Beignets

[donna]

Many of you may know the Jimmy Buffet song, "The Wino and I Know" from his Living and Dying Album of 1974.

"Coffee is strong at the Café du Monde
Donuts are too hot to touch
Just like a fool, when those sweet goodies cool
I eat 'til I eat way too much."

This is great tribute to the Beignets at the Café du Monde in New Orleans.

The word beignet comes from the Celtic word bigne which means "to raise". It is also the French for "fritter". Beignets are a New Orleans specialty which are fried, raised pieces of yeast dough, usually 2 inches in diameter or 2 inches square. After they are fried, they are sprinkled with sugar or coated with icing. It is like a sweet doughnut, but it is squared and has no hole.

Beignets are the forerunner of the raised doughnut. When you hear people in New Orleans say "Goin fo' coffee an' doughnuts," they mean coffee and beignets. In 1986 the Beignets became the Louisiana State Doughnut.

The French Colonists of the 18th century brought the recipe and custom of making beignets to New Orleans. The original Café du Monde coffee stand was established in New Orleans French Market in 1862 and still operates today. They served coffee and beignets then and still do. In fact, it is traditional to go to the Café for dark roasted coffee with chicory and beignets when you are in New Orleans.

From: "I'll Have What They're Having, Legendary Local Cuisine", Linda Stradley, page 48.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

I love em !

 

[28thNewYork]

Unbelievably good early in the morning when the fog is still close to the river surface and the ground...following a night where you've ridden the streetcar to be able to walk to Commander's Palace...my wife's and my favorite city next to Paris (France, not Kentucky)...

 

[28thNewYork]

Unbelievably good early in the morning when the fog is still close to the river's surface and the ground...following a night where you've ridden the streetcar to be able to walk to Commander's Palace...my wife's and my favorite city next to Paris (France, not Kentucky)...

 

[diane]

Here is a savory version!

Crawfish Beignets w/ Cajun Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

1 egg, beaten
1 lb. chopped cooked crawfish tail meat or shrimp
3-4 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/3 cup bread flour
cajun seasoning, to taste
oil, for frying


Cooking Directions

In a large skillet or fryer heat oil to 375 degrees or medium high.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, crawfish, onions, butter, salt and cayenne pepper. Stir in flour until blended.
When oil is hot drop tablespoonfuls of batter, a few at a time, into oil. Fry until golden brown all around. Drain on wire rack over paper towels. Sprinkle lightly cajun seasoning on top while still hot.

Cajun Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 teaspoon prepared horseradish, opt
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce


Cooking Directions

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, ketchup, horseradish if desired and pepper sauce. Serve with Beignets.

Makes about 24 Beignets and 3/4 cup sauce.

Source: http://www.forkfulofcomfort.com/2012/02/crawfish-beignets.html

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Café Du Monde Beignet Mix is the next best thing to being there.
If their beignet mix is not available at your local grocer, it can be ordered from various on line outlets.

http://shop.cafedumonde.com/mpr/mdb-cafed?cfg=cafed&fnc=3&style=4&form=detail.htm&rno=6

 

[18thVirginia]

I've never heard anyone in New Orleans talk about going for doughnuts when they mean beignets, with all due respect to Linda Stradley.

Cafe au lait and beignets like they make only at Cafe du Monde--you've made me hungry, donna.

 

[donna]

7th Mississippi thanks for photo. It adds so much to the thread.

Diane sounds like great recipe.

 

[Seduzal]

I'm hungry!

 

[Malingerer]

Having grown up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and being part Acadian, beignets and strong coffee were a pretty common item on our breakfast table - I loved 'em

 

[Blessmag]

Not a whole lot different from the Tex-Mex dessert. This picture has less sugar and added cinnamon, but some of the first I have had were totally sugared. Some will open the 'pocket' up and poor in honey.

Expired Image Removed

 

[Bob Owen]

I have a couple of boxes of the mix in my pantry now. We always pick some up when we go to the Big Easy!

 

[Pat Young]

Here is a savory version!

Crawfish Beignets w/ Cajun Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

1 egg, beaten
1 lb. chopped cooked crawfish tail meat or shrimp
3-4 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/3 cup bread flour
cajun seasoning, to taste
oil, for frying


Cooking Directions

In a large skillet or fryer heat oil to 375 degrees or medium high.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, crawfish, onions, butter, salt and cayenne pepper. Stir in flour until blended.
When oil is hot drop tablespoonfuls of batter, a few at a time, into oil. Fry until golden brown all around. Drain on wire rack over paper towels. Sprinkle lightly cajun seasoning on top while still hot.

Cajun Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 teaspoon prepared horseradish, opt
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce


Cooking Directions

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, ketchup, horseradish if desired and pepper sauce. Serve with Beignets.

Makes about 24 Beignets and 3/4 cup sauce.

Source: http://www.forkfulofcomfort.com/2012/02/crawfish-beignets.html

I have had those and they are good. But wife dipped them in chocolate! Go figure.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

I have had those and they are good. But wife dipped them in chocolate! Go figure.

Fried dough & powdered sugar only !
Dipped in chocolate ? . . . Cafe Du Monde sacrilege.

 

[godofredus]

We (my wife and I) love New Orleans. Even after Katrina it is still my second favorite city after Chicago. We always go to Cafe Du Monde, always do the beignet...you can see the trail of powdered sugar everyplace.
When I first started going there in the 1970's the wait and cookstaff was Black and Cajun. Now it seems to be mostly young ladies of Vietnamese descent. Anybody else notice that cultural change?
Here in Chicago we have a big Vietnamese colony. Foodies here say they combine the best of both worlds: French and Oriental/Chinese variant.

 

[donna]

I have got to get some of that mix. My super store Kroger may have it.

 

[RobertP]

I have got to get some of that mix. My super store Kroger may have it.

Groceries here in Dallas carry it.

 

[RobertP]

That Jimmy Buffet tune conjured up some good memories, not just about New Orleans and beignets which I love, but Gulf Coast cities in general. Buffet was from Pascagoula, grew up in Mobile and most of his music reflects his Gulf Coast roots. Growing up, I knew most of the cities large and small around the Gulf; Corpus Christi, Galveston, NOLA, Biloxi and Gulfport, Mobile, Pensacola, Panama City and Tampa. They all had a certain look and feel; a distinctive architecture, that easygoing lifestyle, friendly and outgoing people, good food, slow pace, and balmy weather. All of them seemed connected in a way, it's changed a lot now and that's too bad.

 

[Malingerer]

That Jimmy Buffet tune conjured up some good memories, not just about New Orleans and beignets which I love, but Gulf Coast cities in general. Buffet was from Pascagoula, grew up in Mobile and most of his music reflects his Gulf Coast roots. Growing up, I knew most of the cities large and small around the Gulf; Corpus Christi, Galveston, NOLA, Biloxi and Gulfport, Mobile, Pensacola, Panama City and Tampa. They all had a certain look and feel; a distinctive architecture, that easygoing lifestyle, friendly and outgoing people, good food, slow pace, and balmy weather. All of them seemed connected in a way, it's changed a lot now and that's too bad.

That was just a beautiful post - I grew up in Ocean Springs and that sums up my feelings perfectly. Except you said it much more eloquently than I could.

 

[RobertP]

That was just a beautiful post - I grew up in Ocean Springs and that sums up my feelings perfectly. Except you said it much more eloquently than I could.

Thank you, sir. I'm an old guy and grew up in Jackson, Miss. We spent a lot of summers in Biloxi, my grandfather was at the Veterans Home there and so it was a go-to place to visit. Camille changed it forever, all those beautiful waterfront homes gone and the ones she didn't get, Katrina did. The big old style hotels, the spectacular for then Broadwater Beach, the Friendship House, Mary Mahoney's, Ship Island and the Hermit on Deer Island. Loved all of it.

We looked forward to going through the Bankhead tunnel in Mobile, stayed in cottages at Gulf Shores before the hotels and condos, at Destin when it was just a fishing village, the amusement park at Panama City I remember well. Last time I was in Tampa, some 15 years ago, you could still get a feel of what the old downtown was like before the central Florida boom. All those places looked pretty much the same back then, Galveston and Corpus also. It's funny about getting older, these memories just pop up out of nowhere and they are clearer than ever before. Those were very good times indeed.