Going Coastal Recipe: Doughnuts
I think Danny DeVito put it best in the movie Other People’s Money when he said, “Since when do you have to be hungry to have a doughnut?” I’m not a huge fan of sweets (my favorite dessert is a second cheeseburger) but I do dig a fried doughnut or six. It is hard for to ever pass a Krispy Kreme when the “Hot Doughnuts” sign is on. I could eat my weight in French Kruellers from Dunkin’ Doughnuts. And when in N’Awlins it is all about the Beignets. Though loosely defined as a doughnut, Beignets are brilliant in there simplicity – fried dough and a butt load of powdered sugar. You can now make them from scratch by following my easy recipe or just buy the mix from Café Du Monde.
Classic French Quarter Beignets – from Third Coast Cuisine: Recipes from the Gulf of Mexico.
1 package active dry yeast
1½ cups warm water (105-110 degrees)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup evaporated milk
7 cups AP flour
1/4 cup canola oil
Oil for deep frying
Confectioner’s sugar
In a large bowl sprinkle the yeast into the water and stir to dissolve. Add the sugar, salt, eggs and milk. Blend with a beater. Add 4 cups of the flour and beat until smooth. Add the canola oil then beat in remaining flour. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight in a greased bowl. Roll on a floured service to about 1/8th inch thickness. Cut into 3 inch squares. Deep fry at 360° for roughly 3 minutes or until lightly browned on each side. Drain and sprinkle generously with the powdered sugar. For added richness place a whole vanilla bean in with the powdered sugar over night then remove.
Kale to the Chief
February is not a month where one thinks of the bounty of the garden. That’s because in many parts of the country that garden is covered with 18” of snow while in others it just sits there all brown and putrid like the post-apocalyptic landscape from a Mad Max movie. However there is one deeply green plant so rugged that it doesn’t care about the temperature and lack of sunlight; kale.
Unfortunately most Americans only recognize kale as a garnish for a catering platter or artfully covering the ice on salad bars. But kale is a mainstay of Scottish cuisine as it is one of the few plants sturdy enough to handle highland winters. It is harvested from September through March and is a terrific source of Vitamin A (206% RDA), Vitamin C (134% RDA almost as much as an orange) and Vitamin K (684% RDA). Kale also contains a good deal of cancer-fighting components like the two powerful antioxidants – carotenoids and flavonoids. It also contains organosulfur a mysterious cancer-fighting compound; scientists don’t understand exactly how organosulfur fights cancer they just know that it does.
Though a serving only contains 2 grams of protein it does contain 18 amino acids – the building blocks of protein. The paltry 34 calories in a serving drop significantly once in the body because of kale’s high fiber content. Raw kale is on the list of negative calorie foods meaning that digesting it actually burns more calories than it contains. That’s right, the more you eat the more calories you burn. If bakers could figure out how to incorporate kale into donuts the Krispy Kreme Diet could be a reality.
So now that you know why you should eat kale it’s time to learn how to eat kale. It is very versatile as you can enjoy it raw in salads or cooked in soups. In fact because of kale’s sturdy nature you can actually toss it with salad dressing hours before serving it without fear of it breaking down like lettuce does. In soups kale is often paired with other rugged plants like potatoes and leeks. Potato Leek Soup is a traditional menu item for Burns Night, an international celebration of all things Scottish held on or around January 25th, poet Robert Burns’ birthday.
Scottish Potato Leek Soup
- 3 TBL olive oil
- 1 bunch leeks thoroughly cleaned and cut lengthwise and julienned
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 cups Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 6 c kale, torn into small pieces
- Salt and pepper, to taste
1) Heat 2 TBL olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add leeks, salt and garlic. Sauté until leeks are tender, roughly ten minutes.
2) Add potatoes and broth then simmer for 20 minutes.
3) In a large sauté pan, cook the kale over medium heat in the remaining olive oil with salt to taste, until wilted but still a little firm.
4) With an immersion blender, puree the soup for a few seconds. If you do not have an immersion blender skip this step as it is optional. Season to taste with salt and pepper. NOTE: this soup begs for a good deal of pepper.
5) To serve place equal portions of the sautéed kale into each serving bowl and ladle the soup on top of it.