Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving

Pear Butter with Pear and Gruyere Biscuits

We have a winner!  Our own Dr. Julia Hoang entered this year's Moraga Pear and Wine Festival recipe contest and won first prize for her pear butter with pear and gruyere biscuit.  You can read the entire article at the following link:  http://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue0616/Prize-Pears.html .   Below is her award winning recipe.  Enjoy!


Pear Butter, yields about 4-6 half-pint jars
 

INGREDIENTS
4 lbs D’Anjou pears, roughly chopped, do not peel or core them
1 star anise
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, roughly chopped
1¾ cup water
¼ cup lemon juice
2-3 cups sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon lemon zest


DIRECTIONS
1. Put the chopped pears, star anise and ginger into a large pot. Add the water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer, cover and cook for about 25-45 minutes until the pears are completely soft. Remove from heat.
2. Remove and discard the star anise. Ladle the entire pear mixture into a chinoise, food mill or fine sieve. Force the mixture through into a large bowl to collect all the liquids and puree. Discard all the remaining solids.
3. Measure the puree and pour into a large, heavy bottom pot. For every cup of puree, add 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Add the brown sugar, cardamom, nutmeg and lemon zest. You may season to taste and adjust if necessary.
4. Cook on medium heat, stirring often. Take care not to allow the puree to stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Cook between 45 minutes – 2 hours until the mixture is quite thick, the consistency of applesauce.
5. When the pear butter is ready, store into airtight jars and refrigerate, or follow proper canning techniques for longer term storage. 


Pear and Gruyere Biscuits
 
(Yields about one dozen biscuits)
INGREDIENTS
3¾ cups bread flour
1½ tablespoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1¼ teaspoons Kosher salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter: cold, cut into ½ inch cubes, stored
in refrigerator until ready, plus melted butter for brushing
¾ cup grated Gruyere cheese
1 cup diced fresh D’Anjou pears
1¾ cups chilled buttermilk
¼ cup pureed fresh D’Anjou pears


DIRECTIONS
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Line heavy baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly flour. You may use a food processor or make the dough by hand. If in a processor combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and blend for 5 seconds. If doing by hand, in a large bowl, sift the same ingredients using a fine mesh sieve. Add butter cubes and pulse for 30 seconds or use a handheld pastry blender and cut in the butter until coarse meal forms. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl at this point if you have been using a processor. Add the cheese, pears and toss to blend. Add the buttermilk and pear puree and stir to moisten evenly. Using lightly floured hands, drop entire dough mixture on floured
parchment paper and shape into a rectangle. Use a knife or biscuit cutter to cut into the appropriate portions. Space each biscuit 2 inches apart. Bake until biscuits are golden and tester comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Brush biscuits lightly with melted butter. Serve warm or at room temperature with pear butter.


Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Von Chan, DDS, Inc.

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