now I want chicken and waffles after all this discussion lol

LOL, raven, I was just thinking the same thing. Maybe give it a try. :-)

Greasy fried food= pick up piece of fried food between thumb and index finger. Put it down on the plate. Rub thumb and index finger together and they will feel as if you'd just handled an oily piece of machinery. That's what greasy is to me.

I'm going to defend Belgian waffles. The kind obtainable in Belgium and sometimes further described as being of the Liege type. They are the most delicious thing you can imagine. Caramelized sugar on the outside, rich and buttery with vanilla and other flavors. Best eaten hot and obtained from a street vendor but also there are some fixed establishments that offer them. Also good drizzled with chocolate sauce.

"Belgian waffles" I've had in the US share only the name and otherwise have nothing even remotely in common with the real thing.

I've had it once, but I got it at a restraunt, where they over cooked the chicken and it was dry.

But isn't that what the gravy and syrup are for - so it isn't dry? :)

Even after pouring over a heavy amount it was still super dry! They probably over cooked it by 15 minutes! :/

I only eat the soul food version. I don't make it at home. It's a treat to go out to a soul food restaurant. SOS on a waffle does not appeal to me at all. I am not someone who eats a lot of gravy or other "wet" soupy food. If I have gravy I generally have it on the side unless it's a hot open faced roast beef or turkey sandwich. Even then I have been know to keep the gravy on the side.

Properly fried food should not be greasy. There is far more fat and grease in some gravy and sauces than you will get in a piece of properly fried chicken.

Me too, if I am going to try someone else's gravy I prefer it on the side. I am picky about the quality of my gravy. My mom and sisters make the best gravy in the world. Mom was best but those days are gone. I wish I was as good as she was but I am pretty good. Not as good with the white. I have had some horrendous white gravy or what they sold as white gravy in reality in could have been paste out of a jar. My husband loves a good quality beef chicken fried steak with the gravy. I never get it with gravy poured on. He is brave and let's them put it on the steak.

When I read the title of this thread, my first thought was Chicken and Waffles . . . . TOGETHER????!! I thought it was a joke.

I believe I will pass.

I don't find it appealing, but would love the chicken with raven's gravy!

Pirate House in Savannah Ga has the bestest fried chicken. They have on their buffet maple syrup with pecans, at the end of the line to serve over their fried chicken. You cannot believe how good that is.

I agree about gravy, watchme, I try to avoid it, the suspended grease in it is usually easy to sense and taste.

Fried food does seem to be much more common in the South and neighboring areas than in other parts of the country. I can't remember having fried food, including in the South, that wasn't greasy.

I'll treat myself to french fries or tempura in a good Japanese restaurant every once in awhile but not often.

Properly fried food is hard to find, in my experience.

Most do end up being greasy.

I almost always prefer home cooked food simply because I can adjust to my taste and make it fresh.

I can hardly eat fried rice anymore, even at the fancy Kabuki style restaurants as it is so greasy and salty compared to what my husband makes. Same goes for waffles (which really are fried if you think about it).

He makes a delicious waffle on the antique waffle iron I gave him a few years ago. They are the only waffles I will eat anymore.

I like chicken ok. I like Belgian waffles. I don't like them together, especially with gravy. I'd be able to down them eating the chicken on the side, and the plain waffle as "bread", but not enthusiastically.

I am clear up in Maine & have heard of this, although only in the last year or so. I have eyed the Lay's potato chips of this flavor combo but since I don't much care for any of the other's, figured I may as well pass & try the real thing at some point. I will likely try the crispy fried chicken version vs the stewed meat, that just sounds nasty....

I've not had it and not sure if I would order it but would taste it if someone else ordered it. Around here the waffle is just another "bread" to put fried chicken and chicken gravy on.

Never heard of fried chick and waffles - we always had Chicken King on waffles in Maryland.

Texas, would you consider sharing your dh's fried rice recipe? I make it very simply with soy (Tamari) sauce, beans, carrots and onions, but I'm thinking there may be more to it.

I'm afraid chicken and waffles sounds awful to me. The first time I heard of it I thought it was a joke. I did occasionally eat waffles and bacon for dinner growing up, but haven't done since I was a kid.

I've heard of it. I would have no interest in trying it. Except perhaps deconstructed as someone above suggested. I'd eat the waffles for breakfast with maple syrup and then have the fried chicken for lunch and I'd either pour the gravy on the dog's food or down the drain.

Even the carefully composed professional photos of the dish on the different commercial packages shown above, which are designed to show the dish in an idealized best-case-presentation, do not tempt me in the slightest. If offered I'd probably respond, "No thanks, I ate a little bit earlier"

" I make fried rice very simply with soy (Tamari) sauce, beans, carrots and onions, but I'm thinking there may be more to it." Um yeah. You forgot the rice. :-)

I thought it sounded gross - but I tried it at a very expensive restaurant and WOW! LOVED it! Syrup, not gravy. So delicious I had it again the next time I went there. It's not something normally on menus where I live. I heard it was a southern dish, but after reading the replies here, maybe not!

I like both chicken AND waffles but not together :-) There is nothing about that combo that tempts me at all. And I dislike syrup in any form - sickly sweet, sticky and makes everything it is poured over soggy - yuk!! I like my waffles and pancakes plain with just butter. No syrup, no jam, no powdered sugar and certainly no gravy. That's another yuk!!

Chicken and waffles have been a very popular menu item here in Northern CA for the past few years, from fast food places to very upscale restaurants. It has also been served hor d'oeuvre size at events I've attended. Done right, it's actually quite good!

It's funny as a kid you think the whole country lives and eats as you do. I realize I grew up in a very homogenous town with few minorities. In this part of PA, German heritage is the norm. This particular dish was so delicious but I can see why it grosses people out. Her homemade waffles were crisp and her gravy with the tender chicken just made the perfect dish always with mashed potatoes. I wouldn't eat this type of food anymore as good as it was because I eat entirely differently now. 99% vegetarian and never gravy or any fried foods.

Another dish many of you never heard I would guess is chicken pot pie. Anyone outside of PA ever heard of that dish?

Lily, I'm in California and chicken pot pie has been around for decades. Yum, I love it!

I think that Chicken Pot Pie is quite well known, although I could be wrong. In MA and NH, at least, it's common.

Doesn't everyone know chicken pot pie?? It is just chicken ala king with a crust!! And is sold in every freezer section of every supermarket I've ever visited!! Swanson's, Stouffers, Marie Callender and Boston Market all make frozen chicken pot pies.

There is a recipe if I recall that is not like the chicken pot pie in the freezer section. I would have to do a search for it but seems to me it is called that and it is cooked on the top of the stove. Anyone else ever made it that way, sort of in a way like chicken and dumplings. That might be what Lily 316 is referring to.

Sue

It's sorta like chicken and dumplings(another dish my mother made), but she made her own dough, rolled it, and cut it into squares. Now her chicken pie was something else. Regular pie crust filled with stewed chicken bites, potatoes, carrots and maybe onions. Looked like a dessert pie till you cut it. This is bringing back all sorts of memories. We ate our big meal at noon(again I thought everyone did), and she got out of bed every morning did household stuff and then made these spectacular dinners always with homemade desserts before noon!!! Anyone of them would be a special occasion meal for me but was an every day thing for her. I'd weigh 200 pounds today if I ate like that but both parents were thin.

Yes, I looked it up and the Amish chicken pot pie, is squares of dough cooked in broth with chicken and slices of potatoes and maybe other things and cooked on top of the stove and it is called, Chicken Pot Pie. It sounds good to me.

Sue

I make the traditional chicken pot pie, I make up enough for several pies and wrap in foil and put it in the freezer. We love it. The fresh made ones at Boston market are pretty good. I put lots of chunky fresh vegetables in mine.

I don't make chicken and dumplings much any more. But I do like good ones. Both of these dishes are another version of chicken with a type of bread /crust.

I am perplexed at the number of people who think a side of fried chicken is gross with a waffle. How is it different from ham and eggs and toast with jam or bacon and eggs with pancakes? What about linguisa, a pork chop or steak as a breakfast meat with eggs, waffles, pancakes or any other combo of breakfast items. What makes chicken so odd to some?

Chicken pot pie. How could someone not know what that is? I don't know one person who wouldn't be familiar with it here in California unless they were a recent immigrant.

I agree Liege waffles done right are awesome. I think Elmer does know I meant the horrid thick doughy things chain restaurants serve.

This thread has reminded me of a breakfast dish I had over on the coast last year that has a similar theme to the chicken and waffles. It is slices of roasted turkey and bacon served between two slices of french toast with maple syrup on the side. I can't remember if there was anything else in the sandwich, but I'm thinking there might have been sliced avocado and melted pepper jack cheese. I thought it sounded very odd for breakfast, but I decided to try it and it truly was delicious. I liked it so much that it is the only thing I order at this particular restaurant now.

watchme, in my mind chicken just isn't a breakfast food nor is it meant to be an ingredient on pizza. If I were going to order chicken and waffles, it would be for lunch. It's all how people look at things, I guess.

The above sounds like a variation on a monte cristo sandwich, which makes an excellent breakfast or brunch meal! Typically served with jam or syrup but you could skip both for me :-))

In fact I like all manner of "breakfast sandwiches".....just leave off the sweet stuff.

Being from Georgia, I've had my share. Totally hits the spot when I need sweet and salty.

MMMM. Love a good Monte Christo. The best ones are the battered and fried ones like those served at Disneyland instead of the ones that are just meat and cheese filled layers of French toast.

Dawn I am with you on the pizza. I have tried, I really have. but chicken on pizza is just wrong to me and like you I live where it is very popular.

Chicken and waffles is best enjoyed as night time breakfast. I am not a big breakfast eater in the morning. Some cheese and fruit or toast with some protein does it for me.

I don't like waffles ..the butter never melts right in those square pockets. I don't use gravy and don't care for fried chicken (I pull the skin off when I do have it somewhere ).

I could live off of fried chicken. Easily.