Spicy Southern Fried Chickn’ with Sweet Potato Casserole Waffles
Well folks, although the temperature hovered around ninety degrees here this week, I’m glad to say Fall is officially here! I can’t wait for the tapestry of multi-colored leaves and a cool snap in the air. While I wait, for the temperatures to drop and the leaves to start changing colors, I love spending quality time with my family.
Don’t you just love spending a lazy Saturday morning just hanging out with your family? I’m loving Spicy Southern Fried Chickn’ with Sweet Potato Casserole Waffles! Perfect for an intimate family breakfast or brunch for a bunch of your favorite friends!
Spicy Southern Fried Chickn’ with Sweet Potato Casserole Waffles! It doesn’t get more down-home than this!
Spicy, perfectly crisp Fried Chickn’ served over sinfully decadent Sweet Potato Casserole Waffles. Now that’s what I’m talking about!
Southern Fried Chickn’
The secret to good Southern Fried Chickn’ is the crust. None of that soft, mushy, flabby stuff. You’ve got to have crunch! And, this Southern Fried Chickn’ has it in spades! It was inspired from years of watching some of the best Southern cooks around. And then tweaked, updated and veganized…but, keeping all that delicious crunch and flavor.
So, bring on the waffles (or some fluffy biscuits if you prefer), pour on the syrup and enjoy!
Ingredients
The Chickn’ Seitan:
- 2 cups vital wheat gluten flour
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/3 cup chickpea flour
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- 3/4 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp poultry seasoning or dried sage
- 1 1/2 cup vegetable broth (preferably homemade but, as always, use what you have)
- 2 tbl olive oil
- 1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
- 2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (optional, but I think it brings a little “something, something” to the party)
- Aluminum foil
- High smoke point cooking oil such as peanut, grape seed or canola oil
The Liquid Dip:
- 1 plant-based egg (flax egg or your favorite commercial egg replacer)
- 12 oz unsweetened soy creamer
- 1/4 cup sparkling water
- 1/4 cup beer (brand doesn’t matter…just use whatever you have on hand)
- 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning salt (more to taste)
- 3 Tablespoons Deli or spicy brown mustard
- ½ cup hot sauce
The Flour Dip:
- 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon Creole seasoning salt (I generally use Tony Cachere’s Brand)
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
Instructions
Make your Seitan Chickn’ Pieces:
- Whisk together broth, olive oil, tamari and vegan Worcestershire sauce and set aside.
- In a large bowl stir together: vital wheat gluten flour, nutritional yeast, chickpea flour, onion powder, garlic powder, ground cumin, salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, poultry seasoning or dried sage.
- Once they’re completely combined, create a well in the center, then pour in the broth mix, a little at a time.
- Stir with a rubber spatula until the entire mixture pulls away from the sides of the bowl. By adding just a bit of the broth mixture at a time, this prevents getting your dough too wet.
- Once the entire mixture has pulled away from the sides of the bowl, begin kneading your dough. Knead the dough for 4-5 minutes. As you knead the dough to develop the gluten, you will see a change in the consistency of the dough.
- Let it the dough rest for about 10 minutes. Then, knead for another 30 -40 seconds. Move the dough to a lightly floured cutting board.
- Now, divide the dough into four equal sized loaf shapes.
- Place each piece of seitan dough into the center of a 6 inch wide piece of aluminum foil. Loosely wrap each piece but make sure that the foil edges are tightly sealed. Loosely wrapping allows for expansion of your seitan during steaming. Make sure that each loaf is completely covered, yet has room to expand.
- Place about 1 inch of water into a covered steamer or a pot fitted with a metal colander, steam the loaves for 30 – 35 minutes. It’s important to make sure the water level is lower than the loaves themselves. You really don’t want soggy water-logged seitan.
- After steaming, remove and let cool for 30 minutes. For best results, put seitan logs into the fridge for at least an hour before slicing the loaves for making into fried chicken pieces.
Mix Your Flour Dip Ingredients Component:
- In a medium bowl, blend flour ingredients together thoroughly and set aside.
Mix Your Liquid Dip Ingredients Component:
- Blend liquid dip ingredients together and sit next to the flour mixture.
Bringing it all Together–Making Southern Fried Chickn’!
- Place 1-2 cooling racks on top of cookie sheets, and sit it near your work area on the counter.
- Take one piece of the chicken style seitan and place it in the liquid dip. Remove quickly and shake off excess.
- Immediately roll in the flour dip, coating all sides lightly. Place on cooling rack.
- Repeat with each piece of seitan chicken, being sure to leave enough room on the cooling rack so that the seitan has air circulating on all sides. Leave for 30-45 minutes for coating to “set”.
- Repeat the process again, and leave out to dry for another 30-45 minutes or longer.
- Heat your cooking oil to 350 degrees in a heavy-bottomed pot or frying pan.
- When your oil is hot, drop in one or more pieces of chicken, being sure not to crowd the pan which will lower the temperature of the oil and result in a soggy product.
- Remember, this is not flesh so there is no lengthy frying time required to cook anything – all you’re doing is developing a crispy brown coating for your seitan. (Should take about 3 minutes per side)
- When it’s brown and crisp on one side, flip seitan over and brown the second side. Remove to a rack to drain while you fry the remaining portion.
- Serve immediately with your favorite sides and more hot sauce.
Notes
- Makes 4 loaves, each of which makes about 2 servings. Wrapped tightly, it’ll last in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Freeze it, and it’ll last for months.
- Please don’t try my steaming-in-the-colander method unless your colander is metal! I prefer to use a small pot rather than a frying pan, because #1 it saves oil, #2 the oil stays hotter and produces a crisper fry, and #3 I don’t get much hot grease splash-back. Use an electric frying pan or a temperature gauge to accurately measure the heat of your cooking oil.
Boozy Orange Maple Syrup
This recipe is…. Simple. Easy. And, delicious when drizzled onto Southern Style Chickn’ and Sweet Potato Waffles.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (okay, so you can use store-bought orange juice but the flavor is just not the same)
- 1/4 cup Sweet Muscadine Wine (You can use the sweet red wine of your choice but, as a North Carolina girl, I’m kind of partial to using products from my home state)
- 1 tsp freshly grated orange zest
- 1/2 cup pure organic maple syrup
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (can use a bit more if you want to bump up the sweet heat)
Instructions
Sweet Potato Casserole Waffles
Every Southern family has their own special recipe for Sweet Potato Casserole. These waffles combine the down-home goodness of a sweet potato casserole with the crisp, deliciousness of a fresh baked waffle. Kind of think of it as a little “walking around” casserole. Grab it and go or pile on a piece of Spicy Southern Chickn’ for some Chickn’ and Waffles that’ll have you wondering why you didn’t try this sooner. A generous side of The Bombdiggity Vegan Bacon would also do these Sweet Potato Casserole Waffles proud! Just perfect for a weekend brunch!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: About 8 6 inch waffles
Ingredients
- 2 cups coconut milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk..if I have time to make milk from scratch, I prefer rice milk)
- 1 TBL apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups all purpose flour (use gluten-free all purpose flour, if desired)
- 1 Tbl baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/8 tsp freshly grated ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 TBL ground golden flaxseed
- 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
- 3 TBL coconut oil
- 2 TBL maple syrup (pure syrup not that crappy stuff)
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup peeled grated sweet potato
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup toasted pecan pieces
- 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1/4 cup orange zest, finely grated
- Non-stick cooking spray
Instructions
- In medium bowl, combine the coconut milk (or your milk of choice) with the apple cider vinegar. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and the salt.
- Add the ground flaxseed to the milk mixture. With a whisk, mix vigorously until well blended and frothy.
- Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture.
- Add in the juice, coconut oil, maple syrup and the vanilla. Mix with a fork, just until no big lumps appear.
- Fold in the sweet potato, cranberries, pecans and orange zest.
- Preheat your waffle iron while the batter rests. Once the waffle iron has reached the desired temperature, cook the waffles according the waffle iron directions. Make sure to spray the waffle iron with the non-stick spray between each batch of waffles.
Notes
Perfect served with Boozy Orange Maple Syrup and Spicy Southern Fried Chickn’!
You make these bad boys on the weekend, when you’re running a little longer on time, and freezer them. Then, just pop them into the toaster for a quick weekday breakfast.
This recipe was inspired by the awesome Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Carrot Cake Pancakes which appeared in her book, “Isa Does It“. (This is an affiliate link.)
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