Pears With Raspberries And Meringue Food

GINGERED PEAR AND RASPBERRY PANDOWDY

Steps:

• Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter a 9-inch cast-iron skillet or 9-inch deep-dish pie pan.
• To make the fruit filling, rub the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a large bowl, then add the pears and lemon juice and toss until evenly coated.
• Gently fold in the raspberries, then transfer the fruit to the prepared pan.
• Distribute the butter atop the fruit.
• To make the biscuit, whisk the flour, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, the baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
• Add the butter and toss until evenly coated. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the size of large peas. (Alternatively, you can put the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine.
• Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of large peas, then transfer to a bowl).
• Stir in the candied ginger, then pour in the 2⁄3 cup buttermilk and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
• The dough will be crumbly, with large pieces of butter still visible. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently press the dough together, then press it into a 9-inch circle.
• Carefully place the dough atop the fruit. Brush the dough with the 1 tablespoon buttermilk,then sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
• Bake in the lower third of the oven for 30 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350°F and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the juices are bubbly and thick.
• Allow to cool for 30 minutes before serving.

PEARS WITH RASPBERRIES AND MERINGUE

Steps:

• Peel the pears using a swivel-bladed paring knife. Cut away the stems.
• Combine enough water to cover the pears when added and 4 tablespoons lemon juice and add the pears as they are peeled.
• Cut the pears lengthwise in half. Scoop out the cores, and a little of the meat, of each half to form a nice-sized cavity.
• Combine the 3 cups water with 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and the vanilla bean or extract. Bring to the boil and add the pear halves and the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice. When the mixture returns to the boil reduce the heat and cook about 20 minutes or until pears are tender when pierced with a fork. Remove the pears and reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Let the pears cool.
• Put half of the berries in the container of a food processor or electric blender and blend while gradually adding the reserved 1 cup of pear-cooking liquid and the orange juice. This mixture may be used as is, but it is best to put it through a fine sieve of the sort known in French kitchens as a chinois, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. There should be about 1 1/3 cups.
• Fill the cavity of each pear with about 3 of the remaining berries. Quickly invert the pears on an ovenproof serving dish.
• Preheat the broiler.
• Beat the egg whites until stiff and gradually beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Continue beating until stiff. Spoon the resulting meringue into a pastry bag outfitted with a star-shaped tube (No. 3B). Squeeze out the meringue in star patterns over the pears. Pour the sauce around the pears. Place the dish under the broiler about 4 inches from the source of heat. Broil briefly until the tips of the stars are browned. Garnish around the sauce with a circle of the remaining raspberries.

RICE SOUFFLE WITH PEARS AND RASPBERRIES

Steps:

• To make the Poached Pears: In a small saucepan, combine pears, water, sugar, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. Poach the pears for 12 to 15 minutes. Allow to cool. Slice each half into 4 slices. Reserve.
• To make the Raspberry Compote: In another small saucepan, combine raspberries, sugar, liqueur, and water to a boil. Cook for 1 minute. Turn off heat and reserve.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and brush onto a 10-inch saute pan or ovenproof mold. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Set aside.
• To make the Rice Souffle: In a small saucepan, combine rice, milk, vanilla bean, and 2 tablespoons of butter. Over low heat, cook for 10 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Transfer to a mixing bowl and cool to room temperature. In a mixing bowl, combine egg yolks and powdered sugar. Beat until light and ribbon-y. In another mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks. Slowly add the sugar and continue to beat until firm. Fold egg yolk mixture into cooked rice. And then fold in the egg white mixture. Pour half of the rice mixture into prepared pan. Add pears and cover with the remaining rice mixture. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the meringue. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Slowly add the sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a no. 9 plain tip. Cover the baked rice with the meringue. Sprinkle with shredded coconut and broil until golden.
• To serve: spoon Raspberry Compote onto serving plates and place rice souffle on top.

BAKED PEARS WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In an ovenproof skillet, combine butter, sugar, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Add pears, cut side down; cover with foil. Bake, turning pears over halfway through, until tender when pierced with the tip of a paring knife, about 25 minutes.
• Lift pear halves with a slotted spoon, allowing any juices to drip back into skillet, and divide among four serving plates. Bring liquid in skillet to a boil over medium heat. Add cream; cook until slightly thickened, 1 minute. Stir in raspberries. Spoon sauce over pears; serve.

QUICK SAUTE OF PEARS WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• With a stainless steel knife, peel and core the pears. Cut them into eighths. Rub them with lemon so they do not discolor. Set them aside in a covered bowl in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Saute the pears over high heat for 3 to 4 minutes or until they begin to brown. With a slotted spoon, transfer the pears to a serving platter. Deglaze the pan with liqueur and raspberry preserves and reduce until syrupy and thick. Spoon over the pears and garnish with almonds and frozen yogurt or whipped cream if you wish.

POACHED PEARS IN RASPBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Core pears from the bottom, leaving stems intact. Peel pears. If necessary, cut 1/4 in. from bottom so pears will sit flat. Place in a Dutch oven. Add the pear juice, cinnamon stick, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 25-30 minutes or until pears are tender. , Remove the pears and place in serving dishes. Discard cinnamon stick and cloves from poaching liquid. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and cranberry juice until smooth; stir into liquid. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add raspberries and syrup. Remove from the heat; cool slightly. , In a blender or food processor, puree raspberry sauce in batches until smooth. Strain and discard seeds. Pour sauce over pears. Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.

RASPBERRY-AND-MERINGUE "MESS"

Steps:

• Chill a serving bowl in the freezer. In a large bowl, whip heavy cream until soft peaks form. Fold in meringues and 1 1/4 cups raspberries. Drizzle whipped cream with 2 tablespoons berry puree and lightly fold so the mixture has stripes of puree. Spoon into chilled bowl; top with remaining raspberries and berry puree.

LUSCIOUS PEARS IN RASPBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Cut the pears in half lengthwise, remove seeds, peel and core. Place the pears cut side down in an oven-proof baking dish.
• Combine the juice, jam, mirin (or substitute), cinnamom, nutmeg or cardamom, vanilla pod piece and salt.
• Pour this mixture over the pears; cover baking dish with aluminum foil.
• Bake pears until soft, about 25 minutes.
• Remover the vanilla pod and arrange the pears cut side up on a serving platter. Spoon remaining sauce from the baking dish over the pears. Garnish with mint leaves or verbena leaves if desired.

RASPBERRY PEAR TART

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in nuts. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 11-in. fluted tart pan with removable bottom., In a large bowl, combine the pears, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and lemon zest. Add raspberries; toss gently. Pour into crust. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes., For topping, in a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar and lemon zest; cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in nuts. Sprinkle over filling., Bake 15-20 minutes longer or until filling is bubbly and topping is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate leftovers.

MIXED GREENS WITH PEARS AND RASPBERRIES

Steps:

• Combine the vinegar, juice, oil, honey, salt and pepper in a small bowl; stir well with a wire whisk.
• Combine greens and pears in a large bowl; toss gently.
• Divide among 6 plates, top with raspberries and drizzle with dressing.

PEARS IN PORT WITH MERINGUE CREAM

Steps:

• Pour the port into a large pan with 600ml water, add the sugar and cinnamon, then heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the pears, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 20-30 mins until tender all the way through. They are ready when a cocktail stick can be easily pushed through each one. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to cook the pears in 2 batches using the same port syrup, or turn the pears several times as they cook so they become an even colour. Let the pears cool in their syrup, preferably overnight to allow the syrup to really stain them. Will keep for 3 days in the fridge.
• Check the consistency of the syrup. If it is very thin, boil it in a pan to reduce the amount and concentrate the flavour.
• To serve, whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla until it holds its shape, then fold in the meringue. Sprinkle with the cinnamon. Arrange the pears in a shallow dish and spoon over the syrup. Allow guests to help themselves to both pears and cream.