Red Anjou Pear Tart

Pears are not a favorite of mine but once in a while when I see a really interesting recipe using red anjou or Starkrimson pears I get easily seduced. It is hard to resist this pear tart and I have to admit I have fallen head over heels in love after one bite. The tart has the right amount of sweetness, the spices are not overwhelming, and the tender but not mushy pears are not gritty at all. What a wonderful fall dessert and just perfect for this year's Thanksgiving dinner.

Red Anjou Pear Tart
adapted from Vanilla-spiced Caramel and Pear Tart
November 2010 issue of bon appétit

crust
1 pound puff pastry, store-bought or homemade

pears
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 whole star anise

3 whole cloves

pinch of coarse kosher salt

half of a vanilla bean, split lengthwise

6 medium firm but ripe red Anjou pears, peeled, halved lengthwise, cored

filling
¼ cup unsalted butter

half of a cinnamon stick, broken in half

2 whole star anise

6 whole cloves
half of a vanilla bean, split lengthwise in half

4 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg

a pinch of coarse kosher salt

1 ½ tablespoons all purpose flour

1 egg white, beaten

• Crust: Roll out pastry into a 12-inch round. Transfer pastry to a 10-inch springform pan, pressing pastry firmly onto bottom and 1 ½ inches up sides of pan. Cover with plastic film and freeze crust until firm, about 2 hours, or leave in the freezer overnight until ready to bake.
• Pears: Melt butter in heavy large skillet over low heat. Add sugar, spices, and salt. Scrape the seeds from vanilla bean; add bean and seeds to the skillet. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring until sugar melts and turns brown, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; add pears, rounded side down. Cook until pears are almost tender, turning and moving skillet around occasionally for even cooking, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on ripeness of pears. With a rubber spatula, carefully turn pears over and continue to cook until pears are very tender, about 10 minutes longer. Remove skillet from heat. Let the pears cool in skillet with the spices.
• Filling: Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat. Scrape seeds and add to the skillet along with the bean. Add cinnamon, star anise, and cloves. Increase heat to medium; cook until butter is golden, about 3 minutes. Remove vanilla bean and spices from butter; discard. Whisk sugar, salt, and egg together in a medium bowl then whisk in flour. Gradually whisk in the browned butter into egg mixture.
• Bake the tart: Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 400°F. Brush frozen crust with beaten egg white. Pour filling into crust; spread evenly over bottom of crust. Using a slotted spatula, remove pears from skillet, allowing excess syrup to drain back into skillet; reserve syrup. Arrange pears, rounded side up, atop filling. Bake for 1 hour or until crust is deep golden and filling is set and brown at the edges. Run a small knife around sides of pan to loosen the tart. Release pan sides. Transfer tart to a platter and let stand uncovered for a few minutes to cool slightly.
• To serve: Just before serving, boil syrup in skillet until reduced to about 1/3 cup, 1 to 2 minutes. Discard spices. Drizzle syrup over pears. Serve tart slightly warm.

Crusty Pandesal

hamdesal, ham and egg sandwich on crusty but soft pandesal

sausage Mcpandesal with egg and cheese

The recipe for these crusty but soft pandesal buns is adapted from the hamburger bun recipe in ADVANCED BREAD AND PASTRY by Michel Suas. It has a 12-hour pre-ferment which I thought would make the pandesal more flavorful. And they are specially with brown sugar glazed ham and moist omelet or breakfast sausage patties, egg, and a slice of sharp cheddar cheese.

Crusty Pandesal
adapted from Hamburger Buns
ADVANCED BREAD AND PASTRY by Michel Suas

sponge
4½ ounces bread flour
2 ¾ ounces water
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast

• Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until well incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to ferment at room temperature (65 to 70°F) for 12 hours.

final dough
13 ¼ ounces unbleached all-purpose flour
8 ½ ounces water
1 1/8 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
1 ½ ounces soft butter
¼ cup milk powder
sponge
very fine bread crumbs

• In the bowl of a standing mixer with the dough hook attachment, mix all the ingredients except bread crumbs on low until fully incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and knead for 5 to 6 minutes until a soft smooth dough forms.
  
• Transfer into a container, cover with plastic wrap and let ferment on the kitchen counter for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
  
• Knead lightly then divide and scale to 2 ounces. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Shape into ovals and flatten slightly. Dredge in bread crumbs and place on sheet pans 2 inches apart. Cover with plastic wrap, put the pans in food grade plastic bags to proof for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
  
• Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 10 minutes, lower the heat to 375°F and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until golden. Let cool on wire racks.

Pancake Puffs

yummy and fun to eat yeasted buckwheat mini pancake puffs

This pancake popper pan caught my eye not only because of the shape but also because it's made here in the good old USA by Nordic Ware. It's very rare nowadays to find kitchen tools with a mark that says "Made in the USA". While at the store trying to justify buying another cooking pan that might end up in the cupboard unused, I remembered the teeny buckwheat Dutch pancake puffs (poffertjes), the similar but slightly larger Danish apple pancake puffs (aebleskiver), and the Japanese octopus balls. Plus, I thought I could probably use it to fry perfectly round meatballs too. And so it went into my shopping cart.*Sigh*

Poffertjes (Dutch Mini Pancake Puffs)
1 cup bread flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
1½ teaspoons instant yeast
½ teaspoon kosher salt
10 ounces warm whole milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons golden syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
powdered sugar
butter

• Whisk together the flours in a large bowl. Add the yeast and salt and stir to mix. Add the milk slowly, stirring constantly, then add the syrup and beaten egg. Mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and leave on kitchen counter to rise for 45 minutes.
• Heat poffertjes pan if you have one, or a skillet or griddle and brush with melted butter. Pour half a tablespoon, or 1 tablespoon for bigger cakes, of the batter and cook until the poffertjes become light brown and dry at the bottom. Turn them with a small fork to cook the other side (I used a tool for making/dipping chocolate candies).
• Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar and put a small lump of butter on top. Enjoy while still warm.
  

Aebleskiver

slightly larger apple filled Danish pancake puffs

2 eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter
powdered sugar
diced apple

• Beat egg yolks until light and fluffy, then add the sugar and salt.
• Sift the flour with baking powder and baking soda, then add it to the egg mixture, alternating small amounts with the addition of the buttermilk, as you continue mixing.
• Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gently fold them into the batter.
• Heat the pancake popper pan. Brus each cavity with melted butter and drop batter into cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Place some apple in the center of each cavity.
  
• Cook over medium heat until browned and crisp on bottom. Turn each cake with a fork to cook the other side. The aebleskiver is done when a toothpick, or cake tester, inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Remove cakes from pan and sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Best when served warm.

Fried Grouper with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Its was a pleasant surprise when I saw small-ish whole grouper at the grocery store. Grouper is usually sold already filleted from ginormous fish. I got the smallest one, although still very large at almost 3 pounds, and over a foot long. While at the store I was already imagining it deep fried on a bed of red and green peppers with sweet and sour sauce just like the ones in Hong Kong restaurants.

I couldn't decide if I should prepare it Chinese-style or Filipino escabeche. They are very similar, the cooking method and ingredients except for soy sauce are almost identical. I guess the Filipino escabeche is another fusion of Chinese and Spanish recipes and became a Filipino dish just like arroz caldo.

I chose to prepare the whole grouper Chinese-style because I haven't had this dish in a long long time. I realized I didn't have a pan big enough to accomodate the big fish; I used my wok which was large enough but I had to tilt the pan several times to fry the tail which didn't become crispy. No problem, the rest of the fish was crispy, perhaps not as crisp as the restaurant's but it's good enough for me. And besides the dish is sooo yummy.

Fried Grouper with Sweet and Sour Sauce
fish
1 whole grouper, gutted and cleaned
sea salt
ground white pepper
all purpose flour, optional
vegetable oil

sauce

1 clove garlic
3 large shallots
2-inch piece fresh ginger

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper
1 tomato, cut into wedges, optional
1 tablespoon light olive oil
4 tablespoons sugar, more or less to taste
5 tablespoons cider vinegar
½ cup water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with ¼ cup water.

• Cut the garlic, shallots, ginger, and bell peppers into matchstick size pieces.
• Heat 6 cups oil in a large pan or wok on medium high.
• Pat dry the fish inside and out and make 3 slits across on both sides. Season inside and out with 1 teaspoon salt and half a teaspoon of white pepper. Dredge in flour, if desired; remove excess flour.
  
• Deep fry until skin is crisp.
• While fish is frying prepare the sauce. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil and saute the garlic, shallots, and ginger for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients except the cornstarch mixture. Simmer for 2 minutes, taste and adjust seasoning, then add the cornstarch mixture. Simmer until sauce is clear and has slightly thickened.
  
• Transfer on a serving platter and place the cooked fish on top of the sauce. Serve immediately with steamed or Chinese-style fried rice.