I'm Ashamed To Say...

That I've actually done the following things.

Deep fried cookie dough wrapped peeps.
Burgers with fried chicken skins.
Sea salt and bacon caramels.
Maple glazed bacon and sausage roulade. (only ashamed because of the outright unhealthiness, was an awesome breakfast with the parents though)

Now don't get me wrong. I love experimenting with food (french toast ice cream), and I do tend to stray to the unhealthy side a bit (bacon...), but sometimes there are things best left uncooked. Everything was delicious, there's no avoiding that, but for someone with classical french training who works primarily in fine dining, you'd think I would be setting my sights a little higher.

Looking back, I'd say there have definitely been some classier moments. For example, back in culinary school I did french beignets (ben-yays) while working in the restaurant. Everyone raved about them, and I won't lie - that felt really good. So hopefully I can find the recipe I used before I finish this post.

Now I'm gonna have to stop you right here. If you think you know what kind of beignets I'm talking about, you're probably thinking about the doughnuts you see in Nawlins at Cafe Du Monde. Well you're wrong. The original beignet (and I'm talkin way back) is essentially a French churro. Made with a very similar batter/dough (the consistency makes it hard to tell) and the addition of Kirsch (classically), the beignets were not rolled and cut, they were piped straight into the fryer. I strayed a little bit. I did two different batters, one with Kirsch, the other with Triple-Sec, and they were dusted with powdered sugar and served with a honey lemon triple-sec reduction.

Good times...

Sadly I could not find the recipe. I believe it is in one of the culinary school books left behind at my parent's house from back in the day. I will find it though, and I will post it, because you all need to try it. It's pretty good if you use cocoa powder in it and make chocolate beignets too.