Carine Clary, Author at The FrangloSaxon Cooks

Molasses Cookies

April 14, 2020 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

Molasses cookies for those who need chewy quarantine comfort. Yes, if you eat a lot of these you will gain weight but it’ll all come off when the gyms reopen sometime in the distant future. So enjoy and be at one with your molasses based love handles!

The great thing about these cookies (besides the fact that almost everyone likes them) is that they’re easy and fast. I simplified the spice list by calling for pumpkin pie spice, similar to “cake spice” (which can be substituted) providing a variety of flavor in one convenient location which you then just top off with ginger and a little optional grated nutmeg.

This is a conventional cookie recipe except for one little tweak. That would be stirring in the white sugar at the end. By not creaming it with the molasses, brown sugar and egg you will end up with some caramelized crunch in the finished product, a bit like my Bourbon Balls.

Another thing to remember is to use Grandma’s Molasses or something like it. Blackstrap will be too bitter and will overwhelm the spices. You could also substitute Steen’s Cane Syrup which has the same consistency.

Once you’ve got everything at room temperature just follow the prompts below. After the cookies come out of the oven, bang the sheet on the counter to form those camera ready cracks, let cool and store in a cookie tin.

Molasses Cookies

Author: Carine Clary

Cuisine: Southern

Ingredients

1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
1 large egg, at room temperature
1⁄2 cup molasses*
½ cup white sugar
2¼ cups all-purpose flour**
1⁄2 tsp baking soda
1⁄4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp fresh ground nutmeg***
1⁄2 cup powdered sugar for rolling

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325°F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil; set aside.
Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light in color and smooth. Beat in the egg, then the molasses.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, & spices. Add all at once to the butter mixture, stirring until thoroughly blended, then stir in the granulated sugar just until combined. Adding the white sugar last gives it a bit of extra chewy crunch.
Use a small ice cream scoop or two teaspoons to shape the batter into balls. Roll the balls in the powdered sugar to coat and place them on the cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Gently press down on the cookies with the palm of your hand to flatten.
Bake until the cookies have puffed up and appear set at the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Hold the tray about an inch above the counter top and drop it. This will produce the crackle top. Let cool on the trays for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Let cool completely if you are packing them in a cookie tin. If they have any residual heat the pretty white powdered sugar will melt into the cookie and no longer be visible. It won't affect the taste only the appearance.
These keep for a week if you can keep yourself from eating them all at once...

Notes

*Grandma's brand, not blackstrap. You may also substitute cane or sorghum syrup.
**Cake flour also fine.
***optional but recommended.

Sharlotka Apple Cake

February 23, 2020 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

Charlotte, or in Russian – Sharlotka, was allegedly invented by a French chef working for the Czar and it’s the distant cousin in to Charlotte Russe which is a fancier dessert where the sponge cake in the form of lady fingers surrounds the fruit and cream in the center. In fact, they seem a little too distant to be kissing cousins but nevertheless if you know any Russians they’ll tell you they love Sharlotka so on to the prep!

This cake is easy and fast and will cook up perfectly if you pay attention to a few tips. First tip is to use hard tart apples. They will soften in the oven but will hold their shape. Granny Smith are good. Cortland, McIntosh, and Delicious not good, although I did once make it with Delicious (they were on sale) and it was fairly OK if somewhat mushy. Second tip is to use lemon juice (and a little lemon zest if possible) on them and mix well with the two tablespoons of sugar. This will enhance flavor and the sugar will mix with the juice coming from the apples to create a little caramelization on the bottom during the bake.

Other tip is to beat hard then fold. What that means is that you want to beat the eggs and sugar (along with the flavorings) until pale yellow because without baking powder it’s the egg whites that will lift the cake and cause it to rise. Once that’s done gradually sift the flour by thirds over the wet ingredients and gently fold in until all the flour is combined.

Finally, you’ll want to spoon or pour this mixture over the apples you’ve laid in the bottom of a spring form pan, smooth out the top and let bake for about 55 minutes or until the top is brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Once cooled it’s good plain or with sweetened vanillaed whipped cream. For extra flavor add some lemon or orange zest.

And there you have it – all except the cuppa Joe to go with!

Sharlotka Apple Cake

Author: Carine Clary

Cuisine: Russian

Ingredients

Butter or nonstick spray, for greasing pan
3 large tart apples
2 tablespoons lemon juice (to coat the apples)*
3 large eggs
½ cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons to coat apples
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon**
¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of salt
Powdered sugar, to sift over the top

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Butter the paper and the sides of the pan.
Peel, halve and core your apples, then chop them into medium-sized chunks or you may slice them, whichever you prefer. Toss with the lemon juice and the two tablespoons of sugar and put in the pan.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer or whisk, beat eggs with sugar until thick and ribbons form on the surface of the beaten eggs. Beat in vanilla, then sift and fold in flour with a spatula until just combined. The batter will be very thick.
Pour over apples in pan, using a spoon or spatula to spread the batter & press it down so that it covers all exposed apples. The top of the batter should end up level with the top of the apples. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a tester comes out free of batter. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on rack, then remove springform pan. You may leave the parchment paper on the bottom or ease it sideways out from under and place on a cake stand or plate.
Dust with powdered sugar and whipped cream if desired.

Notes

*The lemon flavor really makes this so don't omit.
**Cardamom is a good substitute for cinnamon (or as an addition)

Chinese Lemon Chicken

January 24, 2020 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

Chinese lemon chicken is one of those take out basics that it pays to learn how to make at home. Chances are you have the ingredients already and once you’ve made it a few times you’ll make it quite a few more times. And double it for left overs. This is a lighter, crunchier version where the breading is made only with the egg whites (a trick I learned from Marion Grasby’s Asian food website) and flour leavened with a bit of baking powder. If you substitute self rising flour you can delete the baking powder.

Next we have the two ingredients that really make this taste like restaurant Chinese food. They are Chinese light soy sauce and Shaoxing rice wine. If you have access to Asian markets in your area they should carry them. Most Americans use Kikkoman Soy Sauce which is Japanese and darker and more assertive which comes from the inclusion of roasted wheat in the recipe. Chinese light soy sauce uses wheat flour and is a bit saltier and to my mind a little more floral in aroma. The Shaoxing wine, Shaoxing Huang Jiu, means yellow wine. It’s made from fermented rice, is medium gold in color and has an alcohol content around 15%. It’s often used in marinades since it can eliminate the raw smell of meat and infuse a complex flavor to the dish. I love this stuff and it’s both cheap and delicious, however, if you don’t have it you may substitute dry sherry.

To get started you’ll make the marinade and drop in the chicken pieces. Then you will carefully pour the entire contents of the chicken & marinade into the flour shaking and pressing to get a good coating with lots of bumps that will fry up nicely.

While you’re doing this heat the pan, pour in the oil and let it come up to temperature. Fry the chicken in batches and drain (as below) .

Once that’s done make the sauce add the chicken until completely coated and serve over rice or with some greens or a delicious cucumber salad and garnish with green onions, sesame seeds or both. Because of the size it’s perfect party food so get cooking!

And last but not least …. for those who just can’t get it together to make this …. fear not! Five Happiness on Carrollton Avenue in New Orleans lemon chicken awaits you.

Chinese Lemon Chicken

Author: Carine Clary

Ingredients

For the Marinade:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese shaoxing wine (rice wine)
1 egg white
For the chicken:
1.5 lb chicken breast, cut into ¾ inch cubes*
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Oil for frying
For the sauce:**
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ cup chicken stock
1½ tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp lemon juice (juice of about 2 lemons)
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tbsp water
Garnish:
sesame seeds (black or white)
sliced green onion (scallions)

Instructions

For the marinade:
Using a large bowl add marinade ingredients, whisk together, then place chicken in it coating
well. Let marinate for 20 minutes.
For the chicken:
Place the flour in a large tray or bowl. Pour the entire contents of the marinade bowl with the chicken parts into the flour and use your hands to pat and press the liquid and flour together around the chicken pieces to form a thick coating.
Fill a wok or saucepan 1" to 2" deep with the vegetable oil. Heat over high heat. The oil is hot enough for frying at 325°F or 165°C or when a wooden spoon dipped into the oil forms small little bubbles around the edges.
Shake excess flour from the chicken pieces and place in the hot oil. Do not crowd. Cook in 2 to 3 batches for about 3 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towels.
For the sauce:
Mix together the chicken stock, soy sauce and sugar.
In a clean wok or pan over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil and then add the garlic and ginger. Cook for about 10 seconds or until fragrant. Then add the chicken stock mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Then add the lemon juice and zest. Simmer for another 30 seconds before adding the cornstarch mixture. Cook for another 30 seconds or until sauce has thickened slightly. Add the chicken pieces and toss until evenly coated.
Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds and spring onion. Garnish with lemon slices if desired.

Notes

*Deboned thigh meat also works well.
**If you are making this in a seasoned wok or cast iron skillet consider cooking the sauce in a stainless steel saucepan as the amount of lemon juice may strip the seasoning off.

Smothered Chicken

October 22, 2019 by Carine Clary Leave a Comment

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.

For 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.

Arrange 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

Author: Carine Clary

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
¼ cup carrot, 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

Cut up bacon and fry in a braising pan or dutch oven until brown, then remove.
Salt & pepper chicken then dredge in flour.
Place skin side down in the bacon fat and brown. Turn over & brown on other side then remove.
Add onion, celery and saute until soft (about 3 minutes).
Add tomato paste to center of pan & cook for a minute, then add seasonings.
Place chicken back in pan and cover with water.
Cover and put in a 325 oven for 30 minutes until fork tender.
Remove chicken to a platter & check sauce for seasoning. Add vinegar.
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.

Molasses Cookies

Sharlotka Apple Cake

Chinese Lemon Chicken

Smothered Chicken

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