Beignets

Beignets are a New Orleans staple, and they are divine in their simplicity. Beignets are a kind of French donut - slightly sweetened fried dough that is usually served with a generous dusting of powdered sugar or a fresh fruit sauce. The most iconic beignets are from Cafe du Monde, the all-night outdoor cafe in Jackson Square. If you find yourself in New Orleans, you absolutely MUST make a trip there. All they serve is Cafe au Lait and Beignets, but they are always hot and fresh.

Since Cafe du Monde doesn't share their famous beignet recipe (though you can buy it in a box mix if you'd like) I found a delicious and easy recipe from another iconic New Orleans establishment, Commander's Palace Restaurant. This recipe is adapted from their Commander's Kitchen cookbook.

3 Cups All-purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Milk
1 Egg, beaten

2 1/2 quarts vegetable oil (or other frying oil - Canola, Safflower, etc.)
Powdered Sugar for dusting

Pour the vegetable oil into a large pot and heat over medium high heat to a temperature of 325 degrees. This will take a while to reach the right temperature, so start it heating while you prepare the batter:

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix the water, milk and egg. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring until well-mixed.

Check your oil temperature - if it has reached 325 degrees, turn it down low while you do the last step to get the beignets ready to fry.

Turn the batter out onto a well-floured board. With a rolling pin, roll the dough to about 1/2" thick. Cut into squares (about 2") or rectangles. Don't worry if they aren't perfectly shaped -they will fry up nicely anyway. You can fry up the little scraps leftover too.

When the oil has reached 325 degrees, drop the beignets into the oil carefully, just a few at a time so you don't crowd the pot. Give them about 2-3 minutes and then gently turn them onto their other side. (It is best to use a long-handled slotted spoon or a mesh skimmer for this.) Give them another 2-3 minutes until they are golden brown on each side. Lift them out of the oil and place on a rack lined with paper towels. Dust each batch with powdered sugar while they are hot, before moving on to other batches.

Between each batch of beignets, check and adjust your oil to make sure you are maintaining 325 degrees.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Variations on Cornbread

Cornbread is generally thought of as a Southern thing. So, being that I grew up out West and now live in New England, I am not going to claim to be an expert on "Traditional Southern-Style" cornbread. But I will provide links to some great Southern Cornbread recipes from other bloggers, as well as my own recipe here.

Cornbread is one of those things that is SO easy to make from scratch, the trick is finding a recipe you like. I searched and searched, making recipes from the back of the cornmeal bag, recipes from various cookbooks, and recipes from the Lodge Cast Iron website (a site a recommend if you love cooking with Cast Iron as I do.) In the end I made up my own recipe, which was kind of a hodge-podge of a bunch of others I had tried.

I adore cornbread and to me there is not just ONE way to make it. I love to taste all the different variations people make. For me it is like a good chili (which of course goes great with cornbread) - Chili is one of those foods where there are SO many different ones, you cannot pin down just one and say this is the only way to make good chili. Cornbread is the same way - it has so many great variations.

I only have one "rule" that I always follow regarding cornbread: Bake your cornbread in CAST IRON. As I gathered recipes from other cooks for this post, I was happy to see that many of them agreed with this rule. For my small family, I use a little mini-skillet (see pic below), and I like that the pieces come out thick.

 

Another tip is to preheat your cast iron skillet in the oven until it gets hot. Then add a little oil, crisco, or (if you want to be really flavorful) bacon grease and let it melt before adding your batter. DO NOT ever use non-stick cooking spray in cast iron. Non-stick cooking spray leaves a residue which can only be washed off with soap, and that is a no-no for your cast iron pans.

 

Here are some great cornbread recipes from my

fellow food bloggers:

 

Jackie at Syrup and Biscuits shares a wealth of Cornbread

history with her recipe for Southern Buttermilk Cornbread

 

 Mary at Deep South Dish has a great recipe for Buttermilk Sour Cream Cornbread

 

Suzanne Renee Covey shared her recipe for Johnny Cake:

In a bowl, 2 T soft butter, 1/2 t salt, 4 T sugar, 1 egg (slightly beaten), 1 t baking soda.

Mix well. Add 1 cup buttermilk, mix. Add 1 cup flour and 3/4 cup cornmeal. Mix well and bake in round pan for 20 mins (or until golden brown) at 400 degrees.

 

My own easy recipe is as follows:

1/2 cup Yellow Cornmeal

3/4 Cup All-purpose Flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 Tablespoon honey or real maple syrup

Optional: 2 Tablespoons Sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 beaten egg

1/4 Cup creamed corn

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees with the cast-iron skillet inside. You can use a small 6" skillet for four thick servings, or a larger skillet (8" or 10") for thinner servings. When the oven is preheated and the pan is very hot, pull it out and drop in 1 Tablespoon of Oil, Crisco, or Bacon Grease until melted. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and stir well with a wooden spoon.

Pour batter into the skillet and put it back in the oven. Depending on how thick your cornbread is (which pan size you use) it will take 20-25 minutes until it is set and turning golden. Test it with a toothpick in the center. Serve while warm with honey and butter.

 

 

 

 

Apple Butter Spice Cake

If you love spice cakes like I do, this will be one of your favorites. I used some homemade Apple Butter that was given to me as a gift, but you could use applesauce if you don't have apple butter available. This cake has assertive flavors of cinnamon and clove while not being too sweet. It makes a nice brunch item, or serve it with afternoon tea.

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 Cup (1 Stick) Butter, room temperature
1 Cup Apple Butter or Apple Sauce
1/2 Cup Buttermilk
3 Eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a standard bundt pan.

(I use the "reverse creaming" method for this, which means I mix the butter into the dry ingredients):
Put all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices) together in the bowl of an electric mixer. On low, mix until dry ingredients are blended. Add the butter and half of the apple butter. On the lowest speed, mix just until the flour is moistened. Turn the mixer up to medium-low speed (#3 if using a KitchenAid mixer) and beat for 1 minute to aerate the batter. Add the remaining apple butter, stirring it in just until combined.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs lightly with the buttermilk. Add the egg mixture into the batter gradually, beating just for about ten seconds after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and give it one last stir by hand.

Pour into the bundt pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, until you can insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.

Cool a bit before unmolding, then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Winter Breads

Breads can be made in any season of course, but in the Winter homemade bread is even better. For one thing, winter foods like soups and casseroles are just begging to be served with some really good bread. And in the wintertime, you don't mind having your oven on for hours at a time.

Making your own bread is easier than most people think. It does take time, but if you plan ahead it is pretty simple to do. And the more you do it, the easier it gets and the better your breads will be.

This week I am revisiting bread recipes I have made over the past year:

Easy French Bread is one of the easiest yeast breads I have found. This recipe is so versatile that you can do just about anything to it - make it savory with some herbs or grated cheese, make it sweet by adding sugar and spices, or just do a traditional crusty loaf.

Sourdough Bread takes a lot of planning ahead (you must make a starter first). But mastering Sourdough is a feat that all bread makers set out to accomplish, and being a native Californian, it is my personal favorite type of bread.

Potato Yeast Rolls are the perfect roll for any dinner menu - so soft and moist that you might just forget about any other kind of roll or biscuit.

Chocolate Beer Bread has a very unusual flavor - you taste the cocoa, but it is only mildly sweet. I like it as an appetizer bread, almost like a pumpernickle.

Savory Beer Bread is a rustic bread that goes well with hearty stews and chowders.

Cinnamon French Bread is a variation on Easy French Bread, and it makes a great breakfast bread.

Cinnamon French Bread

 

This Cinnamon French Bread is SO easy to make! It is the same as my Easy French Bread with a couple of minor additions. This recipe is a great one for beginning bread-makers. It makes two slender loaves or one very big loaf.

 

3 1/2 Cups Flour (you can use all-purpose or bread flour) plus extra for kneading
2 teaspoons INSTANT yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1/4 tsp each of cloves and freshly ground nutmeg
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1 1/4 Cups Warm water

Cinnamon Swirl Filling:
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon (to taste)
2 Tablespoons butter, melted

Egg Wash (for crisp golden brown crust):
1 egg white
1 Tablespoon water

Put the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir in the yeast. Add the salt and stir well. Mix in the melted butter and the warm water, stirring with a wooden spoon until most of the flour has been mixed in. Put the dough on a floured breadboard and knead for about five minutes, working in more flour as needed until the dough feels smooth and not sticky to the touch.

Put the dough ball into a greased bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Place the bowl in a warm place free from drafts and let it sit until the dough has doubled, about one hour. (I put my dough in the oven with the oven off - this is a great draft-free place. On a very cold day I might turn the oven on "warm" for just a couple of minutes and then turn it off again before placing the dough inside).

Punch dough down and divide in half (or leave it in one piece if you want one larger loaf). With your fingers, press each half into a rectangular shape.

 

Brush with melted butter and then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Starting on one of the long sides, roll the dough tightly into a long log. You can taper the ends or push them in to round them.

Repeat with second loaf. Place loaves in the wells of a french bread pan, or lay them on a large greased cookie sheet.

Cover with a clean kitchen towel. Place the loaves in a draft-free area and allow them the rise again until doubled (about one hour).

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

When the loaves have risen, make diagonal slits on the top of each loaf with a sharp knife. Bake about 20 minutes, or until almost done. While the bread is baking, get your egg wash ready:

Beat together the egg white and water. When the initial 20 minute baking time is up, pull loaves out and brush the mixture over each loaf. Return the bread to the oven for another five or six minutes. The loaves should be golden brown and feel hard on the outside. Press on them gently to make sure they don't feel squishy inside. When you tap on them they should give a hollow "thump" sound.

 

 

Easy French Bread

Yeast breads don't have to be intimidating, this French bread is SO easy to make! This is a great recipe to use if you have never made bread from scratch before. I always like to use INSTANT yeast because it is easier to use than "active dry yeast" - instant yeast is mixed directly into the flour instead of blooming it in liquid first.

You can add your own herbs and spices to this bread to change the flavor. This recipe makes one large loaf or two smallish loaves.

3 1/2 Cups Flour (you can use all-purpose or bread flour) plus extra for kneading
2 teaspoons INSTANT yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1 1/4 Cups Warm water

Egg Wash (for crisp golden brown crust):
1 egg white
1 Tablespoon water

Put the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir in the yeast. Add the salt and stir well. Mix in the melted butter and the warm water, stirring with a wooden spoon until most of the flour has been mixed in. Put the dough on a floured breadboard and knead for about five minutes, working in more flour as needed until the dough feels smooth and not sticky to the touch.

Put the dough ball into a greased bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Place the bowl in a warm place free from drafts and let it sit until the dough has doubled, about one hour. (I put my dough in the oven with the oven off - this is a great draft-free place. On a very cold day I might turn the oven on "warm" for just a couple of minutes and then turn it off again before placing the dough inside).

Punch dough down and divide in half (or leave it in one piece if you want one larger loaf). With your fingers, press each half into a rectangular shape. Starting on one of the long sides, roll the dough tightly into a long log. You can taper the ends or push them in to round them. Repeat with second loaf. Place loaves in the wells of a french bread pan, or lay them on a large greased cookie sheet. Cover with a clean kitchen towel. Place the loaves in a draft-free area and allow them the rise again until doubled (about one hour).

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

When the loaves have risen, make diagonal slits on the top of each loaf with a sharp knife. Bake about 20 minutes, or until almost done. While the bread is baking, get your egg wash ready:

Beat together the egg white and water. When the initial 20 minute baking time is up, pull loaves out and brush the mixture over each loaf. Return the bread to the oven for another five or six minutes. The loaves should be golden brown and feel hard on the outside. Press on them gently to make sure they don't feel squishy inside. When you tap on them they should give a hollow "thump" sound.