Chicken and Waffles: A Golden Dream

I’ve tried fried chicken and I’ve tried waffles.  Not even my weird allergies could keep me from these two staples.  Sure, I was probably allergic to them when I ate them, but I lived to eat them again and, yes, even again.  But I had never tried Chicken and Waffles together on the same plate at the same meal.  I think I first saw this unique combination on an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and was captivated by how beautiful the presentation was and how even through the TV screen my mouth was watering.

That is a sure sign that I had to experience it for myself.   Albuquerque the Magazine has boasted in the past that Nexus Brewery has the best Chicken and Waffles in the city, so naturally this is  where I gravitated.  The husband and I were extremely dedicated on our quest for this decadent dish.  We typed in the address in the husband’s phone and proceeded to follow its faulty directions through construction, away from the direct freeway and through windy side streets, back to the direct freeway away from the frontage road and directly past our destination.  Even though we were hungry and frustrated, we pressed on around many more blocks to put ourselves in the right direction for the frontage road and Chicken and Waffles.

Once inside Nexus, we were immediately handed menus.  It didn’t take us long to find what we wanted, but were a bit disappointed to discover it would take 20 minutes to fry the chicken.  But we had come this far and we weren’t about to let 20 minutes get in the way.  And it was well worth the wait.

The waiter brought out our plates with two huge pieces of golden fried chicken and a steaming waffle that looked as thick as a piece of cake.  It was served with a little tub of maple syrup and when the waiter asked if we wanted hot sauce to go with it I raised a skeptical eyebrow, but the husband said, “Yes, please!” in excitement.

And the taste?  I don’t think any description I can come up with will do it justice, but I will try.  The fried chicken tasted just like it looked – crispy, golden (if something can taste golden) with a slight hint of pepper.  The waffle was sweet, just like cake minus the frosting - a sweet fluffy pillow and when the maple syrup was dumped over the top, the pillow transformed into a dream.  And the combination of the fried chicken and waffle?   It was a golden dream that I can’t even put into words.  This is something you will have to experience for yourself.

Mozzarella Sticks Just Because

When thinking about writing this post, I realized that I didn’t even know how to spell “mozzarella”.  I had to

look it up!  Then I realized that I really don’t know how to spell the names of most of cheeses.  Gorgonzola? Parmesan? (I can spell “American,” “Pepper Jack,” and even “Swiss,” so I’m not a complete lost cause!) Give me a break.  I’ve been allergic to cheese most of my life and have never had a reason to learn how to spell, pronounce, or understand any of its variations.  In restaurants, I ask politely, “Can I get that without cheese?”  If the answer is “no,” I order something else and move on.

The husband and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings this week (another first for me) and the waitress brought us a basket of Mozzarella Sticks.  We told her that we didn’t order them, but she put them on our table anyway and said “There’s no charge.” We were so surprised that I think we both asked “Why?”  When I realized how rude that sounded, I followed up with “Just because?”  She smiled and shrugged as she said “Just because.”

If it weren’t for “just because,” I never would have tried a cheese stick.  I’m glad that I tried it, but my overall reaction is simply confusion.  The outer fried part of the cheese stick tastes like your typical fried anything.  It reminded me of fried zucchini – that crunchy Italian seasoned bread crumb exterior – that makes you not care what’s in the middle.  I’m glad that the exterior made me not care.  Mozzarella doesn’t really taste like anything to me, so I don’t dislike it.  How can one hate the taste of nothing?  Especially if that nothing is coated in yummy bread crumbs and then deep fat fried?  No wonder Fair food is so popular.  If we could fry air, I’m sure that we would.  That might be preferable to a rubbery, chewy glob – I’m not sure.

But this confusion could stem from a lack of sophistication on my part.  Perhaps because my taste buds have never known the taste of cheese until recently, I simply don’t understand or perhaps my mind needs time to catch up with my taste buds to process it.  The sad thing is that when the waitress first said, “mozzarella,” I thought of the Real Housewives of New Jersey.  They are always talking about homemade mozzarella and how divine it is.  The cast is shown eating and savoring it like it is a delicacy.  Sophistication aside, this makes me think that there must be something to it.  And so I won’t write it off yet. Maybe I just need to try it in a different way, a way that is not mass produced and deep fat fried.