Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Hash House A Go Go's Sage Fried Chicken and Bacon Waffles

After the wedding, the missionary and Pioneer Trek
we ran away for 3 weeks.
On our way to running away, we stopped in
Las Vegas at the famous
Hash House A Go Go
for their
Sage Fried Chicken and Waffles.

(This is a picture of my dish at the restaurant.)

A massive breakfast, lunch or dinner dish that
consists of 4 waffles with bacon inside
topped with two fried chicken breasts
and garnished with their special
"BBQ sauce" and deep fried scallions
served up with warm maple syrup.

This dish is stacked high and pierced
with a skewer and a sprig of rosemary
and finally with a huge steak knife
(to keep it from toppling over!)

Definitely a dish to wow!
And a dish to share.

As we were driving home from our 3 week
vacation and talking about getting together
with the family for dinner after 3 weeks absence
hubby suggested we try making the 
Sage Fried Chicken and Waffles.

I quickly got on my phone and did
a search and I came up with two
recipes, both supposedly from
Hash House A Go Go
but one gave more specifics
for the waffles and one gave more
specifics for the chicken, so I combined
them to get a full recipe.  
BUT,
in addition, I found a Las Vegas Food TV
video showing Chef Andy making his
famous dish and that gave me even more
instructions on how to put together this
fabulous meal.

So we tried it and it tasted just like theirs.
This photo is my homemade
Hash House A Go Go's Sage Fried Chicken and Waffles

(A picture of my version of Sage Fried Chicken and Bacon Waffles.)

Of course this was the photo for blogging, no one
wanted this large of a serving 
(4 waffles and 2 chicken breasts like theirs). 

 We made our servings
with one or two waffles and one chicken breast
(some even just had a half chicken breast).

Hash House A Go Go's Sage Fried Chicken and Waffles
(Adaptaion from Food Network's Recipe
-featured on Rachael's Vacation-
and
- featured on Unique Eats - Vegas -
plus
(This video helped me realize that I needed both recipes to make it like his.)
So I have combined all three for you to get a really
good and complete recipe.

Hash House A Go Go's 
Sage Fried Chicken and Waffles Recipe

Sage Fried Chicken
Oil for deep frying
1 1/4 C. flour
1 C. cornstarch
1/2 C. lightly crushed cornflakes
1 T. Season All or Old Bay
1 T. fresh sage, finely chopped
6 eggs (beaten for an egg wash)
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Place the chicken breasts in a ziploc bag and lightly 
pound to flatten the thick side so that the piece is
evenly thick.  Repeat with all pieces.

Mix the flour, cornstarch, cornflakes, Season All and fresh
sage.  Place in a shallow pan.  Place the egg wash in another 
shallow pan.

Heat the oil to 360 in a deep fryer.

Dip the chicken first in the egg wash and then
in the flour mix.  Deep fry for 6-7 minutes or until
cooked through.  Drain on paper towels.

Waffles
5 C. flour
1/4 C. sugar
1 1/2 T. baking powder
1 T. salt
3 eggs
2 C. buttermilk
2 C. milk
1 T. vanilla extract
1/2 C. melted butter
16 pieces of hardwood smoked bacon, cooked

Preheat a square waffle iron - mine
makes 4 square waffles at once.

Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and set aside.
Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl, making sure to
break up the eggs and mix them in.
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients stirring
until mixed with a few lumps left.  (I had to add a little
water or milk to the mix as it seemed too thick.)

Spray the waffle iron with Pam.  Spoon the waffle
batter into the waffle iron, making sure to fill in the
corners of the waffle iron.
Lay a cooked piece of bacon diagonally across each
waffle square.  Mine has 4 squares so I laid 4 pieces
of bacon on the batter for each batch.  Close the
waffle iron and cook until golden and crispy.  Cut
the squares apart when finished cooking.

Fried Leeks or Green Onions
(I don't think these are optional.  They
are easy to do in the oil before you fry the 
chicken and they really add to the flavor.)

1 bunch green onions or several
leeks, cut thinly into strips
hot oil for deep frying

Heat oil to 360 (do this before
you cook the chicken) and throw
the thin long slices of leeks or onions
into the hot oil.  Cook until crispy and drain.

BBQ Sauce
1/2 C. low sodium soy sauce
1/2 C. brown sugar
3/4 T. chopped garlic
3/4 T. sriracha sauce
1 tsp. cornstarch to thicken

Mix in a small saucepan and bring to
a boil and then turn down to a simmer.  
Mix the cornstarch in a tablespoon of
cold water to make a slurry.  Stir into
the BBQ sauce and heat until it thickens
up a little.  

Warm Real Maple Syrup

Rosemary Sprig (Optional)
Finely chopped red or red and yellow pepper (Optional)

For a healthy sized serving:
Layer 2 bacon waffles on a plate
and top with one fried chicken breast.
Secure the stack with a skewer
and place the fried green onions
on top of the skewer (he shows this
in the video).  Dribble a little of
the BBQ sauce on the stack and
on the plate.  Skewer the stack with
a sprig of rosemary and a steak knife
if desired.  Garnish with finely chopped
red pepper if desired.  Serve with
warm real maple syrup.

This would make 8 servings, with
1 chicken breast and two waffles each.

(A picture of my homemade chicken and waffles.)

Wow, look at that thick sliced hardwood smoked bacon
cooked right inside the waffle and the delicious
dribble of the BBQ sauce.  The Food Network recipe
does not even mention the BBQ sauce.  You can
see it in the picture of the restaurant's dish. This
sauce was a hit
and people wanted extra so serve it on
the side.
We served our warmed real maple syrup
in little sauce cups so everyone could
add it as they desired.

The chicken was so moist and flavorful.  I
don't think I have made fried chicken
for over 25 years but I will be making
this again.

(A picture of my homemade Sage Fried Chicken and Bacon Waffles.)

Hash House a Go Go - Twisted Farm Food!
I say, Delicious Farm Food and our friends
who first introduced us to this restaurant
with the huge portions and funky name
raced right over to taste test the famed
dish and gave it two thumbs up!


If you would like to see more food
from my first visit here at
Hash House A Go Go
for Miss America 2012
click here.  You won't believe
the portion sizes! (This was the
first time I had tried Chicken and Waffles
and I fell in love with the salty/sweet
combination.)

I hope you enjoyed your visit
at 
Purple Chocolat Home 
today and I hope your
mouth watered at this delicious dish.








Monday, July 22, 2013

An Aqua French-Inspired Wedding Reception



Amanda's wedding reception was a beautiful
event.  

Sorry it has taken so long to get this done, but you
will see that there was a lot to cover.


The reception was held at Sleepy Ridge in Orem
and I had fun snapping some shots as her bridesmaids 
helped her get dressed.




You can imagine how long those shoes lasted!


So I had to get this shot of the bridesmaids' shoes as
they lasted just about as long!


Everything was aqua and white with a touch of silver.
My daughter in law made their gorgeous headbands.


Amanda and Casey were so happy and relaxed.  She
wanted another bouquet for the reception
a cascading bouquet with brooches and feathers.


It turned out exquisitely.  Nannette at Sleepy Ridge 
did all of the flowers and decor.
I can't say enough good about
Sleepy Ridge.  They were marvelous
to work with.




I love the touch of bling that Nannette added even to
Casey's boutonniere.  He looked so good in his tails.



She and her lovely bridesmaids had fun posing for tons of pictures.





The groomsmen got in on the fun too.




Couldn't be cuter - all in aqua and brooches!
(Nothing harder than keeping this many little
ones in the camera!)


Of course we had to get her with her older sister and her
oldest niece.


Here is a huge shot of all of us.


And a shot of the Moms and Dads and Newlyweds kissing!
Amanda wanted the moms in long aqua dresses.



We were inspired by Amanda's armful
of bracelets so we put together
our own collection in aqua and white.
Casey's mother made a bead bracelet
for each of us.



This is an exterior shot of Sleepy Ridge.  Amanda
chose this beautiful place for her reception.  She
was upstairs in the Sunset room.

We gathered for pictures at 5:30 and the 
reception began that evening at 7:00.



The service at
Sleepy Ridge
was so incredible.

They had me deliver all of my decor
items the day before with notes on 
where I wanted things and that evening
when I arrived, all was set up and perfect!
I have never had service like that.  I thought I
would be working all afternoon on set up!


When I walked in the room, it just took my breath away!


The aqua and white were just spectacular -
such a beautiful color combiation.










Brooches were featured everywhere from
the flowers to the tables and even to the cake.
Two were pinned on each table runner.


They were in all of the floral arrangements too.
I found all of these on Fabulousbrooch.com.
(Most for $3 each!)


This massive fireplace anchors one end of the
room.  


Everything was just magnificent.  I love
the draped ceiling in the Sunset Room with lights
in the draping.





We had beautiful candles everywhere.  I love
that Sleepy Ridge lets you have real candlelight.



Some of the tables featured Eiffel Tower 
floral arrangements, others featured
silver mercury glass containers.  All
had crystal and aqua brooches and
the tables had aqua jewels sprinkled
on them.




The 6 foot
Eiffel Tower Ice Sculpture anchored
the other end of the hall where all of the food
was served.


Fresh flower poms hung from the chandelier in the center
of the room.


I had painted this large birdcage in
an aqua spray paint for wedding gift cards.


The sign in table featured two books you could 
sign in and


 Amanda's jeweled bridal bouquet from 
the temple and bridals 
was placed under the metal cloche
by the sign in book
(from Costco Photo) 




 the other sign in book
was hand made by his mother -
you could sign in either or both!


It was set up on this lovely shabby aqua dresser.
We had attached ostrich feathers to pens to sign in.


The little girls loved those pens.


Casey's mom had done the vinyl words for their
Love Story
which we placed on this mirror.



The halls were lined with enlargements from 
her bridals.




And more photos from her engagement photo shoot
topped this shabby buffet.



Yards and yards of aqua tulle create
an elegant skirting for the dessert table.


 The dessert table featured the Groom's
Cake on an aqua and jeweled cake stand
and a five foot high Eiffel Tower that held
French Almond Macarons.





Amanda chose a classic white wedding cake 
from Cakes By Dawna (who happens to be
related to Casey) with a touch of aqua with
the brooch.


She wanted to incorporate a little silver, so Dawna
fringed the edges of the petals with metallic silver.
The cakes were red velvet, chocolate and vanilla.
All were delicious.





The focal point of the room was this six foot
ice sculpture of the Eiffel Tower that has
a drink luge in the center so that punch can
be poured through the sculpture.


Amanda chose a
 Tiffany Blue Punch
 to match the reception
colors.


The sweet server in the background had to
climb up and pour the punch for all of the
guests - all night long.  And he did it 
all with a huge smile.


 (Someone's enjoying the punch!)


We found this fun cake topper for the grooms
cake as Amanda and Casey were to leave the
reception in my white convertible.


It sat atop a traditional tall Maglby's chocolate cake.


As reception lines for an LDS wedding
can be long, we decided to have waiters passing
trays of food as people waited in line.


Everything was mini appetizers and mini desserts
with a French flair.

The event was catered by Magleby's and
the food was simply amazing both in presentation
and flavor.  




These were Magleby's spinach dips.  I just adore the 
presentation on everything.



Red pepper soup spoons.  I wanted to save all of their
fabulous serving pieces!


This was one of our savory stations where the food
was behind prepared right there in front of the
guests.  The chef at this station was so adorable
he kept saying, "Welcome to Paris!"



They were then served hot in a red pepper dipping sauce.


Of course we had to have crepes with a
lemon mousse or a cream cheese mousse filling
and assorted toppings.


The chef was there flaming the crepes.


The stuffed mushrooms were incredible.



I have to say the biggest hit of the party were the
mini milkshakes.  They were served at their own
"Milkshake Bar".


They served Raspberry, Oreo and Toasted Marshmallow
Mini Shakes.  I know my grandkids drank way more
than their share!

People just raved about all of the food and said it was
the best reception they had ever been too, but their
favorite things were the mini shakes.


French macarons were served out of the Aqua Eiffel Tower
which I got from Tai Pan (I painted it).

The beautiful cake stand with jewels I found at
Home Goods - and no, I didn't have to paint that one -
what a find!


Guests also adored the 
Cookies and Milk.  
What a clever idea.  



Ok, everything was delicious! People loved
these Mini Layered Magleby's Cakes too!  They 
were one of my favorites!
Magleby's was so creative and wonderful
to work with.


The event included dancing at the end where even
the grandkids were having a wonderful time.



And of course a dance with Dad.


After all of the food and fun and congratulations
we went out on the patios and had a
fabulous fireworks show.  Amanda and Casey got to
push the plunger to start the show.


I am such a fireworks fan that when I
found out they could do real fireworks,
I knew we had to have those to
celebrate!  They went on and on and on.
We were given a spectacular show!


Everyone lined up to wish them a sparkling farewell
using 3 foot sparklers and heart shaped sparklers.
The heart shaped sparklers just last one minute
so they were just for looks, but the 3 foot ones
last 4 minutes - perfect for pictures.


Her wonderful bridesmaids, Hannah, Natalie, Natalie and
Aubrie had decorated the car with style.  Hannah
blinged up the cans with scrapbook
paper and aqua jewels and Natalie made the
banner. 
It was finished off with four clusters of aqua
and pearl balloons.
 It was the classiest decorated car
 I have ever seen!



They drove off in the car but needed to return 
to change out of their wedding clothes. 
My favorite part was when Casey turned up the
music to "I Think I Want To Marry You"
and then got Amanda out of the car and danced
with her!


Here is to a wonderful life together!


It's been so fun sharing our wedding with you, I decided
I should share all of my hours of work finding things,
so here are my sources!

Sources
White Pinch Pleat Linens - Your Chair Covers
Aqua Rosette Overlay and Runners - Wholesale Wedding Chair Covers
(I cut the overlays or toppers into runners and serged the
edges to get the color and size I wanted.)
Aqua Tulle Table Skirt - Etsy - Bailey Had A Party
Flower Girls Dresses - Candy Girl Dress
Reception Center - Sleepy Ridge
Catering - Magleby's Catering
Bird Cage - Tai Pan (spray painted aqua)
Eiffel Tower - Tai Pan (spray painted aqua)
Table Eiffel Towers - Home Goods and Tai Pan
Easels - Tai Pan
White Buffet and Aqua Chest - Sleepy Ridge Rentals
Brooches - Fabulous Brooch
Table Votive Candle Holders - Hobby Lobby
Aqua Tall Mercury Candle Holders - Z Gallerie
Cake Topper - Wedding Star
Parasols - Wedding Star
Wedding Sign In Book - Costco Photo
Aqua and Cream Picture Frames - Home Goods (I
added the ribbon and brooches)
Enlarged Photos - Costco (I ordered 20x30s and
mounted them with spray glue on foam board and
put them in frames from Michaels)
Cream and Brown Floor Mirror - Home Goods
Eiffel Tower Canvases - Home Goods
Fireworks and Ice Sculpture - Sourced through Sleepy Ridge






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