The Good Chicken & Waffles

Mmm....mmm...mmm...good!

This is basically my favorite thing to eat, now it can be yours as well. It takes forever to make but the results are well worth it.

I call this chicken "the good chicken" because when I lived in the Netherlands, the mother of the family I was living with would always say, "Are you making the good chicken?" whenever I would make this. I later learned that she didn't actually like chicken, unless it was "the good chicken" I made.

The Good Chicken

modified from the Momofuku cookbook

Ingredients
4 chicken thighs
1 cup water
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup rendered duck fat (or pork fat, save the fat from when you make bacon)
optional: a couple strips of bacon


Instructions

1. Make a brine by dissolving the sugar and salt in water. Pour over the chicken and place in the fridge. I do this is the morning before I go to work, so it usually sits there for 8-9 hours. I like my chicken really salty.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 180° f.
3. Take the chicken out of the fridge and discard the brine. Place the chicken in an oven safe pot. Pack the chicken sungly, so you do not have to use as much fat. If you want add the bacon, tuck it in with the chicken now (the bacon helps give the chicken a smokey flavor).
4. Put the chicken in the pre-heated oven for approximately an hour.
5. Once the chicken is nice and confited, take it out of the oven and let it cool. Stick the chicken you won't be cooking right away back in the fridge with the left over fat.
6. Heat your cast iron pan on medium-high heat on the stove top. Once the pan it hot, put the chicken on. I place another pan on top of the chicken to weight it down. If you have a press use that.
7. Cook the chicken for 3-5 minutes, until it is slightly blackened. Flip and cook the same for the other side.
8. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Serve over rice or waffles (see below).
9. Enjoy!

Waffles

Modified from roost blog.

Ingredients
1/2 cups almond flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 scant teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1 scant tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1/2 a banana (I usually eat the other half, but if you are eating the waffles without the chicken, you can serve the waffles with the leftover banana)
optional ginger syrup


Instructions

1. Pre-heat your waffle iron, per the instructions that came with the waffle iron. All irons are different, so you're on your own with this.
2. Mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. 
3. Whisk in the eggs, maple syrup, yogurt and banana.
4. Scoop approximately 1/3 cup of the batter onto your waffle iron. Cook according to waffle iron instructions. (I cook for just over 2 minutes.)
5. Serve with "the good chicken" and ginger syrup (or whatever topping you prefer on your waffles).