Tiny Food Party! (plus Mini Chicken ‘n’ Waffles!)

I love planning menus for parties, but this past year I haven’t had too many (okay, any) opportunities to host a party of my own.

So when the kind folks at Quirk Books reached out and asked if I’d like to preview Tiny Food Party! by Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park, I was super excited at the prospect of throwing a party and experimenting with some itty bitty bites from the cookbook.

Of course, life doesn’t always work out exactly like you’ve planned. That is to say, my party actually ended up being someone else’s party. Does that make any sense? Allow me to explain.

My friend Melanie invited me to attend a spa party she was throwing, and since it was going to be the only weekend that I would have been able to host a party of my own, instead of trying to do both, I just asked her if she would mind if I made the food for her party!

Since Melanie is also the mother of an infant, I’m pretty sure she was thrilled at the prospect of not having to cook in addition to cleaning her house. Definitely a win-win. I cook. She preps the house and provides libations. We come together and the party is a huge success!

Mini Chicken ‘n’ Waffles – my new obsession

With recipes like Pint Size Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Sticks, Little Sweet Potato Latkes, Tiny Fried Tacos, Mac n Cheese Bites, and Mini Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches, it was really hard to decide what to make for the party.  Ultimately I went with Bite-size Caprese Skewers, Snack Size Beef Empanadas, and Pint-size Chicken ‘n’ Waffles.

All were delicious, and all garnered raves from the party-goers. But the biggest hit and my personal favorite? The Chicken ‘n’ Waffles. I’ll admit that I am now a bit obsessed. For every meal since the party, I’ve wished that I had those little nuggets instead of whatever it is I’m having at that given moment. They will absolutely, for sure, be on my next party menu!

Also up next: Itty-Bitty Bacon Churros and Little Coffeecake Cocktails. Or maybe Cozy Eggnog Shooters. Or both!

Pint-Size Chicken 'n' Waffles

Makes 30. From Tiny Food Party!

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

10 chicken tenders, each cut into 3 equal pieces

2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) salted butter, softened

2 1/2 Tbsp honey, plus extra for drizzling

30 mini waffles, or 3 1/2 Belgian waffles, cut into 30 (1-inch) pieces

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 Tbsp garlic powder

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 cups vegetable oil

*optional: cayenne pepper

Directions:

Place chicken in bowl and cover with buttermilk. Stir gently, cover and refrigerate. (Tip: Soaking the chicken in the buttermilk several hours or overnight will help the breading adhere better when frying)

To prep the honey butter, whisk together butter and honey in a small bowl to combine. (*add cayenne pepper to taste, if you'd like your sauce to be a little spicy sweet)

Preheat oven to 375. Place waffles on a baking sheet and toast for 12-15 minutes.

In a small shallow dish stir together flour, garlic powder, paprika, salt, onion powder, and black pepper. Heat oil in a medium cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from buttermilk and dredge in flour mixture. Shake off excess and carefully drop breaded chicken into the hot oil. Fry for about 5 minutes on each side. Drain onto paper towels and season with salt.

Spread a teaspoon of honey butter onto each waffles and top with a piece of fried chicken. Finish with a drizzle of honey and serve warm. (Note: I actually put the fried chicken on first, then just poured honey butter on top of everything. So delicious!)

~Giveaway~

CONTEST CLOSED

The winners are:

#24 Kristen

#72 Kate

#31 Amanda Jenks

 Just in time for Christmas, I have not one, not two, but THREE Tiny Food Party! cookbooks to give away!

To enter, all you have to do is this:

Mandatory

1. Leave a comment telling me what your favorite party food is. If you link to the recipe, even better!

For up to 2 additional entries, you can do either or both of the following. Note: You must leave a separate comment for each optional entry.

2.  Follow me on Twitter (@betheats) and tweet “Happy holidays! Enter to win a copy of Tiny Food Party! from @betheats! http://bit.ly/11MOZBY ”, then leave a comment telling me you’ve done so.

3.  Like Eat.Drink.Smile. on Facebook and come back and tell me you did so (or just tell me you already do if that’s the case!)

Contest ends on Friday, December 7th at Noon Central. Once the winners are chosen, I’ll make contact via email and post the names here on the blog. If they don’t respond within 48 hours, I’ll be forced to choose others, so be sure to check your email!

Full disclosure: I was given 4 copies of Tiny Party Food! to do with as I please, plus money to purchase ingredients for testing out some of the recipes in the cookbook. Thoughts and opinions all my own.