Potato Beignets

Recipe courtesy of Stephanie Izard, Chef-Owner of the Girl and the Goat, Chicago, Illinois.

Recipe Ingredients:

Potato Beignets:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup water, room temperature
1 cup Idaho® Yukon Gold potatoes - peeled, cooked and riced
1 large egg
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Yogurt (optional)

Yogurt:
2 gallons milk
2 quarts heavy cream
1 quart yogurt culture (or an older batch of yogurt)

Cooking Directions:

1. For Potato Beignets: Heat sugar, milk and butter in a saucepan until butter melts, then remove from heat and reserve.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine yeast and water and rest for 5 minutes to reactivate yeast. Add yeast mixture to butter mixture and stir until combined.
3. Beat riced potato and egg in bowl of a standing mixer with a paddle attachment until just combined, then add butter mixture and beat until well combined.
4. Add flour and beat until combined, then remove to a bowl and ferment in a warm, dry place until doubled in size.
5. Roll dough into a 1/2-inch thick sheet, then cut it into 1 1/2-inch squares. Fry in 350°F (175°C) oil, flipping once, until light golden brown on both sides.
6. Spoon yogurt into center of plate and top with beignet and serve.
7. For Yogurt: Scald milk and heavy cream in a heavy-bottomed pot. Remove from heat and cool to 100°F (37.7°C). Add yogurt culture. Transfer to a metal container and float in a hot water bath to maintain 100°F (37.7°C) temperature until yogurt separates, about 4 hours. Strain and reserve, refrigerated. Makes 2 3/4 gallons.

Makes about 25 beignets.

Recipe and photograph courtesy of the Idaho Potato Commission.