Our farmer's market carries a variety of Asian pear with which I'm
unfamiliar. It's pear-shaped (not round like many other
Asian pears), yellow without any "freckling" at all and firm like an Asian
pear. It's got a taste slightly reminiscent of honey and isn't gritty at
all.

It would be great on its own with a glass of Sauternes, but I'm looking to
dress it up a bit. Any ideas? I'm currently considering a puff-pastry shell
with ginger pastry cream, toasted almonds, and honey-glazed pear slices.

Bob

On Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:48:41 -0800, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

> It would be great on its own with a glass of Sauternes, but I'm looking to
> dress it up a bit. Any ideas? I'm currently considering a puff-pastry shell
> with ginger pastry cream, toasted almonds, and honey-glazed pear slices.

If you're looking for something completely different, I guess stuffed
or poached pears would do the trick. Personally, I'd roast them and
use them in a salad.

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On Wed, 10 Nov 2010 06:13:19 -0600, Andy > wrote:

> The puff pastry sounds decent. Or the canned Pillsbury croissant sheets?

Really? I didn't like that part at all. I'd make a pate sucrée
instead of using puff pastry.

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:48:41 -0800, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:


Try a pear tart. Slice and arrange on a tart shell, then thicken up
some plum juice by reduction and cornstarch, glaze the pears and allow
to cool. Alternatively, a light glaze of thickened ruby port, with
maybe a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg.

HTH

Alex

Forgot: the pear slices need to be poached first. Sorry.

Alex

On Nov 10, 9:54*am, sf > wrote:
> On Wed, 10 Nov 2010 06:13:19 -0600, Andy > wrote:
> > The puff pastry sounds decent. Or the canned Pillsbury croissant sheets?
>
> Really? *I didn't like that part at all. *I'd make a pate sucr e
> instead of using puff pastry.
>
> --
>
> Never trust a dog to watch your food.

Me, too - a reg'lar tart shell. It sounds good. I wonder how "Pears
Melba" would taste - add some raspberries...?

N.

On Nov 10, 10:45*am, Chemiker > wrote:
> On Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:48:41 -0800, "Bob Terwilliger"
>
> > wrote:
>
> Try a pear tart. Slice and arrange on a tart shell, then thicken up
> some plum juice by reduction and cornstarch, glaze the pears and allow
> to cool. Alternatively, a light glaze of thickened ruby port, with
> maybe a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg.
>
> HTH
>
> Alex

Instead of messing with plum juice, one could use plum jelly or jam,
heated, to glaze.

N.

sf > wrote:
>
>> It would be great on its own with a glass of Sauternes, but I'm looking to
>> dress it up a bit. Any ideas? I'm currently considering a puff-pastry shell
>> with ginger pastry cream, toasted almonds, and honey-glazed pear slices.
>
>If you're looking for something completely different, I guess stuffed
>or poached pears would do the trick. Personally, I'd roast them and
>use them in a salad.

Only a keyboard kook is constantly guilding the lily. If unique, well
ripened, and tastes good I'd not cook them at all (save cooking for
ordinary/common varieties), arrange cored pear slices garnished with
creme anglaise... or serve lightly drizzled with balsamico
tradizionale. Any idiot without a pair can kook a pear... gots to
show some class or may as well open a tin of Del Monte. Me, I'd serve
the fruit whole in a bowl accompanied by a wheel of brie... the best
beverage for accompanying pears (fruit) and cheese is Champagne.

On Nov 10, 1:48*am, "Bob Terwilliger" >
wrote:
> Our farmer's market carries a variety of Asian pear with which I'm
> unfamiliar. It's pear-shaped (not round like many other
> Asian pears), yellow without any "freckling" at all and firm like an Asian
> pear. It's got a taste slightly reminiscent of honey and isn't gritty at
> all.
>
> It would be great on its own with a glass of Sauternes, but I'm looking to
> dress it up a bit. Any ideas? I'm currently considering a puff-pastry shell
> with ginger pastry cream, toasted almonds, and honey-glazed pear slices.
>
> Bob

Is it a Yali pear?

On Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:48:41 -0800, "Bob Terwilliger"
> arranged random neurons and said:

>Our farmer's market carries a variety of Asian pear with which I'm
>unfamiliar. It's pear-shaped (not round like many other
>Asian pears), yellow without any "freckling" at all and firm like an Asian
>pear. It's got a taste slightly reminiscent of honey and isn't gritty at
>all.
>
>It would be great on its own with a glass of Sauternes, but I'm looking to
>dress it up a bit. Any ideas? I'm currently considering a puff-pastry shell
>with ginger pastry cream, toasted almonds, and honey-glazed pear slices.

Bob, I've posted this before. It's very elegant looking and even
tastes good

@@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format

Poached Pears In Phyllo With Chocolate Sauce

desserts

3 cups water
1 cup fruity white wine
1/4 cup sugar
6 Comice or Bosc pears; cored and peeled,
; stems intact
1 pound phyllo dough; thawed
1/4 pound butter; melted
chocolate syrup

Preheat oven to 400F. In a medium saucepan, bring the water, wine and
sugar
to a boil. Carefully place pears upright in the water-wine-sugar
mixture
and boil gently, covered, for 10 mins. Remove from the liquid and set
aside.

Fold a sheet of phyllo to make a square. Brush with butter and add 2
more
layers of phyllo in the same shape and brush again with butter. Place
a
cooked pear in the center of the phyllo.

Butter your hands and gather the phyllo up around the pear. The butter
will
act like glue and hold the phyllo together. Carefully place the pear
packets on a cookie sheet, sides not touching, and continue with the
remaining phyllo and pears.

Bake for 20 mins, then set aside in the refrigerator until serving
time.
Just before serving, pour a pool of chocolate syrup slightly off
center on
each dessert plate and carefully place a pear in the center of each
plate,
overlapping the sauce.



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Contributor: The Denver Post

Yield: 1 serving

Preparation Time: 0:00

NYC Nutrilink: N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000
NYC Nutrilink: N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000,N0^00000

** Exported from Now You're Cooking! v5.66 **



Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd

--

"If the soup had been as warm as the wine,
if the wine had been as old as the turkey,
and if the turkey had had a breast like the maid,
it would have been a swell dinner." Duncan Hines


To reply, remove "spambot" and replace it with "cox"

Nancy wrote:

>>> The puff pastry sounds decent. Or the canned Pillsbury croissant sheets?
>>
>> Really? I didn't like that part at all. I'd make a pate sucr e instead
>> of using puff pastry.
>
> Me, too - a reg'lar tart shell. It sounds good. I wonder how "Pears
> Melba" would taste - add some raspberries...?

Thing is, I'm already making a sweet-potato tart and a tarte Tatin. I think
another tart would be overkill (even though the tarte Tatin isn't a "real"
tart).

Bob

Merry wrote:

> Is it a Yali pear?

Yes! Thank you!

Bob

Squeaks wrote:

> Bob, I've posted this before. It's very elegant looking and even tastes
> good
>
> @@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format
>
> Poached Pears In Phyllo With Chocolate Sauce

That looks like one of the recipes I considered last night, a Gascon pie
listed in the _Pie and Pastry Bible_: It's made using a phyllo crust, and
the top of the pie is "ruffled" phyllo. (I should have mentioned that I'm
trying to fit this into my Thanksgiving dessert menu which already has a
sweet-potato tart and a tarte Tatin.) This recipe looks good because it
isn't round! I'd modify it by using honey instead of chocolate, because this
pear variety seems to have such an affinity for honey. Thanks!

Bob

On Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:55:21 -0800, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

> Nancy wrote:
>
> >
> > Me, too - a reg'lar tart shell. It sounds good. I wonder how "Pears
> > Melba" would taste - add some raspberries...?
>
> Thing is, I'm already making a sweet-potato tart and a tarte Tatin. I think
> another tart would be overkill (even though the tarte Tatin isn't a "real"
> tart).
>

What you described initially was very tart-like. Maybe you could make
turnovers with that puff pastry. Here's an example.
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/b...turnovers.aspx

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

Clueless AOL newbie Sheldon "Pussy" Katz blathered:

> Only a keyboard kook is constantly guilding the lily. If unique, well
> ripened, and tastes good I'd not cook them at all (save cooking for
> ordinary/common varieties), arrange cored pear slices garnished with creme
> anglaise... or serve lightly drizzled with balsamico tradizionale. Any
> idiot without a pair can kook a pear... gots to show some class or may as
> well open a tin of Del Monte. Me, I'd serve the fruit whole in a bowl
> accompanied by a wheel of brie... the best beverage for accompanying pears
> (fruit) and cheese is Champagne.

Here's the thing: If *you* cooked it, you'd **** it up. Best thing for *you*
to do would be to leave it as untouched by your filthy hands as possible.
But I don't have the same limitations you do. The preparations you describe
would be something I would have for lunch or a snack, not a dessert.

Bob

On Nov 10, 6:13*am, Andy > wrote:
> "Bob Terwilliger" > wrote:
> > It would be great on its own with a glass of Sauternes, but I'm
> > looking to dress it up a bit. Any ideas? I'm currently considering a
> > puff-pastry shell with ginger pastry cream, toasted almonds, and
> > honey-glazed pear slices.
>
> The puff pastry sounds decent. Or the canned Pillsbury croissant sheets?

That sounds more like Stu than Terwilliger. Maybe topped with non-
dairy whipped topping.
>
> Andy

--Bryan

On Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:48:41 -0800, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

>Our farmer's market carries a variety of Asian pear with which I'm
>unfamiliar. It's pear-shaped (not round like many other
>Asian pears), yellow without any "freckling" at all and firm like an Asian
>pear. It's got a taste slightly reminiscent of honey and isn't gritty at
>all.
>
>It would be great on its own with a glass of Sauternes, but I'm looking to
>dress it up a bit. Any ideas? I'm currently considering a puff-pastry shell
>with ginger pastry cream, toasted almonds, and honey-glazed pear slices.
>
>Bob

Wow, I think that's a great idea I think I'll try it, I still have a
couple of pears that need to be used soon.

Perhaps you'd like to try the pear apricot tart I made the other day
and_still_haven't posted to my blog. Hopefully I'll get it up
tomorrow.

Photo of finished tart.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/koko181...7625356825820/

or
http://tinyurl.com/279g47w

Just to let you know, the crust is not real sweet but that's o.k. with
me.
I recommend cutting the apricots into 4ths, cutting them in half left
them too big for my liking, also; next time I make it I will also cut
the pears into 8ths.

@@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format

Pear and Apricot Tart

desserts

1/2 cup (1stick) unsalted butter; room temperature
plus more for the pan
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 cup all purpose flour; spooned, leveled
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 pears, such as Bosc or Bartlett; peeled, quartered, cored
1/2 cup dried apricots; halved
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Heat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch removable-bottom fluted tart pan.

In a food processor, process the almonds and 1/2 cup of the sugar
until finely ground. Add the butter, egg, and almond extract and
process until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and pulse
a few times just to combine. (the dough will be soft)

Spread the dough in the bottom of the prepared pan.

In a small bowl, toss the pears and apricots with the lemon juice and
the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Arrange the pears in the dough.
Scatter the apricots over the dough, pressing them in gently.

Bake until the pears are tender and the center is firm, 50 to 55
minutes. Cover the edges with foil if they brown too quickly.

In a small bowl, combine the preserves and 1 tablespoon water. Brush
over the warm tart. Let cool in the pan before unmolding.

Notes: November Real Simple Magazine


** Exported from Now You're Cooking! v5.84 **

koko
--

Food is our common ground, a universal experience
James Beard

www.kokoscornerblog.com
updated 11/06/10
Watkins natural spices
www.apinchofspices.com

Bryan wrote:

> On Nov 10, 6:13 am, Andy > wrote:
>> "Bob Terwilliger" > wrote:
>>> It would be great on its own with a glass of Sauternes, but I'm looking
>>> to dress it up a bit. Any ideas? I'm currently considering a puff-pastry
>>> shell with ginger pastry cream, toasted almonds, and honey-glazed pear
>>> slices.
>>
>> The puff pastry sounds decent. Or the canned Pillsbury croissant sheets?
>
> That sounds more like Stu than Terwilliger. Maybe topped with non-dairy
> whipped topping.

LOL! Good one, Bryan.

Bob