thanksgiving

Those mild fall days have been overtaken by a more winter-like chill. We are still enjoying mostly cloudless skies, but afternoons rarely warm above the low forties. Snow is inevitable.

“Just get your picture and open the door already … “

This week we wandered back down to the Lower Deschutes. Thinking that Thursday would be a good day to avoid crowds.

That turned out to be wrong. But we did have a great picnic lunch along the river and an excellent turkey day outing.

Cooking a whole turkey makes no sense for the two of us, so Friday we put a pork roast in the oven. This paired nicely with a smattering of sides.

After all, it’s really the side dishes we look forward to anyway.

Hope you all enjoyed the holiday , , , Now get ready for the blur of time that precedes Christmas. We anticipate more cold weather jaunts and eventually breaking out the snow shovels.

bei-gnet

|ben' yá| 

a square of fried dough eaten hot, sprinkled with 
confectioners' sugar

These powdered pillows of deliciousness are essentially donuts.

A restaurant in New Orleans that made beignets famous, has boxed a mix that is really pretty good. However, we tried our hand at making them from scratch. We selected a New Orleans-style Beignet recipe featuring yeasted dough. It makes a difference.

The yeasted dough can sit in a refrigerator from 2 to 24 hours.

Once the dough is rested, you roll it out to a quarter inch thickness, then cut into two inch squares.

The cubes are dropped into a few inches of very hot peanut oil. They are fried to a crispy-chewy golden brown, then dusted with powdered sugar and served warm.

It takes a bit of time but these simple treats are easy to make and wonderful to eat.

Print Recipe

New Orleans-style Beignets

Ingredients

¾ cup warm water 110 to 115 degrees
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 ⅙ tsps active dry yeast
1 large egg room temperature
½ cup evaporated milk
1 ¼ tsps vanilla extract
3 ½ cups bread flour
¾ tsps salt
2 ½ Tbps unsalted butter room temperature
2 cups peanut oil
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Instructions

In a medium-size bowl, add the warm water, sugar, and yeast and whisk well to combine. Set aside for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture has bubbled up and become foamy.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and evaporated milk. Beat in 1 ¾ cup of flour until smooth. Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly pour in the yeast mixture being careful of splashing. Beat until smooth. Add the butter and beat until incorporated. Finally, beat in the remaining flour (1 ¾ cup) and salt. Beat until the dough is smooth and cohesive; about 2 minutes. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
Set a cookie cooling rack in a baking sheet and set to the side.
Put oil in a cast iron pan, about 4-inches, and heat to 360º F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out into a ¼ inch thick rectangle and cut into 2 ½ inch squares.
In batches, fry the dough until they puff up and are golden brown in color, about ½ minute a side. With a slotted spoon, transfer the beignets to the cooling rack and repeat.
While still warm (but not hot from the oil) roll batches of the beignets in a bowl of confectioners’ sugar to coat and return to the rack to continue cooling or to a plate and serve ... this is the best way.