The Slider Effect: a book about buns, meat, and condiments. What's not to love? Hint: nothing. Oh, also the author is one of our bff blogging buddies and he's super cute and (maybe more importantly?) super talented. We first met Jon on one of his trips to New Orleans and immediately realized he was going to become a good friend because he was able to meet our only 'good-friend' requirement which is that you have to be able to polish off a few bottles of wine with us and pretend you don't notice when our teeth turn that beautiful and sad shade of wine-purple. It's been a little over a year since we've last seen him, but his cookbook just came out and now we miss him and reading the book is bringing back fun memories and OK this is actually making us sad so let's talk about fried chicken and waffles. Fried chicken and waffles make us happy.

We're good southern girls, so this particular carb and meat combo is near and dear to our hearts in a major way. When we saw fried chicken and waffles being used in this book we were like, "Oh Jon made fried chicken and waffle sliders, bless his heart" and decided to put the recipe to the test. Yeah, we were kinda wondering how this California boy's rendition of the southern classic was going to turn out, with maybe a little side eye. Well we're dumb because it's fucking amazing and we will never ever doubt Jon again. Unless he tries to get weird with gumbo, then we might doubt him. Jon, we love you, but don't you dare try to get weird with gumbo.

This recipe basically calls upon the lord of all things moist, buttermilk, to produce fried chicken that is juicy as all get out. Then, Slider Savior Jon demands these chunks of chicken get sandwiched between two Belgian waffles, which, like, O-freaking-K we won't say no. There's some other stuff going on like an amazing mustard sauce and bacon and lettuce but it all becomes a blur of slider ecstasy so check out the recipe below for more details. If you'd like to get into a similar food-heaven coma from the many other awesome looking sliders in Jon's book, you can find out where to purchase it, here! Have a great week, sweeties!

Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Waffle Biscuits from The Slider Effect

Makes 12 sliders

4 (6 to 8 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon granulated onion
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
3 cups buttermilk, divided in half*
Canola oil for frying (we used about 1.5 quarts)
Sweet & Spicy Honey Mustard (recipe below)
12 Waffle Buns (recipe below) or 6 frozen Belgian waffles cut into quarters
6 lettuce leaves, cut in half
3 medium tomatoes, sliced
2 ripe avocados, pitted, peeled, and sliced
12 pieces bacon, cut in half and cooked until crispy

Cut each chicken breast into 3 pieces, resulting in 12 evenly shaped pieces. Place in a large mixing bowl and cover with 1 1/2 cups buttermilk. Cover tightly with plastic and let chill in the fridge for 4 to 6 hours.
In a shallow dish, whisk together the flour, salt, pepper, paprika, thyme, granulated onion, and granulated garlic. Pour the remaining 1 1/2 cups buttermilk into a separate shallow dish.
Set a wire rack over a baking sheet. Dredge the chicken by removing it from the buttermilk brine, shaking off excess liquid, dredging it through the flour mix (and shaking off excess), then into the buttermilk, then the flour mix again before letting it rest on the wire rack. Repeat for each piece. Let sit for 10 minutes before continuing on with the recipe.
Set a second wire rack over a baking sheet and preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Pour about 3 inches of the canola oil into a heavy pot (We used our Dutch oven) and heat until a frying thermometer reads 350 degrees. Carefully add a few pieces using tongs, being careful not to splatter or overcrowd the pot. Let fry until brown and crispy, about 12 to 16 minutes. Remove from oil carefully with tongs, drain excess oil and place on the wire rack in the oven to keep warm while you finish the rest of the chicken. Monitor oil temperature closely between batches to maintain a consistent 350 degrees.
Jon says to assemble the slides, spoon mustard onto half the waffles, top with a piece of fried chicken, lettuce, tomato, avocado, bacon, and another waffle. Skewer with a toothpick to hold in place, and serve immediately.

Notes

Jon's book gives instructions for using a jalapeno juice brine instead of the buttermilk. We happened to have way too much buttermilk on hand already so just went with the buttermilk brine, but check out the recipe in his book for jalapeno version!

Waffle Buns

Yields: 12 buns

2 large eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups buttermilk
2 scallions, thinly sliced
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

In a large clean mixing bowl, with a mixer, beat the egg whites on high until stiff peaks form, 6 to 8 minutes. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, cayenne, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
Whisk together egg yolks, oil, and buttermilk in a separate bowl. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in the beaten egg whites, bring careful not to over mix. Lastly, stir in the scallions and cheddar cheese.
Preheat a Belgian waffle iron. Set a wire rack over a baking sheet. Scoop about 1/4 cup of the batter, depending on the size of your waffle iron, into the center. Cook according to the manufacturer's instructions. Your waffles should be a nice golden brown and pretty crispy on the outside. Transfer to the rack to cool and repeat process until all the batter is used. Cut the waffles into triangles and get to making them sliders!

Sweet and Spicy Honey Mustard

Yields: 1 cup

Whisk all of these things in a bowl together until combined: