Leave it to me to find the best way to marry the south to the islands: enter oven fried jerk chicken and waffles! It’s like my life, on a plate. Ha!. Your real benefit is this 2-for-1 recipe post that is nothing short of delicious, if I may say so myself. Anthony agrees. Honestly, this is a great alternative to deep-fried chicken- no oil and no sacrifice of crispiness! And of course, it’s jerk, so you know it’s #hulkapproved. Success! Bonus points for adding waffles, whole wheat ones at that (extra bonus points for adding raspberries to his waffles!) Wife Points on 1 million right now (AND I finished the laundry while cooking… but apparently that’s only worth a pat on the back… from myself.)
First thing’s first: make sure you have an oven-safe rack. It can be the wire cooling rack that you use for your Christmas cookies or your super-legit roasting rack for your Thanksgiving turkey… orrrr the super tiny one you may or may not have stolen from your toaster oven that just so happened to be perfect because it’s big enough to fit the amount of chicken you have to cook and doesn’t have a questionable matte finish that’s probably not oven safe like your cooling racks do… Whatever works!
The wire rack is critical, and here’s why: in order to maintain crispy skin all around the chicken, the heat needs to circulate around it completely. If you placed the chicken directly on a baking pan, the top would get crispy, but the bottom would be soggy from all the juices released from the chicken as it cooks. Crispy is good. We want crispy. The foil is just to spare my dear husband from having yet another pan to wash.
Now, about this chicken. What I’ve learned from Anthony, our resident jerk guru, is basically you just season your meat with any and all seasonings you like, and then add jerk marinade on top of it all to amplify the flavor (and spice). So, following his example, I pulled nearly everything from our seasoning cabinet and sprinkled away!
That being said, I chose to use my own jerk spice blend (a dry rub of sorts) for the chicken instead of our favorite marinade we get from the Caribbean market. My thought behind this was two-fold: 1) to see how good my jerk blend really was, and 2) to limit the amount of liquid going on the chicken so that later on the panko crust would stay crispy. But thinking about it now, I don’t think it would have hurt too much. Maybe I’ll try it that way next time and see what we like better.
You can find jerk seasoning in most grocery stores or international markets. The key ingredients are onion, garlic, thyme, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and red pepper. The great thing is, everyone does jerk differently; the spice selection and proportions are always unique to the maker, which in itself is really reflective of authentic Jamaican cooking. Every grandma, dad and auntie has their own special twist to national classics, which is what makes the connections between family and food so strong. Everyone can always say their family recipe is the best. And it is. 🙂
Once you’ve got your chicken all covered in spices, bring on the buttermilk! Why buttermilk? It adds tremendous moisture and richness of flavor to the meat–especially white meat, which often tends to be dry.
Another important note: Season. Every. Layer! It may seem like a lot, but trust me… don’t skimp! Chicken tastes like absolutely nothing and requires a lot of help. The marinating process helps get flavor embedded in the meat, but you need flavorful crust, too! I just added a few more pinches of my jerk spice blend to the panko/flour.
Just before you put your chicken in the oven, give it chicken a light spray of canola or olive oil. This will the panko to brown as the chicken bakes, amping up the crispy factor.
Oh waffles. To be completely honest, I really only eat them with fried chicken. Anthony loves waffles and will eat them as often as I’m willing to make them (he’s scheduled for a DIY tutorial very soon…). But one thing I have enjoyed is finding fun ways to make them healthier and more flavorful without sacrificing any fluffiness. These definitely do the job most excellently!
He wanted raspberries in his waffles… I, however, hate raspberries. Sorry. They taste like cough medicine to me. So I made my waffles first and then tossed in about a 1/3 cup of fresh raspberries that we got from the Dutch Market and then froze. He liked them, so yay me!
There are a fair amount of steps to this meal, but it’s beyond well worth it! The other good news is that there’s a lot of inactive prep/cooking time, so it frees you up to do other things around the house while the chicken is marinating or baking, or while you’re waiting for the waffle iron to beep. I love a good recipe that doesn’t require me to be constantly, and anxiously, hovering over the stove. This one’s definitely work a try! Hope you enjoy it!
- 8 chicken legs
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons dry jerk seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon creole seasoning
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¾ cup panko
- ⅛ cup flour
- 1½ cups whole wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1¾ cups buttermilk
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon agave
- First, clean your chicken (I use a big splash of lemon juice or white vinegar, whatever I have the most of... usually vinegar). Once your chicken is clean and patted dry, put it in a large bowl and toss with all your seasonings.
- Once that's done, pour your buttermilk over the chicken. Make sure you use enough to just cover it. Turn your chicken over in the buttermilk a few times to make sure it's coated. Then, cover the bowl in plastic wrap and let your chicken marinate in the fridge for at least an hour (you could let it marinate overnight if you're not already hungry.)
- When your chicken is nearly done marinating, preheat your oven to 400 degrees and start pulling together your breading. In a wide dish, add your panko, flour and another pinch of jerk seasoning. Stir together until thoroughly combined.
- When the oven is hot, take your chicken out of the marinade and shake off any excess buttermilk. Roll the chicken in the panko mixture and place it on top of a wire rack placed atop a foil-lined baking sheet. Spray with a bit of olive/canola oil on all sides, (sprinkle with a little more jerk seasoning if you like) and you're ready to bake!
- You want to bake your chicken until its internal temperature is about 160 degrees and/or the juices are running clear, about 50-60 minutes. When it's ready, put it on your serving platter, sprinkle it with a little salt, and serve it while it's hot!
- Preheat your waffle iron. Next, in a large bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients.
- In a large measuring cup or separate bowl, whisk together your buttermilk, eggs, coconut oil and agave until eggs yolks are broken up and the mixture is smooth. It's important that your ingredients are at room temperature, because cold milk or eggs will cause the coconut oil to solidify. No bueno.
- Once your wet ingredients are combined, add them to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Don't overmix, or your waffles won't be fluffy. Fluffy is good. We like fluffy. (Crispy chicken and fluffy waffles make all the difference, trust me.)
- Then, spoon the batter into the center of your waffle iron and cook according to your waffle iron instructions.
- When you're ready to eat, place your chicken on your waffle, drizzle with a little agave, and devour.