Pear and Sweet Goat Cheese Filled Beignets

Ingredients
Beignets
¾ cup warm water
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ envelope active dry yeast
1egg, slightly beaten
½ teaspoons salt
½ cup evaporated milk
3 ½ cups bread flour
? cup shortening
Oil, for deep-frying
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Pear and Sweet Goat Cheese Filling
2 cups Green Anjou USA Pears, peeled, cored, and diced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, crushed
2 pieces dried orange peel
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon each freshly grated lemon zest and juice
¾ cup Carmelis goat cheese, local from Okanagan Valley
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
Spiced Nuts
? cup dark brown sugar
? cup white granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 ½ teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg white, at room temperature
1 pound walnuts pecans, or hazelnuts
Candied Pear Chips
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 Green Anjou USA Pear
Port Wine Reduction
2 cups Stoney Ridge Forte Port (from Ontario)
1 tablespoon lemon zest
 

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Method

For the beignets: Mix water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.
In another bowl, beat the egg, salt, and evaporated milk together. Add egg mixture to the yeast mixture. Add the flour to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add the shortening and continue to stir. Remove dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray. Put dough into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Let rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours.
For the pear filling: Sauté diced pears, ginger, and orange peel in butter over medium-low heat until soft. Remove from heat and cool. Puree half the pear mixture until thinned out, adding lemon juice. Stir in remaining pear mixture, soft goat cheese, honey, powdered sugar and grated lemon zest.
For the spiced nuts: Mix sugars, salt, cayenne, and cinnamon; set aside. Beat egg white and water until frothy. Add nuts and stir to coat evenly. Sprinkle nuts with sugar mixture and toss until evenly coated. Spread sugared nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet fitted with parchment paper. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven, and separate nuts as they cool.
For the pear chips: Bring sugar and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Slice pear on a mandolin slicer, or as thin as possible with a knife. Add pear slices to simple syrup and cook for 1 minute. Remove slices from pot and place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 200 degrees for 2 hours.

For the sauce: Combine wine and zest in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce until the sauce is thick and syrupy.

To prepare beignets: Preheat oil in a large pot to 350 degrees. Roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut into 1-inch by 2-inch rectangles. Spoon a tablespoon of pear and goat cheese mixture into center of dough. Fold dough over and pinch to enclose the dough. Deep-fry, flipping constantly, until they become a golden color. After beignets are fried, drain them for a few seconds on paper towels, and then dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Arrange on plate, and serve to friends!