Crispin Pears

Sometimes my sous chef calls things by weird names. He likes to nickname pretty much everything and for the past few weeks he's been referring to Christmas as Crispin. Whatevs.

That name turns out to be perfect for a dessert I made last night. The dessert is literally: crisp... in... pears. It's ridiculously easy to make but the rich flavor of the pear makes it taste both homey and luxurious. Another bonus is that it doesn't dirty a million dishes and it's easy to make just one serving so you don't end up gorging on the extras or leftovers. We had it for dessert but it would also make a great breakfast or brunch treat for a cold weather day.

Serves 2 (easy to double or triple)

- 1 ripe Bartlett or Anjou pear peeled and sliced in half down the middle
- 1/4 cup gluten free oats
- 2 Tbsp chopped roasted pecans
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 Tbsp brown sugar
- small pinch kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp warm water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together oats, pecans, butter, vanilla, sugar and salt and set aside.

Once your pears are peeled and cut in half, use a melon baller or strawberry huller to remove the seeds
and carve out a nice sized nook for your crisp ingredients to nestle in.

Cut a small disc of pear off the back of the pear so it can lie flat on your cookie sheet without wobbling. Set the pear halves on a cookie sheet with the hollowed out core areas facing up. Mix honey and warm water and stir to thin out the honey a bit. Brush this mixture liberally all over the pear with a pastry brush. Spoon crisp mixture into the hole in the pear and mound it up so you have a good amount of crisp in/on each pear half.

Bake for 25-35 minutes or until pear is turning just golden at the edges and the crisp is a nice, dark golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes then serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Adapted from Acquired Taste

PS After all my whining, I got a new camera! I used Crispin money to get myself a Canon Rebel XS. Now I just have to learn how to work the sucker! 

Read more...

Candied. Bacon. Yehhhhs.

This recipe isn't much of a recipe because it's too easy to be believed but it is a must try. The savory/salty/sweet combo is hard to describe. The sugar really takes a supporting role, it just highlights the baconey-ness of the bacon and lets it shine. You have to taste it. If you like bacon - get real, who doesn't like bacon; I have it on good authority that even vegetarians dream of bacon - you will flip for this. It's also fat free and has 0 calories!!!*

- 1 Lb regular cut bacon (not thick cut)
- 1 - 2 cups light brown sugar

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Wrap cookie sheet in aluminum foil
Place a cooling rack on the cookie sheet and spray with non-stick spray
Put brown sugar in shallow bowl or dish

One slice at a time, put the bacon in the sugar and press sugar into the bacon.

Once bacon is evenly coated, place the strip on the cooling rack.

Bake until dark golden brown and firm to the touch. About 40 minutes. It should look shellacked and should not feel too tacky or sticky.

Rotate the pan once during cooking to make sure the bacon cooks evenly and watch it to ensure it doesn't burn, it can happen fast.

It smelled so good while it was baking that Violet was entranced.

Now, you may wonder, what do I do with candied bacon? The obvious answer is EAT IT. This stuff is addictive. Once you pick up a slice, it's hard to stop. I am currently tinkering with some recipes that use candied bacon so keep your eye on this page. Also, if you make this, let me know what you think and if you have any questions about this or any of my recipes, feel free to let me know in the comments section.

*not

Read more...

Gluten-Free Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp

Whew! I've emerged on the other side of the flood and the blood tests. Results are: New Kitchen and Gluten-Intolerance. So there we have it. Nothing to do but cook!


Lately I've been craving rhubarb. I grew up with a rhubarb patch in my backyard. I generally ate it raw, yanking a stalk out of the ground, rinsing it and munching away. For those who are not familiar with it, it looks a lot like swiss chard or collard greens but with a thicker stalk. The leaves are poisonous but the stalk is perfectly edible and has the texture of celery and a sour/bitter taste like nothing else in the world. Truly singular. I was lucky enough to find the very last rhubarb of the season at the Santa Monica farmers market so I snatched it up along with some small, sweet gaviota strawberries.

I devised a strawberry rhubarb crisp to serve as dessert after a cedar plank salmon and rice dinner. I made all this for a group of friends who were kind enough to act as recipe guinea pigs while I dusted off my apron in the new kitchen.

- 4 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 3 cups rhubarb cut into 1/4" - 1/3" pieces
- 2 1/2 tbsp corn starch
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice (I used a Meyer lemon for more flavor)
- 1 tsp. lemon zest
- pinch of sea salt
Topping
- 1 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Biscuit and Baking Mix
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 stick unsalted butter

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix fruit with corn starch, sugar, lemon juice and zest and the sea salt. Allow mixture to sit for 20 - 30 minutes.

Mix flour mixture and brown sugar. Melt butter and add to dry ingredients mixing with a fork.

Place fruit in baking dish and top with the crisp ingredients, spreading the pasty mixture across the top so that no large holes remain

Bake for 40 minutes or until the juice begins to bubble up through the crust and the crust is browning at the edges

Serve warm with ice cream (I used Haagen Dazs Five in Brown Sugar flavor. It was PERFECT!)

Read more...