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12-14-2014, 09:16 AM | #1 |
Contributing Editor
Herf Meister
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: New York
Posts: 5,365
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New Orleans Beignets
I was going to put "paging Jason" in the title, but I figured you'd be on this like a bee to a basswood tree.
Since I've never been to N.O. and I've heard so much about the fresh beignet experience, I figured the best way to try them now was to make my own. I salivated vicariously while watching the movie Chef when they went on a beignet hunt. I used the Americas Test Kitchen recipe last night and it turned out great...no major technical mistakes. They were delicious if I do say so myself! Now I know what all the buzz is about. I also realized that there are about as many recipes and variations as there are leaves on a tree. It's also been my experience that ATK is not always the gold standard for recipes and techniques. I'm including the abbreviated version of the recipe I used at the end of this post. What I'd really like is someone to post (or link to) a recipe that is someone's favorite or a traditional beignet recipe from those in the know. Maybe Grandma's secret recipe? Something you have actually tasted. Someone maybe that has experience cooking and lived in N.O.?? Jason, Tommy or any other aficionado of the beignet? To those that may not be cooks, how about any place you've loved the beignets served there? There are so many variations. Some use water, some mix in milk, buttermilk or cream. Frying temps and oils vary (eg. Cafe DuMonde uses only cottonseed oil). Here is the Readers Digest version of the ATK recipe that I used: 1 cup of warm water and a TAB of quick rise yeast and 1 TAB sugar in bowl #1. Eventually you add 2 TAB oil and two whole eggs to bowl #1 In bowl #2 you put 3 cups flour, 2 TAB sugar and 3/4 TSP salt. The above creates the dough which you cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to keep the rise bubbles small and delicate. The rest is basically the fry temp which is 350 degrees in vegetable oil for 3 minutes with a flip at the halfway point.
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"It takes a long time to understand nothing" Last edited by Cloud9Bob; 12-14-2014 at 09:41 AM. |
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