Chicken-and-Waffle Bites

I love fried chicken but I have no plans to get a deep fryer anytime soon, so this is my work-around chicken and waffles recipe.  I used canola oil and when that wasn't enough, I added olive oil (I know - that is a bad choice but I did it anyway.).  I chopped boneless, skinless chicken thighs into small pieces, so I only needed an oil depth of about 1 1/2 inches.  I don't have an oil thermometer, so I heated the oil in a very deep pot until a test piece of chicken began to sizzle and then I timed it until it was done (about 3 minutes).  Then I would put it 4-5 small pieces and set the timer for 3 minutes.  It worked! The ingredients are a combination of two recipes, one for baking chicken and one for frying.  I omitted the toothpicks.

2 servings

22 calculated points

Torrontes

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil or peanut oil for frying
• 1 cup Panko
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 frozen mini waffles
• Maple syrup

Directions

In a deep-fat fryer or large deep saucepan, heat 1 1/2 inches of oil to 365 degrees F.

Meanwhile, in a shallow dish, stir together flour, garlic salt, parsley, thyme and pepper.

In a second shallow dish, pour buttermilk. Dip chicken into flour mixture, shake off excess, dip in buttermilk to coat, then dip back in flour mixture, turning to coat.

Fry chicken pieces, one fourth at a time, in hot oil 3 to 4 minutes or until coating is golden brown and chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken; drain on paper towels. Keep warm on baking sheet in a 200 degrees F oven while frying remaining chicken pieces.

Toast waffles according to package directions. Keep toasted waffles wrapped in foil to keep warm. Place one piece of fried chicken on each mini waffle. Skewer together with toothpick or small skewers. Drizzle with maple syrup and top with chopped fresh parsley.