Beignets

Happy Christmas Eve!!  I know I haven't posted many recipes lately.  I've been cooking and I have several recipes in draft right now but the whole process of food blogging takes a lot of time.  I can't manage to pull out the DSLR camera, find the cord to upload, and edit photos so right now iPhone photos will have to do.  I need an SLR camera that will email photos to me. 

I've made this recipe a few times over the past several months. I've tweaked the recipe a bit, decreasing the amount of flour just a bit to get a more pliable dough.  I've starting converting many stand mixer bread dough recipes to work with my favorite Zoji bread machine.  

I find that this dough tastes best when allowed to rest overnight.  It still tastes find after refrigerating a few hours but the complex yeast-y flavors take longer to develop.  The dough also poofs up nicely with the longer rest.  I've fried half the dough the first morning and the other half the second morning.  The dough can be kept in the fridge for a few days but I find that after day 3, it starts to get too flavorful.  I've also frozen the dough and it's worked beautifully.

I love eating beignets with Vietnamese coffee made with either Cafe du Monde or French Market chicory coffee rather than cafe au lait. 

Beignets

adapted from Tyler Florence "Ultimate French Quarter" episode

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups warm water
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• Pinch kosher salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 3 3/4 cups bread flour, plus more as needed
• 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• Cooking spray
• Vegetable oil, for deep frying
• 1 cup powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

1. Add all ingredients except for cooking spray, oil, and powdered sugar to bread machine.  Set dough cycle but don't let the dough complete proof cycle.

2. Place dough in oil bowl (cooking spray or butter) and cover.  Refrigerate dough overnight or at least 4 hours.  (Beignets are most flavorful if allowed to rest overnight.)

3. Once rested, gently turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle a little more flour on top so you can work with the dough. Gently shape the dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle so it can be cut into squares. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter cut into squares, (you should yield 12 large squares, depending on how thick you rolled the dough).

4. Heat about 2 inches oil in a pan over medium heat. Fry the beignets in batches, turning them and gently bouncing them with tongs to encourage them to poof, until golden. Remove from oil onto a paper towel lined plate. To serve, transfer beignets to a serving plate and dust generously with powdered sugar.