Southern Comfort, Part 2

Part II of southern comfort cooking was beignets and gumbo. I followed the recipe on the gumbo spices packet I bought whole in NoLa, but referred to the Internet for some suggestions. For instance, the recipe didn't call for any vegetables, so I added some leftover celery for good measure. I started out by browning the sausage, then used the leftover oil to make a roux, which would serve as a thickener for the soupy mixture. The final gumbo product was brown in color, which I found strange as the gumbo I tried was green. Le sigh.

As for the beignets, I was actually sensible in my evening plans for once and decided that it would be unreasonable to fry dough at 11PM. I made the dough then promptly texted Leah, asking her to grab some Ritz crackers. You guessed it -  we made my favorite easy desert, homemade Girl Scout cookies, which were obviously muy delicioso.

The next night I can home at 9PM to an overflowing dough ball. Parts of the dough had risen so high that they pushed underneath the edge of the overturned bowl. SCIENCE! I felt like that guy in Little Shop of Horrors. I kneaded the dough and poured some vegetable oil in a pot with a small base. Thank goodness Hannah was around to help me cook - she had fried once before and knew how to test if the oil was ready. The oil was more than ready, as she splashed water into the pot, the oil roared back vigorously.





After turning off the heat for a bit, the oil calmed down and I started throwing thin dough squares into the pot. Watching the dough balloon up into that signature beignet form was the coolest! Hannah and I tag teamed with rolling out the rest of the dough, monitoring the frying dough in the pot, and stuffing as many beignets into our faces as we could. I came out with WAY too many, if I ever do this again I'll opt for a half recipe. Hannah remarked that the dough tasted like alcohol, which was probably due to the yeast working its magic. 

A beignet posing with my Cafe Du Monde mug

'Til next time, little chefs! 

**I've been on a brief hiatus with picking up a second job of tutoring the most modest rich college student I know who lives in an extravagant apartment downtown. I'm basically taking a social psych class and writing papers while not having to worry about the grades too much - It's a pretty sweet deal, and I'm willing for "life" to get in the way of cooking for six weeks. I'll hopefully come back in full force after the final paper is turned in :)