In one of my culinary classes, a few semesters ago, I was assigned the task of creating a cold hors d'oeuvre to be served for my final. As a class, we were opening a restaurant for one night and we each had to take part in making a recipe to go on the menu. Well, my professor (Chef Hamblin) being the good teacher he is, shot many of my ideas down. They were too simple, and quite honestly he expected more from me. So, one day I was searching recipes online and I came across this one. Roasted baby pears... It was a salad created by Tyler Florence. I was not assigned to the salad course, so I thought, how can I make this into an hors d'oeuvre? I loved taste of pears and bacon together and I just needed to make a complete dish. After much talking with my professor and many trials in the kitchen, I came up with this. (by the way, writing a recipe that comes out the way you want it to every time is soooo hard when you make the whole thing up!)
If you're my friend on Facebook, which all of you currently are, you have seen this picture before.
I call it a Vol au vent with pear confit, goat cheese mousse, and bacon (that is a mouthful, so if you have suggestions on a better name, feel free to throw them my way). I decided to share this fantastic recipe with the world (which currently consists of 12 of you). I changed it up a little this time and it's ok to do that, however, I will warn you that there are many potent flavors in this dish and any one of them on their own will not be as pleasant as all of them together. So, just stay mindful of the savory vs. salty vs. sweet vs. acidity.......as you experiment and you'll be just fine. :)
Here's our shopping list:
1 sheet of store bought puff pastry dough (or a recipe that yields .5 lb)
5 oz goat cheese (you may use gorgonzola or blue cheese)
1 1/2 cup heavy cream (for whipping, but don't buy pre-whipped cream, it will be too sweet)
3 large pears
1 cup champagne vinegar
3/4 cup honey
1 cup sugar
1/2 apple juice
4 slices of bacon
Step 1: The puff pastry
Let the store bought dough come to room temperature. For the dish I made today, I did a homemade gluten free puff pastry dough. Lyle's mom can't have gluten, so I followed this recipe www.artofglutenfreebaking.com It turned out really well for gluten free puff pastry. If you are adventurous to make your own, there are good instructions here. You can also find a regular recipe online. One day I will put mine up, but that would make this post much too long. :)
Roll the dough out (if necessary) to about 1/4 of an inch thick. Cut the dough into identical rectangles big enough to make a big napoleon "cake" style dish. You can really make it whatever size you want. The recipe will give you plenty of ingredients for one cake the size of the one in my pictures and then some (you can probaby get 2). The cake served 4. I'm really not specific with my portions (incase you can't tell), it's hard to write a recipe.
Bake the dough off according to the box instructions. Puff pastry won't grow sideways very much (it mostly gets taller), so cut it as big or small as you want it (don't you love my lack of precision).
Step 2: The pear confit
Now, or a few days before, or whenever, you can start preparing your roasted pear confit. Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. Mix your champagne vinegar, honey, apple juice, sugar, in a bowl large enough for you to throw your chopped pears into as well. Take your pears and chop them up. Or you can slice them for this style if you would like. Just have fun with this. After they are chopped put them in the mixture. Pour them into a roasting pan or onto a cookie sheet. All of the pieces need to lay flat. You don't want any of them sitting on top of each other. Make sure that there is only enough liquid to come up half way to a piece of pear. Basically, you don't want to have your pears covered with the liquid because you want them to get a nice browning color on them. They need to roast unti they are tender about 20 minutes. Stir it up about half way through. Trust your gut. If it looks like they are done early, take them out. If they look like they need to be in there longer, give them a little more time.
When they are done let them cool and put them in the fridge for later.
Step 3: The mousse
Normally I make this dish with Goat cheese (chevre), but I couldn't find it at the store this time so I went with gorgonzola. Goat cheese is a lot like gorgonzola or blue cheese, but its a lot lighter in flavor. We don't really want an overpowering mousse, so if you use blue cheese or gorgonzola, I usually only use a couple of tablespoons of it and add about the same amount of cream cheese. Heat the cheese up in the microwave 20 seconds at a time. You don't want to cook the cheese, but you need to soften it so you have a smooth mousse. Mix the cream in a mixer until you have stiff peaks (don't over mix or you will get butter). After you have a smooth mixable cheese and the whipped cream is done, fold the cream into the cheese mixture. When it is thoroughly combined throw that in the fridge too.
Step 4: BACON!!!!!
Cook up some bacon. Pretty easy right? It needs to be crispy, but not burnt. But then again, however you prefer to eat it is just fine. When it is cooked and cooled, chop it into small pieces. This is just a garnish, but the flavor is soooooooo important to the dish. :)
Step 5: Assembly
Take a piece of the puff pastry and lay it on the plate. Top it with the pear mixture and some of the mousse.
On top of that, place another layer of puff pastry (it's kind of a balancing act, so just watch what you are doing).
Then add more pears and mousse. I was squeezing the mousse through a plastic baggy with no tip....so it looked weird (we all know I'm not perfect).
So I spread it out.....again, not the best. But it tastes good. That's what is important. :)
Top it with bacon. Honestly, you can't have too much bacon in each bite, so go crazy if you so desire.
Carefully (really carefully) cut them into individual pieces. It's pretty wobbly and will fall apart easily. If you don't wan to deal with that, cut the puff pastry first then construct lots of small ones. (Hind site is 20/20 right?)
If you are so excited about this new discovery of bacon and pears, you can also slice some pears (sprinkle some sugar and a tiny bit of vinegar on them), wrap them in bacon, and throw them in the oven at 400 till the bacon is cooked. It's sooooooooo good!!!!!!
Well, now that you know how to create this amazing flavor combination, I'm sure you want to get to it. So go and experience this wonderful dish! I hope you enjoy it. IF you don't, I'll understand. It's one of the most random things I've ever eaten or made in my life. :)
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