chocolate pear crisp

The chocolate pear pie I made a month or two ago reminded us how much we liked chocolate and pears.  A couple years ago I made a chocolate ginger pear crisp that was quite good.  But, I like simple.  Which is one of the reasons I make crisps.  And I have learned a lot about gluten free baking the last two years.  I put together a simpler chocolate pear crisp recently that was also quite good in a very different way.  I mixed in chocolate chips to the crisp batter.  Add vanilla ice cream.  It makes me smile.  It lasted less then two hours!

chocolate pear crisp

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 cup almond meal

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup millet flour

1/2 cup arrowroot flour

1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chips

2 - 4 very ripe pears, cored, skinned, and sliced into small chunks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream the butter and sugar together.  Mix in the cinnamon, ginger, and flours.  Mix in the chocolate chips.

Put the pears in the bottom of an 8x8 inch pan.  Top with the crumb mixture.  Bake for 45 minutes.

Different but the same.  Very tasty warm with ice cream.  And I must admit, lovely for breakfast or an afternoon snack.  Yes, truly.

pineapple and duck salad

While we were camping, I really wanted to try the fig and duck salad I wrote about earlier but there were no figs at the store we went to.  But there was pineapple, so I decided to try that with the duck.  I knew that sweet went well and figured it could not hurt to try.  And this way, I could also get something sweet without upsetting my stomach.  

This is a salad I would do again.  Pan fried pineapple with sliced duck breast, simple greens and a blush vinaigrette.  Quiet lovely.  And simple!

Pineapple and duck salad

Note:  This is enough for two.

1 duck breast, skinned

about 2 tablespoons of the duck skin, cubed

about 1 cup of cubed pineapple

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

romaine lettuce

blush vinaigrette

Put what you think of as a serving of romaine lettuce on a plate.  

In a skillet, put the olive oil.  Warm over a medium heat.  Add the cubed duck skin.  Cook until brown.  Add the pineapple.  Pan fry until there are brown bits.  Add the duck breast.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook about 5 minutes.  Turn.  Salt and pepper if you wish.  Cook for another 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat.  Slice the duck breast.  Put about half the pineapple on the lettuce and have the sliced duck.  Drizzle with the vinaigrette.

It is really that simple.  And tasty!

craqueline

While reading the cookbook Flour by Joanne Chang, I came across this recipe for craqueline which sounded very interesting.  My family probably likes the orange rolls I make better then the cinnamon rolls I make.  The thought of an intense orange with a brioche dough was intrigueing.

I did change the recipe a bit.  Of course I used sourdough.  I used a different brioche dough and I used whole wheat flour in the brioche.  I think these pastries are more addictive then my orange rolls!

craqueline

1/2 batch brioche dough

1 batch candied orange, coarsely chopped

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup sliced almonds.

Take the brioche dough out of the refrigerator or freezer.  If frozen, defrost.

Roll the dough out to a rectangle 20 inches long by 3 inches wide.  Spread half of it with the coarsely chopped candied orange.  Fold the dough over.

Cut the long piece of dough into 10 pieces.  Place on a silpat or parchament covered baking sheet.  Cover and let rise until puffy, about two hours.

In a small bowl, mix the egg, sugar, and almonds.  Make sure it is well blended.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Drop spoonfulls of the almond mixture on each roll.  Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until golden.

These really are addictive.  I have brioche dough in the freezer.  It may be time to make more.

a different brioche recipe

Work has been very busy.  Overwhelming so.  There is not much I can do about that but do each task and go forward.  But things like a cup of tea after work, a pot of tea before work, skateboarding with the family, spinning with a Small Mister in my lap, working on a sweater while watching a video with my Beloved all help.  I find it is the small things that really seem to matter.  The small things get you through.  

Kneading bread is huge, in any form.  Today I made my everyday bread.  Earlier this week I made brioche again.  I like the pastries I can make with it.  The last brioche recipe was not as good as I wished it to be.  It was fussy and dried out quickly.  But the pastries it made were very good, especially if they were moist.  

I decided to try a different recipe I have.  The first time I made it, there was a bit of whole wheat added.  The second time, it was all white flour.  Both were very good.  I was much more pleased with the final out come.  In someways, I liked the one with a touch of whole wheat the best.  The wheat flour was a fine grind from Fairhaven Mills.  I would do that again.  This first batch, I just kept simple.  Simple just said this was a better recipe.  I will make this one again.

brioche

sourdough starter

3/4 cup water

1 cup flour

1/4 cup water

6 eggs

6 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 cups butter

1 tablespoon salt

5 1/2 cups of flour

The night before, mix the starter, 3/4 cup water, and 1 cup flour together in a large bowl.  Cover and let sit in a warm place.  In the morning, this should be very bubbly.  Remove a couple tablespoons of starter for next time.

To the starter, add the water and sugar.  Mix well.  Mix in the eggs.  Mix in the butter.  Mix in 3 cups flour.  Cover and let sit for a couple hours.  It should be bubbly and look like pancake batter.

Mix in the rest of the flour and the salt.  The dough will be very moist.  I beat it hard with my wooden spoon.  You do not wish to add anymore flour if you can help it.  Put the dough in a ziploc bag that has room and let sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours.  Most of the time, I divide it in half and put half in the freezer.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator.  Butter two muffin tins.  You wish 12 large muffins.  Divide the dough into four.  With three of the portions, divide into four each. Roll each portion into a ball and dredge in sugar.  Put into the muffin tin.  With the remaining portion of the dough, divide into 12 portions.  Roll each into a ball, dredge in sugar, and place on top of on of the larger balls.  Let rise for at least 2 hours or until puffy.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Back 30 minutes or until golden.

Not perfect looking but tasty.  The sugar on the bottom carmelized a little bit and is quite nice.  Small Mister had to help by touching each ball of dough.  It slowed me down a bit but the smiles were lovely.

fig, prosciutto, and duck salad

So that horrible stomach bug I had confirmed that when I eat less sugar and carbohydrates, my arthritis pain is less.  I really like bread and sweets but I have been cutting back.  Less pain is a huge motivator.  It is all about balance but eating more protein and vegetables seems to really help.  

The funny thing is that my Beloved teases me about not eating anything that is green.  I have gotten much better over the years about this one.  A lot of it is due to texture because of boiled vegetables.   I grew up with lots of overboiled vegetables so beans and peas are still very hard for me to eat.  I think it is why I do vegetables roasted so much.  The texture is totally different then boiled.  But when I do not wish to roast vegetables, a salad works.

I was reading Tartellete, a foodie blog, a few weeks back.  She mentioned a duck and fig salad.  I thought that combination sounded really good.  Did I read the recipe?  Another thing I get teased about, of course not!  When I finally got my hands on some figs, I put them together with some duck to make this salad.

fig, prosciutto, and duck salad

Note:  Enough for two with a Small Mister helping to eat mine

salad greens of your choice, I used a mix bag

six figs, stemmed and sliced

about eight slices of prosciutto

olive oil

one duck breast, skin removed

salt

pepper

In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  I cut up a bit of the skin and add it to the oil so I get a few crispy bits.  I then freeze the rest of the duck skin and fat for alter rendering.

Add the figs.  Cook about 6 minutes, until the figs start to soften.  Add the prosciutto.  You want a few crispy bits.  Move everything to one side to brown and add the duck breast.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Let cook about four minutes.  Turn.  Salt and pepper.  Just a pinch of each.  Let cook another few minutes.  I like duck on the rare side.

On two large plates, place the greens.  Add the fig and prosciutto mixture.  Take the duck out of the pan, slice, and share between the salads.  We like this with a vinaigrette.

Makes me smile.