Warm Pear Almond Tart
My subtly amazing husband said this was a dessert so good,
it floated above the plate.
Every once in a while, I’ve taken a bite of something so
delicious, it transports me to another plane, makes me close my eyes, and
mentally sigh. It
happened to me once in Italy, when I took a bite of my sister-in-law’s pillows
of butternut squash tortellini in a warm, rich gorgonzola cheese sauce. It happened when I had a bite of a pork chop
with warmly spiced dark cherry-plum sauce served over a wedge of fried polenta
that Chef Josh Blythe made for me once here at OCI. It finally happened at my own
house Saturday night when I tasted a new dessert recipe I took a gamble on
trying for the first time.Kevin’s godfather Dann has been heroically battling cancer now for a while. We invited him and his lovely wife Genevieve over for a quiet vegetarian dinner Saturday night, and I really wanted to make them something healing and nourishing, filled with fresh, rich flavor and interesting textures. They are both really kind people, and Dann’s attitude and stories about fighting cancer are inspiring. I wanted to comfort them somehow, with really good food.
I stuck to my favorite African Groundnut Stew recipe for dinner. As a side, I made some fluffy Jasmine rice, scented with cardamom pods, and set out additional bowls filled with spinich leaves, fresh cilantro and lime wedges to use as additions, along with a small bowl of chopped peanuts for added crunch. At first, I thought I’d serve something rich, made with dark chocolate for dessert, keeping with the antioxidant ingredient theme, but then I found some beautiful organic Oregon pears at Whole Foods while shopping.
After Google-ing “Pear
Dessert” on my laptop, a plethora of recipes appeared. I sorted through a few and found a delightful blog by Pastry Girl. I have to
say, Pastry Girl gets every ounce of credit for this recipe. I followed her recipe to the T, and even
brought out my old food processor to create the crust and buttery almond filling
as she advised. Pastry Girl
added a few creative flourishes to a recipe she discovered, first written by
Dorie Greenspan, and raved about the simplicity of the method and
technique. The main trick to it is that
you have to create a few separate recipes then assemble them. That said, a great boon to this particular
recipe is you really could do all 3 components, (poach the pears, par bake the
crust and whip together the filling) up to 3 days ahead of baking and
serving. It really is perfection.
By the end of the evening, after tasting the tart, Dann and
Genevieve both were silently content, and I swear their eyes closed just a
little as they bit into the slightly warm, crunchy crust with buttery almond
filling and juicy pears. As they were
leaving, Genevieve asked me for the recipe, and anytime a guest leaves my home
asking how to make something again, I feel like the food was a great success.I wouldn’t add or change a thing to the recipe I found online, and I even saved aside the sugary syrup I used for poaching the pears as recommended. Thought I could add a splash of bourbon to it for a decadent cocktail one evening this week!
This recipe’s a definite keeper. I’m going to take the easy way out this time
too, and just add the link:
http://dessertfirstgirl.com/2006/11/pear_and_almond.html
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