Beignets!
I’m out in the sticks visiting my family for a few days and everything here reminds me of all the things I love about summer. It’s hotter than heck, as it always is in the high desert. The apricots are falling off the trees, leaving that sticky sweet fermented smell in the air. Days are spent hiding out in a darkened house, listening to the fans blow or plunked down in a kiddie pool wearing a too-small bikini you haven’t seen 1999. I love it all.
While I was out here, CC surprised us by making beignets for breakfast the other day. She was going to stay up late the night before and make special dough just for the occasion but something happened with her iphone alarm clock or whatever and she ended up just using that store-bought biscuit dough that comes in one of those pop-cans instead. No loss for us, they were delicious!
It took me right back to New Orleans where I first discovered these lovely fried doughnut things. All we needed was some chickory coffee and a few vampires. I looked and looked all over my computer for my old pictures from New Orleans but I think they were sadly lost in the crash of 2006. I know I have them somewhere on a cd but man, trying to find a batch of photos in my boxes and boxes of archived images is worse than finding a needle in a haystack. One of these days…maybe when Bug is in school I’ll tackle that project.
In the meantime maybe you’d like to try a batch of beignets at home!
First you roll out your dough really thin. CC said the most important thing she figured out was it’s super important to keep the dough cold. She worked with small batches and kept the remaining in the freezer while she was pounding and rolling.
Then you cut up small 2-inch squares or rectangles from the dough and fry them in about 1 cup of oil. Lots of recipes say to fry in enough oil to cover the beignets but I watched CC and she didn’t use that much. I think you just have to turn them a lot. When they are toasty and golden, remove them from the pan and let them cool on some paper towels.
Then drop them in a bag with a bunch of powdered sugar and shake, shake, shake!
Shake your Bootay! (You’ll need to shake it a lot to counteract all the calories you’ll soon be consuming.)
And then go enjoy them in the backyard so you don’t get powdered sugar all over the place!
10 Comments
Ruth
Your descriptions of “the sticks” always make me yearn for heat and backyards and fruit trees and kiddie pools! You must have great memories from the desert :)
Angella
And now, I’m hungry.
Andrea
GEYAAW those look amazing. And this confirms that I made the right choice when I nominated your blog for “best eye candy” over at Social Luxe!
bethany actually
We used to make “doughnuts” from that refrigerated biscuit dough in a similar manner. :-)
pinky
Beignets, what a treat! I have been hearing about them for years from my husband, who had been to New Orleans a few times, I’ve never been. Then we got some at a local bakery who has them from time to time, we just happened to be walking by one morning, and the sign was out. Mmmmmm.
anna b bonkers
Mmmm, gonna make these!
That biscuit dough is also awesome to use for pizza bases. Just flatten out to 4 or 5 inches and then top with pizza stuff. Cook for what the package said for the biscuits or until golden on the edges. Yum!
Kuky
I was thinking of making doughnuts the other day because Isabelle helped me make churros. We might have to try this instead. Seems easier.
Annika
Oh man. This did not help my sweet tooth. At least, it did not do anything to save me from my sweet tooth.
Ninabi
What creativity with a can of dough! Those looked so good. Hot as the weather can be, summer has its charms, doesn’t it?
BeachMama
I make monkey bread with that dough, but now I want to try some beignets…mmmmm….