Vanilla Poached Pears with Chocolate Sauce and Creme Anglaise

I have never been especially drawn to French cuisine - those who know me know Italian, Spanish and Caribbean occupy most of my heart and stomach - but lately I have found myself intrigued by the recipes in my Corden Bleu cookbook. This dessert is based off a similar recipe in my cookbook, altered for my convenience and taste.

For Creme Anglaise (adapted from Epicurious):

1 cup whole milk
1 2-inch piece vanilla bean, split
3 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar

Combine milk and vanilla in heavy sauce pan and bring to a simmer/boil. Remove from heat. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk hot milk mixture into yolk mixture. Return custard to saucepan. Stir over low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 5 minutes (do not boil). Strain sauce into bowl. Cover and chill.


For Chocolate Sauce:

2/3 cup whole milk
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Bring milk and vanilla to a simmer in small saucepan. Add chocolate and turn heat to low, whisking until melted and smooth. Cool sauce to room temperature.


For Pears:

1 bottle white wine, such as Viognier
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
Zest of 1/4 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 Bosc pears

Core and peel pears.

Place the white wine, water, sugar and vanilla and zest into a large saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to medium low and place the pears into the liquid, cover and cook for 20-25 minutes until the pears are tender but not mushy.

Remove the pears, stand them upright in a dish, and refrigerate.


To serve, scoop creme onto small dessert plates. Place pear upright over cream and drizzle with chocolate sauce.


Happy Eating,


Caitlin

Beef Bourguignon

Ingredients:

3 lbs beef chuck
Optional 1/2 cup brandy
Optional 2 strips bacon, diced
1/2 cup flour
1 bottle full-bodied dry red wine (Bordeaux, Cabernet, Zinfandel)
2 celery ribs
2 large carrots, or about 12 baby carrots
2 onions
1 head garlic
12 oz baby bella (crimini) mushrooms
1 pound pearl (boiling) onions
1 tablespoon tomato paste, or 1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 cups beef stock, optional
Salt
Pepper
Rosemary
Thyme
Parsley
2 pounds baby potatoes

Before you begin cooking, wash the onions, carrots and celery. Cut celery and carrots into 1/4 inch thick pieces, dice the 2 regular onions and mince the garlic. Set aside.

Mix flour with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in Ziploc bag.

Cut chuck into 1/2 inch thick square chunks and coat with flour mixture.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in pan over medium-high heat, being careful not to burn the butter. Add meat pieces in 2 batches and brown well on all sides. (If you cannot brown every side, it is not the end of the world, it'll do). Remove meat and put in bowl.

Add brandy to and let simmer about 5 minutes to deglaze the pan, scraping up any beef or bacon fat left in pan. Pour over beef chunks.

In large stew pot, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat and add the bacon and cook for 2 minutes. Add the prepared vegetables to the pan and saute about 5-7 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook one more minute. If using canned diced tomatoes, add to pan after vegetables have been cooking for 5 minutes and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Add meat and juices to pan. Add 1 teaspoon parsley, 1/2 teaspoon rosemary and 1 teaspoon thyme. Liberally add freshly ground pepper. Pour bottle of wine over everything. Turn heat to medium until stew begins to simmer. When first bubbles appear, turn heat down to medium low to maintain a simmer but avoid boiling. This level of heat will dissolve tough collagenous tissue but reserve natural meat juices. Cook at a simmer for about 3 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. If stew looks dry, add beef stock as needed.

Cut ends off of pearl onions. Cook for 1-2 minutes in boiling water. Strain and run cold water over onions. Let cook, then peel. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in saute pan and cook onions over medium-high heat until onions are golden. Add to stew.

Wash mushrooms, cut off stems and slice thinly. Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat and saute mushrooms about 8 minutes or until liquid has evaporated. Add mushrooms to stew.

Cook stew additional 30 minutes at simmer.

While stew is simmering, boil large pot of salted water and cook potatoes until tender or a knife can easily pierce them. Rinse with cold water and remove peel and cut potatoes in half.

Place potatoes on large plate and top with beef stew.