Caramelized Pear Tart With Cornmeal Crust Food

CARAMELIZED PEAR TART

Steps:

• In a sauté pan on medium, melt unsalted butter; stir in 2 Tablespoons of the sugar.
• Simmer, stirring occasionally, until butter and sugar begin to turn golden brown and caramelize.
• Add pear slices and cook slowly over low heat to tenderize and caramelize, stirring gently occasionally. Watch carefully to prevent burning.
• Arrange caramelized pears in short crust pie shell.
• Mix together eggs with the remaining sugar, cream, ground almonds and pear brandy, if using.
• Pour mixture over pears.
• Preheat oven to 410 degrees Fahrenheit (205 degree Celsius) .
• Bake for about 25 minutes.
• Rest for three to five minutes before serving.
• Serve with rich custard or vanilla ice cream.

PEAR TART WITH CORNMEAL CRUST

Steps:

• 1. FOR THE CRUST:
• 2. In a food processor, combine the cornmeal, flour, date sugar and salt and process until fine crumbs form.
• 3. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles small peas. Add milk and process just until a dough ball forms.
• 4. Press into a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Refrigerate until set.
• 5. FOR THE FILLING:
• 6. Preheat oven to 425'F
• 7. Peel, halve and core the pears. Place pears cut side down on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife score the pears horizontally across each pear 1/8 inch deep and 1/4 inch apart. Do not cut right through the pear. Arrange 7 pear halves on the prepared crust with the narrow end pointing toward the center.
• 8. Cut a circle from the remaining pear half and place in the pie's center (eat any left over pear)
• 9. In a medium bowl, beat eggs until pale and thickened, about 6-8 minutes. Add the honey, milk, melted butter, vanilla, nutmeg and flour. Blend well.
• 10. Pour the mixture over the pears. Bake 10-15 minutes, then reduce heat to 400'F and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until set and golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack.
• 11. Heat the apricot jam up and melt, brush over the tart. Cool completely before removing and slicing.
• 12. Enjoy!

CARMELIZED UPSIDE-DOWN PEAR TART

Steps:

• Peel and halve pears, the core (preferably with a melon-ball cutter). Heat butter in a 9- to 10-inch well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then stir in sugar (sugar will not be dissolved). Arrange pears, cut sides up, in skillet with wide parts at rim of skillet. Sprinkle pears with cinnamon and cook, undisturbed, until sugar turns a deep golden caramel. (This can take as little as 10 minutes or as much as 25, depending on pears, skillets, and stove.) Cool pears completely in skillet.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 12-inch round and trim to a 9 1/2- to 10 1/2-inch round. Arrange pastry over caramelized pears, tucking edge around pears inside rim of skillet. Bake tart until pastry is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Cook on rack 5 minutes.
• Invert a rimmed serving plate (slightly larger than skillet) over skillet and, using pot holders to hold skillet and plate tightly together, invert tart onto plate. Serve tart warm or at room temperature.

CARAMELIZED UPSIDE-DOWN PEAR TART

Steps:

• Peel, halve, and core pears.
• In a 9- to 10-inch ovenproof non-stick skillet or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet heat butter over moderate heat until foam subsides and stir in sugar (sugar will not be dissolved). Arrange pears, cut sides up, in skillet, with side parts at rim of skillet. Sprinkle pears with cinnamon and cook without stirring until sugar mixture forms a deep golden caramel. (This can take as little as 10 minutes or as much as 25, depending on skillet and stove.) Cool pears completely in skillet.
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out dough into an 11-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) and arrange over caramelized pears. Tuck edge around pears. Bake tart in middle of oven until pastry is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Have ready a rimmed serving plate slightly larger than skillet. As soon as tart has finished baking, invert plate over skillet and, wearing oven mitts and keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together, invert tart onto plate. (This is a bit scary, but it works!)
• Serve tart at room temperature or chilled with whipped cream or ice cream.

CARAMELIZED PEAR TART WITH CORNMEAL CRUST

Steps:

• Make dough:
• In a bowl whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt. Cut butter into 1/2-inch cubes and add to flour mixture. With your fingertips or a pastry blender blend in butter until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with remainder in small (roughly pea-size) lumps. Drizzle 4 tablespoons ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork until incorporated. Test mixture by gently squeezing a small handful: When it has proper texture it should hold together without crumbling apart. If necessary, add enough remaining water, 1 teaspoon at a time, stirring until incorporated and testing, to give mixture proper texture. (If you overwork mixture or add too much water, pastry will be tough.)
• Turn mixture out onto a work surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of hand smear each portion once in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together and form it, rotating it on work surface, into a disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour, and up to 1 day.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Make caramelized pears:
• Peel pears and halve lengthwise. Cut each half into 3 wedges and core. In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet melt butter over moderate heat and stir in sugar. Cook mixture, stirring frequently, until sugar is dissolved and mixture is golden, about 6 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and let mixture stand until it begins to firm up, about 3 minutes. Arrange pears, rounded sides down, as close together as possible in 2 concentric circles in skillet.
• On a lightly floured surface roll out dough into a 15-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) and cut out an 11-inch round. Drape round over pears, tucking edge around pears, and with a fork prick dough in several places. Bake tart in middle of oven until pastry is golden and cooked through, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool tart in skillet on a rack 15 minutes.
• Invert a rimmed serving plate slightly larger than skillet over skillet and, wearing oven mitts and keeping plate firmly pressed against skillet, invert tart onto plate. Arrange any loose pears on tart and spoon sauce from plate onto tart. Serve tart warm or at room temperature.

PEAR CARAMEL TART

Steps:

• In a large non-stick skillet, melt butter and stir in sugar. As mixture begins to bubble, remove from heat and spread out pears. Return skillet to heat and cook over medium high until golden brown syrup bubbles up. This process will take about 30 minutes. Roll out crust to flatten folds and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Place crust over pears and press down around edges. Cut slits in crust and brush with egg. Bake for 30 minutes until crust is golden brown. Allow skillet to cool for 2 minutes. Loosen edges of crust with paring knife. Invert tart onto plate and cool.

CARAMELIZED PEAR TART

Steps:

• Lightly grease a 9-inch tart pan with removeable sides.
• In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and salt and pulse briefly to mix.
• Add the shortening and cut it into the flour mixture using quick on/off pulses until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the egg and the vanilla and process just until moist clumps form, pulsing the processor on and off.
• Gather the dough into a ball and using your fingertips, press evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the preapred tart pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Halve each pear lengthwise and scoop out the core with a melon baller or spoon. Peel and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. There should be about 5 cups.
• Melt the butter over medium heat in a large non-stick skillet and stir in the brown sugar. When the sugar has dissolved and is bubbly, add the pears to the skillet sprinkling them with lemon juice and let the pears cook in the sugar syrup, stirring gently so as not to break up the slices. The pears will, at first, release quite a bit of juice - allow this to simmer until the liquid reduces to a thick syrup and the pears have begun to caramelize. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 425°F Gently spoon the pears into the prepared tart shell, spreading them out evenly. Sprnikle with the sliced almonds. Bake for 25 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350F and continue baking for 25-30 minutes, until the almonds are toasted and pear filling is bubbly.
• Let cool before removing the sides of the tart pan to serve.

CORNMEAL TART DOUGH

Steps:

• Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor; pulse several times. Add butter; process until mixture is the consistency of coarse meal, about 7 seconds. With motor running, add yolks and enough ice water so dough comes together. Do not overmix.
• Divide dough in half; press to flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic; chill at least 30 minutes or overnight.