One of the reasons I love the pear sweet potatoes is that the texture of the pears after they've been thru a food processor is unbelievably soft and smooth. I never remember feeling anything like them.
This week: Thinking Ahead; and Pears!
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-JT
Does anyone have a classic potato salad recipe?
Pears - Yum! I love them!
Here are a couple of recipes that I have made with lots of success.
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/braised-pork-with-pears-chiles
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/gingered-pear-pie-with-golden-raisins-2693
Spiced Pear and Walnut Coffee Cake
INGREDIENTS
Cake
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup Imperial Sugar Gold ’N Natural Turbinado Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour*
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup low-fat sour cream
Filling & Topping
2 fresh pears (firm, yet ripe)
Juice of 1/2 fresh lemon
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup Imperial Sugar Gold ’N Natural Turbinado Sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour*
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
Glaze
1 to 1 1/2 cups Imperial Sugar Confectioners Powdered Sugar
Milk or cream
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Coat a 9-inch springform pan with non-stick spray.
Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Whisk flour and baking powder, baking soda and salt, add alternatively to batter with sour cream.
Spread two-thirds of batter into prepared pan, reserving remaining batter for topping.
Peel and core pears, slice thinly and toss with lemon juice.
In a separate bowl, stir walnuts with Turbinado sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Remove three-quarters of walnut mixture from bowl and sprinkle evenly over batter in springform pan. Reserve remaining mixture for topping.
Arrange pear sliced evenly over walnuts mixture in pan. Spread remaining batter over pear slices.
Add 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup melted butter to remaining walnut mixture. Stir until crumbly. Sprinkle over top of cake.
Bake 65-75 minutes or until done.
Cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan and cool slightly.
Whisk confectioners sugar with enough milk to make a good drizzling consistency. Drizzle immediately over top of cake and serve warm or at room temperature.
*Spoon & Sweep method: Use a spoon to fill measuring cup with flour until required amount is obtained. Scooping measuring cup directly into flour bag will firmly pack flour resulting in too much flour required for recipe.
http://www.imperialsugar.com/recipes/desserts/cakes/Spiced-Pear-Walnut-Coffeecake
Caramelized Pear Streusel Bread
Ingredients:
Pears
1 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups peeled and diced pears
1 Tbsp brown sugar
Batter
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
2/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Streusel Topping
1/4 cup rolled oats
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter, room temperature
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F and place a baking sheet in oven; spray 3 mini (5 3/4” x 3 3/4”) loaf pans with nonstick spray.
For the pears, melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pears and brown sugar; sauté until tender and golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Combine buttermilk, egg, vegetable oil, brown sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl; add to flour mixture and stir just until combined. Gently fold in pears.
For the streusel topping, whisk together oats, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; use a pastry cutter to cut in butter until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Divide batter evenly between loaf pans; top with streusel.
Place pans on preheated baking sheet and bake, rotating pans halfway through, for 23 to 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely. Wrap breads well and store in the refrigerator up to 2 days. Warm before serving.
http://www.caramelpotatoes.com/2012/10/15/caramelized-pear-streusel-bread/
The Overnight Eggnog Streusel Coffee Cake pictured below the recipe looks delicious too.
Cinnamon Pear Muffins
Makes: 24 muffins
Ingredients
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp lemon juice
4 cup pureed pears (or sub partially with applesauce if needed)
1 tsp vanilla
3 ¾ cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp salt
1 TBS cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp allspice
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Topping
½ cup quick oats
¼ cup brown sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ cup cold butter
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a muffin pans with liners or nonstick cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, combine the oil with the white and brown sugars. Mix in the eggs followed by the pureed pears, lemon juice, and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix only until combined, mix in chopped walnuts gently (if using).
Pour batter evenly into prepared muffin pans (fill each cup about 3/4 of the way full).
Combine the oats, brown sugar and cinnamon for topping in a small bowl and cut the butter in with a fork or pastry cutter.
Sprinkle topping mixture evenly over muffins.
Bake 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean.
http://rebekahrose.blogspot.com/2016/01/muffinmonday-cinnamon-pear-muffins.html
When I was 16 years old I worked a summer at a pear orchard. Drove tractors, worked in the shed, loaded packed pears into semi-vans. Went to bed at nite, closed my eyes and all I could see were pears. I burned out on pears and haven’t ate many in the last 50 years.
From Viking River Cruises...
French Pear Tart
Ingredients:
3 firm ripe pears
Pastry Dough:
1&1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 tbsp sugar
½ cup unsalted butter
2 large egg yolks
¼ tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cold water
pinch of salt
Frangipane:
1/3 cup unsalted butter
¾ cup sugar
3 large eggs
¾ cup ground almonds
1&1/2 tsp all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp almond extract
Glaze:
¼ cup apricot jam
1 tsp lemon juice
Garnish:
2 tsp slivered almonds
Directions:
Dough: Sift together flour and salt; make a well. Add sugar, butter, yolks, vanilla and water into well; work to form a firm dough. Chill for 2 hours. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to cover a 9-onch quiche or tart pan. Press firmly into pan; cut off excess. Prick bottom with a fork. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Reheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line dough with parchment or foil; add pie weights or dry beans. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Lower oven to 375 degrees F, remove foil and weights; bake for 5 minutes or until golden. Remove from heat; cool. Reduce oven to 350 degrees F.
Frangipane: Mix butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, almonds, flour and extract; stir to combine. Spoon into crust. Assemble: Peel, core & slice pears. Arrange slices over top of frangipane. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until pears are tender and lightly browned. Remove from heat and cool.
Glaze: Melt jam over low heat. Stir in lemon juice. Remove from heat; push mixture through a sieve. Brush glaze over pears; sprinkle with slivered almonds.
Do you all realize that when you browse the internet on the Kindle Fire that all requests go through Amazon proxy servers and they keep the data?
https://www.groovypost.com/howto/amazon-kindle-fire-silk-browser-disable-cloud-page-accelerator/
Be aware of your privacy...
One of the reasons I love the pear sweet potatoes is that the texture of the pears after they've been thru a food processor is unbelievably soft and smooth. I never remember feeling anything like them.
I love the pear plus sweet potatoes idea but can’t picture how it comes out. What does it look like, what is the consistency, after baking? I bet it tastes delicious, love those spices.
This is a no bake cheesecake that got rave reviews. I added crushed pecans to the crust and also added some rum to the maple syrup. Make sure the pears are firm to start.
http://www.marthastewart.com/329044/maple-cheesecake-with-roasted-pears
This site has some terrific sounding recipes-esp that pear chocolate upside down cake. I am going to give it a try.
First ate a version of this is a little French bistro in Paris. This recipe was exactly as I remembered it.
My friend sent this recipe to me last week. The theme of her dinner party was pears. She started with pear martinis and ended with this recipe.
She served it in little mason jars and said it was a huge hit.
I am going to give it a try this weekend.
http://rainierfruit.com/recipe-list/pear-and-thyme-crisp/
I just made a (double) batch of the Deal Island Summer Tomato soup you posted last week. It is really good!
One thing I needed was a food mill (you sent me a suggestion) but when I talked to my mom, she said she had one. It’s old - she used to make apple sauce from some old apple trees on the place - they don’t produce any more so the food mill was stored away. Bottom line - I didn’t like the result. Either it wasn’t working correctly or my expectations were too high for what I was going to get. I ended up using the blender to puree everything and I’m quite happy with that result. It’s a thicker soup probably, with a little more texture, but it’s going to be some kind of good this winter!
The yield was about 5 quarts and it used up almost a roasting pan of tomatoes (8 pounds for a double batch) so that is ALL good, especially since I have another large batch of ripening tomatoes on the vine. I am making one more single batch, probably tomorrow (I’m worn out from all the chopping today) and instead of using the green peppers, I’m using a jar of roasted red peppers - can’t wait to see what the taste will be like - should be rather yummy.
Thanks again for the great recipe.