Recipe - Crawfish Or Shrimp Savory Beignets

Three fourths cup Water
1 teaspoon Sugar
One half cup Evaporated milk
1 tablespoon Active dry yeast
3 cup All purpose flour (up to
31/2)
1 Egg
2 tablespoon Canola oil
3 md Garlic cloves
One half small Bell pepper, coarsely
chopped
5 Green onions, coarsely
chopped
1 teaspoon Salt
One fourth teaspoon Ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Creole mustard or other
stone ground mustard
One half pound Peeled boiled crawfish tails
or peeled boiled shrimp

I did buy cookbooks when I was there Jambalaya by the Junoir League of New
Orleans, The Cajun and Creole Cookbook, by Ruby Le Bois, and the one that
the herb beignets came from is called The New CajunCreole Cooking by Terry
Thompson. So here it goes

In med. saucepan over low heat, combine water, sugar, and evaporated milk.
Heat to 110F. Pour mixture into a 2 c. measure. Stir in yeast until
blended. Let stand 510 minutes or until foamy. Lightly oil a 6 qt. bowl.
In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine 3 c. flour and all
remaining ingredients except oil and yeast mixture. Process until
ingredients are chopped and blended. Add yeast mixture. Process until
blended. Douhg should be smooth and non sticky. If additional flour is
needed, add 1 Tbsp at a time, process until blended after each addition.
Process 15 seconds to knead dough. Oil a large bowl. Place dough in in
oiled bowl, turning to coat entire surface of dough. Cover with plastic
wrap, let rise until doubledabout 1 One half hours. Punch dough down. Turn out
on lightly floured surface. Roll out dough into a rectangle about One half inch
thick.Working at a diagonal to rectangle, with a sharp knife, cut dough
into 2 inch wide strips, moving from left to right. Starting at top left
and moving toward bottom of rectangle, cut dough diagonally to form
diamonds.Carefully place all completed diamonds One half inch apart on ungreased
baking sheets. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise 45 minutesdo not
double in bulk. Heat about 3 inches oil in a large saucepan to 350F or
until a 1 inch bread cube turns golden brown in 65 seconds. Carefully slide
beignets into oil 3 or 4 at a time do not crowd. Fry until puffy and
golden brown on both sides23 minutes per side. Remove with a slotted
spoon, drain on paper towelsServe hot. Makes about 36.

Posted to FOODWINE Digest 29 Jan 97 by Frank & Penny Coster
penelope@SONIC.NET on Jan 29, 1997.