Poached Pears

I finally did it.  I poached pears.  Thanks to Chow for helping me to come up with a recipe using stuff I had on hand.

2 cups of port wine and 2 of cab
1 cup water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 stick cinnamon
1 tbsp or so of whole cloves
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
4 firm Bosc or Anjou pears (about 1 pound)

Combine all ingredients except pears in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Meanwhile, peel pears, leaving the stems intact. Slice off the bottom 1/8 inch of each pear to create a flat, stable base.

Reduce heat to keep poaching liquid at a bare simmer and add pears, laying them on their sides so that they are almost completely submerged. Cook, turning pears occasionally so that they become saturated on all sides, until they are just tender when pierced with a fork, about 7 minutes.  Be careful when turning - if the pears are ripe, or once they start to cook they get very delicate and you can end up gouging them with your spoon as you try to turn them.

Allow pears to cool completely in the poaching liquid. Serve or transfer pears and liquid to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

To serve, I broke up half of a bar of dark chocolate into a small bowl, added 1/4 cup of milk and nuked for a minute.  I stirred, added more milk (another tbsp or two) until I had the consistency I wanted, then spooned the chocolate onto the plate and spread it around a bit, and nestled the pears on top.

Cocktails from The Spir.it

I don't know if any of you subscribe to Snooth, or their sister publication The Spir.it, but if you like to drink, you should.  I do, but I almost never ever ever have time to actually read them so they pile up in my inbox (I currently have over 1700 emails from various mailing lists that I have not yet filed away or dealt with).  Then, every once in a while, when you've been in Mexico for an eternity, and your boyfriend is still asleep but you are dreadfully awake, you can find the time and space needed to deal with some of those things.  Here I bring you some of the more fun cocktails The Spirit has sent over (I think these cosmo thingies or something similar might be showing up at Halloween. . . maybe a layered shot as well. . . )

Edible Cosmopolitans
1 cup Cranberry juice
1 cup Vodka
1/4 cup Lime juice
1 Tsp Simple syrup
1/4 cup Cointreau
2 1/2 packages of Knox Gelatine 

In a medium saucepan, combine cranberry and lime juice, and simple syrup (add additional syrup to taste). Stir in gelatin. Place over low heat, stirring rapidly, until gelatin fully dissolves. Stir in Cointreau and vodka. Remove from heat. Pour mixture into a parchment-lined pan or individual cups (depending on the desire depth of the completed edible cocktail). Chill overnight. To serve, cut into small cubes. Garnish with coarse sugar or lime zest.

Tip: You can turn just about any single spirit or cocktail recipe into a shot by combining one package of Knox gelatine (7 grams) to every 8 oz of liquid spirit or mixture.

Green Tea Infused Vodka
Combine 1 teaspoon organic green tea leaves or 1 tea bag of organic green tea with 1 cup organic vodka and let steep for two hours. Strain or remove the tea bag; the vodka will keep in an airtight container in a cool place or the fridge for up to 6 months.

Pear Tea Martini
2 oz Green tea-infused organic vodka
2 oz Pear cider
1 slice Pear, unpeeled
Combine the infused vodka and cider in an ice-cube filled cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously, then strain the mixture into a chilled martini glass. Gently drop in the pear slice.

Earl Grey Infused Rum
Combine 1 tea bag Earl Grey tea and 8 oz of rum and let steep for 1 hour. Remove the tea bag, then pour the mixture into an airtight container. The infused rum can be stored in a cool place or refrigerated for up to 6 months.

Earl Grey Boxcar
1 1/2 oz Earl Grey infused Rum
1/2 oz Punt e Mes Italian vermouth
1/2 oz fresh organic pineapple juice
1/2 oz freshly squeezed organic lemon juice
1/2 oz freshly squeezed organic lime juice
1/4 oz apricot brandy
Dash of Angostura bitters
1 thin slice of organic lemon
Pour the infused rum, vermouth, fruit juices, brandy, and bitters into an ice cube-filled cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously, then strain the mixture into a martini glass and garnish with the lemon slice.

Green Tea Simple Syrup

1/2 cup Jasmine green tea

1/2 cup Organic sugar 

Brew the Jasmine green tea. In a small saucepan, combine the tea with the sugar, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer until sugar is fully dissolved. Let cool to room temperature, then store in an airtight container.

I know some folks that'll probably be getting this for Christmas this year. . . 

Coffee Liqueur (aka homemade Kahlua)
4 cups Water
4 cups Sugar
1/2 cup Instant coffee
1 quart vodka
1 vanilla bean, sliced in half.
Place water and sugar in a medium saucepan over high heat, boil until dissolved. Stir in instant coffee. Remove from heat. Add vodka and vanilla bean. Pour into individual bottles and leave in a dark place (a closet works nicely) for three weeks.   

Cucumber Gimlet
Adapted from Epicurious
2 large cucumbers
1/2 cup gin
4 teaspoons lime juice
1 tablespoon simple syrup
Lime wedges, for garnish
Peel and cut cucumbers, place in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Mix 1 cup cucumber juice, lime juice, and simple sugar in a shaker filed 3/4 with cracked ice. Shake vigorously, double strain into chilled cocktail glasses.

Basil Gimlet
2 oz gin
4 pieces fresh basil
2/3 oz fresh lime juice
Cracked ice
In a mixing glass, muddle basil in lime juice. Add ice and gin. Shake vigorously, strain into chilled cocktail glasses.

Ginger Gimlet
Adapted from Ming Tsai
3 oz vodka
2 oz fresh lime juice
2 oz ginger syrup
Cracked ice
In a shaker half-filled with ice, combine all ingredients. Shake vigorously, strain into chilled cocktail glasses. To make your own ginger syrup, combine two parts raw sugar and one part water. Grate a piece of fresh ginger into the mix (to taste), and boil for 2 minutes. Lower heat and simmer for 3 minutes, then cool. Reserve the fresh ginger, it can be grated directly into the drink, or sliced as a garnish. 

The Sake’d Saint
4 star fruit slices
2 lemon wheels
Ice cubes
3 oz Junmai or extra dry sake
3 oz St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
1/2 ounce apricot brandy
1. Add 2 star fruit slices and the lemon wheels to a cocktail shaker. Using a muddler or a wooden tiger, muddle well.
2. Fill the cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the sake, St-Germain, and apricot brandy. Shake extra well.
3. Strain equally into 2 cocktail glasses. Garnish each with a star fruit slice and serve.


The Gong
Ice cubes
5 oz sake
3 oz pomegranate liqueur
Chilled ginger ale
2 orange slices for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the sake and pomegranate liqueur. Shake well (as if you feared being gonged).
2. Fill two highball or comparable glasses with ice cubes. Strain the sake-pomegranate mixture over the ice into the glasses (carefully, again as if you feared gonging).
3. Top off each glass with ginger ale, filling the glass almost to the top. Stir briefly with a thin mallet or long spoon. Garnish each with an orange slice and serve.

The B52

1/2 oz Coffee liqueur
1/2 oz Irish cream
1/2 oz Grand Marnier

In a shot glass, layer the coffee liqueur, Irish cream, and Grand Marnier in that order.

Check out The Spir.it's alcohol by density chart for more layering fun! 

I sense a little Mexican (tequila) twist on sangria for my homecoming from Mexico party could be in order:

1800 Tequila Sunrise Sangria

1 Orange
1 Lime
1 full bottle of Prosecco
1 cup Tequila
2 cups Ginger ale
1/2 pint Raspberries

Slice half the oranges and limes into circles, then slice in half to form half moons. Squeeze the other halves of both fruits into a large pitcher filled with ice. Add the Prosecco, ginger ale, and tequila. Stir, adding whole raspberries and remaining orange and lemon pieces. 

Making pizza

I don't know about you, but when I have three cups of homemade cheese staring me in the face, I think pizza. Luckily some people are open to everything I suggest and just roll with it once I arrive at my latest destination/plan/scheme/recipe.
The ready made pizza dough at Whole Foods was actually really good and easy to use, though not whole wheat. :o(
Sorry South Beach - it's full fat cheese too.

Two bags of dough and a couple other odds and ends and I was ready for one of my favorite savory pizzas, and a just made up sweet pizza. I swear, some day I'll photograph my food with something other than my iPhone, but until then. . . .

Prosciutto and Arugula Pizza with Homemade Mozzarella
Sauce:
one small can of San Marzano tomatoes
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 tsp dried basil (fresh would be awesome if you had it)
Open the can of tomatoes into a bowl, add the crushed garlic and basil and then squeeze with your hands to make a sauce.

Pop your pizza stone into the oven and head it up. Roll out the dough, sprinkle the stone with cornmeal and drop the dough onto the hot stone.
Spread the sauce all over, and top with mozzarella and prosciutto (I used just under 1/4 lb). Bake until done.

Toss the arugula (around 2 c) with basil oil or olive oil (1 tbsp) and salt, and top the hot pizza with it. Let pizza sit for a moment before cutting, and then whammo - enjoy your insanely yummy pizza.

Pear & Ricotta Pizza with Balsamic Onions
Thinly slice one onion and set about caramelizing that bad boy. Once the onions are cooked through and sweet and yummy and brown, stir in 1-2 tsp of balsamic vinegar (I used a fig balsamic) and set aside.
Thinly slice a pear - I recommend bosc over d'anjou since I think the bosc just has better pear flavor.
Again with the stone and rolling out of the dough and the placing of the dough onto the hot stone.
Top with 1 - 1 1/2 c of ricotta and drizzle with honey.
Spread the balsamic onions on top - quite honestly, if you wanted to go with two onions and spread them on first like delicious onionjamsauce, you'd probably be a very happy camper.
Lay out the pears and drizzle with a little bit more honey. Bake, nom, repeat.

** an interesting bit of trivia thanks to Wikipedia. . . . even though the bosc pears taste more like what I'd call "juicy pear jelly belly," it's actually d'anjou puree they use to make that flavoring. Who knew?? **

Sauternes syrup

Why am I fixating on ice cream? I blame Quinn's article on using wine in cocktails for getting the wine syrup idea in my head, and then brainstorming cocktail ideas with him just now for keeping it going.
Thinking about a delicious sauternes syrup and how it would go lovely with a lightly flavored or maybe even vanilla ice cream with delicious dried fruit pieces. I'm really into these subtle, lightly sweet flavors right now, which is not wintery of me at all. Guess I just can't wait for a nice spicy meal on a warm summer night. Now I'll have to go somewhere where it's warm during the summer.

Sauternes syrup by the way, is just the wine and some additional sugar cooked down just like simple syrup. Maybe one part wine to 1/4 or 1/2 part sugar, versus the traditional 1:1 since there is already a pretty high sugar content in the wine. This would be awesome with pears too.
Mmmmm, like this recipe. Nom.

Dead Man's Ball - revisited

Oh lordy, that swamp water drink I tried to make? Did NOT go well. If anyone would like three bottles of green juice (featuring powdered broccoli and spinach), please let me know. I have some.
I did use the rest of the open bottle and a bunch of water to fill a glass apothecary jar with a creepy, sludgy, green liquid which I floated eyeballs in. So it was at least good for that; everyone kept asking me what it was.
The TruBlood however was a hit!
TruBlood
I took one bottle of fruit punch (the 365 Organic brand from Whole Foods was nice and dark)
1 1/2 c brandy
2 bottles cab sauv
lemon flavored fuzzy water if desired

I admit to drinking most of it myself, but those that I allowed to sample it seemed to like it or they're excellent liars. I think I just lost out to DJ AM's insanely fally cinnamony fruity vat o'sangria.
I had a major fail on the cupcakes thinking that I had spice cake mix at home and only realizing I didn't an hour before guests were supposed to begin arriving. Whole Foods had some "gluten free" stuff that my roomie was kind enough to pick up for me, but really? Do I want to hustle to try to make and clean up cupcakes in that kind of time crunch only to find out they suck? No. I was stressed out enough.
The other nibbles were hits though. I thought the fire roasted salsa was DIVINE and the mushroom/goat cheese bruschetta was gone really quickly. The pear blue cheese bites are SO easy to make (I didn't even end up roasting them! Just cut them into little pieces and topped with cheese; skewered with a toothpick), I think they'll be a new standard.

Next year I won't make the mistake of saying how much time I have and all that I've gotten done before the party. . . .

Pear & Gorgonzola Tart

"Oh hells YES," is what I thought when I saw Giada's show today.
Pears, Gorgonzola, and prosciutto are awesome - especially together, and the tart she made looked divine.
The next party I have will probably be dedicated solely to tart/flatbread type appetizers since I'm amassing so many recipe variations that I'm dying to try.

1 store bought pie shell - I'd suggest the Pillsbury kind myself, or make your own (see recipe below)
4 ounces cream cheese
2 ounces Gorgonzola
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
Pinch salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
3 small pears, cored and sliced
2 ounces prosciutto, cut into thin strips

Bake the pie shell in a square or round tart pan according to package instructions. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, combine the cream cheese, Gorgonzola, thyme, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Using a hand blender, whip the cheeses together.

In a large, heavy skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the pears and cook until golden on both sides, about 5 minutes.

When the tart crust has cooled slightly, gently spread the whipped cheese mixture evenly over the bottom of the tart. Place the pear slices in a decorative pattern over the cheese mixture. Sprinkle the thin strips of prosciutto over the pears.

Cut into squares or wedges and serve.

Pie/Tart crust
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1 to 2 tablespoons ice water, or more as needed

To make the dough in a food processor, combine the flour, salt, and butter in the processor and process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add the ice water through the feed tube and pulse quickly 5 or 6 times, or until the dough comes together and starts to pull away from the sides of the container. Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

To make the dough by hand, combine the flour, salt, and butter in a medium bowl, and mix with a pastry blender or your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until the dough comes together and is no longer dry, being careful not to overmix. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface according to the recipe, fit it into the pan, and allow to rest again in the refrigerator before baking. I really love the tart pans with the scalloped edges and the pop out bottom. You'll need to prebake this though so it's ready for the tart filling.