Dinner Club: Fried Chicken & Waffles (recipes included)

Dinner Club: Fried Chicken and Waffles.

Dinner Club went down recently at Chez Wilson.  We have had the same 3 couples involved in this dinner club for probably 6 years.  It's hard to keep track.  We rotate homes and the goal is to make something you have never made before for the group. (RECIPES AT BOTTOM)

The Players of dinner club. 

As we have gotten older, greyer, chubbier, and added some kids to the mix (4 kids between the 6 of us with another about to be born, 3 cats and 2 dogs among the crew as well), we meet less often, but the effort seems to be about the same.  Lots of it.  Lots of prep, flavor and love.

Mostly, it's fun to get together and drink wine and have someone else cook for you.

This time however, Team Wilson was on the go.

I have been promising these wild animals a southern meal for months.  I put the menu out for a vote between Fried Chicken or Jambalaya.

The votes were tallied and though it was a tie, the pregnant lady got 2 votes since she's really voting for two.

The verdict? Winner Winner Fried Chicken Dinner.

I've never fried anything before, well, except scallop fritters for our very first dinner club way back when (4 moves ago for me).  I was a little nervous.

Here's the menu line up.  (recipes and links at bottom)

APPETIZER:

A steamed tail-on shrimp. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Spicy Shrimp, Andouille Sausage and Bacon in a Southern Sauce (forgot to photograph, but this was the best part of the meal! )(I added to the recipe as you will see at the bottom)

MAIN COURSE:

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Golden Love right out of the fryer. Who needs KFC?

Waffles with white bacon gravy

Spring Salad (why not pretend something healthy was being served?)
used a basic organic balsalmic vinagrette

Dessert:

Wilson Family Recipe, Gooey Butter with powdered sugar on top and whipped cream on the side.

delicious and deceivingly addictive!

Recipes and/or links below Review.

THE REVIEW:

1.  APPETIZER:  by far in my opinion the best part of the meal. Next time, I would serve this as an entree over rice and with some bread for dipping in the sauce.  If you have been to New Orleans and Acme Oyster House, then you know how our house smelled.  Spicy and awesome.

2.  The Chicken:  I don't eat fried food very often, I thought it was very tasty due to the 24 hour brining process, I think the others liked it better than me.  The next day it was excellent cold.

3.  The Waffles.  Meh.  They were ok.  We didn't do a home made batter, and our timing was a little off so I think that could have made a difference.  Plus, I think you are supposed to offer a gravy AND a syrup.  We only offered the gravy.  I don't like gravy, but they seemed to.

4.  The dessert - gooey butter.  It is deceiving.  It has been served as a holiday breakfast item for decades in the Wilson Family, long before I joined.  At first blush you will not know it's addictive nature, but one bite comes and goes, and then suddenly you realize you need another.  And another.  It is even better the next day.

It was strangely quiet when we were all done.  More wine was poured, Bourbon for some, we sat around and watched the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith, watching Brangelina fall in love all over again on screen.  We were all full and tired, and it was a really good time.

Will I make this particular menu again?  No.  Will I make the Appetizer as an entree again, YES YES YES. And I married into the Christmas Gooey Butter lifestyle, so that will be going on every year!  I do recommend the chicken recipe though, and I hear the one from Ad Hoc in Napa is even better.

ENJOY YOUR WEEK AND YOUR DETOX! (oh wait, that's for me.) :) 

RECIPES AND LINKS
Spicy Shrimp, Spicy Andouille Sausage & Bacon (CLICK HERE) NOTE:  (I altered this recipe by purchasing store bought pre-cooked sausage, cutting into quarter inch slices - I used 3.  I also did 8 pieces of bacon cut into large pieces so all three proteins could be eaten in one bite on a toothpick. ALSO I bought the shrimp peeled, deviened and no tail at Bristol Farms.  I don't like to peel.)


FRIED CHICKEN CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE I COPIED EXACTLY

Waffles, we just did basic Aunt Jemima waffle mix (due to lack of time)

Gravy 
Go here:
http://www.food.com/recipe/waffle-gravy-454194 

Honestly, this isn't the exact recipe but I can't find the one we used, this was close though.  Also we added little bacon chunks, because as any semi - intelligent person knows - EVERYTHING IS BETTER WITH BACON.  Duh.  

Gooey Butter Recipe:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick butter
1 egg

blend together with a fork and pat in the bottom of a 9x13 greased pan.

2 eggs
1 box powdered sugar
1 8oz block Philly cream cheese

Mix together (easier with a stand or hand mixer) and pour over the top of cake mix.
Bake at 3500 F for 35-40 min (temp shoudl be 325 if using a glass pan)

Eat until you pass out.  I'm telling you, it's addictive!!



HAVE YOU LIKED THE WILSONS' EATING TOUR ON FACEBOOK YET?  WILL YOU SHOW US THE LOVE BY CLICKING HERE???

Lunching & Drinking With the Ladies

It's been a little quiet here over at Wilsons' Eating Tour. That is because we have had some fabulous friends in town, so there was much food and wine to consume.

My girlfriends and I went to Mercer Kitchen in SOHO on Saturday for "Lunch." It was a bit of a mini-reunion with two of my college friends that I hadn't seen in awhile, we'll call them Rabbit & Fealey.

I showed up with our "agenda" for the day all typed up, starting with Mercer Kitchen at 1 pm. Naturally, we started off with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, and then spent awhile trying to decide what we should order, each of us afraid to be "out ordered."

We started off with a shrimp cocktail, flanked by 3 sauces (which lead to a conversation on sauces. I think Fealey will be writing a guest post devoted to sauces). It was pretty good, nothing to write home about.

Instead of ordering 3 entrees like good healthy girls should, we ordered a fourth entree (pizza) for the "Duck." The Duck being a recently published children's book by Rabbit's little sister. ( We will be reviewing the Duck With No Legs soon on www.conquerthemonkey.com, stay tuned!) The waiter probably thought it odd that a cartoon duck needed a pizza, but some how it made us feel "justified." Duck's gotta eat, no?

Lunch was pretty good, the food was ok, the service a little slow and they tried to keep our wine bottled chilled at a location away from our table (we rectified that). A bottle of wine and champagne later we missed out on shopping and barely made it to Bliss spa for part II of our day (loving Bliss Spa's newest tag line for their "Gorilla Marketing" seen above). Then onto more wine at Chez Wilson, and more food up in our hood (Nice Matin) for burgers at 10:30 PM.

This was one of those days that food served a purpose, but the main event was the laughter with my two dear friends. I am so thankful that they came to play in the Big Apple -- I haven't laughed that hard in a really long time. There were many hilarious quotes from the weekend, but one of my favorites was from Rabbit who - when talking about her dog's personality (a Chihuahua) said she "had the balls of a burglar." I still giggle thinking about that.

Now, the husband and I are gearing up for a weekend in Newport RI. We plan to follow Giada de Laurentis weekend get away guide and hit up all the spots she suggested. We will have much more to post next week!

Have a great week and weekend, please email us some tips, recipes, or foodie experiences, or ask us anything you want!

Cheers!
The Wilsons