Five Spice Roasted Pears With Sesame Seeds Food

SESAME FIVE-SPICE ROASTED NUTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400 degrees F. Roast peeled almonds and hazelnuts about 7 to 8 minutes; your nose will know when they're done.
• Toast sesame seeds over medium heat in a small skillet 2 minutes, remove and reserve. Add butter and melt it. Add the five-spice powder, hot sauce. Add roasted nuts, smoked nuts and toss to coat in butter. Add sesame seeds and toss with nuts, transfer to a small bowl and serve warm.

FIVE SPICE BAKED RIBS WITH A STICKY HONEY SESAME SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet or large roasting pan with aluminum foil.
• Using a mortar and pestle or an electric spice mill, crush the star anise, fennel seeds and Szechuan peppercorns. Stir in the five-spice powder and 2 teaspoons salt. Put the ribs into a bowl and sprinkle over the spice mixture. I like to get my hands in and rub everything in. Place the ribs in one layer on the baking sheet or roasting pan. Put them in the oven and cook for 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the glaze. In a small pot stir together the soy sauce, olive oil, honey, chilies, garlic, lime zest and sesame seeds, if using.
• When the ribs have cooked for 45 minutes, remove them from the oven and brush them with half the glaze. Sprinkle over the scallions and season well with salt and pepper. Return the ribs to the oven for 15 minutes. Bring the remaining glaze to a boil and remove it from the heat.
• To serve, cut the ribs and pile them onto a big platter. Serve with the remaining glaze as a dipping sauce. I like to serve this with a large green salad and put everything in the middle of the table so everyone can help themselves.

FIVE-SPICE ROASTED PEARS WITH SESAME SEEDS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease an 11- by 7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish with some of butter.
• Brush pears all over with lemon juice and put, cut sides down, in baking dish. Pour water around pears and scatter remaining butter in dish. Sprinkle pears with sugar and five-spice powder.
• Bake, uncovered, in middle of oven, brushing frequently with pan juices, until pears are tender and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Serve pears warm, drizzled with some pan juices and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

EDNA LEWIS'S SPICED PEARS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan over medium heat, toast the cloves, shaking the pan, until they're very aromatic. Add the sugar, vinegar and salt, and bring up to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, peel the pears, and halve them lengthwise, if needed, to fit the pan. (You can pick out the seeds if you like.) Carefully place the pears in the syrup, and simmer gently.
• Stir the pears every few minutes, to make sure they cook evenly, especially if the hot syrup doesn't completely submerge them. Cook them until they are just tender at their thickest parts; check with a toothpick after 15 minutes of cooking. When the pears are ready, remove the pan from the heat and place a clean plate on top of the pears to keep them submerged in the vinegar syrup. Allow to cool for six hours or overnight.
• Serve right away, store in the refrigerator or can. If you store them in the fridge, you can separate the pears and syrup and use them independently. If you plan on canning, Lewis instructs you to strain the syrup and boil it for 5 minutes. Pack the pears in jars, cover with the hot syrup and process according to your jar manufacturer's directions.