Roasted Pears in Honey Caramel

This is a beautiful fall dessert inspired by one of Kate Zuckerman's recipes in her book "The Sweet Life."  If you enjoy caramel and pears, this is the recipe to make for your next dinner party!  The pears served warm are delicious on their own but if you want added flavor and richness, serve them with whipped creme fraiche on the side!    

For the recipe:

• 4 pears
• 1 lemon
• 28 grams (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 160 grams (1/2 cup) honey
• 50 grams (1/4 cup) sugar 
• pinch of salt

Set oven at 425 F

Wash and peel the pears, leaving them whole and with the stems on. Cut the bottom of each pear to create a flat surface so that they stay upright in the baking dish. 
Peel lemon zest into 4 long strips. Add the zest along with all other ingredients to the pears in the baking dish, it will all melt in the oven so no need to combine them. 
Place in the oven for 30 minutes or until everything has melted.  
Rotate the pears so that they are laying on their sides in the liquid and bake for 20 minutes.  
Rotate the pears again to lay them on the other side and bake them for another 20 minutes.
At this point the pears should be soft and cooked.  Stand them upright again in the liquid and place them back in the oven for 15 minutes. Keep baking them, making sure to baste every 15 minutes until they are nicely caramelized. Enjoy!

November: What's in Season?

Sweet Potatoes and Pears!

Hurricane Sandy: Ways to Help

While we get ourselves back up to speed, we thought we'd share some ways to help with the relief efforts following Hurricane Sandy:

City Harvest

Food Bank for NYC

Tunnel to Towers

Occupy Sandy

Pinterest Fall Boards we like

epicurious: seasonal recipes

the kitchn fall recipies

New York Times: roasted

Kinfolk:autumn

Halloween Buttercup Squash Cheese Cake

This recipe comes from a former co-worker at Bread Alone Bakery. We changed it a little by reducing the amount of sugar and by using homemade buttercup squash puree instead of the canned pumpkin puree used in the original recipe. A great dessert idea for any of the fall or winter holidays!!!

For the recipe: 

• 158 grams (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
• 287 grams (2 1/2 cups) graham cracker crumbs
• 490 grams (2 1/4 cups) sugar
• punch of salt
• 900 grams (2 pounds) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 70 grams (1/4 cup) sour cream
• 450 grams (2 cups) squash, cooked and pureed
• 6 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon vanilla paste
• 2.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• pinch of nutmeg
• maple flavored whipped cream
• toasted pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 325.  Use a 10” spring form pan and roasting pan.

Stir butter, crumbs, 100 grams (1/4 cup) of the sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl.
Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, packing it tightly and evenly. 
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.
Meanwhile, using a paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining sugar and mix until just light, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Mix in the sour cream, then add the pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, 1 teaspoon salt and the spices and continue mixing until just combined.
Pour into the crust and place the roasting pan in the oven. Pour the boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes about halfway up the side of the spring form pan.
Bake until the outside of the cheesecake sets but the center is still loose, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
Run a knife around the edges, cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
Unmold and garnish with the whipped cream and pecans.

Special Ingredient: Maple Flavored Butter

If you're looking for an easy way to add loads of flavor to a dish, this is it... maple flavored butter. It is so easy to make and delicious! 

• 225 grams (2 sticks) of butter, room temperature and very soft
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup
• pinch of salt

 Soften butter with a spatula and mix all ingredients together. 

Brioche with Corbin Hill Winter Squash & Maple Butter

Our local CSA Corbin Hill had these beautiful squashes that inspired us to make a winter squash brioche:

• 100 grams (1/3 cup) warm milk
• 12 grams (4 teaspoons) yeast
• 100 grams (3/4 cup) bread flour
• 60 grams (4 tablespoons) sugar
• 4 eggs
• 5 grams (1 teaspoon) salt
• 500 grams (3 3/4 cups) bread flour
• 225 grams (1 cup) squash (cooked, pureed and cooled)
• 180 grams (14 tablespoons) cold cubed butter
• maple flavored butter

We used a Kitchen Aid with dough hook attachment.

Mix the warm milk, yeast, and flour together for 2 minutes in a mixer with dough hook attachment. Let stand for 15 minutes.
Add sugar, eggs, salt, flour, and squash puree and mix on medium speed for 5 minutes, dough should become smooth and satiny.  You'll have to scrape the sides a few times while mixing.
Once the dough is smooth and comes off the sides of the bowl, add cubed butter and mix until incorporated.   
Place in oiled bowl for 1 hour. Turn, fold and shape into a ball.  Chill for atleast 4 hours or freeze.
Divide and shape into either equal sized balls or loaves.  Proof them until about about twice their original size and egg wash. Bake at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes.  Serve with maple flavored butter.

Catch

Evi recently photographed seafood restaurant Catch in the Meatpacking District. Top Chef winner Hung Huynh's creations are real eye catchers. We'll share some images from that shoot below. Make sure to try the Cantonese Lobster !

Caramelized Apple and Yogurt Cake with Breezy Hill Apples

Nothing says fall like this Upside Down Caramelized Apple and Yogurt Cake! The deep flavor of the apples with the lemony yogurt cake underneath is a perfect combination. Apples are at their peak right now, so make sure to pick local ones if you can. We picked ours from Breezy Hill Orchards. You can prepare the cake in two steps if it makes it easier, starting with the caramelized apples the day before and finishing the day of by adding the cake batter over the refrigerated baked apples.             

For the recipe: 

• 200 grams ( 1 cup) sugar
• 50 grams (4 tablespoon) butter
• 1 kg (2.2 lbs) apples
• 200 gram (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 200 grams (1 cup) sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
• 190 grams (3/4 cup) whole-milk yogurt
• 110 grams (1/2 cup) vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon rum
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste

You'll need a loaf pan. Set oven at 350F.

Make a caramel by adding sugar to a hot pan and continuously stirring until melted completely and making sure not to let it burn.
Once all of the sugar has a nice deep amber color, add 2 teaspoons of water to stop the cooking, then whisk in the butter.  Pour caramel into a loaf pan (that you've buttered) making sure to cover the bottom of the pan evenly.
Peel, core and quarter the apples and place on top of caramel, cored side up. Cover with aluminum foil, make a few holes in the foil and place in the oven for 45 minutes or until apples are caramelized.  Remove the cover and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly before adding the batter. 
To make the yogurt cake, whisk the dry ingredients and the lemon zest together.  
In another bowl, whisk the wet ingredients until well combined.  Fold in the dry ingredients making sure not to over mix. 
Pour on top of cooled apples and bake for around 40 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Rotate once during baking. Cool slightly and flip to unmold. 

Rumtopf (Part III)

It's time to add some apples to our Rumtopf. If you follow along don't forget to sprinkle the fruit with sugar, mix, and let this mixture sit for 30 minutes before adding the rum. You can find the Rumtopf recipe here.