Maple-Brined Crown Roast Chop with Pear Chutney, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Rainbow Chard

 https://www.oregonwinepress.com/article?articleTitle=pairing-with-pears--1261164091--70--food

This recipe looks delicious. I'm especially interested in the pear chutney

Maple-Brined Crown Roast Chop with Pear Chutney, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Rainbow Chard

Recipe by Chef Michael Hendrickson of Bonneville Hot Springs Resort & Spa

Pair with 2006 Westrey Willamette Valley Chardonnay

INGREDIENTS

4 double bone 8-ounce crown roast chops, bone-in (see your butcher)
3 local ripe pears
1¾ pounds organic fingerling potatoes
1 bunch of rainbow chard
3 minced shallots
1 cup minced white onion
½ cup minced garlic
6 ounces pancetta or pepper bacon
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 tablespoon whole mustard seed
1 tablespoon garam masala
¾ cup rice vinegar
1½ cups brown sugar
1 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup kosher salt
¾ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
½ cup red table wine

Maple Brine

3 quarts water
1 cup maple syrup
¾ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup kosher salt

1. Place ingredients in a bowl, whisk until sugar and salt dissolve. Place chops in a pan and pour brine over them; brine for 24 hours. When cooking chops, season with salt and pepper, mark on the grill and finish in the oven for at 350°F for 22 minutes. Or sear in a pan, and finish in the oven at 350°F for 22 minutes.

Pear Chutney

3 pears peeled, cored, small dice
1 cup minced white onion
1 minced shallot
1 tablespoon whole mustard seed
1  tablespoon garam masala
¾ cup rice vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
¾ cup brown sugar

2. Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium heat, add onions and shallots; sweat for 4 minutes. Add mustard seeds, garam masala and pears. Sauté for 2 minutes. Deglaze with rice vinegar and add brown sugar. Reduce until thickened and pears are tender.

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

1¾ pounds washed potatoes
½ cup minced garlic
2 sprigs finely chopped rosemary
¼ cup olive oil

3. Combine ingredients in a bowl and toss, place on a sprayed sheet pan and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes; set your timer for 15 minutes and half way through baking, turn potatoes so they cook evenly.

Rainbow Chard

1 bunch washed chard
2 minced shallots
6 ounces pancetta
¾ cup olive oil
1 ounce balsamic vinegar
½ cup red table wine

4. In a sauté pan over medium heat, add olive oil and render the pancetta; once the pancetta in crisp and brown, add shallots and sauté for 1 minute; then add the chard and sauté for 2 minutes. Deglaze with balsamic and red wine, reduce and then remove from heat and serve. Serves four.

Carmelized Upside Down Pear Tart

I received a bag of organic pears from the whole food store in my weekly share and set out to find

a cool recipe to try.  Thank you Ruth Reichl for this amazingly delicious and simple recipe from your book "The Gourmet Cookbook"  2004, pg 782. Apparently this is a spin off from a French recipe which used apples.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 stick butter (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
4 firm but ripe Bocs pears ( 2 pounds total), peeled halved and cored ( I use whatever type of pears I have on hand on that come with the share :)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Basic Pastry dough for a tart shell. ( use a pie crust recipe)

Accompaniment:whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
Special Equipment: 9 or 10 inch ovenproof nonstick skillet or well seasoned cast iron skillet

DIRECTIONS
Heat butter in skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides. Stir in sugar (sugar will not dissolve yet). Arrange pears cut side up in skillet, with wider ends out. Sprinkle cinnamon over the pears and cook without stirring, until sugar mixture becomes a deep golden caramel, 15 to 25 minutes (depending on the skillet and stove.) Remove from heat and cool pears completely in skillet.

Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 91/2 to 101/2 inch round. (I actually take the time to cut this to size.  It makes the next step even easier.) Lay over pears in skillet and tuck edges in around pears.

Bake until pastry is golden brown, 30 - 35 minutes. Remove tart from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes.

Wearing oven mitts, invert a rimmed serving plate slightly larger than the skillet over tart, keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together, invert tart onto plat Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or ice cream.  Enjoy!!!!!

Lemon Pear Bread With Pecans

Lemon Pear Bread With Pecans

 (NOTE: I think this is a little too lemony.  Maybe I over did the zest)

Recipe from The Garden of Eating blog http://www.thegardenofeating.org/2010/02/lemon-pear-bread-with-pecans.html

Makes One Loaf

Ingredients

* 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

* 3/4 cup sugar

* 1 tsp baking soda

* 1/4 tsp baking powder

* 1/2 tsp salt

* 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

* 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

* 1 1/2 cups grated peeled ripe pears, with juice (you'll need 2-4 pears, depending on their size)

* 1 stick butter, softened or melted (you can also substitute 1/2 cup vegetable oil if you prefer)

* 1 tsp grated ginger (optional)

* 1 large egg

* 1 tsp vanilla

* 1 tsp grated lemon zest

* 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

* 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan and set aside.

2.Whisk the first seven ingredients (all the dry stuff) together well in a medium sized bowl. Then whisk the rest of the ingredients, minus the pecans together in a larger bowl. Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients in the larger bowl just until the dry ingredients are moistened thoroughly, then stir in the chopped pecans.

3. Scrape the batter into the loaf pan and spread it evenly. Bake for one hour to one hour and 15 minutes (this will depend on your oven -- mine only took an hour but the Joy of Cooking recipe says 1:15 - 1:20) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

4. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before removing the bread from the loaf pan and then let cool completely on the rack.