Make The New Orleans Classic Beignets At Home

Beignets (ben-yays) are no longer just a Jackson Square treat out of New Orleans. Make your own delicious, pillowy, fried dough treat covered in powdered sugar in the comfort of your own home!

 

Everyone that visits New Orleans comes back to the Chicago area & raves about these delicious, pillow, fluffy fried dough treats that they indulged in while visiting Jackson Square.  I've made my take on these French treats for those that have visited New Orleans & I've been told that the NOLA treats have nothing on my Beignets!

As far as making dough from scratch this recipe is on the tougher end, however, any kitchen novice should be able to tackle these treats on their own!

What you will need:

3/4 cup warm water
1 packet dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
1 tea cane sugar
1/4 cup cane sugar
Pinch of sea salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk (see Chicago Johnny’s recipe)
5 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbl butter (softened)
Powdered sugar for topping

Olive oil for frying

Instructions:

Mix together water, yeast, & 1 tea of cane sugar. Let proof for 5 minutes. Your mix should get foamy & smell like freshly baking bread.

Add to your mix all remaining ingredients save butter & flour. Mix ingredients together well. Add 1/2 of your flour & begin to knead. Once dough has come together add your butter (softened) & knead again. Finally, add the rest of your flour & knead again.

If you used a mixer with a dough hook, take out your dough & knead by hand for 2 minutes. If you were already kneading by hand you can skip this step. Cover & refrigerate your dough for 4 hours up to overnight.

Take out your dough, roll it to about 1/4” thickness & cut into 2” x 4” squares. Let your squares rise to about 1/2" thickness by sitting out at room temperature. 

Fry your dough in 360 degree olive oil (you are essentially frying at 350 degrees but because your dough is cold it will bring down your oil temperature each time you fry, so bring your oil up to 360 degrees between frying each Beignet).

Flip your Beignet when the bottom side is browned & crusty. Once both sides are fried golden & crusty, spoon out with a slotted spoon onto a wire rack & coat the top side with powdered sugar.
 
Enjoy warm or room temperature. Makes 15-19 2” x 4” Beignets.

Follow along with our YouTube video:

 

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Chicago Johnny's Italian Beef Sandwich Recipe (Chicago Style Beef)

 

Download a printable copy of Chicago Johnny's Italian Beef Recipe:

http://www.chicagojohnnys.com/italian-beef.html

It seems like every geographical region has their own claim: the cheese steak in Philadelphia, the Bratwurst in Wisconsin, grinder in New England, po' boy in Louisiana, & in Chicago it's no different. Here we celebrate our street food sandwich with an Italian Beef sandwich.

Though a great deal of us love our Chicago Italian Beef sandwiches, we have many ways we eat them; dipped, dry, wet, with sweet peppers, with hot giardiniera, with mozzarella, with provolone, toasted, et cetera.The fact of the matter is that the right way to eat an Italian beef sandwich is simple: you eat an Italian beef sandwich the way that you love it most! Don't let stereotypes or criticisms stop you from enjoying your Italian beef sandwich your own way!

So when I started Chicago Johnny's as a giardiniera company (the hot or sweet pepper mix topping many Italian beef sandwiches) I was immediately inundated with requests to share my Italian beef recipe. Just in case you were wondering I love my Italian beef sandwiches with provolone, sweet peppers (fried green bell peppers with garlic), hot giardiniera (of course I use Chicago Johnny's! www.ChicagoJohnnys.com) & I dip my sandwich.

To get started making your Chicago Johnny's Italian Beef sandwich you will need:

3-5 Lb beef roast
1 peeled bulb garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbl Italian seasoning
1 Tbl oregano
1 tea black pepper
2 tea sweet paprika
2 tea crushed red pepper
1 Tbl onion powder
1 tea granulated garlic
1 tea sea salt
16 Oz. beef stock
Provolone or mozzarella cheese
High gluten French bread
Chicago Johnny’s Giardiniera

The process in making your Chicago Johnny's Italian Beef:

Puree the following together in a food processor: garlic, olive oil, Italian seasoning, oregano, black pepper, sweet paprika, crushed red pepper, onion powder, granulated garlic, sea salt.

Sear your roast in a hot pan, stovetop. Use a spatula to rub your pureed spices onto your roast. Put your rubbed roast & any juices from searing into a deep glass or metal dish & add 16 oz. of beef stock; place into a preheated 225 degree oven for 90-120
minutes, depending on the size of your roast.

Put your roast & gravy into two separate dishes & refrigerate them overnight. 

Slice your roast as thin as you can without shaving it. Put your gravy into a pot & bring to a simmer; put your thinly sliced beef into the simmering gravy until cooked through; this process will only take moments.

Compile your sandwich with any/or all of the following: provolone, mozzarella, Italian beef, Chicago Johnny’s Giardiniera, sweet peppers*.

Using tongs, grab your whole sandwich & “dip” it into your
simmering gravy for a flavorful Italian beef.

*To make sweet peppers, slice 2-3 green bell peppers & sauté
in olive oil, 7-10 cloves garlic, 1 tea black pepper, 2 tea
sea salt; cook until peppers just start to soften.

Your sandwich should end up looking like this!

Some tips when making your Chicago Johnny's Italian Beef!

Italian beef roasts are meant to utilize tough, cheap cuts of beef. There is no need to get the most expensive or 'nicest' cuts to make this dish! You are slow roasting this dish to help make a tender sandwich, don't overspend. You can get whatever is on sale, Top Round, Bottom Round, Eye of Round, even Boston Round works with a good enough slicer.

Your roast should still be slightly pink in the center when you are done roasting it. You will finish the cooking process in the gravy so don't dry out your roast in the oven overcooking it.

Refrigerating your roast after cooking it will help you to slice it thinner. You want a very THIN sliced roast for your sandwiches.

This is a long process. Don't rush it. 

And most of all, have fun with it!

Much Love & Appreciation,

Josh Downey
Chicago Johnny's
www.ChicagoJohnnys.com

You can follow along with my cooking video here: