CARNIVAL also known as Mardi Gras
I am happy to report that winter is getting closer to being over! Some of my favorite events happen in February, plus it is the shortest month of the year and one of the most fun months of the year– despite the cold. Many of you already know that I am a hopeless romantic, so of course Valentine’s Day is right up my alley. Girlfriends are the best and a great way to honor them is on GALENTINE’S DAY, but today, I want to talk about the the most colorful of February holidays, CARNIVAL, also known as Mardi Gras.
Mardi Gras refers to events of the Carnival celebration and the celebration may occur on any Tuesday from February 3rd to March 9th. It is always the day before Ash Wednesday, (known as Shrove Tuesday), and always falls 46 days before Easter.
Mardi is the French word for Tuesday, and gras means fat. “Fat Tuesday”, as the French coined it, is the day before Ash Wednesday. As the tradition goes, in the days leading up to Lent, fun-loving-party-type folks would fill up on all the meats, eggs, milk, lard, cheeses, sweets, etc., in their homes before having to spend the next several weeks eating only fish and fasting prior to Easter.
So, if NOLA, (nickname for New Orleans), is up your alley, then you are going to love these spectacular NOLA recipes!
The King Cake tradition is thought to have been brought to New Orleans from France in 1870. A King Cake is an oval-shaped bakery delicacy, crossed between a coffee cake and a French pastry that is as rich in history as it is in flavor. It’s decorated in royal colors of PURPLE which signifies “Justice,” GREEN for “Faith,” and GOLD for “Power.” These colors were chosen to resemble a jeweled crown honoring the Wise Men who visited the Christ Child on Epiphany. Epiphany comes from a Greek word that means “to show.” Jesus first showed himself to the three wisemen and to the world on this day. As a symbol of this Holy Day, a tiny plastic baby is placed inside each King Cake. In the past such things as coins, beans, pecans, or peas were also hidden in each King Cake.
Today, a tiny plastic baby is the common prize. At a party, the King Cake is sliced and served. Each person looks to see if their piece contains the “baby.” If so, then that person is named “King” for a day and bound by custom to host the next party and provide the King Cake.
Royally Wonderful King Cake
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1½ tsp dry yeast
- ⅛ cup warm water
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large whole egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
For the filling
- 1 16-oz can cherry pie filling
- 1 8-oz package cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 King cake baby or a dried fava bean
- purple, green and gold sanding sugars
- Confectioner's sugar
Instructions
For the dough
- Mix yeast with warm water. Stir 1 teaspoon of the sugar and 1 teaspoon of the flour into the yeast and set aside. By the time you have measured the other ingredients into a bowl, the yeast should be beginning to form bubbles and foaming.
- Bring the milk to a boil and stir in the butter and sugar. Allow to cool and pour into a large bowl; the mixture should be lukewarm.
- Beat in the egg yolk, whole egg and yeast mixture.Beat in approximately 2 cups of flour, until the dough is fairly smooth. Gradually add enough additional flour to make a soft dough that you can form into a ball. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Lightly oil a bowl, drop dough into bowl and then turn over so the top is oiled.Cover with a cloth and leave to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 2 hours.Pat the dough down and cover the bowl with a damp towel, plastic film over that and refrigerate until the next day.
For the filling
- Remove dough from refrigerator and with well-floured hands, while it's firm and cold, shape it into a long sausage shape. Using a floured roller on a floured surface, roll out the dough into a 30-inch by 9-inch rectangle as thin as pie crust. Let dough rest.
- If necessary, drain extra juice from pie filling. Mix the cream cheese with the sugar, flour, egg yolks and vanilla extract. Spoon approximately an inch-wide strip of cream cheese filling the length of the dough, about 3-inches from one of the outside edges.Spoon an inch-wide strip of fruit filling the length of the dough, about 3-inches from the other edge. Brush both sides of dough with egg wash. Insert the fava bean. (If using a plastic baby instead of a bean, insert it into the bottom of the cake after it has baked.)
- Fold one edge of dough over the cream cheese and fruit filling, then fold the other edge over. Gently place one end of the filled roll onto a greased cookie sheet. Ease the rest of the roll onto the pan. joining the ends to a from a circle or oval.Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Brush again with egg wash and cut deep vents into the cake. Sprinkle with the colored sugars, if desired.
- Bake in 375°F preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cake is ell risen and golden.Cool before icing with confectioner's sugar mixed with enough water to make a paste then enough to drizzle over top.
Lisa's Ya-Ya Babes Seafood Gumbo
Equipment
- 1 heavy dutch oven I use a Le Creuset enameled cast iron dutch oven
Ingredients
Roux
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
Gumbo
- 2 large onions medium dice
- 4 stalks celery medium dice
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1 16 ounce can whole tomatoes chopped
- 1 tsp (each) dried whole thyme, crushed red pepper, salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 7¼ cups chicken stock 58 ounces
- 2 lbs medium shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 lb fresh crab meat
- 1 lb sea scallops
Instructions
Roux
- Heat oil in a large dutch oven. Add flour and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the roux is the color of a copper penny. (This can take a while so be patient).
Gumbo
- Stir in onions and celery. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add next 6 ingredients and cook 10 minutes. Stir in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Simmer 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat, add shrimp, scallops and crab, stir and cover the pot. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes or until the seafood is cooked through.
- Serve over cooked rice.
NOTE: The primary difference between Gumbo and Jambalaya is that Gumbo is a thick stew served with rice, (separately), and Jambalaya is a stew that is cooked with rice.
Buttermilk Beignets
Equipment
- Deep fat frier (optional)
- Stand mixer with dough hook
Ingredients
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 1½ cup buttermilk
- 4 tsp active dry yeast
- 2½ tbsp granulated sugar
- 3½ cups bread flour plus extra for flouring work surface
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- Oil for frying peanut or canola
- confectioners sugar for serving as much as you think you will need and then double that
Instructions
- Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until small bubbles form at the surface. Remove from the heat, add the buttermilk, and then pour into a stand mixer bowl. Whisk in the yeast and the sugar and set aside for 5 minutes. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low speed, using a dough hook, until the dry ingredients are moistened, 3-4 minutes. Increase the mixer speed to medium and continue mixing until the dough forms a loose ball and is still quite wet and tacky, 1-2 minutes longer. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set the dough aside in a draft-free spot for 1 hour.
- Pour enough oil into a large pot to fill it to a depth of 3 inches and bring to a temperature of 375°F over medium heat (this will take about 20 minutes). Line a plate with paper towels and set aside.
- Lightly flour your work surface and turn the dough out on it. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour, gently press to flatten, fold it in half, and gently tuck the ends under to create a rough-shaped round. Dust again and roll the dough out into a ½-inch-to ⅓-inch-thick circle. Let the dough rest for 1 minute before using a chef's knife, a bench knife, or a pizza wheel to cut the dough into 1½-inch squares (you should get about 48).
- Gently stretch a beignet lengthwise and carefully drop it into the oil. Add a few beignets (don't overcrowd them, otherwise the oil will cool down and the beignets will soak up oil and be greasy) and fry until puffed and golden brown, turning them often with a slotted spoon, for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to the prepared plate to drain while you cook the rest. Serve while still war , buried under a mound of confectioners' sugar, with hot coffee on the side.
Notes
Have An Entertaining Day!
Pingback: A GOOD EGG - Entertaining An Idea