Have I ever confided in you that I just adore Pears??? Well . . . it's true. They are  my favourite of all the autumn fruits . . . ok . .. so I say that about everything.  I guess I am just a glutton at heart . . . but I do LOVE pears an awful lot!


Red, green . . . yellow.  Tall thin hard ones like the Conference pear . . . or short red and fat round Bartletts . . . Williams, Comice . . . d'Anjou . . . I have no preference.  If it's a pear, I am well acquainted with it's finer qualities and . . . well, I love them.  Ohhh . . . tiny little Seckles . . .

 Pickled, canned, jammed, chutney'd or poached . . . if it's a pear . . . I'm there.  (I know I am corny.)

 

I love to eat them raw . . . perfectly ripe and sweet . . .  so ripe and so juicy that you need to hold them in a napkin to keep the juices from running down your chin and on to your sweater . . .



I love to eat them still slightly crisp . . . unpeeled and sliced into salads . . . especially nice with blue cheese crumbled over top . . . some nicely toasted walnuts sprinkled about . . . and a tangy vinaigrette dressing just to offset the sweetness of the pears, that creaminess of the cheese, the crunch of the walnuts . . . and if you include endive or chicory leaves . . . so beautiful with that bitter edge.



Tucked into cakes, pies, breads, muffins  . . . I love them all. 



This week I  came up with a favourite  new way to eat them . . . Pear Dumplings.  Stuffed with mincemeat . . . wrapped in  puff pastry, sprinkled with demerara sugar . . . and baked until the pastry is crisp and golden, the pear is just tender . . . and the mincemeat having spiced that beautiful pear from the inside out . . . oozingly delicious when you break your fork into that tender flesh.

 

A spicy little hidden surprise . . . lashings of custard are a must.



*Pear and Mincemeat Dumplings*
Makes 4 servings
Printable Recipe

This is not a dessert for the faint of heart . . . make sure you bring your appetite!  Impressive and delicious!

4 firm conference pears, with stems attached
4 heaped dessertspoons of your favourite mincemeat
1 packet of ready rolled all butter puff pastry
1 free range egg, beaten
demerara sugar to sprinkle
Icing sugar to dust
warm custard to serve

Have all of your ingredients ready to go.  Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Have a baking tray ready that you have lined with baking paper. 

Unroll your pastry.  Cut a two inch slice off of one end and cut it into 4 squares. Place each square leaving space in between them onto the lined baking sheet. 

Peel your pears and cut a slice off of the bottom of each so that they will stand upright.  Using the small end of  a melon baller, go in through the bottom and scoop out the seeds, discarding them.  Stuff this core with mincemeat.  Place each stuffed pear onto one square of the puff pastry.  Brush the remaining puff pastry with the beaten egg and cut into narrow, long strips, about 1/3 inch in width.  Wind the pastry squares around each pear, folding the edges of the squares on the bottom up inside and covering the pears completely, leaving just the stem sticking out the top.  Sprinkle with demerara sugar.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the heated oven until golden brown.  Remove from the oven.  Allow to cool for several minutes.  Dust with icing sugar.  Lift each pear carefully into a dessert bowl.  Ladle warm custard around and serve.

One thing that I love about food blogging is that it's not about me. It's not even about you . . . it's about the recipes and the food!



It's about being able to cook and taste some of the best and most indulgent foods ever . . . and exploring the culinary delights my adopted country has to offer me.




It's about stretching my skills . . . both in the kitchen and . . . behind the camera . . . and about making food that not only tastes delicious, but food that looks good.



It's about waking up every morning and making YOU believe that what I am presenting to you on this page is the absolute best thing ever . . .



and about making you want to go into your own kitchen and cook it for yourselves, because you have just got to taste it for real, and because I have inspired you to do it, and given you the confidence to believe that you can!



Your comments are like me winning the "X Factor of food" every day of my life, and I thank you for that. Here's to 2011. Let's begin as we mean to go on.



Cream Palmiers . . . tasty little bites of fluffy crisp buttery pastry, filled with a soft cloud of sweetened whipped cream and sticky sweet strawberry jam. Kind of like a de-constructed jam tart . . . with puff pastry . . . and CREAM. A delicious teatime treat.



The only down side is they all have to be eaten on the day they are filled . . . so NOT a problem!



*Cream Palmiers*
Makes 8
Printable Recipe

Absolutely delightful on the tea tray!

225g (1/2 pound) of all butter puff pastry
1 1/2 ounces granulated sugar (a scant 1/4 cup)
1 TBS icing sugar, sifted
400ml of double cream (1 3/4 cups)
a few drops of vanilla
2 TBS strawberry jam

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Slightly dampen a baking tray. Set aside.

Dust the work surface with half of the sugar. Roll the pastry out on the sugared surface to a rectangle 10 by 12 inches in size. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining half of the sugar. Gently press the sugar in with a rolling pin. Starting at the short sides, roll the pastry towards the middle from both edges into the centre until they meet. Press together gently. Cut across the rolls into 16 slices. Place onto the baking tray. Press down to flatten slightly.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes until crisp and golden, turning them over halfway through the baking time so that they caramelize equally on both sides. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Whip the cream along with the icing sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Sandwich together pairs of the palmiers with some of the whipped cream and some of the jam. Serve immediately.