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Dio ScrantonRECTORY, SET, COOK! IV: Pastor Chef Spotlight
When Father Paschal Mbagwu, Administrator Pro Tem of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Pocono Pines, whose father forbid him as a a boy growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, to enter the kitchen (because only Nigerian women did the cooking), and parishioner Thomas Schulz, a Southern boy at heart, get together in a kitchen, anything can happen, but there’s a 99.99 percent chance of deliciousness.
This dynamic duo of good friends, who will happily cross their cultures to prepare great meals, last year paired honeyed salmon with Nigeran jollof for a meal grouping you don’t see every day.
This year, they went all in on an American – southern, to be specific – classic: chicken and waffles. They pressed into service two favorite pieces of kitchen technology – a Dash no-drip waffle iron and a Farberware deep fryer – to produce dozens upon dozens of the signature fare – fresh, fluffy waffles paired with fried chicken brined for 24 hours in buttermilk and hot sauce – all served up at a dinner feast honoring parish volunteers.
To their light, fluffy, pull-apart square waffles, paired with the tender, soaked-overnight chicken, volunteers at the dinner were invited to add maple syrup – or sausage gravy, a rich choice Tom also makes himself.
“I spent 30 years down South,” he says, waxing nostalgic about chitlins, ham hocks with greens, and other regional favorites. (On the volunteer dinner buffet, macaroni and cheese and green beans with hearty bacon also made colorful appearances, but the chicken and waffles were front and center.
“The trick to good Southern chicken,” Tom says, is “when you roll it in flour, set it aside, then do it again.” You’ll notice the difference, he promises.
To watch their video, and support their efforts to raise money for anti-hunger and anti-homelessness programs through Catholic Social Services, click on this link: https://fundraise.givesmart.com/vf/2025PASTORCHEF/team/FrPaschalMbagwu
