Breaker I-9, Hot Beignets!

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             As Christians around the world prepare for the season of Lent, popular culture places heightened focus on Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, which refers to the practice of eating richer or fatty foods before beginning ritual fasting for the next forty days (excluding Sundays.)  Media coverage of Fat Tuesday in the United States focuses on celebrations, parades and social events taking place in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana  during its world famous Carnival.  Almost one quarter of the Big Easy's four million annual tourists will converge on the southern city's streets to take part in the revelry during this time.

                Ten years ago, a fortuitous business trip sent me for a two week stay on NOLA's famous Bourbon Street.  I fell in love with the graceful city and his French and Spanish history.  In the hours after work, I explored graveyards on tiptoe, shivered through midnight ghost tours, marveled at the old plantations, swayed the night away listening to jazz and zydeco musicians, shopped in offbeat boutiques and tasted amazing cuisine.  New Orleans was in life exactly what Hollywood had portrayed in the movies I had seen.

                Of course, there are always downsides to travel.  The city was dirty, crowded and crime-ridden.  One of my biggest let downs though came from an unlikely place: a visit to the internationally acclaimed Cafe Du Monde on Decatur Street, in the French Quarter.  The 24-hour French market and coffee stand has been serving its chicory coffee  and beignets fried in cotton seed oil since 1862 -- and both are superb. 

                My problem with Cafe Du Monde's fare was simple.  The cafe didn't make beignets the way my grandmother did.  I remember waiting anxiously for her to scoop the crispy, golden deep-fried dough dabs out of her Fry Daddy and sprinkle the treats with a lacy dusting of powdered sugar.  I wasn't the only one who thought they were tasty either.  I was usually standing in line with several coal truck drivers who stopped at my aunt's Buchanan County, Virginia grocery store when she would make a CB announcement that Memow was in the store kitchen, cooking for the day.  I was sure my aunt needed to invest in a neon Hot Doughnuts Now sign like the ones I had seen at Krispy Kreme.

                Years later, Memow shared her simple recipe with me so I could continue to make her tasty treats.  She passed away in 1995, and I didn't taste another beignet until my visit to Cafe Du Monde.  Maybe this year I'll make an attempt at whipping them up myself.  My husband must be eagerly anticipating the event.  Yesterday he brought home a fire extinguisher and told me he had programmed the fire department's phone number into our home and cell phones.  In honor of Memow, I decided to share her recipe in hopes you will enjoy a beignet brunch this February 21^st as well.

Memow's Easy Beignets

1 package crescent Rolls                                                                                                    1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
Oil for frying 

Heat oil in a deep fryer to about 360 degrees.

Separate each crescent roll triangle from roll. Cut each large triangle into 2 smaller equal-sized triangles, making 16 triangles total. 
 

Drop into oil and fry for 2.5-3 minutes until evenly browned.  Remove from fryer and drain on paper towels. Sift a generous amount of sugar over each beignet and serve warm.