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Chicken tenders plus waffle iron equal fun dinner treat

I don't know a kid who doesn't like waffles, and Henry certainly isn't the exception. The challenge of getting maple syrup into every square divot is one he's up for any morning of the week.

And any night of the week, it turns out.

He'd watch me pull out the waffle iron enough times to have figured it out for himself. One night on the way home from working later than anticipated, I called to ask Henry what I could bring home for dinner, and he informed me he had dinner under control. I came home to a plate of warm waffles. Sure flour dusted the floor and batter drips dotted the counter, but dinner awaited ... and I didn't have to cook it.

So when “Will It Waffle” by Daniel Shumski (Workman, 2014) crossed my desk, I knew I had to bring it home. I'd heard of people “baking” refrigerated cinnamon rolls in a waffle iron, but could they really use one to cook a ham and cheese sandwich, pierogies, zucchini fritters or filet mignon?

Shumski answers with a resounding “yes!”

Henry flipped through the book and picked out a familiar food — chicken fingers. We twisted the recipe a bit, leaving the chicken in bigger pieces and adding potato chip crumbs to the breading. But the technique is the same and it's so fun we can't decide which recipe to try next.

Henry says: One of the first foods I made by myself was waffles. They really aren't that hard at all and the machine is easy to operate. Some waffle mixes you only need to add water to; I think the mixes that need egg, water and oil taste better.

The waffled chicken nuggets are my new favorite way to eat chicken. The chicken had the right amount of breading and was just the right chewiness. I dipped mine into ranch dressing; my brother likes barbecue sauce.

Deborah Pankey, former food editor at the Daily Herald, is the mother of two boys. Her youngest, Henry, is a sixth-grader and a picky eater who is finally beginning to explore new foods.

"Will it Waffle" by Daniel Shumski (Workman, 2014)
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