The following poached pear recipe is one I sent to my good friends Ben and Melissa Mello in Chicago for a recent dinner party. The theme of each participant's dish was to incorporate cheese, wine and chocolate in each course. These Mediterranean-influenced poach pears are interesting, easy and will not disappoint you or your guests.

The recipe below is for stuffing. There is an alternate recipe following to make a stuffed pear dish.

Beignet stuffing

3 cups dry white wine

1 cinnamon stick or ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup sugar

½ cup water

Zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange

5 pears (on the firm side)

¼ cup gorgonzola cheese

1 cup mascarpone cheese

½ cup coarsely chopped and toasted hazelnuts

Directions: In a large saucepan, combine water, wine, cinnamon, sugar and zests. Bring to a simmer. Peel the pears, dice and place in poaching liquid. Poach the pears until softened, about 20 minutes. Strain and chill the pears, reserving the liquid. In the same pot, reduce the poaching liquid until it becomes syrup (this is going to be drizzled over the finished beignets, so reduce until it is thick). Chill the syrup. In a mixing bowl combine the cheeses, chilled pears and the hazelnuts, and mix until just combined.

Note: The pear filling can become a dish unto itself. Do not dice the pear. Instead, cut the pear in half and scoop the center out leaving a small bowl in the pear. Follow the rest of the recipe, omitting the diced pears at the end. Fill the bowl in the pear with the hazelnut cheese mixture, drizzle with the poaching syrup and top with white chocolate shavings. Serve as an appetizer or a dessert.

Beignet batter

1 packet of dry active yeast

1½ cups water (between 90 and 115 degrees)

1 cup evaporated milk

2 eggs

1½ teaspoon salt

½ cup sugar

7 to 8 cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup butter flavored shortening

Vegetable oil for frying

Directions: In a mixing bowl, combine the yeast and the warm water and let sit for 5 to 15 minutes. Add the milk, eggs, salt and sugar, and then blend in your mixer. Combine half the flour and mix until the batter is smooth. Add the shortening and slowly mix in the rest of the flour (because of the excessive moisture in Juneau's air there is a lot of water in our flour, so you might need to add up to and even more than 8 cups) until the batter begins to pull away from the bowl.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. Roll the dough out on a floured area to a thickness of about ⅛ of an inch or less. Cut into 3 to 4 inch squares. Place a dollop of the pear stuffing in the center and fold corner to corner, making sure to keep all the stuffing off the edges.

Press the dough to seal the stuffing. Fry the beignets, turning occasionally, in vegetable oil at 350 to 375 degrees until each side is lightly browned. Drain on a paper towel and drizzle with the poaching syrup, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.