Poached Pears

don't you just love the bright red color of these poached pears

The other day my daughter was surprised to see pears on my kitchen counter and asked me what I intend to make with them. She knows I am not a fan of pears because of their grainy texture, although I enjoy snacking on well-chilled Asian pears. Sometimes I buy pears for making jellied candies or pâte de fruits. This time I bought them because of their very bright red color. I love the color red and I have a few bright red kitchen items, they make food preparation a little bit, what else, bright.:=)

These pears called Starkrimson have very smooth skin, are large-ish and when fully ripe they turn bright red all over. They are also less grainy and their slight floral scent and flavor make them acceptable to me. And they will definitely look pretty in gift baskets or fruit bowls. I poached 3 of them in sweet red wine and sliced beet to maintain the red color of the fruit. The beet does not alter the flavor of the pears and gives the poached fruits its sweetness and of course its vivid color. The color is only skin deep but you have to agree they look beautiful and they're yummy too, specially with homemade Irish Cream frozen yogurt.

Poached Pears
3 large Starkrimson or red Bartlett pears
3 cups sweet red wine
1 large beet, sliced thin
1 two-inch cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoon sugar
parchment paper

• Peel the pears, cut into halves or quarters leaving stem on, and then core. Put the rest of the ingredients in a medium saucepan and heat until boiling. Reduce heat to low and add peeled pears. Cut the parchment into a round the same size as the saucepan. Cover the pears with the paper and poach for 45 minutes or until tender.
• Remove parchment and discard. Remove the pears and transfer into a serving dish or bowl. Boil the poaching liquid until syrupy, about 15 minutes. Strain and discard solids. Pour syrup over the pears.

Starkrimson pears

the beet that my heart skipped

This is my entry to this week's LaPiS which you may have guessed is RED. Check out the other entries by clicking the button at the top of the page.

Chicken Tandoori Sandwich

It seems all I cook these days is chicken. I actually cook other stuff but get lazy writing and posting about them. A week ago I smoked a 4-pound ham (which btw is waaay better than store bought) that I will feature in a future breakfast post. Anyways, last Sunday I read a tandoori chicken slider sandwich featured in a magazine restaurant review and I drool each time I see the photos of the sandwiches. I love tandoori-style chicken and the sandwich version looks really good. And it is so good, at least the one I made.:=)

For the tandoori I diced the chicken meat instead of ground and used aluminum rings for making crumpets to keep the meat patties from crumbling. I wanted to charcoal grill the patties but the weather was threatening (to rain) yesterday. Frying in very hot skillet worked just fine. I served the sandwiches with tzatziki broccoli slaw, shaved mini cucumber, and lots of tomatoes. Yummy! My daughter slathered homemade Greek yogurt cheese on the bottom bun and added tzatziki on top of the chicken for a triple dose of yogurt. Yummier!

My tandoori-style chicken recipe is here.

The Breakphast Of Champions

Most probably you have heard of Michael Phelps' whopping 12,000 daily calorie intake and his much talked and blogged about breakfast that NBC's Bob Costas reported as:

"...Three sandwiches of fried eggs, cheese, lettuce, tomato, fried onions and mayonnaise, add one (five-egg) omelet, a bowl of grits, and three slices of French toast with powdered sugar, then wash down with three chocolate chip pancakes."

To celebrate Phelps's GR-EIGHT performance, for breakfast I made chocolate chip pancakes and a 5-egg omelet filled with the freshest shiitake mushrooms and onions sauteed in butter and seasoned with very little Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and sea salt. Yummy breakfast for *couch potato* champions like myself.

shiitake mushrooms that look like pancakes growing on logs

I'm no champion eater, I can barely finish 2 pancakes and less than half of the omelet

Algerian Chicken Tagine With Apricots And Spiced Pine Nuts

This North African chicken tagine or tajin recipe by Farid Zadi is adapted from the February 2008 issue of Gourmet magazine. According to the cookbook FROM THE LANDS OF FIGS AND OLIVES, the North African tajin differs slightly from the tajin of the Middle East. In North Africa they use more herbs and spices. I love this recipe for its sweetish sauce, the subtle spices that blend so well together, and the crunch of the spiced pine nuts.

Chicken Tagine With Apricots And Pine Nuts
tagine
1 whole chicken, about 3½ pounds
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 large shallots, finely chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated peeled ginger
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
Pinch of saffron (optional)
1 cup water
2 tablespoons bitter-orange marmalade
1 two-inch cinnamon stick
1 thyme sprig
2 cilantro sprigs
6 dried apricots. chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro

spiced pine nuts
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
pinch of cayenne (optional)

garnish
lemon wedges

• Tagine: Cut out chicken into serving pieces. Pat chicken pieces dry and sprinkle with 1 tsp salt. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium heat and brown chicken pieces. In a 6-quart pot, saute shallots in the butter and remaining oil, stirring frequently until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, and paprika, and stir fry for 3 minutes. Add the browned chicken, saffron, and ½ tsp salt coating chicken well. Add water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn chicken and add orange preserves, cinnamon stick, thyme cilantro, and apricots. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer until chicken is very tender, about 15 minutes more.
• Prepare pine nuts while chicken cooks: Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat then stir in pine nuts. turmeric, paprika, and cayenne if using, stirring frequently, until nuts are lightly browned, about 1 to 2 minutes.
• To serve: Transfer chicken to a platter, keep warm. Boil the sauce and reduce to 1 cup. Discard herb sprigs and cinnamon stick. Stir in chopped cilantro and spoon sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with nuts.