baked pear with cinnamon and ginger
March 17, 2012
How much do I love this recipe? Let me count the ways. Number one, pear is an awesome, versatile, sweet (local and sustainable) fruit that should feature prominently on everyone’s weekly menu. Number two, I can’t say enough about cinnamon and ginger. We go through pounds of these two queens of the super spices in our tea, in our favourite tofu marinade, in stews and soups, and just about anything and everything. Number three, who can resist the temptation of carmelized organic cane sugar? (Enough said on that one.) And number four, with a dollop of coconut milk ice cream on the side, you get that hot/cold thing I’ve always loved as the ice cream melts into the sugary syrup.
3 – 4 medium-sized ripe pears
2 tbsps lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
pinch nutmeg
3/4 cup organic cane sugar
Peel the pears. Cut them in half and scoop out the cores. Place in a small baking dish with the pears packed in tightly. Drizzle the pears with the lemon juice and then sprinkle with the cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
In a small heavy-bottom saucepan, heat the sugar over medium-high heat stirring carefully until the sugar melts and turns to golden brown. Drizzle over the pears until they are coated evenly.
Bake the pears in a preheated oven at 375F for 30 minutes, or until the pears are completely tender. Serve with a dollop of coconut milk ice cream and a generous ladle of the sugary syrup.
v:(alentine) gourmet
February 12, 2012
A friend complained to me the other day that she was stressed out about what to serve her sweetie for Valentine’s Day dessert. Let’s be honest – there are many things you should be doing on Valentine’s Day; stressing about dessert is not one of them. If you want to spend time in the kitchen cooking up a flourless chocolate cake, that’s fabulous. If not, why not put together a carefully curated selection of vegan chocolate, spiced pecans, and sliced pears to savour beside the fire after your Valentine’s Day feast?
I get my chocolate from Soma, my favourite chocolatemakers on the planet. Any of their dark chocolate is vegan by its very nature. The tumbled almonds are to die for. The old school chocolate bar has only two ingredients – cocoa nibs and cane sugar. Chocolate as it was back in the day, thousands of years ago. And then there’s always the chocolate with aleppo peppers or maldon salt or wild cherries, barberries, and cranberries. If you don’t have a Soma nearby, check out any of your local chocolate purveyors. You never know, if you ask, you might well receive. Happy v:(alentine’s) Day.
v:gourmet 