Nashville Hot chicken salad + Peppered Waffle Cone Bowls + Hot Dill Pickles

We know the story all too well. You wake up one day craving Nashville hot chicken, chicken and waffles, and a good ole fashioned chicken salad all at once and in the form of an ice cream sundae. It’s inevitable, and when that day does come, this recipe is the cure to the craving.

My intention was surprisingly not to create a savory sundae, but some of the best things in life are accidental. As I was adding the finishing touches while plating this dish, I looked down at what I had done. A waffle cone bowl. A scoop of chicken salad slightly resembling a glossy scoop of slowly-melting ice cream. Pickles acting as cookie dough globs or chunks of fudge brownies. Sprigs of dill posing as sprinkles. And a spicy, tangy, deceivngly sweet Tabasco caramel drizzled all over to really seal the deal. I was terrified. The resemblance was uncanny. The taste, however… deceptive. Hot. Delicious and undeniably leaving you wanting more.

Here’s what’s going on in this dystopia of an ice cream sundae:

• Nashville hot inspired chicken salad brined in a dill pickle brine with loads of cayenne, Tabasco, paprika, and other spices tossed with smoked mozzarella cubes in a tangy, creamy dressing

• Peppery (and slightly sweet from the brown sugar) buttery waffle cone bowls

• Fresh and spicy, garlic-y, dilly pickle slices

• Sweet, tangy, slightly spicy and sticky Tabasco “caramel”
  

I spent a good 3 hours testing out different savory waffle cone recipes — all without using a waffle cone maker — so that you never have to wash as many batter-coated dishes in one day as I did. I finally landed on the perfect balance of peppery, salty, buttery, and delicately crunchy, but still with that warm nostalgic sweetness that we all know and love about about waffle cones. You have to work quickly with them — as soon as they’re out of the oven the cooling and hardening process instantly begins. Once you get it down though, it’s really quite easy, and you can adjust this recipe to create all sorts of flavor combinations.

So, ideally, this recipe takes about a day or 2—minimum—to make. At least one day before you want to make the chicken salad, make the pickles. You can does this a week in advance if you want. The morning of or the night before, take some of the pickle brine and pour it over your chicken breasts. Let this sit for at least 3 hours and preferably over night. Then, you can season, bake, and make the chicken salad. While it’s cooling, whip up the caramel and the waffle cone bowls — both of which you can make a day in advance or earlier if you want. Then it’s all about building the savory sundae of your dreams. If you are in a pinch though, make the pickles in the morning/early afternoon, cool the excess brine immediately and brine the chicken for 3 hours before baking!

This recipe is hot, but you can always adjust it to make it more mild by reducing the cayenne—or increasing it for even more heat.

Dill Pickle Brined Nashville Hot Chicken Salad, Peppered Waffle Cone Bowls, Hot Dill Pickles, and Tabasco “Caramel”

Serves 6 | Prep Time: 3+ hours | Cook Time: 45 minutes

Hot Dill Pickles

• 3 mini cucumbers - thinly sliced into circles, skin on

• 1/3 cup dill, roughly chopped — it’s okay if some stems are included

• 2 fresno peppers, or red chilis of any kind — thinly sliced into rings

• 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped

• 2 tsp. mustard seeds

• 1 tsp. dill seeds

• 1 tsp. black peppercorns

• 1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar

• 1 1/2 cups water

• 2 tbs. kosher salt

• 2 1/2 tbs. sugar

Bring all ingredients except for the cucumbers and fresh dill to a boil. Taste the brine and adjust seasoning if needed — if too sweet, add more salt or vice versa. It will get spicier as it sits. Place the cucumers in a jar or container. Once the sugar/salt are dissolved, pour the hot brine over the cucumbers to cover them completely. Save any excess brine for the chicken, if any. Let cool to room temperature, add in the dill, stir, close tightly and give it a shake to mix well. Refrigerate for at least 1 day before using.

Nashville Hot Chicken Salad

• Pickling brine from Hot Dill Pickles (above)

• 3 large chicken breasts

• Nashville Hot dry rub: 1 tbs. ground cayenne, 1/2 tbs. paprika, 2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. ground black pepper, 2 tsp. garlic powder, 2 tsp. onion powder, 1 tbs. dark brown sugar, 1 tsp. ground mustard power

• A few dashes Tabasco

• 3 tbs. olive oil

• 1/3 cup Labne, sour cream, or crème fraîche

• 1/2 cup smoked mozzarella cubes — small dice — regular mozz will work too but the smoked flavor really takes this dish to another level in my opinion!

• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

• 1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley flakes

  1/2 tsp. paprika

• Tabasco to taste

• Cayenne pepper to taste

• Salt/pepper to taste

Place your chicken breasts in a ziplock bag or airtight container. Pour the brine from the pickles over the chicken - just enough to cover the chicken (using any excess brine as well). Close the chicken in the bag or contanier with no air trapped in and refrigerate with the brine for at least 3 hours and up to 1 day. You can replenish the pickle jar with equal water/vinegar to recover the pickles.

After brining, preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Remove chicken from brine, pat dry, and set in a baking dish. Mix together the dry rub. Drizzle the chicken breasts with olive oil, a few dashes of Tabasco, and the dry rub — massage the chicken breasts well to cover them in the spices completely. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until an internal temperature of 160ºF is reached. Remove from oven, let cool and rest for at least 15 minutes.

Dice the chicken into small bite-sized pieces. Add into a bowl, along with the juices, and all the other ingredients: labne/sour cream, smoked mozzarella cubes, Worcestire shire sauce, parsley flakes, paprika, any additional cayenne/Tabasco if desired, and salt/pepper to taste. Cover/wrap and refrgerate until ready to eat.

Black Pepper Brown Sugar Waffle Cone Bowls

• 1 tbs. black peppercorns

• 2 tbs. dark brown sugar

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 2 large egg whites

• 2/3 cup all-pupose flour

• 1 tbs. black peppercorns

• 2 tbs. + 2 tbs. + 2bs. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool to room temp.

Toast the black peppercorns until fragrant in a sauté pan—about 2-3 minutes. Grind to a course grind by hand or in a spice grinder/blender. Mix the flour/salt/brown sugar/2 tsp. of the ground black pepper mixture together to combine. Set aside. Whip the egg whites until frothy. Fold in the flour mixture a little at a time until fully absorbed. Fold in 2 tbs. of the melted, room temp butter. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. Fold in another 2 tbs. melted butter. Using a silicone pat or parchment paper-lined sheet tray, spread about 2 tbs. of the mixture with an offset spatula into a very thin circle. If there are small holes in the circle it’s okay, the batter will melt and merge together in the oven. You want this to be paper thin as it can be while still being a circle. Make sure it is even or else it won’t cook evenly and get crunchy. Cook until golden brown and slightly darker around the edges but still flimsy, about 3 minutes. Carefully use a spatula to get the circle up quickly and into a a ramekin. It will seem buttery/fragile. Press gently into the ramekin to form a bowl shape and let cool completely until hardened. Move to a rack until ready to use. Repeat proceess until batter is used.

If the batter is not thinning out enough in the oven and becoming too thick, add in the other 2 tbs. butter 1 tbs. at a time and test 1 waffle bowl for thinness.

Tabasco “Caramel”

• 1/4 cup Tabasco

• 2 tbs. brown sugar

• 2 tbs. white vinegar

• 1 garlic clove - smashed

• 2 tsp. tomato paste

• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

• 1 tbs. cold butter

• Pinch salt

In a saucepan, bring the Tabasco, sugar, vinegar, garlic clove, tomato paste, and cayenne pepper to a simmer until the brown sugar is dissolved and the mixture is reduced into a slightly thicker sauce. Remove from heat, swirl in the butter until melted, season with salt, and store in an airtight container or jar until ready to use. Reheat slightly to make drizzle-able.

To form chicken salad:

Place a scoop of chicken salad into the waffle cone bowl. Drizzle with the Tabasco “caramel” and garnish with the pickles/peppers and some fresh dill.