Sunday Breakfast: New Orleans Calais, an alternative to Beignets

Since I'm from the New Orleans area, I do indeed love me some beignets.  Those little puffy squares of deep fried dough covered in powdered sugar turn everyone into little kids again, blowing powdered sugar across the table, even unintentionally.  But there are other delicious breakfast treats that have been around even longer and served a purpose, too -- calais!  Also spelled "calas," there are very few places you can find them in New Orleans anymore.  Calais have always been on the menu at The Old Coffee Pot*, though.

Mmmmm ... calais and buttered grits, bless my little southern soul!

Calais are basically fried balls of seasoned rice.  They came into popularity in a time when nothing went to waste.  Every wife and mother saved leftovers (if there were any) of all kinds, and when there was leftover rice**, they made a delicious treat for their husbands who were walking to work and their kids to were walking to school.  During the winter months***, these delicious little treats also served to warm their hands when popped into their pockets.  I'm pretty sure it caused some more work on laundry day, when they had to remove those grease stains from the pockets of their loved ones' clothing, but at least their fingers didn't freeze!

The Old Coffee Pot - yes, you really do want to eat here.
Delicious AND beautiful!

Calais can be eaten alone or as a side, and they are served covered in powdered sugar.  They are so full of flavor, though, that they can overpower the relatively bland eggs and bacon, so I skip all that stuff.  Usually. The Old Coffee Pot offers them with grits, which I looooove, but no one else in my family will touch.  Boooo.  And I just hate cooking in the morning, so these are a very rare treat in my house. Yummy, though!

New Orleans Calais (Rice Balls)

Ingredients:

1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. nutmeg (I actually go a little heavier on this; call it a heaping teaspoon!)
4 tbsp. sugar
6 tbsp. flour
2 eggs
2 cups cooked, cold rice
cooking oil
powdered sugar

Mix the first six ingredients together thoroughly, then mix in the eggs.  Once completely mixed, start adding in the rice, making sure the rice is well-coated.  Heat up a small half-pot of cooking oil (has to be very hot, around 360°) and drop by tablespoons (or, if you have a larger serving spoon, that will make a nice-sized ball, too) gently into the oil.  Depending on the size of your pot, you can probably do about six at a time - more if you're using a larger pot.  Fry the rice balls until they are a dark golden brown.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a cooling rack placed over a couple of paper towels to catch the grease drippings.  Serve hot with powdered sugar.  

*The Old Coffee Pot is located on St. Peter in the French Quarter, right next to Pat O'Brien's.  So after a long night of boozing it up with hurricanes in the courtyard next to the flaming fountain, you can run next door and sober up a bit with some piping hot coffee and delicious calais!

**Turns out, you HAVE to use leftover rice.  Freshly-cooked, hot rice just won't cut it.  It'll make a mushy mess.  Trust me.  Make your rice the night before and store it in the refrigerator overnight.

***Yes, New Orleans has a winter!  It may not snow every year (or every decade), but it is humid all the time and a wet cold is a bone-chilling cold!  We did sometimes end up wearing shorts on Christmas Day, though, so you really can't predict when that cold weather will arrive ... or how long it will stay.