FILLED BEIGNETS FOR NEW YEARS EVE

2015 is sneaking up on us slowly. New year, new goals, new resolutions, new adventures are awaiting, but what better way to say bye, bye to the old year than as with some delicious sweet bites. In Germany there is this tradition to eat berliner on the New Years Eve. Berliner being a close cousin of the donut is sold on every corner in palettes to be consumed all night long. You can have it filled with jam or nutella, glazed with icing, sprinkled with sugar; there are no limits. As they are pretty affordable, for most people there is no need to make them at home.

Few days ago my intention was to test make some before NYE and surprise our German friends with sense of home, but somehow I ended up making the small french cousin of donut & berliner – the beignets. They seamed more cute, bite & transport friendly. Lately I came across beignets on different occasions. The most memorable: savory beignets with parmesan powder at SF’s Monsieur Benjamin, our new French kid on the Hayes Valley block. I have never experienced such soft pastry. And this fine cheese powder…. just heavenly. Yeah, heavenly is the right description for this encounter. Does anyone knows where to get cheese powder?

Anyhow, back to my beignets… Maybe not super good looking, but still gone by end of the evening, they seamed to be very admired by Patrick & our friends. Test passed. And the effort wasn’t that big. Yes, you have to let the dough rise for few hours, which was something that intimated me in the past to make anything with yeast, but since I figured out, I can do so many things done while dough is growing big and strong, I’m in when it comes to kneading. My inspiration was this buttermilk beignets + chicory creme patissiere by Local Milk. I have probably about 300 pins from Beth’s blog, but I haven’t made any yet. She is auch an extraordinary blogger & photographer. If you are not following yet, I highly recommend. So, this was my first attempt and I cannot await to cook more meals from her endless repertoire.

This was quite the beignets journey, from berliner to Monsieur Benjamin to Local Milk – I guess it’s time to share the recipe and wish you an amazing start into the New Year.

May 2015 bring you lots of joy, happiness and adventures!

THANK YOU so much for stopping by here, reading and following along. Your support means A LOT to me and if this blog of mine brings a bit inspiration to you, I’m happy.

Have a great time & see you soon!
Cheers to 2015!

JAM FILLED BEIGNETS
{ makes about 40 pieces}

INGREDIENTS:

Beignets

- 2 tsp dry active yeast
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 milk
- 4 tbsp butter (soft)
- pinch of salt
- 3 cups all pourpose flour

- 2 cups oil for frying
- 1 cup powder sugar for coating

Filling
- smooth strawberry jam or anything else creamy

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat water just to be luke warm, not boiling. Remove from the stove, add yeast and sugar and let sit for about 5 minutes for yeast to activate until foamy.

2. In a big bowl add the yeast mixture, eggs & milk and mix to combine well.

3. Add in the first 11/2 cups flour and incorporate well. Add in the the butter and mix until well incorporated. Add in the rest of the flour and mix until dough comes together.
Note: The dough might be sticky in the beginning, it’s ok, it will come together at the end. Turn the dough onto floured surface and knead through.
Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 2 hours until the dough has doubled in size.

5. Remove the dough from the bowl, place it on the well floured surface and knead through one more time.

6. Heat the oil in a pan to about °325F.

7. Roll out the dough 1/2″ thick and cut with a knife into small squares. Prepare a plate with paper towel for finished beignets to drain.

8. Transfer about 7 beignets to the pan and fry for about 4 minutes turning until golden brown.

9. With the slotted spoon remove the beignets from the oil, place on the plate and let sit. Proceed the same until you run out of the dough.

To fill the beignets:
I used a chop stick to make a whole in the beignets. Place jam in a piping bag fittet with 1/4″ nozzle. Press the piping bag into the beignet and squeeze until some jam fills the beignet. It is really just a quick squeeze, don’t squeeze to much.

Place the powder sugar into bowl and coat the beignets. Enjoy!

*Recipe adopted by Local Milk.

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12.17.14

SANUK SHOES x NOMADIC HABIT

Although I’m not really jumping at a chance to be in front of the camera, I couldn’t resist when my friend and amazing photographer, Marianna Jamadi, asked me to play model for her giveaway collaboration with Sanuk Shoes for their new Kat Collection. We met in Hayes Valley and had lots of fun browsing around, looking for colorful walls, riding a bike and trying to put the shoes in the best light. I discovered Marianna’s work few months back on Tiny Atlas Quarterly and have been following her since then on Instagram until we met in person few weeks ago. She moved to SF!
You can admire her beautiful photography and her travel adventures over at her blog, Nomadic Habit and for more behind the scenes check out her Instagram. Also don’t forget to enter her giveaway for the chance to win a pair of these red beauties I’m wearing.

What you have to do: Head over to her instagram (@nomadic_habit.com) and repost the giveaway photo with the hashtag #nomadicKat and tag @nomadic_habit and @sanukfootwear for your chance to win. You can also post a picture with the hashtag #nomadicKat of an exciting place where would you wear your new pair of Sanuk Shoes. Giveaway ends on Dec 23rd, so right in time to get your own present. Good luck!

All photography by Marianna Jamadi.

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12.16.14

LAS VEGAS NEON MUSEUM

Vegas is all about glitter, fun, feathers, money, consumption and more consumption. Three days is a maximum I can stand to be irradiated by air condition and the sound of slot machines, yet I would always go back – for three days. People traveling to Vegas don’t really have educational aspects in mind, unless you are there for some conferences. But even then, I wonder how much one can learn at a conference in Las Vegas?

However, if you feel the urge to get to know a little bit more about Las Vegas’s past, which is quite interesting ( think mafia bosses, show girls, crazy billionaires, dessert and money ), I deeply recommend making a visit to Las Vegas Neon Museum. This place is truly unique. Old, forgotten and abandoned lights are telling the history of nation’s Sin City. The makers of the museum did an amazing job in curating, restoring and creating an entertaining tour to enjoy the beauty of this power guzzling art. You will learn which sign was the first one to litt up, which one only lasted for few days, which one was marketing the atom test public watching party, why is Flamingo called Flamingo and many more fun facts about LV. I don’t want to be a spoiler so go, see and hear for yourself.

They are offering day and night tours, although lights are on during the night, I would go for the day tour. You will get much better pictures, in case you are interested in good pictures. The colors are just amazing in the day light. The tour goes for about 1h and costs $20. Don’t forget sunscreen and water. Remember, you are still in the dessert. Note: If you are a photographer and you plan on selling or using the pictures for any commercial purposes, you will have to take the photography tour which is about $75. For blogging or social media you are fine with the general admission.

I took about 350 pictures in one hour, so when the fine folks at Casetify reached out to me to try out their new, customizable iPhone cases using Instagrams I knew it had to be one form the Neon Museum. Long time I was against iPhone cases, but few painful headers of my iPhone taught me otherwise. Now my iPhone is protected, while still looking sleek ( super important to me) and reminding me of a fun day in Vegas. I really like the feature that you can use your own pictures. We are hoarding so many beautiful photos and if only one comes to a life beyond camera roll, we are good. Don’t feeling like using your own pictures? No worries. Browse the wide range on designs for everyone’s taste. Or you can consider gifting someone with your photo on the case. Bet your mom would be happy. So friends check out the Neon Museum when you are in Vegas and hop over now to Casetify to browse around and find your next iPhone case.