Beignets French Market Doughnuts

Title:
Beignets French Market Doughnuts

Yield:
4 Servings

Categories:
Cajun,
Brunch




Ingredients:





     1 pk Active dry yeast


 1 1/2 c  Warm water (100-115 degrees


          -F)


   1/2 c  Sugar


     1 ts Salt


     2 lg Eggs


     1 c  Evaporated milk


     7 c  Flour


   1/4 c  Vegetable shortening


          Oil for deep frying


          Confectioner's sugar for


          -dusting (or burying,


          -depending on taste)






 Put the warm water into a large bowl, then sprinkle in the yeast and a


 couple teaspoons of the sugar and stir until thoroughly dissolved. Let


 proof for 10 minutes. Add the rest of the sugar, salt, eggs, and evaporated


 milk. Gradually stir in 4 cups of the flour and beat with a wooden spoon


 until smooth and thoroughly blended. Beat in the shortening, then add the


 remaining flour, about 1/3 cup at a time, beating it in with a spoon until


 it becomes too stiff to stir, then working in the rest with your hands.


 Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight in a greased


 bowl.


 


 Roll the dough out onto a floured board or marble pastry surface to a


 thickness of 1/8 inch, then cut it into rectangles 2-1/2 inches by 3-1/2


 inches with a sharp knife. Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 360 degrees F.


 Fry the beignets about 3 or 4 at a time until they are puffed out and


 golden brown on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per batch. Turn them over in


 the oil with tongs once or twice to get them evenly brown, since they rise


 to the surface of the oil as soon as they begin to puff out. Drain each


 batch, place on a platter lined with several layers of paper towels, and


 keep warm in a 200 degree F oven until they're all done. Pronounced


 "ben-YAYS", these are the rectangular doughnuts (no holes) served fresh and


 hot around the clock at Cafe du Monde in the French Market. (Another former


 French Market coffeehouse, Morning Call, moved to ... Metairie. Ugh.) When


 you hear people talking about "goin' fo' coffee an' doughnuts", this is


 what they mean. Cafe du Monde is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is


 usually quite busy at all hours.


 


 These aren't terribly difficult to prepare at home. Even though there's a


 CDM Beignet Mix (just add water, and it's as "easy as


 un-deux-trois-quatre", as the box says), it's not available out of New


 Orleans, and making this from scratch is fun. The yeast dough must be


 prepared in advance and refrigerated overnight. It seems that for home


 preparation the dough works better in the large quantity given here, enough


 for about 5 dozen beignets. Don't worry, though ... the dough keeps well


 under refrigeration for about a week. Just cut off some dough when you want


 to make beignets -- roll it out, cut it up, and fry for about 3 minutes per


 batch. Don't forget the powdered sugar, lots of it. Or, just invite enough


 people over to eat all 5 dozen.


 


 Serve, of course, with piping hot cafe au lait made with Community Coffee.


 


 Serve 3 beignets per person, sprinkling heavily with powdered sugar, and


 serve hot with cafe au lait.


 


 Typos By Jim Kirk - captain@iquest.net by somebody
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 Posted to MM-Recipes Digest V4 #280 by Jim Kirk 
on Oct


 24, 1997