Ingredients
2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 stick of butter, unsalted, cut into, 1 inch slices
1 egg
1 pinch of salt
1/2 egg shell of water
Directions
Pastry:
Process butter and flour until crumbly. Add egg and water, process
until a ball forms, remove from processor, wrap in cling film,
refrigerate 20 minutes. Cook the tart shell and cool. (He says
nothing of how long or what temperature!)
Tart:
5 pears, peeled, halved, cored, and poached in a simple syrup (2 c
water, 2 c sugar, 1 Tbsp vanilla) 6 oz semisweet chocolate 2 oz
butter 1 large jar apricot preserves 2 Tbsp grand Marnier
Poach pears in liquid until soft, about 30-40 minutes. Test for
doneness with a knife - if there is little resistance, pears are
done. Remove from liquid and cool
Melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, then pour into tart
shell. Halve the pears and make vertical cuts from the bottoms almost
up to the stem ends, spread out cut parts like a fan, and arrange in
the chocolate. Allow the chocolate to set. Bring the apricot
preserves to a boil with the Grand Marnier, then brush very liberally
over the pears. Cool and serve. If this is made in advance and
refrigerated, take out and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Servings: 6 servings
Pear & Chocolate Tart Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Chocolate; Dessert; Pear
The History of Recipes
It is quite possible to track the history of transcribed cooking instructions way back into the distant past, in fact as far as early Egypt, and possibly even further. In practice though, these, early cook books were just very basic hieroglyphic instructions for food preparation.
The truth of the matter is, the most ancient recipe discovered, according to Professor Solomon Katz, is a series of ancient tablets in the Sumerian language which show the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made people feel wonderful and blissful. Moving on, there are two books which were published in the 1300s - one book called `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary named `Curye on Inglish`. Despite their titles, these books have no connection with the spicy food that we all know today, but instead recipes for the types of meals cooked for the rich and powerful of that time. During the following few centuries, the powerful families of the West strove to lay on the most extravagent meals, and consequentially chefs and their recipes were highly sought after. However, it wasn`t until the 19th century that fine cooking and recipe books reached a high level of popularity. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and Fannie Farmer in the US, devoted their lives to assembling, trying out, and writing down recipes of the day. Like it or not, the introduction of TV brought us celebrity TV chefs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. Which brings us neatly up to date and the invention of computers and the internet, allowing everybody to access thousands of recipes just like those on sites such as this. |
We hope you enjoy this Pear & Chocolate Tart recipe.
