Pear and Almond Tart

This recipe is adapted from Dorie Grennspan's on her inspiring blog: http://www.doriegreenspan.com/dorie_greenspan/2009/01/tuesdays-with-dorie-french-pear-tart.html . I made it last night to take to my grandmother's house for dinner, and simplified/cheated quite a lot as I was short on time and supplies. But it turned out so well that I just had to document it here. So easy! Literally 20 minutes of prep time and about an hour in the oven.

The sweet pastry crust:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fine crystal sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg

Toss the dry ingredients and the butter in the bowl of your mixer until the butter pieces are dusted with four, then add egg and mix on medium speed with the paddle attachment until the mix resembles large crumbs (like on a diner coffee take). Press the crumbly dough into an oiled pie pan to make crust. I used a 9"d Pyrex pie dish and held it up to a light from time to time to see where my crust was thin and needed more dough. Pre-bake the crust in the middle of the oven at 350 until it is golden (about 20-30 minutes). The sides will probably darken quicker than the bottom of the crust.

Almond cream:

6 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces, or room temperature

1 7oz package of Odense almond paste, cut into pieces

1 egg

2 tablespoons of bourbon

Put the ingredients in your blender and whirl away. In the beginning you may have to stop blending and poke the almond paste pieces with a spoon to get them to settle into the line of the blade. If your butter is soft it will blend into the almond paste more easily. Blend until smooth.

2 medium size firm-ripe Bartlet or d'Anjou pears

a wedge of lemon

Quarter and core the pears and slice 1/4" thick across the quarters. Drizzle the cut pears with lemon juice. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the almond cream out of the blender pitcher into the pre-baked pastry crust and arrange the pear quarters however you like in the cream, pressing them in gently. Bake at 350 at the bottom of the oven for 30 minutes until the cream is golden.

Grilled Halloumi

The box says "The cheese that grills". It might just become a protein staple in my veggie diet because I am starting to have my doubts about the benefits of eating Trader Joes Beefless Strips every night. Delicious as they may be grilled with BBQ sauce. This will be the first of many posts about burnt or toasted cheese, one of the tastiest things on earth.

Halloumi comes from Cyprus and is traditionally made from sheep's milk. Its a firm, cooked curd cheese, like mozzarella, but they boil and salt the hell out of it. Then it is pressed into blocks, not stretched. It is by no means fat free, but for some reason, when you heat it, it browns and softens slightly (deliciously), but does not melt or release oil. When you bite into a slice, it is still a little bouncy and squeaks against your teeth in a very satisfying way.

Directions: Heat up your cast iron (or other non stick) skillet over a medium flame. Slice the cheese 1/4" thick. Rinse the salty brine off the slices and pat them dry (they will still be very salty). Put them right on the pan with no oil (though I always rub my iron skillet down with olive oil after I wash and re-season it). The cheese will release brine and whistle and squeak. It browns quickly so keep your spatula handy. Flip slices over to brown the other side and press down on the tops with your spatula so that they heat all the way through. Plate them with a squeeze of lemon juice on top and serve while warm with fresh fruits and/or vegetables to cut the salt.