Pears and Cheese Redux

Baby Cheesecakes with Toffee Pears

Pears and Cheese Redux

by Victoria Challancin

Those of you that follow my blog may have picked up on a recurring theme threading my posts:  Pears and Cheese.  You might remember:

• Brandy-Roasted Pears with Gorgonzola Cheese

• Stacked Pear Salad with Blue Cheese and Candied Nuts

• Roasted Pear Salad with Chèvre and Fig Vinaigrette

• Brandied Pears with Rosemary and Camembert

Yes,  indeed I love the combination of fruit and cheese, but specifically pears and pungent cheese.  And with this I give you today one of the yummiest and most satisfying desserts I have made in a long while:  Baby Blue Cheesecakes with Toffee Pears.  Sublime!  The oat-walnut crust came together quickly and offered just the right amount of contrasting crunch and texture to the softness of the cheesecake and the sautéed pears.  It is rich, definitely rich, but each bite is such a tasting treat:  sharp, sweet, crunchy, and meltingly delicious.

Baby Cheesecakes with Toffee Pears

Cook's Note:  Although this recipe is perfect just as it is, a splash of brandy or cognac, perhaps burned off by flaming, would surely not go amiss!

Recipe:  Baby Cheesecakes with Toffee Pears

(Recipe from bhg.com)

For the crust:

3/4 cup quick-cooking rolled oats

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons butter, melted

For the filling:

1 80z/227g package cream cheese, softened

1 egg

2 oz crumbled blue cheese

1/4 cup dairy sour cream

For the toffee pears:

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons whipping cream

4 pears, cored and sliced

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup lightly toasted broken walnuts

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Line eight 2 1/2-inch muffin cups with foil or paper bake cups; set aside.

To make crust:

In a bowl stir together oats, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 3 tablespoons butter until combined.  Spoon 2 rounded tablespoons oat mixture into each prepared muffin cup.  With bottom of a narrow glass press down lightly.  Bake 8 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool slightly on wire racks.  Reduce oven temperature to 325 degres F.

To make filling:

In a medium bowl beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until smooth.  Add egg and beat just until combined.  Stir in blue cheese and sour cream.  Spoon well-rounded tablespoons of the cheese mixture into each crust lined muffin cup.  Bake 20 minutes or until slightly puffed and set.  Cool 30 minutes.  Removed frombcups.  Place on tray, cover and refrigerate at least 2 or up to 24 hours.  Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

To prepare the toffee pears:
In a large skillet melt the 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat.  Add the 1/2 cup brown sugar and cream.  Cook and stir until bubbly.  Add pears.  Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until pears are tender.  Remove from heat.  Stir in vanilla.  Cool slightly.

To serve:  
Remove foil or paper liners from cheesecakes.  Spoon about 1 tablespoon brown sugar-cream mixture into each of 8 dessert dishes.  Top with a cheesecake.  Spoon pears around cheesecake.  Sprinkle each with toasted walnuts.

Enjoy!

©Victoria Challancin.  All Rights Reserved.

Recipe: Stacked Pear Salad with Blue Cheese and Candied Nuts

 Stacked Pear Salad with Blue Cheese and Candied Nuts

by Victoria Challancin

Flavors of the Sun International Cooking School

San Miguel de Allende, México

There is no doubt that the exquisite blog Once Upon a Plate inspires me, makes me salivate, and causes me to wrestle with that unpleasant personal trait that none of us wants to own:  envy.  The recipes are inspired, the photos absolutely gorgeous, the writing lovely.  When I saw these stacked pear salads on Mari's blog, I knew I had to make them with my Mexican cooking students, just as she knew she had to make them when her friend sent her a recipe.  The actual recipe that I adapted originally comes from Chef Mike Fennelly of Mike's on the Avenue in New Orleans, who developed the recipe for the California Pear Advisory Board.

Stacked Pear Salad with Blue Cheese and Candied Nuts

(Adapted from a recipe by Chef Mike Fennelly) 

Serves 8. 

For the salad:

1 head frisée, torn into bite-size pieces

1 bunch watercress, leaves and leaf-clusters only 

8 pears, cored and sliced horizontally into five slices

For the dressing:

1/4 cup champagne vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 oz (about 2/3 cup) blue cheese, crumbled

For the candied nuts:

1 cup pecans or walnuts

1 teaspoon walnut oil or extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

A good pinch of cayenne

2 teaspoons sugar

Garnish:

Balsamic vinegar reduction (Note:  this could be gilding the lily--I just happened to have some on hand and decided to use it)

To prepare the vinaigrette:

Whisk vinegar, honey and pepper together.  Add oil a a little at a time, whisking to emulsify. Stir in blue cheese. leaving it chunky.  Set aside.

To prepare the salad:

Wash and dry greens. 

To prepare the nuts: 

Blanch the nuts for 45 seconds in boiling water, drain well, and place on a towel to dry.  Toss the nuts with the oil, salt, and cayenne pepper.  Spread nuts on a baking sheet, sprinkle with sugar, and bake at 250 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To assemble:

On individual plates, alternate greens with pear slices (reassemble the pears with layers of greens). Secure with toothpicks to keep them from toppling.  Ladle each one with about 2 tablespoons of dressing and a bit of balsamic glaze, if using.  Sprinkle with candied nuts. Serve chilled.

Enjoy!