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Here at the Sickos Committee, we’re big fans of weird ballpark and stadium food combinations. We love the gigantic portions or weird combinations of food and even things that seem really humanly impossible to eat while seated for a game. So in that spirit, our resident weird food connoisseur, the Corn Correspondent (Corn-espondent, as so many of you wish we called it, but damn it is too difficult to say out loud), Andy, will be doing a weekly food blog where he combines ingredients from two different teams randomly selected each week and gives you the recipe here each Friday during the season. Myself, Commish, will be adding in photo captions and other things to the blog. Here is the Week Ten Edition. Let’s see what’s on the menu.

Kennesaw State at New Mexico State

When I started thinking about this matchup, there were some obvious ideas that jumped out at me. I had already covered two other Georgia schools, which took care of peaches and lemon pepper wet wings. How could I come back to this well and return with something new? What if I dug into some Southern comfort food? On the other hand, when thinking of New Mexico, most people often go to red and green chile. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one to turn down a Christmas-style burrito, but could I add chiles to a Southern dish that would both taste good and stand out on its own?

Then I remembered the last time I visited a friend in Santa Fe. I went during the roasting season, and the whole town smelled like chiles. A wonderful aroma for sure! Before coming home, I loaded up my backpack with 5 pounds of chiles. When going through airport security, the TSA agent opened my bag, saw the chiles, and simply said, “I get it” before letting me go through. But this recipe and this story aren't about the chiles. One morning for breakfast, we went to Harry’s Roadhouse, and I was introduced to something new: a blue corn waffle. I’ve had blue corn tortilla chips plenty of times, but as a waffle? I needed to check it out! Let me tell you, it was an absolute treat. The waffle had a slightly nutty and earthy taste to it, with a hint of sweetness that you don't get from regular flour waffles. The cornmeal also made it a little drier and more textured than a traditional waffle, which is actually a good thing—it means it can soak up more syrup without getting soggy.

This memory settled it for me. I knew what I needed to make…

Chicken and Blue Corn Waffles

I found an excellent recipe from Once Upon A Chef for buttermilk fried chicken tenders that I knew would be great here. I started marinating the tenders the day before I planned to cook, giving them plenty of time to absorb the buttermilk and develop a deep flavor with the help of the seasonings.

The next day, it was time to get frying! Using some of the same spices in the marinade, I made a seasoned batter and coated each chicken tender. I heated up some oil in my dutch oven, ensuring I had enough to fully submerge the tenders. I cooked a few of them in the oil until they were golden brown and crispy, letting them dry off on some paper towels while I worked on the next batch.

In between cooking batches of chicken, I got to work on the waffle batter. I was able to find a recipe for Harry’s waffles on Food Network. What luck! Tracking down some blue cornmeal was harder than I thought, but luckily I was able to find it at Natural Grocers. I had never been to this store before and thought the oddly-specific hours on the door were interesting and picture-worthy.

As the recipe says, you want to mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately before gently folding them together until they are just combined. Overmixing leads to tough and chewy waffles, which nobody wants! I got out my trusty waffle iron, let it get nice and hot, and began to pour in some batter.

I took a waffle fresh from the iron, topped it with a few golden chicken tenders and a healthy drizzle of maple syrup. To give it even more of a “Georgia” feel, I also scooped on a few generous spoonfuls of peach preserves. The waffle was nice and fluffy on the inside while keeping a nice crisp exterior. The subtle nuttiness from the blue corn gave it a little extra that you just don’t get from standard waffles. The chicken had fantastic flavor in both the marinade and in the breading, and the peach preserves balanced it out with the perfect level of sweetness and fruity brightness that cut through the richness of the chicken.

Once again, I’m going to have to give this 5 out of 5 corns on the Corn Correspondent rating system! Bonus note: I was talking to my Santa Fe friend this week about the waffles. She mentioned that at Harry’s Roadhouse, they will put a strip of bacon inside the batter before cooking the waffle. I don’t remember seeing that when I went there, but sure enough, it’s on the menu. If I had known about this addition, it might have gotten a 6 out of 5!

 Once again, I’m going to have to give this 5 out of 5 corns on the Corn Correspondent rating system! Bonus note: I was talking to my Santa Fe friend this week about the waffles. She mentioned that at Harry’s Roadhouse, they will put a strip of bacon inside the batter before cooking the waffle. I don’t remember seeing that when I went there, but sure enough it’s on the menu. If I would have known about this addition, it might have gotten a 6 out of 5!

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