The FrangloSaxon Cooks

Louisiana Cuisines

Smothered Chicken

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Smothered Chicken Smothered chicken is one of the signature dishes of the South and as such it’s been subject to a lot of tweeking – some good, some not so good. Recipes you find in the old cookbooks will often just direct you to cut up or spatchcock the bird, season, flour & brown it, cover in water and run in a slow oven till it’s fork tender. No need for broth, the water turns into broth as the chicken cooks and the broth is thickened by the flour on the chicken.

Effete weenies can toss in a bay leaf or some sage and decorate the finished dish with parsley but at the core it’s salt, pepper, bird, and low heat to the finish.

My tweeks are visible below, the most important one being the teaspoon of vinegar you add at the end which adds just a bit of bite to a pretty unctuous dish. I don’t add garlic but the celery and onion are a must for me and the teaspoon of tomato paste gives a little flavor and a beautiful mahogany color. Any poultry seasoning that your family likes will work well in this prep and I add marjoram when I have it because it tastes wonderful. When I run out of seasoning mix I add only it and it’s wonderful. Another sort of French variation on the theme would be to add only tarragon, but that’s on you.

Smothered ChickenFor the prep you need to make sure the pan is fairly hot when you drop the chicken into the bacon grease and if your bacon didn’t produce much grease add a little vegetable oil or butter. Once in the pan leave the chicken alone, letting the skin side form a crust. After a minute or two gently shake the skillet and if the chicken has formed a crust it will release and you can turn it over, cook for a couple then remove. You want that browning because it adds flavor.

Next add your onion and celery and saute for two or three minutes on medium heat until somewhat softened. Next stir in the tomato paste and herbs, then add back the chicken, bacon bits and water. Cover and put in the oven for about half an hour or until it tests as tender.

Smothered ChickenArrange the chicken pieces on a platter that you’ve covered with hot rice. Now you will check the sauce for seasoning and add the vinegar. Once it’s perfect pour the gravy over the chicken, sprinkle with parsley or chives and serve to your hungry tribe.

Smothered Chicken

 

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Smothered Chicken
Author: 
Cuisine: Southern
 
Ingredients
  • 2 strips of bacon
  • 2 lbs. chicken thighs (about 4) plus flour for dredging
  • 1 cup onion, diced
  • ½ cup celery, diced
  • 1 tsp. tomato paste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
  • 1 tsp. marjoram
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tsp. vinegar (any kind)
  • Parsley
  • White rice
Instructions
  1. Cut up bacon and fry in a braising pan or dutch oven until brown, then remove.
  2. Salt & pepper chicken then dredge in flour.
  3. Place skin side down in the bacon fat and brown. Turn over & brown on other side then remove.
  4. Add onion, celery and saute until soft (about 3 minutes).
  5. Add tomato paste to center of pan & cook for a minute, then add seasonings.
  6. Place chicken back in pan and cover with water.
  7. Cover and put in a 325 oven for 30 minutes until fork tender.
  8. Remove chicken to a platter & check sauce for seasoning. Add vinegar.
  9. Serve with white rice & garnish with parsley.
Notes
If you don't have any dried herbs several sprigs of thyme or marjoram will serve! Just drop them in before you put the chicken in the oven for the final cook.

 

Peppermint Stick Ice Cream

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPeppermint Stick Ice Cream seems to be one of those old fashioned ice cream flavors that’s been cast aside to make room for the weird. Pomegranate Cookie Dough or Cilantro Swirl anybody? Okay, maybe I’m just joking there, but when you have a classic flavor like this it shouldn’t be forgotten.

This is a rich vanilla custard base with some kick from the peppermint/almond extract and some crunch from the candies. That’s it and that’s all. A little sweet striped piece of kidhood to cool you off and appease your inner child. Actual kids will like it too.

When I tell people about this recipe I get the same response across the board. It’s always along the lines of, “I used to love this and now you can’t find it anywhere anymore!” Well, consider it found.

Making the custard follows the same drill as I more fully described in the recipe for Salted Steen’s Ice Cream. The short version of that is to gradually whisk the warm milk/cream mixture into the egg/sugar mixture. After about half of the warm cream has been added to the yolks you can pour that back into the pot and stir until the custard thickens and coats a spoon, or registers 180 on a thermometer. Strain it into a bowl and add the food coloring like this:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASame stuff as they use on CSI episodes I’m sure.  Anyway, mix it to your preferred degree of pinkness, add the extracts, cover with plastic and chill.

While the blood splatter is chillin, you can have a go at the candies. I wrapped mine up in a dish cloth and bashed them with the wimpy female type hammer you see in the shot below. If you’re a man making this recipe you can drop them in a Hefty bag and back your truck over them. Whatever works for you.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASo when the custard is chilled, freeze it according to directions and when it’s almost done drop in the candies and prepare to revisit your childhood summertime memories.

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Peppermint Stick Ice Cream
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Southern
 
Ingredients
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • ¾ c. sugar
  • 1 c. whole milk
  • 2 c. heavy cream
  • pinch salt
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp. peppermint extract
  • 1 tsp. almond extract
  • 3 drops red food coloring
  • ¼ lb (or 20 round peppermints) peppermint candy
Instructions
  1. Combine yolks & sugar and beat till pale.
  2. Combine milk & cream in double boiler and bring to a simmer. There should just be wisps of steam coming off of it. Now ladle about half a cup into the egg/sugar mixture to warm the eggs. When that is fully incorporated add the remainder of the yolks and stir over a low heat till the custard coats a spoon.
  3. Strain into a bowl and let cool off a bit.
  4. Add extracts and food coloring.
  5. Cover with plastic and chill thoroughly in the fridge.
  6. Put the candies in a dish towel and bash with a hammer till the desired level of pulverization is achieved.
  7. Pour the custard mixture into the ice cream maker and freeze according to directions.
  8. When the ice cream is almost frozen, add the candies.

Crabmeat Maison

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhen you’re thinking of ordering Crabmeat Maison at Galatoire’s your first question should always be, “How’s the crab today?” This is code for determining the presence of shell fragments and sweetness. It should be free of the first and brimming with the second.

Once you’ve been given the thumbs up by your waiter you’ll want it as a starter. It’s usually served on a bed of lettuce in an avocado with a halved tomato on the side.

At Maison Clary I serve the dish as a high rise (with no permits needed from the city). It makes for a nice presentation and it’s great for lazy people because it’s already cut up and ready to go down the hatch.

You just need a metal ring like the one below (and trust me, it’s the sine qua non of food porn paraphernalia). Tall food’s where it’s at so I’m working on perfecting the art of the culinary capstone. Perhaps balancing some impossibly long chive spears in a future posting, maybe even a bride & groom topper at some indeterminate point in the future. We’ll see.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABut in the meantime, you, the reader, need to grease the inside and start building. Diced avocado with a squirt of citrus, topped with seeded diced tomato, topped with the crabmeat then garnished with sprouts as I did here or with frisée or even chopped lettuce.

The plates should be made pretty close to the time you serve. And pay attention to the amount of remoulade you mix into the crab. It should be just enough to bind. If you add too much the crab chunks will fall off the side like old plaster off of a building. To be safe you can put the dressed crab in the fridge or even freezer for five to firm it up before adding it to the pile.

I’ve seen other ingredients used in the stack, like quinoa and couscous in place of the avocado but I go with the traditional mix only altering the presentation so that it looks both professional and appetizing.  One possible variation would be to replace half the crab with small, barely steamed rock shrimp.

If you build the tower high enough it can – with the addition of lots of warm French bread – be a light meal so go get your ingredients and start stacking.

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Crabmeat Maison
Author: 
Cuisine: Creole
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • For the salad:
  • 1 lb. jumbo lump crabmeat
  • 2 medium sized tomatoes (any color)
  • 1 cup sprouts (or frisee or lettuce)
  • 2 medium avocados
  • For the remoulade sauce:
  • ⅓ cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon capers (any size)
  • 2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon green onion
  • 2 tablespoons diced pickles
  • 2 tablespoon brown mustard
  • fat pinch of cayenne (or ½ tsp. Crystal)
Instructions
  1. For the salad:
  2. Check the crabmeat for shells & separate lumps carefully.
  3. Dice the avocado and squeeze some lemon or lime juice on it.
  4. Seed tomatoes and cut into dice.
  5. Once the remoulade is made add it slowly to the crab being careful not to break up the lumps too much. And only add enough to bind the crab.
  6. For the remoulade:
  7. Puree all the ingredients in a blender.
  8. Save some additional capers for garnish if you like them whole.
  9. For the assembly:
  10. Seriously, you're still reading this? You didn't see the picture?
  11. Just stack baby stack!
  12. Now eat.
Notes
For more ideas using avocados log on to the Well Being Secrets website at www.well-beingsecrets.com.

Corn Fritters

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Tired of those cornmeal hockey pucks they serve at the all you can eat catfish joints? Then look no further than this fritter. It’s a bite sized spoonful of corn souffle that’s been flash fried to outer crispness while retaining its pillow soft interior. It’s one of those have to have treats while the fresh corn is still on offer at the road side stands.

And one last tip. Barricade access to the fry pan or these may not make it to the dinner table since they have a tendency to be picked off at the point of origin.

So – just dice the ingredients:

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Mix them up, fold in the soft egg whites:

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And fry:

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Corn Fritters
Author: 
Cuisine: Southern
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • ½ cup fresh corn
  • 1 tsp. finely diced onion
  • ⅓ cup finely diced red bell pepper
  • ⅓ cup sifted all purpose flour
  • ½ tsp. baking powder
  • 2 large eggs, separated
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 2 tablespoons milk (or cream)
  • Cayenne pepper to taste
  • cooking oil
Instructions
  1. Fill a skillet about 3 inches deep with oil. Heat to about 375 or flick a little water into the oil and if it spatters it's hot enough.
  2. Cut the corn off the cob.
  3. Sift the flour with the baking powder. Stir in the salt, cayenne, corn, egg yolks and milk.
  4. Beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold into the corn mixture.
  5. Drop by spoonfuls into the oil. Turn them when they brown (about 2 minutes).
  6. Remove and drain on paper towels.
  7. Serve at once.
Notes
Since the frying time is short, make sure the dice is quite small so it will fully cook.