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Posts tagged ‘walnut’

Oct 16

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green salad with caramelized pears, walnuts & cheese

I have a thing for pears. I didn’t always have a thing for pears. But today my thing for pears is huge. And I think perhaps you need no more of my words on pears, but only to gaze (with your own eyes) upon their shapes, their colors,  their stems, their dimples and imperfections,  to know why it is I have this thing called love of pears.

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pears in pairs

BoscPear

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~ComicePears~ 

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Of course it’s not all  about their looks. They’ve got that whole flavor and texture thing going on too. Here’s one delicious way to enjoy these beauties. For this recipe, I like d’Anjou or Barlett or Comice – and since you want them to stand up to the heat of caramelizing, begin with under-ripe fruit.

My husband’s got a thing for blue cheese. So, that’s one way you could make this salad (and I did for him) – but just as good (and far better if you don’t happen to like blue) is Parmigiano-Reggiano. Each of these cheeses pairs up beautifully with pears.

I told you in an earlier post about this Olive Oil store near us. (Also on line www.oilerie.com) We were in there the other day to re-stock on our lemon-olive oil. (So good!) Do you think I could walk past the pear balsamic without tasting? Do you think I could walk out of the store without a little bottle tucked under my arm? (oh it was paid for!)  The salad I made for us last night was made with pear balsamic and walnut oil – neither of these are necessary – at all!  Olive oil and any good balsamic will do perfectly. But I had them, and it was good. Very good.

Green Salad with Caramelized Pears, Walnuts & Cheese

with Walnut-Balsamic Vinaigrette

for the salad:

  • arugula or lettuce of your choice
  • walnuts (toasted for 10 minutes approximately, in 350º oven) (or candied pecans or walnuts – see post May 9th, 2011)
  • cheese of your choice (gorgonzola, other blue, parmiggiano – or perhaps you have another in mind)

for the vinaigrette:

  • good olive oil (or walnut oil)
  • balsamic vinegar (infused or not)
  • kosher or sea salt & pepper to taste
for the caramelized pears: (these quantities are for 2 salad servings)
  • 1 pear (see above for varieties)
  • 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar (vanilla sugar if you have it on hand)
  • balsamic – a splash – optional Read more

Sep 29

3 Comments

biscotti – two ways

Biscotti are rustically charming Italian twice-baked cookies. Dough is first formed into a long roll and baked, then cut on the diagonal and baked a second time to dry them. They’re a delicious, even politely meant-to-be-dunkable treat. In Italy, biscotti are dunked into coffee and enjoyed for breakfast. In the evenings, after one of their famously-long and leisurely dinners, biscotti might be dipped into wine (especially vin santo.)  In that sense, they’re a sort of chewable, meltable, endlessly-adaptable delivery system for the beverage being enjoyed alongside.  Biscotti have made their way stateside, though some of them are highly sweetened and fancified and bear little resemblance to their Italian ancestor. I’ll offer the more traditional sort here.

What we love about biscotti: 

they’re positively delicious when, bite-by-bite, they’re softened in coffee

they fall into the “treat” category without being overly sweet

even after weeks (if they last that long) they’re as good as ever

they make someone a sweet little present

they look so cute in a jar

I sent out sample packages of two versions for a vote. The results were close, but the lemon-aniseed version narrowly beat out the orange-walnut among testers. This was a very limited sample so I wouldn’t read much into it if I were you. They’re each good, and each has a following, but my husband and I come down on the side of the Grand Marnier-walnut. With fans in each camp though, I thought it only fair to let you decide for yourselves. (I’d start with the walnut – but you already knew that.) Post a vote if you like! And if you find a way of pairing your biscotti up with a favorite beverage or frozen dessert, I’d love to hear your discoveries.

Grand Marnier Walnut Biscotti

  • 3/4 cup walnuts
  • 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 Tablespoon Grand Marnier (or substitute a brandy or Cognac of your choosing – see NOTE)
  • zest of 1 orange – about 1 Tablespoon
  • 2 cups plus 2 Tablespoon all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting your board)
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Read more