Pear Tart With Vanilla Creme Anglaise Food

PEAR CHARLOTTES WITH CHAMOMILE CRèME ANGLAISE

Steps:

• Bring 1/2 cup water and sugar to boil in heavy small saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Mix in raisins and rum. Let soak 1 hour. Drain raisins.
• Meanwhile, heat honey in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add pears; sauté just until tender, about 2 minutes. Cool. Mix in raisins.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter eight 1 1/4-cup custard cups, then sprinkle with sugar. Place cups on baking sheet. Place 8 bread slices on work surface. Cut out 1 round from each slice to fit cup bottoms. Line cup bottoms with bread rounds. Cut enough of remaining bread slices into strips wide enough to line cup sides; line cup sides completely with strips, cutting to fit. Cut enough of remaining bread into 1/2-inch cubes to measure 4 cups.
• Whisk cream, sugar, eggs, rum, and vanilla in large bowl to blend well. Add 4 cups bread cubes and fruit mixture; stir to blend. Divide among prepared cups.
• Bake charlottes until center is puffed and set, about 55 minutes. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Warm in 350°F oven for 7 minutes.) Run knife around sides of charlottes. Invert onto plates. Spoon crème anglaise over warm charlottes.

VANILLA-BEAN CREME ANGLAISE FOR PEAR TART

Steps:

• Prepare an ice bath, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and salt on high speed until pale yellow and very thick. Set aside.
• Scrape the vanilla seeds into a small saucepan, and add bean, milk, and cream. Bring just to a boil. Remove from heat.
• On low speed, gradually pour half the hot milk mixture into yolk mixture, then pour yolk mixture into saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick enough to coat back of spoon and hold a line drawn by your finger, about 5 minutes. Pass mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. Place bowl in prepared ice bath, stirring occasionally, until chilled. Use immediately, or refrigerate, covered, up to 3 days. Gently whisk before using.

PEAR TART WITH VANILLA CREME ANGLAISE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet; toast in oven until light golden and fragrant, 7 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely, then finely grind in a food processor. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add almonds, egg, cream, and extract; beat until well combined, about 2 minutes.
• Using a small offset spatula, spread filling in cooled tart shell. Arrange pear slices, overlapping them slightly, on top of filling. Generously sprinkle with sugar; place tart on a baking sheet. Bake until filling is slightly puffed and golden brown, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature with creme anglaise on the side.

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE TART WITH CREME ANGLAISE AND VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Prepare a large bowl of ice water.
• In a heavy saucepan, add milk, vanilla beans, and cassia sticks tied in a loose knot and bring to a simmer on medium heat. Concurrently, in a mixing bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together. When the milk reaches a simmer, whisk in 1 cup of the hot milk to the egg mixture. Whisk this mix back to the hot milk, reduce heat to low and constantly stir with a wooden spoon.
• When mixture thickens enough to coat the back the wooden spoon and a line drawn with your finger holds it shape (about 12 to 15 minutes), immediately strain through a chinoise (fine sieve) into another bowl (a little smaller than the ice bath bowl) and place in ice bath. Stir occasionally to cool down. If there are any vanilla beans left on the pods, scrape into the anglaise. Stir to incorporate and chill sauce until ready to use.Sift the flour, salt and sugar into a food processor fitted with a blade. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles coarse meal, there should be pieces of butter. Add the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing the processor. Only add enough water until the dough just holds together (about 3 to 4 tablespoons). Wrap in plastic and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
• Vanilla Ice Cream: Freeze according to machine?s instructions.
• Bittersweet Chocolate Tart: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to about 9-inch diameter. Use an 8-inch false bottom tart pan and carefully place dough into the pan. Work the dough into the corners and prick with a fork. Cover with foil and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Fill pan with pie weights, rice or beans and bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes, until the dough becomes very light tan. Pull pan out of the oven and let cool at room temperature.
• For the filling, bring the cream to a simmer. Pull off of the heat and add the chocolate. When chocolate is completely melted, mix well, and let cool in the refrigerator. When chocolate mixture is cold, pull out of the refrigerator and whisk in the eggs just until incorporated. Pour into the tart shell and bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. It should still tremble in the center when lightly shaken. Let tart cool on a rack before demolding. Garnish with powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
• On a large plate, garnish the rim of the plate with powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Ladle a small pool of creme anglaise. Place a slice of the tart off of the side and place 1 scoop of ice cream next to it. For the ultimate, make individual tarts.

POACHED PEARS WITH CREME ANGLAISE

Steps:

• To make the creme anglaise, rinse the inside of a non aluminum saucepan with water and shake out the excess.
• Pour in the milk and place over medium-low heat until bubbles form around the edges of the pan, about 5 minutes.
• In a small bowl, combine the whole eggs, egg yolk, and sugar; whisk just until blended.
• Gradually whisk in half of the hot milk, then pour the egg mixture back into the pan.
• Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, leaving a clear trail when your finger is drawn through it, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Stir in the vanilla.
• Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and let cool.
• Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or for up to 2 days.
• Julienne the zest from the lemon and set aside (reserve the lemon for the juice).
• With an apple corer or a small, sharp knife, carefully core each pear from the bottom.
• Trim the bottoms so they stand upright.
• Leaving the stems intact, peel the pears.
• In a large non aluminum stockpot, combine the pomegranate juice, brown sugar, lemon zest, juice from the reserved lemon and cinnamon stick.
• Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat to simmer.
• Place pears on their sides in the liquid and cook, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes.
• In the meantime, seed the pomegranates by cutting them in half (careful, the juice can stain).
• Fill a large bowl with cool water.
• Holding the cut fruit under the water, peel back the skin and membrane to release the seeds, allowing them to sink to the bottom of the bowl.
• Discard peels and membrane; drain and reserve the seeds.
• Carefully turn the pears over and cook until a small knife can be inserted easily into the bottom of the pear, 10 or 15 minutes longer.
• Once the pears are done, remove them from the cooking liquid and stand upright on individual serving plates.
• Remove and discard the cinnamon stick.
• Pour about 2 cups of the poaching liquid into a small saucepan; simmer over medium-low heat until reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
• Mix orange liqueur and cornstarch together in a small bowl.
• Gradually whisk the orange liqueur mixture into the reduced poaching liquid; reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring until the sauce thickens to a glaze, about 10 minutes.
• Pour a little of the glaze over each pear, then spread some of the creme anglaise around the bottoms of each one.
• Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and garnish with a mint sprig.
• Serve the remaining glaze alongside.