“Make sure to save room for dessert.”
Santa delivered us a beautiful snow for Christmas! These are pictures of my garden taken from my kitchen window this morning. Looking forward to greener days in the garden next year, but at the moment I’m enjoying this beautiful, relaxing and lazy day!
Happy Christmas and may 2011 bring you health, joy and great meals enjoyed w/ your friends and family!
Our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of a lamb leg roast with mushroom/wine sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and roasted veggies. Dessert was individual chocolate lava cakes w/ the pear gelato (recipe below).
Fortunately I was able to snap these few photos before my camera battery died!
Pear Gelato
Ingredients:
3 pears (of your choice)
6 egg yolks
6 whole cloves
1 quart half & half
1 cup sugar
1 bottle sparkling apple cider (750 ml)
Procedure:
1) Peel, core and slice pears, then poach for 20 minutes in cider w/ cloves; let cool, strain, then puree in food processor
2) In a metal bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until mixture becomes smooth and pale yellow
3) Place half & half in a heavy pot and heat until scalded
4) Very slowly whisk warm half & half into egg/sugar mixture so as not to curdle the mixture
5) Place bowl w/ mixture over a pot of simmering water, stirring continuously w/ a heat resistant spatula until mixture coats the back of a metal spoon (do not let mixture exceed 170 degrees F to prevent curdling), then quickly place bowl in an ice bath to stop the cooking process and promote rapid cooling
6) Once cool, stir in pureed pears and refrigerate mixture for at least 4 hours or overnight
7) Churn mixture in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions
8) Pour gelato into a 2 quart plastic container then place a piece of parchment paper cut to size on the surface of gelato (this will reduce air exposure and prevent ice crystals from forming on the surface of the gelato), seal container and freeze until firm
Yield: Approx. 1 1/2 quarts
Cooking notes: This gelato has a very mild pear flavor. I need to figure out how to concentrate the flavor next time I churn up a batch.
Happy Holidays!