Once I saw Chicken & Waffles was one of the finalists I fell OUT!!!! I often eat sweets with a side of potato chips to balance the sweet & the savory, especially chocolate which is way too rich for my palate (chocolate flavored chips is one of the flavors I submitted).

Since the announcement those that managed to get their hands on the extremely coveted AND hard to find flavor… the reviews were very mixed. The main complaint I found was that people, whether they liked the flavor or not, all admitted it didn’t at all taste like chicken. I LOVE my best friend Chef Betty Fraser’s (of Grub Restaurant & Top Chef Season Two fame) “Potato Chip Chicken” so I thought well if it’s more chicken flavor you want more chicken flavor you get if you coat some chicken in crumbled up pieces of the chips…. right? NUH DOIFFY!

After hunting down eight… count it EIGHT stores (two of them I hit the next day)! I FINALLY got my hands on some. I bought 3 flavors.

The chicken & waffles were hands down my favorite. Being that I am a massive bacon lover I opted for the BLT instead of the cheesy garlic bread… while I liked the other flavors the BLT not so much! It was like powdered liquid smoke. I can’t stand liquid smoke! The Sriracha was surpringly tangy, not very spicy but my red headed roomie Megan almost choked from the spiciness… white people. I would crush it up though & put it on baked Mac n Cheese.

The syrup flavor on the chicken & waffles were the standout. Reminded me of this maple powdered sugar my friend Nadia G of (Cooking Channel, Food Network Canada & Food Network UK’s) Bitchin Kitchen introduced me to.

I wouldn’t say it tasted anything like chicken but the savory seasoning was on point in contrast to the sweet syrupy flavor that’s why I decided to go ahead & crush it & put it on the chicken.  Also being on the sweet side eating a couple of chips is more than enough. I can down a whole bag of Lay’s Classic or Salt & Vinegar so just a couple of chips were satisfying. It’s not a flavor I will die without once they discontinue it in May… but between now & May I will grab a bag every time I hit the store

What came about is my favourite chicken & waffles recipe since my Popeye’s Chicken & Waffles Cupcakes (featured in the popular website Cupcakes Take the Cake).

Here’s what I did:

Lay’s Chicken & Waffles Squared Recipe

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of of whole Lay’s Chicken & Waffles Chips
• 6 tbs of butter, melted
• 2 cloves of Garlic, minced
• 8 Chicken Tenders
• Goya Complete Seasoning
• Black Pepper
• Creole Seasoning
• Herbes de Provence

Chicken Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Fill a 3 cup mini food processor, twice, or fill up a 12 cup food processor halfway. On the pulse setting crush the chips.

In the microwave melt butter for 1- 1 minute & 30 secs.
Add minced garlic into melted butter, allow to cool slightly.
In a baking dish season chicken tenders with the last four seasoning.
Dip chicken into melted butter & garlic mixture.

Pour crumbled chips on paper towel lined plate & dip chicken into the chips.

Place the chicken on an aluminum paper lined baking sheet.

Bake for 15 mins.
Remove from oven & let rest for 4 minutes.

Serve with a side of waffles & enjoy! (Hello Kitty Waffles of course for me)

Waffles Recipe:

• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 2 Cups Flour
• 1 3/4 Cup Whole Milk
• 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 tbs Sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• Butter Flavored Cooking Spray

Waffle Instructions:

Preheat waffle iron.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs with a fork until fluffy.

Add in rest of ingredients & beat with a fork until all mixed.

Spray waffle iron with cooking spray & cook according to waffle iron’s directions.

Keep warm in oven until ready to serve.

The smell of the chicken from the maple flavor baking almost made myself & three of my guests pass OUT! I hope if you ever get your hands on one of these sought after chips, you’ll give this recipe a try & enjoy it as much as we did! Now onto create more recipes with other Lay’s flavored potato chips… eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! #savechickenwaffle & VOTE!

Shrimp & Grilled Polenta Photo by: Ulka Simone Mohanty

The Spread Photo by: Ulka Simone Mohanty

Shrimp & Grilled Polenta
Single Serving 10 min prep 10 min cook time

* 1/4 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
* 3 slices bacon, chopped
* Juice of half a lemon
* 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
* 2 thinly sliced scallion stalks
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 1/8th teaspoon of Creole Seasoning
* Tube of Prepared Polenta
* Olive Oil Spray
* Flake Salt

Directions

Rinse shrimp and pat dry. Fry the bacon in a large skillet until browned; drain well. In bacon grease, add shrimp seasoned with Creole Seasoning. Cook until shrimp turn pink. Add lemon juice, chopped bacon, cilantro, scallions and garlic. Saute for 3 minutes. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Slice polenta about 1/2 inch thick. Spray cast iron grill & heat on medium high. Grill on each side to desired grill marks. Place aside & finish with flake salt. Serve on plate or to jazz up a cocktail party serve in martini glasses

Baked Pork Chops
Serves 2

* 3/4 cups fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French bread
* 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
* 1/2 tablespoon dried rubbed sage
* 1/4 teaspoon Creole Seasoning
* 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
* 1 large eggs
* 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
* 2 bone-in center-cut pork loin chops (each about 1 inch thick)
* 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* One Bunch of Rosemary
* 1/4 Cup Honey
* Lemon wedges
* 1 lime

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F. Cut lime & clean Chops under running water with the lime squeezing the lime juice into it. Place aside on a dish & allow to dry. Mix breadcrumbs, cheese & sage on a dish. Whisk egg in a bowl. Place flour on plate; season with creole seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Coat pork chops on both sides with flour; shake off excess. Dip chops into eggs, then coat on both sides with breadcrumb mixture.

Melt butter with oil in heavy cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork chops to skillet and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer skillet with pork to oven. Bake until pork chops are crisp on the outside and meat thermometer inserted into pork registers 150°F, about 20 minutes.

Transfer pork chops to plates. Using the Rosemary as a brush, dip it into the honey & drizzle the chops. Garnish with lemon wedge.

Pumpkin Waffle Recipe

serves 2 (20 mins)

Preheat Oven to 375

*1 cup & 3 tablespoons of Waffle mix
*3/4 cup milk
*2 tablespoons canned pumpkin
*2 tablespoons vegetable oil
*1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
*1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
*1 egg

Directions

Heat waffle iron; grease with cooking spray or vegetable oil In large bowl, beat all waffle ingredients. Pour batter onto center of hot waffle iron. Close lid of waffle iron.

Bake about 5 minutes or until steaming stops and waffle is golden brown. Carefully remove waffle. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if you’d like. Serve with syrup.

Grilled Apple

* 1 Apple, cored and sliced about 1/2 inch thick
* 1/4 cup Apple Cider
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
* Juice of one Lemon
* Cooking spray

Directions

Combine ingredients in a medium sized bowl bowl. Add apple slices; seal and marinate in refrigerator 1 to 2 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Prepare grill.
Remove apple from bowl, reserving marinade. Place apple slices on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes on each side, turning and basting frequently with reserved marinade. Arrange apple slices on a platter; drizzle with any remaining marinade.

Sweet Potato Pie Ice Cream

· 8 to 10 servings

· Prep Time: 30 min

· Inactive Prep Time: 9 hr 0 min

· Cook Time: 30 min

* 1 large sweet potato
* 1/2 cup splenda brown sugar
* 1/4 cup agave nectar
* 2 cups oat milk
* 1/2 cup splenda
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
* Special equipment: 1 1/2-quart ice cream/sorbet maker (recommended: Cuisinart)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel and slice the sweet potato into 1/2-inch pieces or thinner and add them to a baking dish. Mix the brown sugar and agave nectar together in a small bowl and pour it over the sweet potatoes. Bake for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Cool the potatoes in the refrigerator overnight, which will help soften the potatoes. Blitz the potatoes in a food processor. Make certain all of the syrup is being mixed in with the potatoes and not falling to the bottom of the processor. Add 2 cups of oat milk and blend. Add the 1/2 cup of splenda, vanilla extract and pie spice and continue to mix until the milk has turned a light orange color. Pour into an ice cream machine and churn according to your machine’s instructions. Transfer the ice cream to a covered container and keep in the freezer until ready to enjoy.

Well looks like 2012 is starting out to be the year of talking sh*t… (one of my FAVOURITE things to do) thought I’d throw in my hat & share some of the sh*t I’ve heard over the years as a HAPPILY single chick, by choice! Screw it, I’m down for a sh*t kick & besides I needed a plug for my new About Me page (http://www.about.me/singleserving).

Thanks Kyle & Graydon for your brilliant Sh*t Girls Say meme, well hell thanks to Sh*t My Dad Says for this also. Hope you enjoy, we had a blast making it & it’s all tongue in cheek & PLEASE share with your friends!

Check out Mike Kallio’s YouTube Channel: http:///www.youtube.com/darkallio

Music by the incomparable: Ken Christianson, song titled “No, No Body” http://www.kenchristianson.com

Written, Created & Co-Edited by: Manouschka Guerrier
Directed by: Nicole Billingsley
Shot, Cut, Produced, Edited by: Michael Kallio
Music by: Ken Christianson

Special Thanks to:
Natalie Bartley, Nicole Billingsley, Angela Canalese, Rebecca Chang, Aly Cleary, Nava Cooper, Christa Hamilton, Beth Hurrle, Donna Hurrle, Alicia Imbergamo, Jessica Kallio, Edrickcan Loox, Jeff Loox, Jenina Peraza, James Robinson, Marlu Soria, Sharee TheEngineer, LaKeisha Tomlinson & Diana Zollicoffer

I haven’t been blogging as much, too busy hustling, had a crazy surgery & I’ve fallen in love with Facebook. I’ve realized this isn’t good since this is where my whole culinary journey started for me. It’s not my steeze to invent New Year’s resolutions, but I very much would like to make more of an effort to contribute stories to this blog like I did before.

I started off as an Actor & a Writer, writing like cooking has always been my therapy. Thank you all for sticking it out with me.

Click this link below to read the FULL article!

Amour Creole Summer 2011-1

The contributors have really inspired me to take my recipes & recipe writing to another level. The details they require to breaking down a recipe that can easily be understood & followed guaranteeing their reader a foolproof cooking experience is second to none, which I can only attribute to as an immense amount of respect for their readers.

They were full of questions & challenged me to use cleaner ingredients to make one of my favourite recipes, Sweet Potato Pie Ice Cream. My eyes, heart & palate have been opened to a wonderful way of cooking thanks to this opportunity they graciously offered me & for that I will forever be grateful.

Click on the links below to be escorted directly to Zinio’s reader. I definitely recommend subscribing to this magazine. The recipes, advice & techniques are STELLAR! I’ve been able to make a good friend with CE’s residential Chef Jo Lusted. She’s absolutely FAB & has great, detailed & super easy recipes for you to follow.

OH but you can catch a glimpse from this clip. I had a BLAST teaching them they’re so FUNNY & Bill does AMAZING work for Haiti, what an honor.

What a BLAST!

Here’s a behind the scenes video of the shoot:

The most radiant Mom to be I have ever seen

Guests included the original Haitian sensation Garcelle Beauvais, Robin Antin, Hank Baskett, Tracy Edmonds, Denise Richards, Gloria Allred, Jillian Barberie Reynolds, my best friend Kenny’s Captain America costar Neal McDonough & Kim Kardashian. My Sous Chef Stacy & I danced the entire time & Keith & his crew were spectacular at helping get ALL of those apps out.

Mel is a SPECTACULAR hostess. She had a gift suite decked out with stunning scarves & clothes for her guests & these delicious candles by Milena’s Boutique, they are so pure & made of soy that you can also use it as a moisturizer… FAB! So grateful that she was kind enough to give me one. The showstopper was a cake made by Laura Mura from I Believe It’s Cake that looked exactly like Mel’s Gucci diaper bag! Sorry about the low quality of the pics… but I had to serve 90 guests was focused on food only… HA!!

LOVE that my menu got a shoutout in Life & Style Magazine

Haitian girls RULE!!!! Garcelle didn't have a stitch of makeup on... goodness she's so BEAUTIFUL!

Robin Antin is so FIERCE!

The heart breaker baby Hank & those nummy lashes with a nanny from Westside nannies GUSHING over him

Chinese Chicken Salad in Wonton Cups I stayed up until 5 am to make

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

Grilled Peach Crostini

Stacy & Keith handling IT!

People always LOVE to hang & party in the kitchen!

Amazing cake!!! http://www.ibicakeblog.com/

Thee most delicious candle on the planet!