A Pear Tart for Linda

Silent Bob and I had a new friend come to dinner last evening. She insisted that I not make a fuss, so it was beef stew and baking powder biscuits, a little green salad, and a pot of tea with a little pear tart for dessert. We sat over that pot of tea and dessert and got to know each other a bit better ... what a nice evening.

Did I tell you that I got a new camera? I L.O.V.E. playing with it, but am realizing that I need to have a tutorial ... maybe I should take an adult ed class in digital photography. Hmmm... the beauty of being retired is that I have time to do such things... I'll keep you posted.



In the meantime, a simple dessert that looks like you did more than you really did... this recipe comes straight from The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, which is the 'part two' cookbook to The Silver Palate Cookbook. I have used the latter so much that the binding has fallen apart and I hold it together with an old broccoli rubberband. Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso are right up there on my list of cooking idols. Their NYC take-out shop and catering business inspired the compilation of recipes in both books... worthy buys, both. I noticed at Christmastime that TSPCB has been re-released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its publication. I guess it will rank up there with some of the other great cookbooks... which leads me to a question... what's on your top 10 list?

Mine -

1. The Silver Palate Cookbook - Lukins and Rosso
2. Yankee Magazine's Great New England Recipes
3. Nina Simonds - Asian Noodles
4. Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home
5. The Joy of Cooking - Rombauer & Becker
6. The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking - Barbara Tropp
7. The New York Times Cook Book - Craig Claiborne
8. Classic Tapas - Authentic Spanish Recipes - de Haro
9. The North End Italian Cook Book - Buonopane
10. Casa Mexicana - Fenniger & Milliken

Whatever, with the cookbooks! Back to dessert! Pears are still being considered seasonal, so I'm grabbing the last of them before they really get punky and unappetizing... I used Anjous Bosc for this recipe ... just ripe, but not 'softly juicy' ripe... it makes a difference. If you use really ripe pears, you must dramatically reduce the butter and sugar, as they juice the tart so much that the crust gets soggy... so, mind the condition of your pears when you're choosing them.

This tart starts out with a butter and flour crust that is sweetened just a bit.

The pears are placed in concentric circles and sprinkled with sugar.

Then, the tart is dotted with butter and sprinkled with pear liqueur.

While the tart bakes, you make a glaze with preserves and more of the pear liqueur.

I used peach cinnamon jam and German Birnen Obstwasser.

The finished product ... beautiful and sweet!

See the link for the complete recipe ... it seems redundant to place it here and there!

Pear Tart with Obstwasser - printer friendly