Portuguese Doughnuts

The week before my birthday. The week of birthday is St. Patrick's week, which means the city is loud and Southie is loud and the parade and the green and all of it. I have been navigating this since I was born on St. Patrick's Day in 1991. I do not love the noise. I love the pancakes more than the parade. I have always loved the food more than the celebration.

Clinic was steady. Spring colds. The end-of-winter kind, where people come in saying I have had this for a month and you check and they have had three different things back to back. I had two such patients Tuesday. I gave them rest and antibiotics for the bacterial overlay and the flu shot reminder for next year.

Group Tuesday. Bernadette did not theme the week. We had a good open share. I talked about the birthday math — that I am turning the age Sean was when Liam was one. People listened. Bernadette said grief math is its own thing. Henry said his wife had been thirty-eight when she died and he had hit forty-one in October without her, and he did not have words for it. Lila said her husband had been thirty-five when he died and she was now forty-two and the gap kept getting bigger and stranger. We held it together.

Wednesday Kettle. Fifteen quarts. New high. Joan and I and a new volunteer from the parish — a man named Arnie who is sixty and lost his wife last year — we ran the cook in three hours. Arnie chops onions like he is mad at them. It is efficient.

Saturday pancakes. Burned the first. Liam did not eat as many today — he is at six. He used to eat four. The seven-year-old boy stomach is expanding.

Sunday dinner at Ma's. Ma made shepherd's pie because she knows I love shepherd's pie and my birthday is next week. She did not put cheese on top this time. I did not say anything. She knew I noticed. She smiled the small smile.

Food of the week: Ma's shepherd's pie, no cheese. The original. The way her mother made it. The way I want it when I am sad and when I am not.

Ma’s shepherd’s pie is the gold standard, and I would never try to replicate it here — that recipe lives in her hands, not mine. But what I can do, the week before my birthday when Southie is already revving up and the noise is coming, is make something warm and good in my own kitchen, just for us. These Portuguese doughnuts are that: simple, golden, a little celebratory without making a fuss about it. I have always loved the food more than the parade, and these are exactly the kind of thing you make when you want the celebration to be quiet and yours.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 40 min (plus 1 hour rise) | Servings: 24 doughnuts

Ingredients

1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110°F)
1 cup whole milk, warmed
1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
1/2 tsp fine salt
3 large eggs, beaten
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
Vegetable oil, for frying (about 4 cups)
1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional, for the sugar coating)

Instructions

Activate the yeast. Combine warm water and yeast in a large bowl. Let sit 5 minutes until foamy. If it does not foam, start again with fresh yeast.
Build the dough. Add warm milk, sugar, salt, and beaten eggs to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add softened butter and mix in. Add flour one cup at a time, stirring until a soft, slightly sticky dough forms. It should pull away from the bowl but remain tacky — do not over-flour.
First rise. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Heat the oil. Pour vegetable oil into a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven to a depth of 3 inches. Heat over medium to 350°F. Use a thermometer — temperature matters here.
Portion and fry. Using a small ice cream scoop or two wet spoons, drop rounded tablespoons of dough into the hot oil in batches of 4–5. Do not crowd the pot. Fry 2–3 minutes per side, turning once, until deep golden brown.
Drain and coat. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on a paper towel–lined plate. While still warm, roll in granulated sugar (mixed with cinnamon if using) until evenly coated.
Serve warm. These are best eaten the day they are made, still warm from the oil. Pile them on a plate and do not apologize for the sugar on the counter.

Nutrition (per serving)

Portuguese Doughnuts — The Food Is the Celebration