I went to a party last Saturday thrown by Sara, a friend of mine from high school. She’d planned a New Orleans-themed menu and wanted to have beignets for desert but was running low on time and asked me to cover it at the last minute. (I was happy to. I’d offered earlier.)
Sara provided the Café du Monde boxed mixes for me to use, but a few people have asked me how to make beignets since, and the mix isn’t at all necessary. It’s just yeast, dried milk, sugar, flour, and salt. So here’s a beignet recipe that doesn’t required the boxed stuff:
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm milk
1/2 cup sugar, granulated
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 egg, beaten
4 1/2 cups flour
pinch of salt
vegetable oil, for frying
powdered sugar, for dusting
Combine yeast, sugar, shortening and milk in a bowl. Add the egg. Mix well. Add 4 cups of the flour and salt. Mix until the dough becomes one big lump. (You may need to knead it with your hands to do this.) Form the dough into a ball, then lightly rub oil around it and replace it in a bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and leave it in a warm, dry place until it doubles in size about two hours later.
Roll out the dough until it’s between 1/8-inch and 1/4-inch thick. Cut the dough into 2 1/2-inch squares with a sharp knife. (If you want to make mini hors d’oeuvre beignets, you can make littler squares!)
Fry the beignets, a few at a time, in an inch or two of vegetable oil. The oil should be hot enough so that the doughy beignets pop up to the surface after 5 to 10 seconds. Flip the beignets over after they rise and puff, cooking on both sides until they’re golden brown. Remove and drain on a few layers of paper towels.
Sprinkle the beignets with powdered sugar and serve while warm with coffee or café au lait (half warmed whole milk, half strong coffee).
Alternatively, you can buy the boxed mix for $2.45 and follow the directions on the back. You’re still going to have to do all of the kneading, rolling, cutting and frying, but the mix does have all of the dry ingredients in one package. If that sort of arrangement appeals to you, by all means, buy the box.
I made mini ones for Sara’s party. I was thinking small ones were more party appropriate. Plus, I had a nightmarish vision of non-New Orleanians attempting to eat regular-sized beignets for the first time and all breathing out powdered sugar all over the place all at once. I rationalized that bite-sized ones would be cleaner.
Sara’s party was fun, and the menu was great. She served shrimp remoulade, jambalaya, red beans and rice, seafood gumbo, muffalattas, hurricanes and, of course, the beignets.
Her place was packed. Apparently even Los Angelinos show up to a house party when Louisiana food is served. Ehren, a friend I hadn’t seen since high school (and who I didn’t realize had moved to Los Angeles), was also in attendance.
The party was a great idea. (Way to go, Sara!) In fact, it was such a great idea, I’m totally copying when I get settled into Roch.
