Ina Pinkney
(thigh bone is in center), lays it out skin-side down, and scores it on either side of
the thigh bone to produce a flattened-out
piece of chicken that can fry up (at 275ºF)
in eight minutes. It’s plated as two wings
and a thigh (about 1½ pounds total) for a
combo of white and dark meat.
Next, Pinkney and her team tweaked their
waffle recipe, choosing to omit vanilla bean
from the standard Belgian waffle batter, which
allowed the new version to be produced in
about three minutes. “Then I had to figure out
what to serve with it,” Pinkney says. “Some
people eat the chicken first, then the waffle
with syrup, but others cut up the chicken and
put it on top of the waffle. I took Vulcan’s Fire
Salt, produced by The Spice House here in
Chicago—it’s a dry mash like Tabasco—and
we added honey and heated it up to create
this hot syrupy liquid to pour over.”
specials,” Pinkney notes. She says the
key to the success of the dish is omega- 9
canola oil, Nutra-Clear NT [from Bunge],
with a fry-life about 60% longer than most
oils. “I say, if you’re going to eat fried food
anywhere, it should be here.”
Birds for brunch
In a boutique inn surrounded by the bustle
of downtown Lexington, Ky., Jonathan
Lundy offers local patrons and business
travelers a menu that puts a sophisticated
spin on traditional local dishes. Lundy and
wife Cara purchased the restaurant space
at Gratz Park Inn and opened Jonathan at
Gratz Park in 1998.
Here, Lundy menus his Rock Salt Roasted
Chicken with Roasted Garlic Mashed
Potatoes and Asparagus to great acclaim. (It’s
$22, including dessert, on the prix fixe brunch
menu, and is available for lunch and dinner, as
well.) “It’s a super-simple dish that’s easy to
produce. It’s reminiscent of fried chicken, but
not as heavy,” Lundy says. “It’s been great for
us, and an absolute bottom-line winner.”
Ina’s Fried Chicken & Waffles is a “back
out” piece of chicken plated as two wings
and a thigh, waffles, and a special syrup
made from Vulcan’s Fire Salt and honey.
To prepare, Lundy pulses large rock salt
crystals in a coffee mill to produce coarse
ground salt. He pats this into the skin of
bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. Given a light
dusting of flour, the breasts are quickly pan-seared in olive oil (to get the salt to adhere).
Next, Lundy flips the breasts, then places
them in the oven. For service, he lays the
chicken atop about a cup of mashed potatoes
that have been mixed with a tablespoon of
garlic purée, adds steamed asparagus that’s
been tossed in butter and salt, and garnishes
the presentation with whole roasted garlic,
cherry tomatoes and a sprinkle of Parmesan.
“The dish is slightly salty, boasts a crispy
skin, and is nice and easy for people to
enjoy,” Lundy says.
For $10.79, customers can order Fried
Chicken & Waffles, and Ina’s menu
promises, “If you want this and you don’t
order it, you will be sad, trust me, very sad.”
”It’s been an eye-opener for us, that we
could serve such a high-quality chicken
at breakfast—brunch on the weekends,
but it’s still our breakfast menu plus a few
