The Original Café Du Monde Coffee Stand was established in 1862 in the New Orleans French Market. The Café is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It only closes on Christmas Day and on days when the occasional Hurricane passes too close to New Orleans.
Ready to go to the table! Beignets, puffed and crisp: plated by threes, once under the “sugar-dump” machine to coat… how many times ??? each day.
(Source: Photo-essay by ARTSandFOOD® staff.)
Beignets Recipe:
• Combine 1 packet of yeast, 1/2 cup warm water, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar – mix – let it sit for 12 minutes to let the yeast bloom.
• In a smaller bowl, we add 2 eggs, 1/2 cup evaporated milk & 1 teaspoon salt – whisk together until nice and smooth.
• Pour egg mixture into yeast mixture.
• Add 1 cup of flour, whisk until it looks like pancake batter.
• Next, add shortening, very import to make the Beignets light.
• Add 2 more cups of flour.
• Stir and stir until the dough comes together.
• Pull out the dough and knead it, the dough is tacky fold it over – knead – rotate/fold it over – knead – rotate/fold it over – knead – rotate until the dough feels really smooth / cannot feel any lumps in the dough.
• Now take another bowl, coat it with a little bit cottonseed oil then place the dough in, cover with a linen cloth and let it sit for 2 hours in order to rise.
• Preheat your fryer cottonseed oil to 370º (cottonseed and Beignets go back 150 years – don’t mess with this tradition)
• Roll out your dough on a floured surface until 1/4″ thick. Now it is time to cut out the Beignets.
• First cut a small corner of the round and drop it into the oil to test for heat, if it floats with-in 8 seconds we know we are ready to cook a batch of Beignets. Put a little bit of flour on top of the dough – cut squares or triangles.
• Cook by basting the oil over the Beignets while they cook, flip over and continue to bast. (cottonseed oil is available at Bass Pro Shops and other sporting goods stores.)
• When nice and brown, it is just perfect to remove and drain on paper towels.
• Coat with powdered sugar.
• Now make a mug of Café au lait and enjoy your New Orleans’ Beignets!
viewing from a different angle…
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