Sherried Pears Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, toss halved pears with butter, sugar, and rosemary. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer pears to a baking sheet, cut-side up, and roast until tender and well browned, 20 to 25 minutes; set aside to cool.
• In a medium bowl, combine shallot, bacon, and vinegar. Slowly whisk in olive oil and 2 tablespoons of bacon fat. Season with salt and pepper. Using a box grater, grate the Asian pear on the small holes into the vinaigrette; stir to combine. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine greens. Drizzle with enough vinaigrette to coat; toss to combine. Transfer to a large platter, and top with roasted pears. Spoon remaining vinaigrette over pears, and top with shaved cheese; serve immediately.

Steps:

• Combine butter and flour in small saucepan over low heat, blending until smooth.
• Stir in sugar.
• Slowly add sherry, stirring constantly, until thickened.
• Combine the sauce with the drained fruits in a 2-quart casserole.
• Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350F/180°C.
• Combine sherry, water, sugar, lemon juice and butter in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium heat about 5 minutes.
• While sauce is cooking, halve, pare and core pears. Arrange pears in a baking dish. Pour sherry sauce over pears. Cover dish.
• Bake about 35 to 40 minutes or until pears are tender.
• Serve warm or chilled, plain or with whipped or sour cream, if desired.

Steps:

• Add the arugula leaves to a medium bowl. Core and slice the pear into 1/8-inch thick slices and add to arugula.
• In another small bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard, olive oil, and shallot. Season with salt and pepper.
• Toss the arugula and pears with the dressing. Divide the salad between the plates and top with the toasted walnuts. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• To prepare pastry cream, place the milk in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the milk and add the bean as well. Heat the milk over medium heat and bring to a boil.
• While the milk is heating, combine the egg yolks, sugar, and honey in a mixing bowl. Add the cornstarch and mix until smooth. Once the milk is boiling, remove the vanilla bean and add 1/4 of the milk to the egg mixture, whisking continuously making sure the eggs do not scramble. Once the yolks are tempered, return the egg mixture to the milk in the saucepan and continue whisking over medium heat until the mixture bubbles and thickens. This should take 1 to 2 minutes. Once the cream has thickened, place it in a bowl over an ice bath and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the cream to cool thoroughly.
• Sopaipillas: Using a large mixing bowl, blend the flour, salt and baking powder. In another bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water to activate and add to the flour mixture. Incorporate the milk slowly to form a single ball of dough. Knead the dough until smooth, cover and allow to rise until doubled in size.
• In a large pot or fryer, heat the oil to 360 to 375 degrees F.
• On a floured work surface, roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a cutter or knife cut the dough into desired serving size portions. Drop the sopaipillas, 2 or 3 at a time, into the oil and fry, turning them often until browned. Remove with a skimmer and place on paper towels to drain. Sprinkle the warm sopaipillas with cinnamon and powdered sugar.
• To make the fruit compote, place the ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss until the fruits are evenly coated. Allow the fruit to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Strain fruit from liquid before serving.
• To make the glaze, place the vinegar in a saucepan and over medium heat reduce by half. Dissolve the honey in the warm vinegar and allow to cool. Set aside.
• To serve, split the sopaipillas open and pipe in a portion of the pastry cream. Fill the remainder of the sopaipillas with fruit compote. Place the sopaipillas on each plate, drizzle the glaze around the sopaipillas and dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Finish with a dash of vinegar on the fruit compote.

Steps:

• Drain fruit and arrange in layers in a 2 qt. casserole. Cook sauce in double boiler until thick and smooth. Pour hot sauce over fruit cover and refrigerate overnight or several days. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and core the pears and cut each into quarters. Reserve the peelings and place the pears in enough ice water to cover. Add the lemon juice to the pears, stir and set aside.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the shallots and 1 clove of minced garlic and the pear peelings and allow to soften for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid burning. Add the sherry and the chicken broth, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Continue to simmer the sauce until it has reduced by half. Strain the sauce and set aside.
• Place the pork on a rack in a roasting pan and season with salt, pepper and the remaining garlic. Place in the oven for 10 minutes. Drain the pears and pat them dry and place them around the roast, glazing each with the drippings from the meat. If, at this point, the pork has not rendered enough fat to lightly coat the pears, melt the additional butter and brush over the pears. Return to the oven for 25 minutes.
• Remove the pork from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes while reheating the sauce. Carefully slice the pork between the bones and place two chops, flanked by the roasted pears, on each of 6 plates. The pork can be served with glazed carrots (see recipe) and wild rice.