We're already in the 5th week of the Steemit IronChef competition, and this week's theme is PEAR. Many thanks to our wonderful host @progressivechef for organizing such an engaging and creative challenge!
I am a lover of most fruits, and a good pear is no exception. I was happy to hear the theme and to create a dish to highlight the delicate and fresh sweetness of pears.
I bought several small bartlett pears from the local farmer's market over the weekend, and they were perfectly ripened by the time I was ready to use them.
So here's the plate I made up. It took about 100 times more time to make it than it did for my kids, husband, and I to gobble it up. I tried several new techniques in this week's challenge, including making tuiles, oven-baked candied pears, and poached pears. What a great week of learning and cooking and eating!
For the candied pears, I used a mandoline to thinly slice the pears, dipped both sides lightly in granulated sugar, and baked on a silpat, flipping halfway through. The result is a crispy and sweet dehydrated pear that is concentrated in pear flavor.
By accident, the candied pears created a fabulous pear juice crisp - a glass-like candy that formed when the juices of the pear caramelized on the silpat. Delicately crispy with the pure essence of pear, these pear juice crisps added a nice element of crunch to the dish.
I poached the pears in a combination of apple cider and earl grey tea. Pears and tea seem to be a fitting combination, delicate, pure flavors. The natural sweetness of the apple cider was a nice complement to the poached pears, and let the pear flavor take center stage.
After poaching the pears, I reduced the poaching liquid to form a cider and earl grey poaching liquid reduction. I reserved half of the poaching liquid reduction and whisked in some dark chocolate to melt down and create a dark chocolate poaching liquid glaze for one of the pears and the plating.
To make the pear and pomegranate mousse, I whipped heavy cream, adding pureed pears and pomegranate seed juice, along with a touch of maple syrup.
For the tuile, I whisked together egg white, sugar, flour, melted butter, vanilla, and pear puree to form a batter. I spooned and spread the batter onto the silpat and baked until just crisp. With quick hands, I rolled the tuiles before they firmed up and set.
Here's my proof photo!
I hope you've enjoyed this recipe, and I'd love to hear your thoughts.
If you're interested in being a part of the Steemit IronChef Competition, don't forget to check out the details at @steemit-ironchef. A huge thanks to @progressivechef for coming up with this awesome way to showcase our food creations and build community with each other here on Steemit. Looking forward to continuing this competition!!
All content and images by @jaymorebeet, taken on October 3, 2017 with a Canon 7D Mark II.
