Monday, March 2, 2009

Roasted Pears with Herbed Goat Cheese and Bacon

I'm signed up to receive Food Network's weekly e-mail. The photo on the right was the lead photo in today's e-mail. Though I haven't made it yet, I have every intention of doing so. Doesn't it look absolutely divine? Of course, anything with bacon in it has to be good, in my opinion. If you try it before me, please leave me a message on what you thought. Thank you, Tyler Florence, for such a recipe that really embraces the happiness of bacon.

Roasted Pears with Herbed Goat Cheese and Bacon

1/2 pound goat cheese
1/4 cup chopped mixed herbs such as parsley, thyme, and chives
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 baby pears
12 slices bacon, about 1/2 pound, cut in 1/2
2 tbsp honey
Arugula or dandelion greens, for garnish

1. Heat the oven to 375.
2. In a small bowl, mix the goat cheese, herbs, and 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Halve the pears and scoop out the seeds and cores. Stuff each pear half with about a tablespoon of the cheese. Wrap each stuffed pear with a slice of bacon and place it on a baking sheet. Drizzle some olive oil over the pears and season with salt and pepper.
3. Bake until the pears are tender and the bacon is crisp, about 25 to 30 minutes.
4. Place the pears onto a platter, drizzle with the honey, and garnish with the arugula.

Lessons Learned: Coming. I will post, for now, that the best way to core a pear is with a melon baller. Why it took me nearly 35 years to figure that out, I don't know, but it works wonders!

2 comments:

jkribbit said...

These do look heavenly. Do you have a recipe for creme brulee? I know you like it, and I thought you had posted a recipe - but maybe it's on your other blog. The only thing I can find on here is your creme brulee french toast (which also looks good.) My Dad found a creme brulee set on clearance. It came with the ramekins and a mix - just add cream. We had them tonight and they were tasty but I think we need to invest in a torch because caramelizing the sugar under the broiler turned the custard back into soup. Anyway, we'd like to try again but with an actual, from scratch, recipe.

Susan Vargas said...

Re: The Artichoke Dip - fat free mayo is tasteless when baked and the regular mayo creates the 'tang' we look for in a good hot artichoke dip. Fat is necessary in many recipes for flavor since the basic ingredients can be really bland without it. And the chemical reaction of fat free mayo is a negative when baked in the oven, as there is no fat in the other ingredients here. I hope that makes sense.