The rewards of nature
Pears are in season now so make the most of their delicious flavour in both sweet or savoury dishes
This year has flown by. I truly feel I’ve blinked and I’ve missed it. I hope we can all agree that this year has been better than last? Apart from more weeds than usual, the Kitchen Garden has been our haven. Until last week we’ve been harvesting several times per week. Nature muddles through and can be exceptionally generous, even when we’ve not given it as much attention as it should have had.
Victor is getting on top of the autumn maintenance and all the mulching and pruning is getting ticked off the list ready for its winter sleep.
Our permanent fruit beds and trees have been super giving. Rhubarb, strawberries, gooseberries, cherries (abundant but we missed the picking and the squirrels got the lot), blueberries and apples in that order have never produced as much. This month usually provides our pear provisions. But all we’ve got is a pair! Yes two pears only from our Pear William espalier that climbs the south facing back wall of the garden. It’s usually exceptionally generous but we think the blackbirds got the pick of the crop.
It doesn’t mean we won’t be cooking with pears. The Abate pears (which we get from Italy) which are as juicy as the Comice variety are coming into season and they are totally moreish. They are my children's favourite fruit. There were my father’s favourite too. Sadly none of my children were able to meet their Nonno Johnny, so I have a little smile to myself when they are able to enjoy them. Favourite food shared through the generations and they don’t even know. How beautiful is that?
Pear and chicory salad
This crisp autumnal salad is perfect as a starter.
Serves two 1 large ripe pear, peeled and sliced when you’re finishing the dish so it doesn’t discolour small chicory, washed and leaves finely shredded
100g chunk of Lanark Blue or other blue cheese
50g toasted walnuts, crushed 1 tablespoon of light honey
2-3 tablespoons of EVOO salt
1 Scatter the leaves on a large platter. Place the pear slices on top, then sprinkle the walnuts. Crumble the
Lanark blue and dress with the salt, oil and honey. Gently mix and enjoy.
Milanese
This is a quick fix for tea. Per hungry person
1 free range chicken breast, trimmed, butterflied and cut horizontally through the middle to give two pieces seasoned plain flour, about 2 tablespoons
1 free range egg beaten
50g panko breadcrumbs olive oil for frying
15g unsalted butter salt
1 Choose a shallow frying pan that both breasts will fit. Fill with oil so the chicken will sit but not drown.
2 Lightly flatten out the chicken breasts, dip in the flour then the egg and then finally the breadcrumbs. 3 Heat the oil until just before it starts to smoke. When you start to fry, the chicken should sizzle but not spit.
4 Fry for about 4 minutes on one side and turn when golden. Fry for another 4 minutes and then transfer to a baking tray.
5 Dab a little of the butter on the chicken and bake for 10 minutes in a hot oven Gas 5 or 6 until cooked all the way through and crispy.
6 Season with salt before serving with a big wedge of lemon.
Pear and roasted almond tart
This is a labour of love but it’s one of my favourite desserts.
Serves six to eight
For the pastry
250g plain flour pinch of salt
120g unsalted butter, chilled 70g icing sugar
2 egg yolks
For the filling
250g whole blanched almonds 250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
250g golden caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 free range eggs
4 firm pears
1 To make the pastry, sieve the flour and salt into a bowl. Grate in the butter and mix with your fingertips to the consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, mix well, then add the egg yolks. Combine to form a dough. If you need add a splash of ice-cold water to help.
2 Refrigerate for about 1 hour.
3 Remove the pastry from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. Roll the pastry out to the thickness of a pound coin and use to line a 24cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Return to the fridge for 30 minutes.
4 Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/GAS 4. Remove the tin from the fridge and line the base of the pastry with greaseproof paper. Fill with baking beans and bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes until the pastry is lightly cooked and golden. Remove from the oven and discard the baking beans and greaseproof paper. Set aside. Lower the temperature of the oven to 160C/325F/GAS 3.
5 Put the almonds on a non-stick baking tray and toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes until golden but not brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Put the cooked almonds in a food processor and blend until fine. Transfer to a bowl and add the butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Slowly fold in the eggs. If you beat them, the mixture will contain too much air and will overcook.
6 Peel the pears, cut them in half and layer them on top of the pastry in the tin. Spoon the almond mixture on top of the pears and bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until golden. I cover mine half way through with greaseproof paper so it doesn’t brown too much. Make sure the batter is cooked. Remove from the oven. Leave to cool, then carefully remove from the tin; if it’s not cool the butter is still liquid so it will collapse.