Pear Apple And Quince Crostata Food

PEAR, APPLE, AND QUINCE CROSTATA

Steps:

• Make roasted fruit:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Peel, quarter, and core pears, apples, and quince, then cut into 1-inch chunks. Toss fruit with sugar, lemon juice, ginger, cinnamon stick, cloves, and 1 tablespoon apple cider in a bowl. Transfer to a large shallow baking pan (17 by 12 inches) and roast, stirring once or twice, until fruit is very soft and caramelized, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
• Remove from oven and add remaining tablespoon apple cider, scraping up caramelized juices from bottom of baking pan. Discard cinnamon stick and cloves. Cool in pan on a rack, about 45 minutes.
• Make pastry shell while fruit roasts:
• Whisk together flour, salt, and 2 tablespoons sugar in a large bowl. Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle evenly with 6 tablespoons ice water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.
• Squeeze a small handful: If dough doesn't hold together, add more ice water to dough, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just combined. (Do not overwork mixture, or pastry will be tough.)
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather all of dough together with scraper and press into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Chill dough, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 14-inch round, then fit into tart pan (do not trim).
• Make brown sugar filling:
• Put a large baking sheet in middle of oven and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl using an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low, then add flour and a pinch of salt and mix until just combined. Spread evenly in pastry shell.
• Assemble and bake pastry:
• Scatter roasted fruit with juices over filling. Fold edge of pastry over filling to partially cover (center won't be covered). Pleat dough as necessary. Brush folded pastry edge lightly with egg and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar.
• Bake on preheated baking sheet until filling is puffed and set and pastry is golden brown, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool to warm, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove side of tart pan and slide crostata onto a plate.

PEAR AND CRANBERRY CROSTATA

Steps:

• For the pastry, place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and toss quickly with your fingers to coat each cube of butter with the flour. Pulse 12 to 15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the 1/4 cup ice water all at once through the feed tube. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board and form into 2 disks. Wrap the disks with plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Roll each pastry disk into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer them to 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
• For the filling, peel, core, and quarter the pears. Cut each quarter into big chunks. Toss the chunks with the orange zest. Divide the pear chunks between the pastries, covering the dough and leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cranberries over the top of each tart.
• Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Pour into a bowl and rub it with your fingers until it starts holding together. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the two tarts. Gently fold the border of each tart over the pears, pleating it to make a circle.
• Bake the crostatas for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the pears are tender. Let the tarts cool for 5 minutes, then use 2 large spatulas to transfer them to wire racks.

APPLE AND PEAR CRISP

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Peel, core, and cut the pears and apples into large chunks. Place the fruit in a large bowl and add the zests, juices, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch oval baking dish.
• For the topping: Combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1 minute, until the mixture is in large crumbles. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit, covering the fruit completely.
• Place the baking dish on a sheet pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve warm.

APPLE GALETTE WITH PUFF PASTRY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Thaw 1 sheet of puff pastry, about 30-40 minutes. Once thawed, unfold. If it cracks, press the seams together with wet fingers.
• Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. *a four sided baking sheet works best in case of drips.
• Halve apples, core>with melon-baller, peel apples. Slice into thin half moons. Place into a bowl. NOTE: *It is important to slice them thin or the pastry sheet will be done before the apple bake tender.
• Combine sugar and spices. Pour over the apples and toss to coat.
• You will make 3 rows of apples, leaving almost an inch of pastry exposed, all the way around.
• Overlap the apple slices one on top the other covering the apple by 2/3 because the apples will shrink while baking. Dot apple slices with butter.
• Make egg wash (mix egg and water together) and brush over the exposed pastry crust.
• Bake for about 15 minutes. Rotate once during baking. If the crust is puffed up and golden brown and apples tender, it's done.
• Meanwhile -- In a glass bowl add the calvados to the apricot preserve. Warm in the microwave for 20-30 seconds and stir. Warm a bit longer if necessary to thin.
• While the galette still hot, brush with apricot & calvados mixture.
• Serve warm with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.

APPLE OR PEAR CLAFOUTI (AN EASY FRENCH DESSERT)

Steps:

• Sift flour, sugar and baking powder into a bowl.
• Make a well in the center of mixture and add the eggs, milk and vanilla extract.
• Mix in well to form a smooth batter.
• Add 4 TBS of the melted butter.
• Let batter stand for 30 minutes while preparing the fruit.
• Pre-heat the oven to 450°F.
• Butter an 8 inch round cake tin.
• Stir the fruit into the batter and pour into the tin.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.
• Serve warm, or cold.