Apologies for my absence. I've been trying to get into NaBloPoMo, but I totally misread the acronym. I thought it was NoBloPoMo. So instead of posting every day, I've been not posting every day. It's easy to see how that sort of thing could happen, isn't it? Also, the dog ate my homework. Ahem.
But I know I'll finagle my way back into your good graces with these pears. They are slick, sticky, and soft (but not mushy), and redolent with Middle Eastern flavors – orange, cardamom, walnut oil – that are so much more interesting than the tired old cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice routine.
The original inspiration for this recipe was Molly Wizenberg's post on Sally Schneider's marvelous roast pears. I made the pears this way a number of times, and loved the results; but I couldn't help but agree with Molly that it would be nice if the pears would slump more. Thus, I'm delighted to report that turning down the oven from 400˚F to 225˚F and tripling the baking time was just the ticket.
There was another difficulty with the original recipe, however, which – in order to explain – requires me to confess a bizarre personal quirk. Generally, I don't care much for dessert after dinner, unless it's a nice piece of unembellished fruit. It's not so much that I have a sour tooth rather than a sweet tooth (I'll dispel that hypothesis in a moment); it's rather that I crave clean, tart, fresh flavors after a rich meal. But I happen to adore last night's dessert in the morning, straight from the fridge, for breakfast. (Before you ask, I also have a thing against microwaving leftovers… Look, don't get me started).
The point is: I like desserts that taste good both hot and cold. And dotting these pears with butter (as the original recipe called for) meant that, although they were fantastic hot, they tasted rather greasy and filmy and waxy when served cold. Yet the fat in the recipe was not to be omitted; the extravagance of these pears is integral to their charm.
The solution I dreamt up was to substitute nut oil for butter (I suppose you could also use olive oil; but I'm not sure how I feel about olive oil in desserts yet). After musing on the various possibilities, I fixed on walnut oil, which in turn steered my thinking in a more Middle Eastern direction, and led me to lavish the pears with orange blossom water and cardamom.
And so, last night, a recipe was born. It's the morning after, and I can now confirm that, yes indeedy, it's a keeper (*smacks lips*).
Ingredients:
1lb pears, peeled, halved, and cored (I used seckel pears, which are tiny and precious-looking; but any variety would do)
¼ cup agave nectar (or honey)
Zest and juice of 1 orange
1 tsp orange flower water
1 tbsp walnut oil
1 tbsp whole cardamom pods
A fat pinch of fleur de sel
To serve:
Chocolate sauce (I just melted a little dark valrhona with a splash of cream and a little sugar)
Vanilla ice cream
Method:
Preheat the oven to 225˚F.
Place a small skillet over high heat, and dry-roast the cardamom pods for a few minutes, or until they are lightly toasted (but not burned). Now grind them in a mortar and pestle, and pass the powder through a fine sieve to remove any large pieces of pod that remain.
Combine the cardamom powder with all the remaining ingredients aside from the pears, and then toss the pears gently in the resulting mixture.
Spread the pear mixture in a large (I used a 9 x 13") glass or ceramic baking dish.
Bake for 3 hours, or until the pears are incredibly soft and sticky. Serve with a drizzle of chocolate sauce and a quenelle of vanilla ice cream – or some Greek yoghurt, if you're having this for breakfast.