Recently we spent a long weekend in New Orleans. It was a balmy 70 degrees when we arrived. Overnight, temperatures plummeted to high 30s/40s with intense winds. In a city full of open-air establishments, this was a formula for misery. Since we weren't too inclined to spend time in the outdoors seeing the sights, we ate our way through NOLA. The restaurants offered shelter from the elements, at least a little heat and tasty local cuisine to warm us from the inside out. Sous Chef Mary Ann sampled all the local fare - from jambalaya to etoufee to a po' boy. Head Chef Andy was more limited in his options - NOLA is not a vegetarian-friendly city. One NOLA specialty that we could both take part in were beignets. We took a break one afternoon at Cafe Du Monde at the French Market in the French Quarter. YUM!
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| Cafe au lait and beignets at Cafe du Monde in the French Quarter. |
As luck would have it, a few weeks later Head Chef Andy received a Fry Daddy for Christmas. It was clearly a sign that we were meant to bring some of this sweet, tasty, deep fried doughy goodness to our home. We picked up a box of Cafe Du Monde beignet mix at Cost Plus World Market. We followed the recipe/instructions on the box. We found a few ways to sup 'em up, of course:
1. After frying, we sprinkled the beignets with white sugar and powdered sugar. The plain powdered sugar just wasn't sweet enough.
2. We thought filled beignets would be tasty, and we had some jelly handy. Head Chef Andy put jelly in a bowl and whipped it, then warmed it in the microwave for 40 seconds to thin it out more. He then took a knife and gently turn it in a cooked beignet in order to create a small hole. Finally, he used a small syringe to inject the jelly. It was futsy but TASTY!
Here's a look at the process.
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| Mmmm,. jelly. |
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Jelly filled beignets. |
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| Fried and sugary. Could you ask for more??? |
