I cheated big-time for this recipe. If I were doing it properly, I would've made not just the waffles and gravy, but also the fried chicken from scratch. But I really didn't want to have to set up for deep frying or put that much effort into it. So instead, I went down the street and got some fried chicken tenders and served those with the waffles and gravy. And they were delicious! No regrets.

Fried Chicken and Waffles with Bacon Gravy

Slightly adapted from Waffles: Sweet, Savory, Simple by Dawn Yanagihara

Ingredients

• 170g bacon
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 2 1/2 c. milk
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1/8-1/4 tsp. Tabasco (or similar) hot sauce
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 classic, buttermilk, cornmeal, or malted waffles
• 4-8 pieces chicken tenders (or fried chicken)

Directions

1. If making fried chicken from scratch, prepare it first, then continue with the recipe.
2. Crisp the bacon over medium heat.
3. Remove the bacon from the pan, leaving behind the fat/grease.
4. Chop or crumble the bacon and set aside.
5. Pour off all but 2 Tbsp. of fat from the pan. If you have less than 2 Tbsp. of fat, supplement with lard or other fats as necessary.
6. Whisk flour into fat and cook for 2 minutes.
7. Gradually whisk the milk into the roux.
8. Add the bay leaf and Tobasco sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper.
9. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
10. Reduce heat to medium or medium-low and simmer vigorously, stirring occasionally, until thickened (~5 minutes).
11. Return the bacon to the pan. If you made your own fried chicken from scratch, add any drippings or crispy bits that you strained out of the frying oil after using it.
12. Cover and keep warm, stirring occasionally, until ready to use.
13. Meanwhile, cook the waffles.
14. Top each waffle with a generous portion of gravy and 1-2 pieces of chicken.
15. Add extra hot sauce or other condiments as desired.