Besotted Gourmet

High Tea… and more champagne!

Jessica — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:50:50 +0000

I love to cook (in case it wasn’t already obvious) – chopping and stirring, kneading and sauteing, it all gives me tremendous comfort and enjoyment. Buuuut… I’m also a big fan of kicking back with a glass of champagne, and let world-class hospitality experts stuff you full of lobster profiteroles, salmon and caviar, and chocolate-covered strawberries?

It was dear CS’s birthday (and baby shower!) this past weekend, and, as a special treat for the mama-to-be, her lovely parents took her, her sister, and me to high-tea at the Taj. We may not have really been able to kick-back (what with wearing a tight, little Milly dress and perching ourselves on Louis 16^th settees), but we did manage to oh-so-daintily stuff ourselves with all of the aforementioned delights and more.

What took me by surprise about high-tea was just how spectacular the tea actually was. As a devout coffee-drinker and real-tea virgin, I had no idea where to set my expectations, but the Vanilla Earl Grey tea that I ordered, served in a lovely porcelain (I think) tea pot, over a candle warmer, was soft, lightly-perfumed with vanilla, and had a silkiness that I had never experienced with tea before. To top it all off, the dessert tray came with scones so buttery that they make mine look dry, and quite frankly, kind of boring , along with some darling mini lemon meringue pies, chocolate cakes, and short breads.

As I said, the tea was extraordinary, but it did occur to me that the English obsession with tea may have something to do with the butter-laden pastries that accompany it. Either way, it’s certainly a tradition worth trying out… and keeping around. Check out the foodie pics below…

Oysters, Pink Champagne & Raspberry Beignets

Jessica — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:37:15 +0000

So, I’ve never been much of a gambling fan (if I can’t eat it, wear it, or visit it, I don’t want to spend money on it), but, after my first fun (not work) trip last week, Vegas has grown considerably in my estimation for 3 reasons:

The FOOD – when you’re slumming it with Mario Batali, you know you’re in a dining mecca
The sparkles – not on the slot machines, but the shopping…. there’s all sorts of eye candy on display to oooh and ahhh at. And, if by chance, you can’t stand to walk through a mall without hitting Chanel or Gucci, no worries – there’s one in just about every hotel (I’m not kidding).
The FOOD – it’s good enough to get mentioned again. Some of the more memorable items were:

1. The foie gras special at Carnevino – it was light to the point of fluffiness and served with a citrus gremolata. Exceptional.
2. CK’s 1-year-aged beef – if you closed your eyes and took a bite, you may have thought that you were taking a bit of cheese. The entire composition of the beef had metamorphosed and been re-invented as an entirely different and foodstuff. Extraordinary
3. Brunch at Bouchon – If you’re a brunch fan, and I’m pretty sure I qualify as the biggest, this brunch is beyond spectacular. Beignets, perfectly poached eggs, and chocolate croissants were my highlight, but there’s about 50 other amazing items to choose from and love.
4. A 6-liter bottle of pink champagne at LAX. Baller.

What really impressed and kind of stunned me about Vegas was the consistency of the quality of the food and service.

PT and I ordered our favorite weekend mid-afternoon snack, and, it wasn’t until the waitress sauntered away in her micro-mini (they all wear micro-minis) that the decision to order oysters in the desert seemed questionable. Living next to the ocean makes you a little spoiled and unaware in those regards. However, when our tray came out, bedecked with mini tabasco sauce bottles and lovely mignonette, they could have easily passed for the same you would find on the sea-side – they even managed to have sea water inside of the shells, which indicates that they are extremely fresh, or the purveyors are master manipulators. Either way, I was exceedingly pleased.

I can’t wait to go back, and, amazingly, I won’t have to wait long – heading back to LV in 4 weeks for CTIA (for those of you that didn’t know, I spend my days working in the wireless world). If anyone out there happens to be in the same boat, let me know.

Pan-Seared Salmon with Luscious Green Sauce

Jessica — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:39:54 +0000

When I was little and learning to play the piano, there was one song that I loved more than any other, and I played it constantly. So much so, that just playing it became kind of pedestrian, and I had to do something to jazz it up…. So I timed myself, to see how fast I could play the piece from beginning to end. It came out sounding just as you would expect a song to sound that a 6 year-old was speed-racing her way through, but I had to do something to make it challenging, and speed was my handicap of choice.

Skip ahead a couple of decades, and I’m not exactly the little pianist hellion banging away on the keys with no thought other than speed…. But, I’m not that far away from her, either. Nice 10 mile commute to work? I’ll ride my bike. Beach read? I’ll take Sophie’s Choice over Sophie Kinsella. Friends over for a work-night dinner? I’ll flake out and make this pan-seared salmon with luscious green sauce, which takes 30 minutes if I’m slow and 15 minutes if I’m in crazy speed-demon mode.

As much as I love a challenge, there are certain restraints of the space/time continuum that I can’t overcome – namely that I am required to be 15 miles outside the city until at least 5 o’clock and plan to serve dinner at 6:30, which gives me approximately 30 minutes to prepare something guest-worthy. And, this salmon dish works perfectly .

Lightly cooked salmon is brightened with a really pungent and tangy green sauce, consisting of fresh herbs, lemon, garlic, and, if it suits your taste, anchovies. It tastes way more decadent than the prep time or calorie count suggest, and, is just different enough to be really noteworthy.

Enjoy!

Pan-Seared Salmon with Luscious Green Sauce, Serves 2

Adapted from Caprial’s Bistro Style Cuisine

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cooking Time: 10 Minutes

Total Prep Time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

For the Salmon:

2 6oz. Salmon Fillets

Salt & Pepper

3 Tbls. Olive Oil

For the Green Sauce:

1 Cup Basil Leaves, chopped

¼ Cup Mint, chopped

½ Cup Parsley, chopped

3 Tbls. Capers

1 Lemon, juiced and zested

2 Anchovies, chopped or 1 Tsp. Anchovy Paste

3 Cloves Garlic, minced very finely

Salt & Pepper to taste

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Heat the olive oil in a large, oven-proof pan over medium-high heat until just smoking, about 2-3 minutes, depending on how quickly your stove heats up.

While the oil is heating, liberally salt and pepper your salmon fillets.

Once the oil is just smoking, add your fillets to the pan and sear for 2 minutes on each side.

While the fillets are searing, place the garlic, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a medium-sized bowl and mix well to cover the garlic with the lemon.

Once the fillets are done searing on the stove top, transfer the pan to the oven and cook for an additional 8 minutes.

While the fillets are baking, add the rest of the green sauce ingredients to the bowl and mix well; the lemon juice will ‘cook’ the garlic enough to take the sting out, but be sure that your garlic is minced well – no big chunks!

Once the fillets are done remove from the oven plate, and heap the luscious green sauce on top. Enjoy!

Racially Harmonious Pancakes

Jessica — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:18:45 +0000

Pancakes are so much fun because 1) there’s virtually no screwing them up 2) you can customize them to taste and look like just about anything your little heart desires.

One morning I woke up and felt like doing two things – eating some chocolate for breakfast (not something I recommend often, but a craving is a craving) and establishing culinary racial harmony. In fairness, I’m no hero, I really just felt like the chocolate, but then thought it would be fun to do chocolate chip vanilla pancakes on one side, and some chocolatey pancakes on the other

For the chocolatey pancakes, I cheated a bit and just added some fancy hot chocolate mix to Sweetstacks batter – they were light, fluffy, chocolatey, and delicious.

For the second, I took my favorite vanilla pancake recipe, which makes simultaneously weighty and fluffy pancakes (don’t ask me how… actually, you can, it’s probably the abundance of creams and baking powder) and added Ghirardelli chocolate chips to the batter. Again, not something that I would recommend on a regular basis, but when nothing but chocolate will do, either of these options will satisfy an early Saturday morning craving.

One note – every pancake recipe I have suggests mixing the dry ingredients separately from the wet, but I personally don’t like an extra dish to wash, have experimented with combining in the same bowl, and found the results to be just as delicious as when they’re kept separate.

Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Yields 8

Prep Time: 25 Minutes
Total Prep Time: 25 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 Cup Flour
2 Tbls. Sugar
1 1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Salt
½ Cup Crème Fraiche or Sour Cream
½ Cup Milk
2 Eggs
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Cup Chocolate Chips
Butter for frying

Preparation:

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, and baking powder. Mix in the salt, crème fraiche, milk, eggs, and vanilla until the batter is even and all dry ingredients incorporated into the wet.

Melt ½ Tbls. of butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Once melted, pour the batter onto the frying pan – the trick to even-ish circular pancakes is to pour the batter into the same spot. It spreads out much more evenly than if you try to pour in a circle.

Once you start to see little air bubbles around the sides and on the top (after 2-3 minutes), turn the heat down a degree or two, flip your pancakes, and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Continue with the rest of the batter, remembering to turn the heat back up to medium for the first side.

Drown in maple syrup and enjoy!

Cherry & Ginger Cream Scones

Jessica — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:39:25 +0000

Saturday and Sunday mornings have a certain routine Chez Besotted – wake up, snooze, wake up, snooze, wake up, make coffee, make bacon & eggs, eat. I would never want anything to disrupt the rhythm and tradition of the first 6 activities, but, every once in awhile, even my beloved bacon & eggs get a bit stale.

Mixing it up with pancakes or muffins can be fun, but my absolute favorite breakfast pastry is a hot, buttery scone. If your only exposure to scones is Starbucks ersatz leaden imposters, try a homemade (or real bakery) version, and you’ll see how far from reality the S-bux kind are.

I made my first scone recipe out of the original Barefoot Contessa cookbook, and instantly fell in love with this puff of delicious, buttery flaky goodness. Whether made with fruit, maple syrup and oatmeal, or cheese, scones make an unbelievably special treat, particularly on blustery winter weekend mornings.

The recipe below is a personal concoction of dried cherries, cream, and ginger. A little sweet a little spice, and a little silken creaminess make a tremendous scone. Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Cherry and Ginger Cream Scones, Yields 12

Prep Time: 45 Minutes

Baking Time: 25 Minutes

Total Prep Time: 70 Minutes

Ingredients:

4 Cups Flour

2 Tbls. Sugar

2 Tbls. Baking Powder

2 Tsp. Salt

1 ½ Cups Butter

5 Eggs

1 Cup Heavy Cream

¾ Cup Dried Sour Cherries

1 Tbls. Candied Ginger

2 Tbls. Fresh Ginger, chopped

2 Tbls. Ground Ginger

Splash Milk

Raw Sugar

Preparation:

Before you do anything, get your butter and eggs prepared by beating 4 of the eggs and chopping the butter into small cubes (about ½ inch square). Once they’re done, put the eggs and butter back into the fridge to keep them extra cold – for that matter, keep the cream in the refrigerator until you need it.

Once you’re ready to go, preheat the oven to 400° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Do all of the following actions very quickly, as you want the ingredients as cold as possible….

Add the butter pieces and mix on low speed until the butter is broken up into gravelly pieces (no bigger than a pea).

Add the eggs, fresh ginger, ground ginger, candied sugar, and heavy cream and mix until just blended. Stir in the sour cherries with a wooden spoon.

Dump the dough out onto a well-floured surface with well-floured hands – the dough is very sticky, so use as much flour as you need in small increments, but be careful not to make the dough too dry.

Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough out to a thickness of ¾ of an inch. Using a 2.5-3.5 inch cutter round (depending on the width that you desire), cut out rounds of dough and arrange on the baking sheet.

Once the dough rounds are lined up on the baking sheet, mix the last egg with a splash of milk to create the egg wash. Brush the dough with the egg wash, sprinkle with the raw sugar, and put into the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool, split, butter, serve, and enjoy!

Secret Ingredient Brownies

Jessica — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:51:26 +0000

I heart brownies in a big way. Nigella Lawson, the cookbook author from whom this recipe has been adapted (begged, borrowed, and slightly stolen), touts as one of their highest virtues the fact that they can be whipped up in a matter of minutes. I would add to that sterling quality the fact that, unlike so many other “easy” desserts and confections, your sink will not look like a dirty dish graveyard – one bowl, one pan, one spoon, and one baking dish is all that this recipe requires.

Now that I’ve sold you on the recipe, I will relate a small pet peeve of mine, and that is the habit that we have of labeling recipes as the “perfect” or “best” such-and-such. In my quest for a decent brownie recipe, I came across a multitude that claimed to be “the best” or “perfect”, which is an obvious impossibility, given their wide variety. I balk at the supposition that the recipe author knows my tastes, or, worse, is assuming that their interpretation of the pinnacle for that particular foodstuff is superior to all others. It irks me, and, in an unsurprising development, I realized that I was guilty of the same crime, on my “Best” Ginger Cookie post. The morals of this story are that we don’t know each others’ tastes and I am a hypocrite.

This is all a relevant prelude to this very good brownie recipe. I wouldn’t ever call it perfect, because, if you like your brownies cakey, or light and fluffy, this won’t suit you at all. You may even label it the worst brownie recipe. If, on the other hand, you like your brownies to have a fair amount of heft, stick-to-your-ribs, and chew like they were fighting to stay in your mouth, then you might give this recipe a decent review. If you also happen to like when people say “there’s something special about this” because it has a particular flavor that they enjoy but can’t quite place, then you’ll rave about this recipe. These brownies are warm, comforting, moist, dense, and have a certain twinkle of flavor that can not be easily placed. Read down below to see the secret ingredient and, as always, enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Secret Ingredient Brownies, Yields 12-15

Adapted from How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Baking Time: 25 Minutes

Total Prep Time: 40 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 ¼ Cups Butter, softened

8 oz. Best Bittersweet Chocolate,

4 Eggs

2 Tsp. Best Quality Vanilla

2 Tsp. Vietnamese Cinnamon (secret ingredient!)

1 ¼ Cups Sugar

1 Cup Flour

¾ Tsp. Salt

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350° and prepare the brownie pan (13×9x2.5 inches) by lining with parchment paper.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat. Keep an eye on it the chocolate as it melts, and make sure that the mixture doesn’t get too hot. Once melted, remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, vanilla, and sugar. Add the flour and salt and mix well. Add the slightly cooled chocolate and mix vigorously.

Pour the mixture into the lined brownie pan and bake for 25 minutes.

Remove the baked brownies from the oven and let them sit in the pan for 5-10 minutes before cutting, serving, and enjoying!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter Thyme Sauce

Jessica — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:24:50 +0000

I’m always curious to know what people shop for in a supermarket and why? What one person considers a staple, another considers a rare occasion treat. I remember being 13 years old, being at a friend’s house, and they had an enormous, family-sized bag of M&Ms in the pantry… 2 hours later, they didn’t, because I had managed to polish off the vast majority of the bag – I was both permanently hungry and had a much faster metabolism as a teenager. Sadly, only one of those things has changed… but I digress…

The reason for my voracious and greedy appetite was the fact that a bag of M&Ms never entered my own pantry. This was a treat and luxury that I could never have dreamed of – candy, open and available at a moment’s notice – and the cunning little imp in me couldn’t pass up the opportunity to over-indulge.

15 years later and I marvel at what others keep in their pantries, and have no doubt that my own shopping habits raise a few eyebrows. I was walking through the grocery store last week, passed a display of Parmesan Cheese, and mindlessly picked one up, as it is a critical staple in my household. It wasn’t until PT looked into my cheese drawer and pointed out that I had 7 different cheeses in there that it occurred to me that I may be deeply strange in this particular respect… possibly in others, but we’re talking about cheese right now.

I have two bricks of Parmesan, an aged Gouda, Mahon, Emmenthaler, Gruyere, and two aged Cheddars. That’s normal, right?

They make a great snack, and they’re awesome when you have to whip up something comforting and cheesy in a pinch, like a Sweet Grilled Cheese, Aglio e Olio, or Sweet Potato Gnocchi, which is just little bundles of amazing deliciousness.

I was a little intimidated when I first decided to make these little orange-jeweled gnocchi, but it turned out to be far easier than some of the more ambitious doughy items I’ve attempted (ahem, pie crust – not easy when you have less than 2 square feet of counter space), and it’s instantly impressive when you tell people that you made your own pasta.

Toss these in a little brown butter with thyme and serve with a big salad or hearty winter vegetables for a delicious mid-week dinner.

Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter Thyme Sauce, Serves 4

Adapted from East Village Kitchen

Prep Time: 1 Hour

Total Prep Time: 1 Hour

Ingredients:

For the Gnocchi:

1 1lb. Yam

6oz. Ricotta Cheese

½ Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

1 Tbls. Brown Sugar

1 Tsp. Salt

1/2 Tsp. Nutmeg

1 1/3 Cup Flour

For the Browned Butter Thyme Sauce:

½ Cup Butter

3 Tsp. Thyme, chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

Preparation:

Prepare the yam by placing it in a large pot filled with cold salt water; bring the water to boil with the yam inside and allow to boil for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove the yam and allow to cool until just warm to the touch and set the boiled water aside.

Scrape the yam flesh into a large bowl and add the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, nutmeg, salt, brown sugar, combine well with a fork.

Add the flour, ½ cup at a time and blend until the mixture is soft and dough-like.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, and, slowly rock the dock back and forth between the the bottom of your palms and heels of your hand. You’ll see it slowly start to elongate and become rope-like. As much as possible, focus on any areas of the dough that are remaining thick and try to get the rope’s width as even as possible.

With a sharp knife, cut off 1-inch pieces of the dough and set aside on a lined cookie sheet. I’m boring, and leave my little gnocchi unadorned, but you can feel free to mark with an insignia (fork tines, back of spoon, a personal stamp, etc.)

Bring the pot of yammy water to boil again, add a bit more salt, and toss the gnocchi in in batches – just be sure not to crowd the pot, and cook for 5-6 minutes.

Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon, place in a bowl and cover with tin foil to keep warm.

Meanwhile, get on making your brown butter sauce by heating the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat for 5 minutes, until it starts to bubble and turn brown. Skim some of the bubbles off of the butter and add the thyme (be careful, it will crackle and pop!). Turn the heat down to the lowest setting, just to keep warm while you cook the rest of your gnocchi.

Once all of the gnocchi are cooked, toss in with the brown butter sauce, mix around, plate, serve, and enjoy!

Fettuccine with Pecan Herb Sauce

Jessica — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:32:55 +0000

In a thoroughly unsurprising development, the holiday season has left me with less time than I’d like to do the things I enjoy most – namely putter around the kitchen and cook. I eat out too much, go to too many parties, and order delivery too often in an effort to save time for gift-wrapping, which inevitably takes 5 times longer than it takes the average all-thumbed clutz, that I end up cooking less during this home and hearth-oriented season than usual.

And, quite frankly, eating out so much sounds fun, but it is a bit off-putting. I like my own cooking, I like creating something, I like knowing what goes into it, I like being in my kitchen and doing the familiar dance around my pantry and stove, and not doing it makes me feel out of sorts.

Which is why it’s important to have recipes like Fettuccine with Pecan Herb Sauce that are the amazing combination of delicious, easy, quick-to-make, and healthy – in short, it gives me the face time with my kitchen that I crave and results in a pretty fantastic meal. Win, win…and…. win.

Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Fettuccine with Pecan Herb Sauce, Serves 4

Adapted from Caprial’s Bistro Style Cuisine

Prep Time: 25 Minutes

Total Prep Time: 25 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 Cup Pecans

½ Cup Parmesan, grated

3 Cloves Garlic, chopped

1/3 Cup Thyme Leaves, chopped

1/3 Cup Basil Leaves, chopped

2/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

1lb. Fettuccine

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 250° and put a pot of salted water onto boil. Spread the pecans out on a baking sheet and toast in the oven (or a toaster oven) for 10 minutes or until fragrant… once you start to smell their toasty goodness, they’re ready to come out.

Once the water has started to boil, add the fettuccine and cook for 8-10 minutes or according to the box instructions, and then, get on making the pecan herb sauce.

Place the toasted pecans, grated parmesan, thyme and basil leaves in the bowl of a food processor or mini-food processor. Chop or pulse until fine. Add the extra-virgin olive oil through the feed tube with the processor running. Season the sauce with salt and pepper.

Once the fettuccine has finished cooking, drain, but leave the noodles a bit wet, and mix with the pecan herb sauce. Toss well, serve, and enjoy!

Sweet Grilled Cheese

Jessica — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:30:54 +0000

There are some things that are just WAY too good not to share. Now that I’m free to share some non-Gourmet recipes, I knew that this one had to be my first.

A couple weeks ago I came home from work on a half day, positively ravenous, and in the deepest depths of my love affair with Fall that I seem to go through every year – you know the love affair with Fall when you live in New England, when you day dream of apple-picking, crunching blissfully-colored leaves beneath your feet, dressing in the cuddliest of fabrics and warmest of colors.

Anyway, I wanted something that would stick to my ribs, but that had all the warmth and succor that this season brings – a grilled cheese sounded good, but something really sweet sounded even better… and then it hit me! Sweet grilled cheese!

PT and I had picked up some cinnamon bread from a farm on the North Shore when we went apple-picking, and I still had some left over red wine caramel from the caramel apples that I’d made. A nice cheddar in the fridge, some dried apricots and cranberries in the pantry, and a healthy dose of butter made the perfect, Fall sandwich.

Hearty, savory, and sweet, and, of course, crushingly delicious, this is an absolute must-try sandwich!

Sweet Grilled Cheese, Serves 2

For Sandwich:

4 Slices Cinnamon Bread (or other sweet or sandwich bread)

4 Tbls. Red Wine Caramel (from Red Wine Caramel Apples or see below)

½ Cup Mix of Dried Fruits (apricots, cranberries, apples, etc.)

4 Thick Slices Cheddar Cheesecake

2 Tbls. Butter

For Red Wine Caramel (there will be leftover):

2 Cups Sugar

½ Cup Water

1 ½ Cups Pinot Noir

6 Tbls. Heavy Cream

Preparation:

First, make the red wine caramel….

Bring the sugar and water to boil in a medium-sized sauce pan over medium-high heat, stirring just until the sugar is dissolved, but be sure to let the pan be as the mixture begins to boil.

Meanwhile, set the wine to boil in another small sauce pan over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, until the volume is reduced by half.

After the wine has boiled for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to low to keep warm. Tend to the boiling sugar, swirling the pan, and watching for caramelization – it happens quickly, so keep your eye on it. Once it starts to caramelize, watch for the color to go a deep amber. Once that happens, pour your reduced wine into the pan CAREFULLY – it will bubble up, hiss, and generally make a mess of your stove top, but won’t do any real harm.

Stir the cream into the mixture in well, and put a candy thermometer in the pot. Once the mixture reaches 238°, remove from the heat and let cool until it’s reached 200°.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool and thicken for 5-10 minutes.
Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat and then arrange your sandwich.

Smear all slices of bread with a thick helping of the red wine caramel. Arrange two of the cheddar slices for each sandwich on top of the caramel and top with the dried fruit. Put the bread slices together and to form two sandwiches and place in the hot butter in the frying pan.

Cook on each side for 3-5 minutes, remove from the heat, cut in half, serve, and enjoy!

Baked Pear Pie

Jessica — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:40:09 +0000

Ufff… Finally home and back to a regular schedule. Thanksgiving down on the Cape and a few relaxing days up in the New Hampshire White Mountains made for a lovely Thanksgiving weekend, which included my final recipe for the Gourmet-only month of November.

I have to say that my intention for this homage to Gourmet was to be just that, a homage, but I feel like I’m griping about it more than praising it. Here’s the thing about Gourmet… it’s spectacular to look at, day-dream about all of the wonderful urban restaurants and cozy, convivial bed and breakfasts that cure their own bacon, but I’ve found it a touch challenging (and disappointing – I’m sorry!) to cook from.

For Thanksgiving, I was excited to make the recipe for Pear Butterscotch Pie featured in the September issue. I may have mentioned this before, but PT and I are the dessert-lovers’ yin and yang… I opt for anything with fruit or a grandmotherly touch (plum tart, bread puddings, strawberry rhubarb pie, pistachio ice cream), whereas PT would prefer sugar-crusted, chocolate-dipped, caramel-swirled just about anything. I thought that this Pear Butterscotch Pie recipe would be a nice compromise.

Honest, my heart was in the right place, but the recipe only called for ½ cup of brown sugar, actually mentioning that it would bubble and boil into butterscotch while the pie baked. Well, I was skeptical, but, this is Gourmet after all – they should know whether or not brown sugar will bubble and boil into butterscotch in their own recipe.

I envisioned gooey ribbons of buttery, sugary butterscotch enveloping baked, spiced pears in a butter crust. Sadly, everything went according to plan except for the butterscotch; the brown sugar sweetened the pears, but there was nothing that even the most forgiving dessert-lover could claim was butterscotch.

It was a lovely pear pie, nonetheless, and I’ve included the recipe here for those of you whose tastes favor the less sugary dessert, but if you’re trying to sweet-talk someone, you’ll do much better with something like the Salted Peanut Butter Toffee Cookies, Toffee-covered Cheesecake, or Celebration Cake with sugarey, chocolatey frosting.

Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Baked Pear Pie, Serves 8

Adapted from Gourmet

Prep Time: 1 Hour 15 Minutes

Bake & Rest Time: 4 Hours

Total Prep Time: 5 Hours 15 Minutes

Ingredients:

For the filling:

3 Tbls. Flour

1 Tsp. Cinnamon

½ Tsp. Nutmeg

1/8 Tsp. Salt

½ Cup Packed Brown Sugar

5 Pears, Bosc and Anjou mix

1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

1 Tsp. Pure Vanilla

1 Tbls. Butter, cut into bits

1 Egg, beaten with a splash of water

1 Tbsp. Raw Sugar

For the pie crust:

2 ½ Cups Flour

1 Cup (2 Sticks) Butter, cut into ½ inch pieces and kept very cold in the refrigerator

½ Tsp. Salt

6-10 Tbls. Ice Water

Preparation:

Start out by making the pie crusts, as they’ll need to rest for just over an hour.

In the bowl of a processor, pulse the flour, butter pieces, and salt until the mixture is sandy. Drizzle in 8 Tbls. of the ice water and pulse 3-5 more times.

The dough will still be sandy. Turn it out onto a well-floured surface, apply some pressure to it, and push the dough away from you with the heel of your hand; gather any of the sandy bits, mound on top of the dough, add a couple more tablespoons of the ice water, and apply pressure and push the dough away again. Repeat the process until the dough has all come together (but don’t add any more water).

Divide the dough into two pieces and flatten into discs. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

While the dough is chilling, get on with your pie filling.

Peel, core, and cut the pears into 6 sections and place in a large bowl.

Put a cookie or baking sheet on the middle rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425°.

Whisk together the cinnamon, flour, nutmeg, salt, and brown sugar until the mixture is uniform in consistency. Cover the pears with the spice mixture and distribute evenly. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and vanilla, mix well, and let sit for 15-30 minutes to soak.

Once the hour is up on the pie crusts, remove one of them from the refrigerator, unwrap, and turn out onto a well-floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out to 12-14 inches in diameter and drape into a 9-inch pie dish.

Add the pear filling to the pie crust and dot with the bits of butter.

Roll out the second pie crust according to the same method and drape over the pie filling, allowing the excess to drape over the side. Using kitchen scissors, cut the excess dough that falls beyond ½ inch past the pie plate and set aside.

Brush the top of the pie crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with half of the sugar.

Combine all of the excess dough and roll out until it is ½ inch thick. Using cookie cutters, cut snowflakes, leaves, candy canes, or any other shape and place them on the pie.

Cut 3 one-inch long pie vents in the top crust and pop into the oven, on top of the cookie/baking sheet for 20 minutes. Open the oven door for 30 seconds, turn the heat down to 375°, and bake for 40-45 more minutes.

Cool for 2-3 hours, cut carefully, serve with whipped cream or ice cream and enjoy!