Poached Pears Paired With Fragrant Fall Flavors

 

 

 

  For a nice, simple fall dessert, why not poach some pears in red wine infused with the warm, comforting flavors of fall? 

 

It’s October, there’s a crispness to the air, and I’m ready for some warm and cozy flavors to enjoy while I transition from the lighter fare of summertime to the heartier meals of winter.  I’ve got a perfect dessert recipe for you to try  -  poached pears.   It’s both simple and elegant.  

Pears, often overshadowed by pumpkins and apples during the fall months, are at their peak sweetness right now, and are perfect to combine with classic, comforting flavors.    I’m poaching pears in a fragrant red wine and spice mixture, reducing the poaching liquid to concentrate the flavors a bit, then drizzling the ruby-hued pears with the syrupy reduction.  I’m offering two options for accompaniments.  The first is with candied walnuts and blue cheese.  The second is with vanilla ice cream and fresh fruit.  Both are winners.

          

 

       

 

 Rosie’s Poached Pears

2 cups red wine (I prefer a nice Merlot.  Never buy what’s called “cooking wine.”  If you wouldn’t drink it, then you shouldn’t be cooking with it.  Cooking intensifies the flavors and if you start out with a bad taste, you end up with a reduction with an even worse taste.)      

The peel and juice of one orange

 cinnamon stick

2 vanilla bean pods, with the pods sliced and the beans scraped out (Throw both the pods and beans into the mix.)

⅓ cup brown sugar

10 whole cloves

2 TB honey

 

 

 

Combine all ingredients.  Set over low heat and bring to a simmer.

 

 

 2 pears, peeled  I always take a small slice off the bottoms so they sit up straight on the serving plate. Anjou or Bosc are good choices.  Nice and firm, they absorb the poaching liquid well and maintain their shape.   The poaching process involves submerging food in liquid and gently simmering, infusing it with flavors.  The fruit turns tender and draws in all that sweetness, acidity, and spice.

 

 

 

 

 

 Set the peeled pears in the simmering poaching liquid and if the pears aren’t completely submerged, spoon the liquid over top.  Rotate the pears every 5 minutes or so and continue spooning.  Poach for about 40 minutes.

  Remove pears from poaching liquid, strain solids out and discard.   Return liquid to pot and continue cooking at low heat, stirring  until liquid is reduced by about half and becomes slightly syrupy. 

 

 I use a skewer dipped in the poaching liquid to determine how much it's been reduced.

 At this point, you could add in other goodies, such as raisins, craisins, or other dried fruits and let them plump up.  Set aside and keep warm.

 The beauty of this recipe lies in its versatility. 

 A simple sweet syrup is infused with spice flavors, but you can customize your poaching liquid to suit your tastes, adding various spices and flavors.  The poaching liquid is cooked down, concentrating its flavor, turning it thick and syrupy, perfect for drizzling.

 

 While the pears are poaching, I like to start on my candied nuts.  I prefer walnuts for this dish since I think pears and walnuts are made for each other.

 

Candied Walnuts

  1 TB unsalted butter

⅓ cup dark brown sugar

1 cup walnuts

Kosher salt

In a small sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter and sugar, stirring constantly.  Add in nuts and continue stirring until mixed completely and butter and sugar are melted.  Add a pinch or two of kosher salt, to taste.  Pour out onto parchment paper in a single layer and let cool.  Try not to eat them all before using with the pears.

 
Melt and stir the butter and sugar.

Add in walnuts.  I like pairing walnuts with pears and blue cheese, but this method would work for any type of nut.

Stir to coat.

 Turn out on parchment paper.  Separate into single layer. Let cool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Serving suggestion #1:   I think the combination of pears, walnuts, and blue cheese creates a perfect culinary synergy – a situation where the combined effect is greater than the sum of its separate parts.  Make a pool of the syrup on your serving plate and place the pear on top.  Sprinkle candied pecans and blue cheese around the base, then drizzle the pear with the reduced syrupy liquid.

 

Oh, you say you don’t like blue cheese?  Then try a very mild blue, say a Campazola.  It’s what I call the “gateway blue .“  It’s just enough to get you hooked and then, after getting your feet wet, you can go on to the harder stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serving suggestion #2:   My next offering is easy and delightful.  Simply scoop some vanilla ice cream onto the plate with the poached pear, drizzle the reduced poaching liquid over the pear and the ice cream, and stud it with jewels of fruit – blackberries, strawberries, grapes.  For a special treat, try dropping in some Amarena Fabbri cherries.  You might just forget Maraschino cherries forever after trying these.

 

This is a great make-ahead dessert, since it tastes even better the next day.  The concentration of flavors in the reduced syrup becomes even more pronounced, making for a lovely, spicy-sweet dessert combination.

Enjoy.

Rosie Makes Crab Cakes

  When I make crab cakes, I go by the maxim "less is more," meaning less filler and more crab makes for a better cake.  Also, I'm not a big fan of mayonnaise, so that's not going into my mixture as a binder.

Crab meat where I live is running $18/lb for claw meat.  And claw meat is the cheapest available.  I think it's sweeter too and more flavorful, so that's what I always use.  

I'm only making 4 cakes today, so I'm just using 10 ounces of the crab meat, saving the rest for a delicious dip.

Rosie's Crab Cakes

10 oz. crab meat 

1 TB minced red pepper

1 TB minced celery

1 TB chopped parsley

1 egg

2 tsp Dijon mustard

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp Lea & Perrins

1/2 tsp Tabasco

sprinkling of Old Bay seasoning

Add pepper, celery, and parsley to crab meat, mixing gently so as not to break up the meat.

Beat egg with mustard, lemon, Lea & Perrins, Tabasco, and Old Bay.  Pour into crab mixture, again mixing gently.

Divide crab meat mixture evenly among 4 tins and press in. 

Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Combine equal parts Panko bread crumbs and flour.  Grind some pepper into flour mixture or use Lawry's Pepper Seasoning.

Coat both sides of crab cake in crumb mixture.

Film a medium sized skillet with oil and add 2 TB butter.  Medium high heat.

When butter gets sizzly and foamy, add in crab cakes.  Sauté until golden brown on each side.

 

Serve with my apple/cranberry slaw, lemon wedges, more parsley, and my remoulade sauce.

Rosie's Remoulade 

1/3 cup mayonnaise  (I know I just said I don't care for mayo, but sometimes you gotta.)

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp sweet relish

1 tsp minced dill pickle

Now that's a crab cake!

Oh...  Almost forgot.  The dip.

I had 6 ounces of crab meat left over so I decided to make my delicious crab meat dip.  I never bother to measure, so the proportions can be different every time, but not to worry, it's ALL GOOD!

Rosie's Crab Meat Dip

6 oz. crab meat

2 TB unsalted butter

heaping TB Brie cheese

heaping TB cream cheese

juice of one lemon

2 tsp Lea & Perrins

a few shakes of Tabasco

splash or more of sherry, to taste

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter, Brie, and cream cheese, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the lemon, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco.  Gently fold in the crab meat so as not to break up the lumps.  Heat through.  Add a splash or two of sherry.

Serve with an assortment of crackers for dipping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OR, serve in buttered and baked wonton cups.

Here's HOW.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OR, serve in a hollowed-out boule with the hollowed out part torn and toasted for dipping. 

If you'd like to gussy it up a bit, add some minced red peppers and sliced scallions and a dusting of paprika.

Enjoy.

Crab Meat Delight.

 

 

 Here's a delicious crab meat concoction I make.  I usually serve this as a dip but today,

 it's going into wonton cups.

 

 

Rosie's Crab Meat Dip

1/2 pound crab meat (I use claw.  Cheaper and sweeter.)

2 TB butter

2 TB brie
2 TB cream cheese

juice of one lemon

1 TB Lea & Perrins

1 TB sherry

In a small sauce pan, thoroughly melt butter, brie, and cream cheese.

Stir in lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce.

Carefully mix in crab meat, being gentle so as not to break up the lumps.

Heat through.  Give it a splash of sherry, or more, to taste.

For the wontons, brush muffin tins with melted butter or you can use a spray.  (I always use unsalted butter.)

Press in wontons to make a fluted cup and brush with melted butter.

Bake at 350° for about 7 minutes or until golden brown.

Fill with crab mixture.

 Enjoy.

Rosie Make Coconut Fried Shrimp With Pineapple Dipping Sauce.

 

  I love coconut fried shrimp and I've made it many times.  Sometimes with a wet batter - beer, club soda, or buttermilk.  Sometimes not.  But this three-stage station is the easiest way to make it. 

 

Only three containers to contend with and wash up, and it's the simplest way to do it.

Use jumbo shrimp for this recipe.

Step 1:  Dredge shrimp in mixture of flour and corn starch.  Half and half.  I save Chinese takeout containers for this.  Add a few shrimp at a time and shake shake shake.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2:  Run the floured shrimp through beaten eggs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3:  Shake shake shake in a container of 3 parts coconut, 1 part panko bread crumbs, and 1 part crushed Ritz crackers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a large, heavy, deep pot with a couple inches peanut oil heated to 375°.  Carefully put in 5-6 shrimp, one at a time.  Do not crowd the pan.  Keep shrimp separated.  Fry about 60-75 seconds until golden brown.

 

 

Remove from oil and drain on rack.  Let oil come back up to temp before starting the next batch.  

Oil temperature is key.  Get an instant-read laser thermometer.  It makes life easy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the dipping sauce:

3 slices pineapple, finely chopped (I usually use a can of crushed, but I was out.)

2 TB pineapple juice from the canned slices

1/3 cup orange marmalade

1 TB soy sauce

1 TB Dijon mustard

1 TB horseradish

Mix all together in a small saucepan and heat over low until simmer.  Taste test and add more of anything you want.  This is just a starting point.  Adjust as you like.  Serve warm on the side for dipping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy.

Rosie's Apple Coleslaw.

 

  Coleslaw is like potato salad.  Everybody's got their own recipe for it.  But I've been coming back to this particular combination time and time again.  Try it.  You'll like it.  Just the right amount of sweet; just the right amount of tangy.

 

 Rosie's Coleslaw

3 cups shredded cabbage

4 baby carrots, julienned

1 small red pepper, diced

1 coarsely peeled, chopped apple

1 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)

Combine all ingredients.

 

Dressing 

1 TB cider vinegar

1 TB sugar

1/4 cup mayo

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup buttermilk

salt and pepper, to taste 

Mix all ingredients until smooth.

Pour dressing over slaw ingredients and toss to coat evenly.

Enjoy.