Pecan Dusted Puff Pastry Caramelized Pear Napoleons Food

PANCETTA, PEAR & PECAN PUFFS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, unfold pastry dough. Using a 1-3/4-in. round cookie cutter, cut dough into 24 circles. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. , Meanwhile, beat cream cheese, honey, salt and pepper until well blended. Fold in goat cheese, pancetta, pear and pecans., Halve each cooled pastry. Spoon cream cheese mixture over bottom pastry halves; cover with top halves. Serve at room temperature.

CRAB APPETIZER NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Cut the pastry sheet into 12 (2-inch) circles with a cutter. Place the pastry circles onto a baking sheet.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Remove the pastries from the baking sheet and let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Split each pastry into 2 layers, making 24 in all.
• Stir the cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth. Stir in the milk, horseradish, black pepper and crabmeat.
• Spread the crabmeat mixture on 12 bottom pastry layers. Top with the onions, almonds and top pastry layers. Sprinkle with the paprika.

ORANGE-FOOL NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Cut off about 1 inch from both ends of all 4 oranges; reserve the ends. Stand 1 orange cut-side down on a cutting board. Working from top to bottom, cut away the peel and pith. Cut the orange into 3 rounds, each about 3/4-inch-thick, transferring the rounds to a medium bowl as you work. Repeat with the remaining oranges. Refrigerate the slices until needed.
• Squeeze the juice from the reserved orange ends into a small saucepan. Add the orange zest, honey and any remaining juice from your cutting board, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil, swirling the pot occasionally, until syrupy, about 6 minutes. Toward the end, the surface will be covered with big brownish bubbles. You should have about 1/4 cup of syrup. Let cool to room temperature, about 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a small skillet over medium heat, add the pistachios and cook, tossing frequently until fragrant and toasted, about 4 minutes. Let cool, then chop.
• Whisk together the yogurt, half the syrup and the orange-blossom water in a medium bowl.
• In each of 4 shallow bowls, layer 3 orange slices with 1 tablespoon of the yogurt mixture, beginning with an orange slice and ending with yogurt. Drizzle the remaining orange syrup over the tops, sprinkle with pistachios and serve.

QUICK PEAR TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon together. Lay puff pastry sheet on a work surface brush with melted butter and sprinkle with half the cinnamon sugar. Cut into 6 even pieces. Fan the pear slices over the puff pastry, using 1/2 a pear for each puff pastry square. Sprinkle tops of pear tarts with remaining cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake until pastry is golden and cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes.
• Remove from tart from oven, sprinkle with cheese and bake until cheese melts, 5 minutes more.

PEAR PECAN NAPOLEON

Steps:

• Pears: Place the pears, sugar, lemon juice, salt, and cinnamon in a large saute pan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the pears are soft and most of the liquid has evaporated, 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool.
• Pecan Paste: In a food processor, finely grind the pecans and granulated sugar. Place the pecan mixture in a small bowl and add the water, orange zest, and salt. Mix just until combined.
• Puff Pastry: On a lightly floured work surface, roll the piece of puff pastry into a 16-inch square. Cut into 4 rectangles, each 4 inches wide by 16 inches long. With a fork, pierce small holes all over the pastry. Place the rectangles on two baking sheets. Freeze or refrigerate until firm.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Place a second baking sheet or an inverted wire mesh rack on top of the puff pastry to prevent it from rising as it bakes. Bake until golden brown, 10-15 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
• Assembly: Spread 1/3 of the pecan paste on one of the rectangles of puff pastry. Carefully layer 1/3 of the pears over the pecan paste. Layer two more pieces of pastry with the remaining pecan paste and pears in the same manner. Using a wide metal spatula, carefully stack these three pieces of pastry.
• In a small bowl mix together the sugar and the cinnamon. Dust the fourth piece of puff pastry with the cinnamon sugar and place it on top of the stacked layers of pastry.Using a serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, trim the edges of the napoleon so that they are even. In the same manner, cut the napoleon into 8 pieces and serve a portion on each of 8 plates.

ROUGH PUFF NAPOLEONS WITH LEMON CREAM AND BERRIES

Steps:

• For the rough puff: Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and use a pastry cutter or your hands to cut or rub the butter into the flour until it is covered with flour and resembles chunky wet sand. There should still be chunks of butter visible in your mixture -- do not overwork.
• Add the cold water slowly and start to mix until the dough comes together. It will still be quite shaggy and crumbly.
• Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and dump the dough in the center. Wrap the dough tightly, pressing down firmly to help compress and form it into a square. Allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day.
• Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to approximately a 10-by-16-inch rectangle. (You should still see butter marbled in the dough.) Using a letter-folding technique, fold the top third down and bring the bottom third up, folding over the center like a letter. Turn the dough one-quarter and roll out again to three times its length. If the dough is too soft, chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. After rolling, repeat the letter fold a second time. Cut the dough in half to make 2 squares. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Roll out 1 piece of the chilled dough into a 1/4-inch-thick-square (or slightly thinner). Trim the edges so they are even and cut into nine 2-by-4-inch rectangles. Move the dough rectangles to one of the prepared baking sheets and chill for 20 minutes. Repeat the rolling, cutting and chilling process with the remaining piece of dough.
• Dust the dough rectangles lightly with confectioners' sugar and place a second piece of parchment on top. Top with a second baking sheet to control the rise of the dough.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the top baking sheet and parchment paper and continue baking until deep golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer the pastry pieces to a wire rack to cool completely.
• For the lemon cream: Bring the lemon juice to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Whisk together the lemon zest, sugar, eggs and egg yolk in a small bowl. When the lemon juice begins to simmer, temper the egg mixture by adding a small amount of hot liquid to the eggs while constantly whisking. Add the warmed egg mixture back to the pot and continue to cook over medium heat, whisking continuously. When the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, strain the curd through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Finish by whisking the butter into the hot curd. Cool completely in the refrigerator.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add heavy cream and powdered sugar and whip to soft peaks.
• Fold the cooled lemon curd into the whipped cream, taking care not to deflate the mixture too much. Scoop the lemon cream into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and keep refrigerated until ready to use.
• For the blueberry coulis: Add the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and 1/4 cup water to a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to make sure the sugar dissolves. Continue to boil for 10 minutes, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Strain the coulis through a fine-mesh strainer and cool completely.
• To build the Napoleons, drizzle the blueberry coulis onto a plate. Pipe the lemon cream onto one pastry rectangle from end to end. Top with a second piece of pastry and repeat the piping with lemon cream. Top with a third piece of pastry and pipe one more layer of lemon cream. Garnish with fresh blueberries and raspberries.