Pear Pie

I've been trying to make more pies and tarts to improve my dough rolling skills. I'm not a huge apple pie fan but I thought that a pear pie sounded intriguing. As it turned out, you can't really tell that it's a pear pie versus an apple pie but regardless - it was delicious! The spices that were used were a bit different than what I'm used to in apple pies so that was a nice twist. The crust was yummy and flakey. The streusel topping was so good, but I think it's hard for streusel not to be. I'd definitely make this pie again. Plus, I discovered my favourite kind of pear is Anjou!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Mini Pear Loaves
Apple Pie with Brown Sugar Streusel Topping
Pecan Tassies
Russian Grandmothers' Apple Pie-Cake

Pear Pie
Adapted from Caprial's Desserts

I didn't end up using all the streusel.

5 firm pears, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Pâte Brisée (recipe follows)
3 tbsp unsalted butter, diced
Streusel Topping (recipe follows)

In a large bowl, toss the pears with the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves; let sit for about 15 minutes to give the pears time to get juicy.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

On a well-floured board, roll the dough out into a 10 inch circle. Fit the dough into a 9 inch pie plate, fold the edges under, and flute. Pile the pears onto the crust, dot with the butter, and top with the streusel. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. If the crust and/or streusel starts to brown too quickly, cover it with aluminum foil loosely. Let cool for about 20 minutes before serving.

Pâte Brisée

Makes enough for a single-crust pie or a 9 to 10 inch tart.

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp (39 g) shortening
1/2 cup (4 oz) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/4 cup ice water

Place the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to combine. With the mixer on low speed, add the shortening and better and mix just until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the ice water and mix just until the dough starts to come together. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board and form it into a disk with your hands.

Streusel Topping

Makes about 2 cups

1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup flour
pinch of salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, diced

Combine the sugars, oats, cinnamon, flour, and salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla extract and the butter, a few pieces at a time, and mix until crumbly. The streusel will keep refrigerated, for up to 1 week.

Fresh Pear and Curry Pasta

I know this dish may not look that exciting - the colours a bit bland, and maybe the idea of pears with curry kind of strange. But trust me, this dish is delicious. The recipe comes from a cookbook that I think you can easily trust any recipe that comes out of it not to fail, and most likely it will be yummy like this one. I don't think I've ever seen anyone other than me post recipes from these cookbooks though - The Best of Bridge cookbooks. I guess because they're Canadian but these are the kind of cookbooks everybody needs.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Artichoke Rotini Pasta
Curried Sweet Potato Soup
Pasta with Portobello Mushrooms in Mustard Wine Sauce
Soba Noodles with Zucchini Ribbons

Fresh Pear and Curry Pasta
Adapted from The Best of the Best and More

My only modifications were to use 1/2 tbsp oil instead of 2 tbsp, and to use extra garlic. I also used ketchup instead of tomato paste to make it easier. If you don't have a ripe pear you can just cook the pear longer to soften it. Oh I also omit the 3 tbsp cilantro. The recipe can easily be vegan by omitting the cream and using some other kind of sweetener than honey.

1/2 small onion, chopped
1/2 tbsp oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp medium curry paste
1 tsp tomato paste (or ketchup)
2 tbsp honey
2 cups vegetable broth
1 unpeeled ripe pear, sliced in thin wedges
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp cream or milk
Enough pasta for 2

In a frying pan over medium heat, saute onion in oil until soft. Add garlic and curry paste and stir 2-3 minutes. Add tomato paste and honey and stir another 2 minutes. Add broth, increase heat to medium high and boil gently, reducing liquid to less than 1 cup. (This takes about 15 minutes; now is a good time to start cooking the pasta.)

Add pear slices and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and cream and stir another 2 minutes. Pour over pasta and toss gently.

Mini Pear Loaves

This recipe is originally for pear ginger "bread" (not sure why it's called bread though as it's really more muffin/loaf-y). Anyway I thought - pear and ginger? That sounds good. Well I was wrong! The recipe calls for 3 tbsp fresh ginger which is a lot of ginger, too much for me and I love ginger. But I think I prefer it in savoury things like beet and tofu salad. Or at least in the dried form for baked goods, though I've never tried crystallized ginger.

Anyway, the great thing about these little loaves is that they're so deliciously soft and the pear in them is just perfect and doesn't make them mushy, as I've found apples can in muffin recipes. I tried a pear, cardamom and pumpkin seed muffin version of this recipe and while I liked the sound of it, I didn't really like the cardamom in there. I plan to try out other variations on this recipe adding different spices, nuts and fruit (and of course I'd like to try out a version that involves chocolate!) I modified the recipe to be healthier, as with most other muffin recipes I make (unless I just want to go all out).

If this sounds good, you might like:
Pumpkin Pecan Raisin Muffins
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Almond Coconut Muffins
Chocolate Walnut Banana Bread

Mini Pear Loaves
adapted from The Garden of Vegan

Makes 8 mini loaves or 12 muffins.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup applesauce
1 banana, mashed
1 large pear, cored and cubed
1/2 cup nuts or seeds (pecans, pumpkin seeds, etc)

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in sugar, apple juice, applesauce, banana, pear, and nuts/seeds. Stir together gently until "just mixed." Pour batter into a lightly oiled mini loaf pan or muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.