Welcome back, Greg! We loved your 2013 recipe contest submission , Cilantro Corn Cakes with Sauteed Mushrooms and Cumin Yogurt, and the judges awarded you the First Place prize that year. Your entry this year, Roasted Chanterelle Beignets with Tomato-Corn Tartar Sauce, was very well-received as well, and we appreciate your permission to feature it as our March Recipe of the Month. We're certainly looking forward to hearing from you again next year, Greg! Wonder what he'll cook up by then?
We're pleased to print
another great recipe from Greg Fontenot.
Greg confesses that "to say developing recipes is a hobby is a great understatement. I am obsessed with recipe development and recipe contests. My wife will agree with this statement without hesitation. I tend to talk about food and recipes way too much."
When we asked Greg how he came to develop this mushroom beignet recipe, he wrote: "I developed this recipe from my basic beignet recipe. I make them from crawfish, smoked fish and a variety of sweet versions. I was just runner-up in the Vegetarian Times Recipe contest with a sweet potato beignet."
Greg's been busy developing recipes over the past several years, and noted that the photo he submitted this year was used in the 47th Pillsbury Bake Off in December of 2014. He reports that it was "an incredible event. I didn't win the million dollars, but I did win the Crisco sponsor prize ($5,000) and a really cool golden (plastic) Doughboy statue." How fun! Congratulations on your ambition and creativity in the kitchen, Greg!
We were curious. Does he collect wild mushrooms? No. "I have always wanted to, and being a scientist, I think I could do it, but something about it actually scares me a little. We have so many types of mushrooms in the woods here in SE Texas, I just have no training picking out the ones you can eat. I wish I could, but no, I do not at this time." Truthfully, it doesn't sound to us as if Greg would have the time to develop and pursue the passion of wild mushrooming, what with everything that he's stirring together in the kitchen!