Beignets II
- 1 package dry yeast
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (just above body temperature, around 110 degrees F)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 7 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup shortening
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- Powdered sugar
- In a bowl of a standing mixer, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and stir to dissolve.
- Then add the sugar, eggs, and milk and blend with a paddle attachment.
- Add half the flour, salt, and shortening and blend well.
- Add the remaining flour and continue mixing to form a dough.
- Place the dough on a flour work surface and form into a ball.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap then refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, punch down the dough on a work surface, then cover it with a damp towel, and let it rest for 15 minutes.
- Then roll the dough into a rectangle 1/4-inch thick.
- With a pizza cutter, cut into 2-inch squares.
- Heat some oil for deep fat frying to 365 degrees F. Drop in the beignets, 3 or 4 at a time, and fry on both sides until golden brown.
- They will look like pillows.
- Drain them on a brown paper bag and dust extremely heavily with powdered sugar.
- Notes about the recipe: These are sold everywhere in New Orleans, even at the airport with the powdered sugar in their white oil stained paper sack or the option of a bag of powdered sugar separate.
- Probably the most famous place for these is Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans.
- I went there this year and thought 2 would be enough, but they're so light I was still craving them after the third one.
- You eat them traditionally with steaming cups of cafe au lait and the coffee is brewed with chickory sometimes called Creole Coffee.
- Coffee is brewed with roasted chickory, the root of the leafy salad green, to extend and give body and aroma to the coffee.
- To make cafe au lait, warm milk in a saucepan and pour 1/3 milk and 2/3 coffee into your cup.
- Some places throw their beignet dough scraps into the mix for the next batch of dough, almost like a sour dough starter or levand.
yeast, warm water, sugar, eggs, milk, flour, salt, shortening, vegetable oil, powdered sugar
Taken from www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/beignets-ii-recipe.html (may not work)