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I love beignets and eat too many of them whenever I am able to get to New Orleans. Cafe du Monde, the Morning Call, oh man, a cafe au lait to enjoy too! I have a recipe already that I had found online several years ago and we have made beignets from that recipe many, many times and they're great - but not quite perfect.
This recipe tastes darn near spot on to down-home beignets. Get this issue and make these wonderful goodies! I made a batch this morning (they puff up wonderfully), here's the proof (sorry, they're covered in powdered sugar!):
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| February 2011 Issue |
Also, I finally got my kitchen back in order. We have been planning and saving to replace the electric cooktop with a gas cooktop. I really didn't like the electric one, it was flat and glass and pretty cool looking, but I did not enjoy cooking on it - and it was a beast to clean. I wanted gas.
Our patience was rewarded when a Bosch 5-burner went on sale, so we put the wheels in motion. Most of the cost was having a plumber out to run the gas line. But, we ran into an issue we really didn't know about. Turns out that above a gas cooktop you must have 30 inches of clearance...which must not be the case with an electric cooktop...the built-in microwave was only 20 inches over the cooktop.
So, we took that down and ordered a new vent and planned to move the microwave to a new location near the fridge - of course, this meant taking down the 42" cabinet there and replacing it with a 24" and running power to this location for the microwave. So, that resulted in unplanned expenses and delay. Luckily, I did all this work myself with my father-in-law's supervision - so that saved some cash - but we still went about $400 over budget.
On the positive side, I hated having the microwave over the stove anyway. It was inconvenient to get at when someone was cooking and when cooking on the cooktop, often condensation would build up on it - which cannot be good for the workings. I like where it is now. Here's an image now that it is all done:
Beignets at Cafe Du Monde! Oh there is nothing better than sitting down at the foot of jackson Square in the early spring of late fall to have Cafe au laite and a few too many beignets. My family and I used to live in New Orleans and that was a Saturday morning treat - thanks for bringing back the memories!
ReplyDeleteYour kitchen remodeling looks grand and it's a lot more fun to cook with gas - I can't stand electric cooktops, there just isn't the same "feel" to the cooking.
You're welcome! Those memories you mention, and others, are missed by me too. First thing I cooked on the gas cooktop? Crawfish bisque. I love cooking cajun/creole and the wife loves eatin' it!
ReplyDeleteAhhh, the joys of mud bugs! My favorite place in New Orleans was Frankie & Johnies. My son was 3 then and used to love it when a crawfish tried to sneak out of the kitchen!
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