Hello, Mardi Gras!

Today, obviously, is Mardi Gras (or, Fat Tuesday). My family has never celebrated Mardi Gras or Lent (starting tomorrow on Ash Wednesday). But this year we decided to have a little fun with food. For tonight's menu, my mom plans to make gumbo and Mardi Gras cupcakes. That, my friends, is as crazy as my family will get.
I can't eat gumbo (spices and sausage: two BIG no-no's!) or cupcakes (ah, sugar...). So I decided to make up for it this morning by making (and just tasting, but no real eating) beignets this morning for breakfast. It's a good thing I make a single batch! Those donut-like treats were more fat and sugar than anything remotely healthy. Plus, the recipe I used called for them to be fried (yes, fried, the good old southern way) by dropping the dough a teaspoon at a time.
I tasted two little ones and decided I wasn't a big fan (but then, I never was one much for southern cooking). But my brothers loved them and begged me to make them, and sopapillas (a similar, and in my opinion much tastier south American breakfast treat) again.

Brunch Beignets

Ingredients:
-2 eggs, separated
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-1 tsp. baking powder
-1/8 tsp. salt
-1/2 cup sugar
-1/4 cup water
-1 tbs. butter, melted
-2 tsp. grated lemon peel
-1 tsp. vanilla extract
-Oil for deep-fat frying
-Confectioners' sugar

Directions:
Place egg whites in a small bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, water, butter, lemon peel, and vanilla; stir into the dry ingredients until just combined. Beat egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form; fold into batter.
In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375 degrees. Drop batter by teaspoonfuls, a few at a time, into hot oil. Fry until golden brown, about 1/2 -1 minute on each side. Drain on paper towels. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Serve warm. Yield: about 2 dozen.

To get the original recipe (which I only changed by omitting the brandy), go here. The photo above was also from that site. Mine were eaten before I could snap a photo. They also didn't look as pretty as the ones above.

I had never beat egg whites before (gasp! I know, I know), so that was a little nerve-wrecking. I had no idea if I beat them enough or not, but the beignets seemed to come out okay. Now that I've done it once, I feel I can try meringues.

I don't practice Lent, but I figure it would be a good excuse to help me give up sugar, chocolate, caffeine, and all that other stuff that makes me sick. So, instead of having to go into the long explanation of my health history and problems, I can just say, "I gave them up for Lent." You know what that means? Healthier recipes from now on! Don't worry: healthier in my book means extra delicious! Can I say mango smoothies? Oh, yeah!