Favorite Foods Friday (Special Wednesday Edition)

In honor of Fat Tuesday, I decided to try my hand at a delicious, though not nutritious, New Orleans favorite; beignets. And, oh my, were they delicous. If only we had sat outside in blazing heat and humidity, I would have felt like I was back at Cafe Du Monde. Unfortunately the kids weren't quite as taken with the fried french treats and I have no idea why. They both enjoy donuts, but since mom made it and didn't buy it at the store and it didn't have chocolate on it, they were content to tell me how much they didn't like them, before they even tried them.

Beignets - by Our Best Bites
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup  + 1 Tbsp sugar, divided
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. table salt
3 1/2-4 cups all purpose flour
1 scant Tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup wam water
1 egg
oil for frying (peanut oil recommended)

In a small saucepan, combine the milk, 1/4 cup sugar, vegetable oil, and salt. Heat over medium heat until small bubbles form around the edge of the pan. Remove from heat.

While the milk is heating, combine the yeast, 1 Tbsp of sugar, and water. Allow to stand for 10 minutes or so.

In the bowl of a stand mixer add the heated milk to 2 cups of flour. Mix, scraping the bowl occasionally, until smooth (about 2-3 minutes). Add the egg and mix until well combined. Add the yeast mixture and mix until well combined. Add enough flour to make a soft dough that slightly sticks to your finger.

At this point, you can either place the dough in a bowl sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and cover with a sprayed piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate up to one day, or you can roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a large rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into about 3"x4" rectangles. You can use a pastry cutter, a pizza wheel, or whatever you have that works for you. Slightly separate the dough pieces and cover with a clean cloth. Let rise for 30 minutes.

About half way through the rise time, heat 2-3 inches of oil in a large skillet or saucepan to 325 degrees. When the oil is hot enough,  fry the dough pieces, about 2 minutes per side until they are golden brown, turning once. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Generously dust with powdered sugar sifted through a mesh strainer.  Makes about 24-30 beignets.

My notes: with the kids not eating these, I could have easily done a half recipe and been quite satisfied. While they are best fresh and warm, they are still quite good the next day.