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.

Review of FitBit Ultra -- My Experience

This post is not about food.  I've been using an activity tracker (fancy pedometer) for over a year.  It all started when I was at a Wellness seminar at the Four Seasons Denver.  I started talking to the guy next to me.  (I'm an introvert but I talk a lot.)  He's a wellness expert and as part of his job, he tests wellness products.  We started talking about pedometers so I asked him what was his favorite pedometer.  We were using Omrons at work.  He showed me his FitBit Ultra in blue.  I was with a few coworkers and we all got excited.  When we got back to the office, we convinced our boss to buy FitBits for everyone.

So that's how it started.  I ordered about 50 FitBits (five at a time on the 24 Hour Fitness website using my member discount and coupons).  This triggered the 24 Hour Fitness fraud department.  I called them and assured them that they were valid orders.  I was one of the first ones in the office to test it out before we distributed it to the staff. 

Set-up was a little finicky so I wrote up a Q&A and tip sheet for everyone.  I was already starting my pre-wedding diet before I started using the FitBit but it was a handy tool to motivate me.  I found that often I was hovering below 10,000 steps per day.  I would then get in the car and drive to a store in the middle of the night and start walking around.  When I returned home without buying anything, J* would ask where I was at.  I would tell him I was at the store to get more steps.

It was tough to get over 10,000 steps most work days. The day of our company picnic I was over 17,000 steps and I was still continuing to walk.  I think I ended up with over 20,000 steps that day.  During a trip to Vegas, we did a lot of walking and there were days where we were at 40,000 steps. I wish I could consistently reach 10,000 steps per day.

By dieting and using the FitBit, I lost over 20 pounds.  Keep in mind, I'm just over 5 feet tall.  Then one day after returning from a trip to California, I recall taking my FitBit off and putting it on a table.  I couldn't find it the next day.  I looked around but couldn't find it. A while later when J* was doing laundry, he found my FitBit in the dryer.  My FitBit had gone through the washing machine and dryer.  I suspect our cat Tasha, who has a habit of knocking things off tables, knocked it into the hamper that was near the table at the time.  I tried letting it dry, putting it in rice, and resetting it and nothing worked.  I googled "fitbit washing machine" and found that I am not the only person who has done this because FitBit has troubleshooting instructions on washing a FitBit.  I followed the instructions and nothing worked.  The troubleshooting page said to contact support using the provided link for additional help so I contacted them. 

I received an email from support within a day.  (Support is not instantaneous but someone does respond.) "Emily" gave me additional instructions on troubleshooting and still nothing worked.  All I got was the flashing "FITBIT 4.14" on the screen.  Emily then told me she was sending me a replacement.  I couldn't believe it!  I thought that perhaps they would offer me a replacement at a reduced cost (like my little sister usually gets from the Apple store) but they were sending me a free replacement. 

The replacement came rather quickly.  Emily also sent me instructions on syncing a new FitBit to an existing account.  I couldn't get the darn thing to sync at all.  I tried resetting using the paperclip, rebooting the computer, trying a different USB port, uninstalling the software and reinstalling, standing on my head while holding my breath, and pleading with the darn thing before I decided to give up and try syncing to my Mac at home.  I went through the same steps but this time instead of uninstalling and reinstalling, I was installing, uninstalling, and reinstalling the software.  Finally the screen on the FitBit just died.  I thought perhaps, I used up the juice while trying to get it set-up so I left it on the base overnight to let it charge before I tried again.  It never charged, the screen never came back up and I was never able to get it to sync.

I contacted support to see to see if they could point me in the right direction.  I remember it being a pain to get my first one to sync but it eventually worked. Support got back to me and apparently I had a defective FitBit.  They were sending out a new one but wanted me to send a picture of the FitBit.  Below is the picture I took.  FitBit Left was the original FitBit that was washed.  It keeps flashing "FITBIT 4.14" when on the base.  FitBit Right was the replacement FitBit that died within 12 hours.

The second replacement took a while to get to me.  I waited anxiously.  By this time I've been without my FitBit for a few weeks now.  I received notification that the my FitBit shipped on 10/4 but I kept checking and nothing.  Finally on 10/10, it showed that it was actually shipped.  I received it on 10/13.  When I finally received my second replacement, I was able to get it to sync right away on my Mac.  It worked the very first time but I noticed that the screen on this one was blurry and there's a rectangular illuminated frame around the letters.  You can see below the lines above and below the clock.  It looks like it wasn't assembled correctly.  For now it works (although it's not crystal clear like my old FitBit) but remember that I have 50 other coworkers with FitBits (plus several of my coworkers purchased units for their partners and spouses under my 24 Hour Fitness membership) and I've had reports from a few people that their displays have since died.  Hopefully mine does no die. 

Another thing I've noticed about me wearing the FitBit is that I've developed a rash near where I wear it.  (One of the locations recommended by FitBit is on your bra and that's where I find it's most secure.  Many of my male coworkers wear it on their pants (either on their waist or in their pockets) and it has fallen off without them noticing since it's so small and lightweight.)  After several months of dealing with this rash, I went to see my doctor and he quickly diagnosed it a yeast overgrowth and prescribed a cream.  The cream worked and the rash would go away for a little while and return.  Since I have not been wearing my FitBit, I haven't had a rash.  (I disinfect my FitBit every few weeks.)

I hear that FitBit has introduced two new trackers.  The Zip is a cheaper version missing the sleep tracker and the One, which is a replacement for the Ultra tracker.  Honestly, I only used the sleep tracker the first few weeks.  I was tired of it telling me that I wake up over 30 times per night.  The Zip looks like it's a little larger than the Ultra so it might not be so easily lost.  It also operates on a battery so maybe people won't have issues with their battery dying over time.  The One looks really sleek but I'm not in love with the burgundy color.  I'm liking the new wireless bluetooth dongle but it looks like the charger is separate unlike the Ultra.  It's also sweat-proof!!  Not sure if the new One is worth trading up for.  I can't say I'm always one of the first adopters of new technology.  I'm still using IPhone 4S and did not run out to get the new 5 when it came out.  Heck! I haven't even upgraded the OS on it yet.  J* asked if I had since he was updated the OS on his IPhone and on his IPad.  When I had the 3G, I never updated the OS and wondered why I could not participate in group texts with my friends.

Amazake

I bought koji to make my own soy sauce.  Soy sauce takes several months to properly ferment so no soy sauce post for a while.  With a big tub full of koji mold spores, I looked up other items I could ferment using the koji.  I thought about making sake but it required getting some sake wine yeast and I didn't want to drive to a home brew shop.  Plus after reading about home brewed sake, it didn't seem like it was worth the trouble.  I then considered making miso.  I then remembered I don't particularly like miso and looking at the recipe, making miso requires starter miso.  The other item listed on the container was amazake.  I started reading up on amazake and it seems very similar to the rice wine dessert that my mom loves.  People raved about amazake.  It's yummy and good for you.

So with this information, I set out to make some amazake.  I fermented half in a yogurt maker and the other half in an igloo beverage cooler.  In the morning I had amazake.  I didn't like it.  It was sweet but not sugary sweet like cane sugar.  It was more malty sweet but the strange yeasty smell was not appetizing.  The yeasty smell wasn't exactly like fresh baked bread but more like smelly feet.  I cooled the amazake and froze it for later.

2 cups short grain rice
5+ cups water
1 cup koji

1. Cook rice until soft.  (I used a a rice cooker and left the lid open to prevent it boiling over.  I can be done in a pot on the stove top.)
2.  Let rice cool to 140 degrees then stir in the koji grains.
3. Ferment at 122 to 140 degrees for 10 ten hours.  (My yogurt maker ferments at exactly 120 degrees so slightly lower than the ideal temperature.  Some people use a rice cooker at the keep warm setting but mine was too hot.  I found the igloo beverage cooler ideal for this.  When the temperature dropped close to 120 degrees, I drained some of the water out and heated it in the microwave for a few minutes before pouring it back into the cooler.
4. When amazake tastes sweet, it's ready.  Bring the amazake to a boil to stop the fermentation.  

I froze the amazake and moved on to fermenting other things.  Maybe I'll come back to the amazake and use it to make something at a later time.

Gluten Free Thai-Style Coconut Waffles

I'm back...sort of.  The wedding is over but I'm still busy with post-wedding projects and baby shower planning.  I co-hosted a shower about a month before my wedding, just got done with sis-in-law's shower (I did not host but did help out), and have another baby shower in a few weeks.  My mom came out to Denver with me on June 4.  She leaves in a few days so I have a few weeks before I fly back to San Diego again.  2012 has been a busy year filled with many significant life events for everyone around me.  I'm so excited for everyone!!  So in the meantime, I will be blogging from time to time using photos taken with an iPhone instead of a real camera.

I had a coconut sitting on my kitchen counter so my mom (she's visiting), decided to make coconut waffles.  These waffles (like many Asian desserts) are gluten free because they're made with rice flour instead of wheat flour.  The rice flour gives the waffles a very different texture.  They're light, crispy on the outside and soft and slightly chewy on the inside.  Mom said she tried using half rice flour and half wheat flour and it didn't taste very good.  She said my dad kept on commenting on how it wasn't very good after she repeatedly tried serving the same batch to him.  She eventually tossed them.

The measurements used are very unusual but it is the usual way I get recipes from my mom or grandmother.  I usually convert many of these recipes to conventional measurements but I like the novelty of using the coconut milk can as the measuring "cup." This recipe also makes enough batter to feed a crowd.  I made a third this time around and still ended up with about ten very large waffles.  We took the batter (the one with 3 bags of flour) over to my aunt's house with a waffle iron in tow and we actually ended up mixing up another batch while there and I ended up writing the recipe down for everyone.  They're that good.

The waffles can easily be made into Pandan Coconut Waffles with the addition of pandan extract.  To use fresh (frozen) pandan leaves, substitute some of the water in the recipe with the water from extracting the pandan leaves.  An easier (but not as tasty) method is to use bottled pandan extract usually sold pre-mixed with green food coloring.

Gluten Free Thai-Style Coconut Waffles

3 16 ounce bags of glutinous rice flour (or as I call it, the green bag)
1 19 ounce can Mae Ploy brand coconut milk
1 19 ounce can granulated sugar
7 large eggs
pinch salt
half a grated coconut*
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (mom doesn't usually use this but this was my addition and mom even admitted that it improved the look of the waffles)
2 19 ounce cans of water (don't use the entire 2 cans. start off with 1.5 cans and add more to make a thick but loose batter)
drop of yellow food coloring gel (optional but it gives the waffles a nice golden color)

Mix all ingredients and let sit 30 minutes or overnight.  Cook waffles according to waffle iron instructions.  I'm using an extra deep Belgian waffle iron from Waring Pro.

*Frozen grated coconut can be substituted but the shreds are a little finer.  These waffles are traditionally made with larger pieces of hand shredded coconut.  I used a fresh coconut but I coarsely chopped up in the food processor.