Carine Clary, Author at The FrangloSaxon Cooks

Chili Cornbread Casserole

May 26, 2021 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

Chili Cornbread Casserole is the easy complete meal that can be cooked and served in the same pot. How sweet is that? Used to be politically incorrectly referred to as “brides casserole” due to its simplicity and utilization of canned goods, but who cares? Tastes great, kids like it, survives pretty well in refrigerator leftover land so let’s get started.

The Prep

For starters you’ll need some ground chuck. Put a little oil in the pan, break up the ground meat and thoroughly cook and set aside. Add a little more oil, dump in the onion & garlic and cook until clear, about three minutes. Next add the seasonings and the drained can of pinto beans. Lightly smash a few of the beans against the side of the pan. This will thicken the final chili. Add the diced tomato with its juices, the reserved meat, stir and let cook for a couple of minutes. If you’re a do ahead kinda guy or gal making this for tomorrow’s supper you can stop here and pop in the fridge. Otherwise, cut the heat and mix up the cornbread.

The cornbread is easy & when it’s mixed you can pour it over the chili which you will have flattened out, and note: I misspoke in the first paragraph. This meal dirties two dishes if you include the one you use to mix the cornbread but two’s not bad so just live with it 🙂 Shred the cheese of your choice of the top of the cornbread, slide in the oven and your labor is over.

Below you’ll see it served with a little extra chopped bell pepper and some sour cream along with an ad hoc coleslaw that was nothing more than shredded cabbage and carrot with a little mayo.

Done! Now down the hatch.

Chili Cornbread Casserole

Author: Carine Clary

Cuisine: Tex-Mexican

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the Chili:
2 tablespoons oil (1 for browning meat, other for the veg)
½ lb. ground beef
2 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cup onion, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1.5 tsp. smoked paprika (or regular)
1 to 2 jalapeno chilis, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper (optional if you used 2 chilis)
1 14.5 oz can tomato dice with liquid
1 15.5 oz can pinto beans
For the Cornbread Topping:
¾ cup stone ground cornmeal (medium or fine grind)
¼ cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk

Instructions

For the Chili:
Add tablespoon of oil (or even better, bacon grease) to a Dutch oven, break up the meat, cook over medium heat until done & remove.
Add garlic and onion and saute for several minutes until clear.
Stir in the chili powder, smoked paprika, chopped chilies, salt and pepper.
Slightly smash the beans with a fork, some should remain whole.
Stir in the tomato dice, beans, and reserved meat & cook over a low heat for several minutes.
For the Cornbread:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all dry ingredients and make a well in the middle.
Whisk together the egg and buttermilk, pour into the well & mix.
For the Assembly of the casserole:
Level out the chili and pour cornbread batter over it.
Top with grated cheese of your choice.
Bake until brown, about half an hour.

Catfish Courtbouillon

May 21, 2021 by Carine Clary 2 Comments

Catfish Courtbouillon can swing both ways. One end of the spectrum leans towards the darker thicker roux based version favored by some famous local chefs, another is a lighter fresher iteration perfect for the warmer months. Guess which this is? Light, bright with colorful veg and just enough wine to lend complexity. Try it and it may turn out to be your favorite version.

In classical French cooking courtbouillon is just what its name implies. A bouillon (broth) that is cooked for a court (short) time. It’s used as a poaching liquid for seafood and this recipe can be made a day ahead. Day of you have only to fry the fish anoint the rice and dig in. So let’s get started.

The Prep

First thing is to prep the veg, or mirepoix. Because it will only cook a short time you’ll need to mince the celery, onion, garlic and chili peppers pretty finely. The wine will also aid in drawing out the flavors and if you don’t have it a good wine vinegar will serve. You’ll note that I used a cheap white wine and canned tomatoes. By all means use fresh tomatoes if you have ’em. Just remember to peel and seed.

I like to sauté them in bacon fat for the flavor but butter works too. Once you’ve softened up the celery, bell pepper and onion, add the chili, garlic, parsley, paprika, thyme, tomatoes and wine. Bring up to a boil, cook for a couple of minutes then add the broth and reduce by half. Now your sauce is done. Just remove from the heat and stir in the green onion tops. The residual heat will cook them sufficiently. If you are making this ahead and using chives wait until just before serving to add them.

The Fish

Whisk together the lemon juice and egg white marinade. Marinating in lemon juice really infuses the flavor and the egg white lends crunch to the coating. And the fish can be redfish if you like that better than the cat. Any firm fish works.

I prefer a very light crisp crunch so the breading is more flour than fish fry meal and I add baking powder to enhance that crispness. And a word about the cornmeal. After I got all this prepped and ready to fry I discovered that I had no fish fry but did have coarse corn meal so I executed a culinary MacGyver and put the corn meal in the blender and blended and blended and blended until it was fine. It worked but I won’t forget to check on supplies next time. After the fish is marinated just reach in, get all the chunks and put them in the breading. Shake until they are covered then drop in the oil (to which you can add a little bacon grease too if you’re feeling wicked).

Cook until brown, drain and assemble as shown below. Enjoy with the remains of the wine & hope for leftovers!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Catfish Courtbouillon

Author: Carine Clary

Ingredients

For the Sauce:
2 tablespoons bacon fat (or butter)
1 cup onion, minced
½ cup celery, minced
½ cup red bell pepper, minced
1 tablespoon chili, minced (jalapeno or serrano)*
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, minced
⅓ cup minced fresh parsley
1 tsp. ground thyme
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
⅓ cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken or seafood stock
¼ cup minced chives or scallions (if scallions, green part only)
For the Marinade:
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg white, whisked
For the Fish:
1 inch of vegetable oil or lard
1 to 2 pounds skinless fish fillets
⅔ cup flour
⅓ cup fine cornmeal, a/k/a "fish fry"
1 tsp. baking powder
Lemon juice to taste
For the rice:
1½ cups rice (white or brown) cooked to package directions

Instructions

For the sauce:
Heat the fat in a large frying pan over medium high heat and saute the onion, celery, red pepper and chili until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic, thyme & paprika and let this cook another minute or two, then add the white wine & canned tomatoes with their liquid and bring to a boil. Let this boil down by half, then add the stock and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and set aside. This can be made the day before and refrigerated.
For the Fish:
Whisk together the egg white & lemon juice.
Cut the fish into bite sized pieces and marinate in the fridge for 30.
Pour about one inch of oil in a frying pan & heat to 350 degrees.
Mix the flour and cornmeal. Salt the catfish chunks, then dust them in the flour/meal mixture. Fry the fish over medium-high heat until nicely browned, about 3 to 5 minutes per side.
To serve, lay some rice on the plate, spoon over the sauce, top with the fish and put a little sauce on top of that.

Notes

*taste the chili before adding. They can vary in heat greatly.

Potato Casserole

May 11, 2021 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

Potato Casserole is something I’ve been making “unofficially” in batches for one and two people for years but here it’s all scaled up to family size. Pretty simple as long as you observe a few minor procedures. The most important ‘tip’ being to put the potatoes in the casserole dish first before adding the cream sauce making sure that there’s lots of clearance for the potatoes so that the crunchy topping gets and stays crunchy in the final bake.

The Prep

First you’ll peel and cut up the potatoes into cubes of whatever size you like best then add them to a pot full of heavy cream and boil until mostly cooked. And remember – this is not an exact thing here. They will continue to cook in the oven while the crust is browning but that won’t take long so just make sure you don’t end up with mashed potatoes.

After the spuds are done to your liking add the chicken broth (this is for flavor) then move the spuds with a slotted spoon into a casserole dish. Then, and only then, gradually add the sauce. Just make sure the potatoes are sticking up over heavy cream lake. You may end up not using it all. Below is an example of too much sauce (my bad). Ended up having to spoon a little out.

Finally you’ll make the topping and for that I recommend using the fine side of the cheese grater.

Toss with the butter and crumbs, sprinkle over the spuds and wait for the magic! You won’t be disappointed.

Potato Casserole

Author: Carine Clary

Cuisine: Southern

Ingredients

For the casserole:
2 lbs. russet potatoes, cubed
2 cups heavy cream
2 cloves garlic, grated on zester
2 tsps. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
grating of nutmeg
pinch of baking soda
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
⅓ cup chicken broth
For the topping:
3 tablespoons melted butter
⅔ cup shredded cheese
⅔ cup panko (or cracker crumbs)
Paprika
Chives or parsley for garnish

Instructions

For the casserole:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Peel and cube potatoes.
Add garlic, salt, pepper and baking soda to the cream, stir well, add potatoes, then bring to a boil. Cover and cook over medium flame until the potatoes are cooked through but not falling apart.
Stir in butter until melted, then add chicken broth.
Put into an 8.5" by 9" baking dish and cover with topping.
For the topping:
Melt butter.
Mix shredded cheese and panko well. The cheese works better in this if you use a fine grater.
Add butter, mix well, and distribute evenly over the top.
Bake until the top is brown then add chives or parsley.

Louisiana Dirty Rice

April 27, 2021 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

The variety of names for this recipe; Louisiana Dirty Rice, Cajun Dirty Rice, Creole Dirty Rice give a big clue as to how this recipe is viewed by the locals. They all claim it! Regardless of its origin, which I suspect was simultaneous in various parts of the state, it’s pretty consistent. It’s called “dirty” because the browned meats give it a mahogany cast that resembles a rich loam. It features the trinity of bell pepper, onion, and celery and this version calls for chicken liver and sausage as meats.

And it can be enjoyed as a light main course with a salad or as a side dish. It even freezes well if you end up with too much so let’s get started.

The Prep

First you make the rice. This is usually white but if using brown remember that you need to allow more time for cooking. Next you want to make sure all your other ingredients are chopped up as below:

Meat comes next and the meat I use is loose sausage and chicken livers. To me the livers impart a sort of poor man’s creamy foie gras like unctuousness to the finished dish. However, if you no like, substitute ground chuck beef. Brown both well in a pan with a little oil to prevent sticking then set aside.

Next you will cook all the veg till soft but not brown. If using the pan you cooked the meats in scrape them out and put the veg over that, stirring to incorporate the browned bits at the bottom. (I was in a hurry so used two pans but that’s not necessary). When cooking the veg stir in the parsley and green parts of the green onion just before taking off the burner. The residual heat will cook them slightly which is all you need.

Last but not least – leftovers. Below you’ll see a day after breakfast that microwaved nicely.

Louisiana Dirty Rice

Author: Carine Clary

Cuisine: Cajun, Creole

Ingredients

For the rice:
1 cup long grain rice
2 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. salt
For the meats:
1 tablespoon oil
½ lb. sausage
1 lb. chicken livers
For the vegetables & flavorings:
1 stick butter
½ cup celery, diced
½ cup yellow onion, diced
½ cup white part of green onion, chopped
½ cup bell pepper, diced (any color)
⅓ cup parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons garlic, diced
1 tsp. ground thyme
1 tsp. celery salt
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon paprika
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook rice with chicken broth, bay leaves & salt until soft & set aside.
Put a little oil in a saucepan and brown the sausage then the livers.
Remove from the pan, chop the livers and then melt a stick of butter stirring & loosening the browned bits off the bottom.
When the butter is melted add the celery, onions, bell pepper, garlic & seasonings and cook over medium heat till soft, about five minutes, then add the parsley and the green parts of the green onions.
Stir in the reserved meats & rice, then salt and pepper to taste.
Warm over a low flame for a couple of minutes and keep covered until serving.

Chili Cornbread Casserole

Catfish Courtbouillon

The Prep

The Fish

Potato Casserole

The Prep

Louisiana Dirty Rice

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