This blueberry compote is made with pears, shallots, a dash of cinnamon, a touch of rosemary, and is like a savory fruit jam. It pairs perfectly with this grilled salmon, and I’ve also used it for savory meatballs.

Why You Need this Recipe for a Savory Blueberry Compote

You need this recipe for salmon with a savory blueberry compote, because if you’re like me, you need a new way to bring salmon to the table. We eat a lot of salmon and I like to change my recipe up depending on the season. This is a perfect summer approach.

Ingredients

• Salmon
• Blueberries
• Shallots
• Pear
• Cinnamon
• Rosemary Sprig

More Salmon Dishes from Spinach Tiger

• Salmon Kabobs
• Tuscan Salmon
• Spicy Mayo Salmon
• Salmon Tacos with Mango Salsa
• How to Prepare Salmon Easily
• Salmon with Pasta

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Salmon with Blueberry Compote

Course Entree

Cuisine Italian

Keyword blueberry compote, salmon

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Salmon Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Savory Blueberry Compote

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium pear peeled, cored, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
• 1/4 cup blueberries
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar or Swerve for sugar free
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Salmon

• 4 salmon filets

Instructions

Compote Instructions

• Heat 2 tablespoons butter in medium pan. Add shallots, pear and blueberries until cooked through about one minute.
• Add white vinegar, sweetener, cinnamon, dash salt. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, continue to cook for about 6-8 minutes, and mash to make a compote consistency.

Salmon Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (180 C).
• Dry salmon with paper towels. Take out of fridge 30 minutes in advance if you have the time. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add a small amount of oil to a pre-heated frying pan.
• Add salmon steaks skin side down, and cook on medium for 4-5 minutes. Salmon should easily release to turn over.
• Place pan in oven for another 3-4 minutes.
• Serve with compote.

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The post Salmon with Savory Blueberry Compote appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I am loving my Vitamix to make green smoothies.  I am back to my healthy self again, which means all out exercise. It took me about three weeks to rebuild my stamina from pneumonia, the flu and a sinus infection, which took the better part of three months of my life, where my exercise was spotty to non-existent.

It was a troubling time for me, as I have never gone hardly more than a week without exercise my whole adult life. I’m one of those rare birds who loves to work out, because I need to work out. I really feel it when I’m not in my routine.  I’ve been working out with a group called B. Fab Fitness for the past eight years and if you live in Nashville, it’s worth checking out.

Take a look at the video to see how kids get excited about the green smoothie recipes.

The Vitamix came just in time for me to make this 30-minute  health soup while I was recuperating, and now it’s the staple to give me super nutrition while I’m doing classes several times a week. These workouts are intense and my body needs all the help it can get from the power foods.

These green smoothie recipes have the right color, texture and amount of sweetness as to not taste grassy or have that dull green color, which I think is unappetizing.

These are a few ideas for green smoothie recipes, but you can always mix them up. I generally use a handful of kale and a handful of spinach, an apple and a citrus.

If I want it a little tart, I’ll use lemon. If I want it sweeter, I’ll use a little orange.  For sweetness, I’ll use honeydew pineapple, or mango. These work best frozen in advance.

There are times I might throw in celery and a carrot. The possibilities are endless. To bulk up the smoothie with more nutrition, I’ll  add this unflavored Vitamix protein powder, which remains tasteless in the drink (not like the protein powders that are flavored vanilla, etc.). Other healthy additions are raw oats, ground flax seeds or nuts.

Since this post I discovered that you can freeze spinach and kale.  I wrote about how to freeze kale and spinach here.

More Smoothies from Spinach Tiger

Green Smoothie made with Kombucha

Red Beet Smoothie

Cold Fighting Smoothie for sick kids

Vitamin C Smoothie and Tips for Reducing a Fever

Carob Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

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Green Smoothie with Kale, Apple, Lemon, Honey Dew

Two Recipes for Green Smoothies with Kale & Spinach

Course Beverage

Cuisine Heathy

Servings 2

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• Ingredients for Smoothie Number 1
• 1 cup kale
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 cup honey dew melon
• 1 green apple
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon flax seeds optional
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup ice cubes

Ingredients for Smoothie Number 2

• 1 cup kale
• 2 cups spinach
• 1 frozen pear slice before freezing
• 1 cup chopped mango
• 1/2 orange no seeds
• 1 tablespoon flax seeds optional
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup ice

Instructions

• Mix with together in Vitamix until smooth. You have options to add in flax seeds, the Vitamix protein powder (which is tasteless), avocado, banana, raw oats, nuts, etc.

The post Two Green Smoothie Recipes using Kale and Spinach appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Are you a stress eater or a stress baker/cook?  I tend to be a stress baker. When something falls out from under me and it’s really bad, I tend to run into the kitchen to get some control back. Last Saturday morning was one such morning.

I went to bed miserable and woke up to find nothing had righted itself. When I realized there was nothing I could do, I ran into the kitchen and start breaking eggs, slicing pears and getting out the brandy.

I discovered this pear almond clafoutis over at one of my favorite blogs, Taste Food. Everything that Lynda prepares,  I could eat and I’m a bit picky. I feel like she cooks the food I would want my personal chef to cook.

The Pear Almond Clafoutis is Rustic French Food with Sophistication.

It’s a bit elegant, a bit rustic, and a whole lot beautiful. I’ve made peach clafoutis which I won a cooking contest for and cherry clafoutis, but her presentation swept me and I tried her recipe and loved it.

As I slid the pear and almond clafoutis into the oven,  I told my husband to take it out when the timer goes off, because I needed to go on a run. When I came back, it was ready to photograph. It smelled heavenly and I needed that piece of heaven to help with my disappointment.

It was a site crash and I won’t bore you with why it was just the wrong day for that to happen.

Life is fragile. We can be let seriously let down by technology companies, or attacked by a virus we didn’t see coming.   I try to make the very best of every day, not losing patience, not complaining, trying to be a force for good, moving with gratitude and trying to stay a bit in awe of the wonderment of life, and the good God provides.

Finding beautiful blogs lets me know there  are other people in the world that put their heart into food and the time to make it pretty. Life has rough edges and needs those willing to soften it, give it ruffles.

Lynda doesn’t know how much her recipe helped to brighten my day and make it a better place, and I hope I can return the favor sometime.

I left the pear skins on and generously buttered the pan.

Pear and almonds are a beautiful match together. Add heavy cream and eggs to the mix and it’s a lovely french dessert. Pear and almond clafoutis can also be served at brunch or breakfast. In fact, this would wonderful to serve at Christmas breakfast.  It’s almost like a sweet fruit quiche.  It passes the easy to make, yet elegant to look at, delicious to bite into test.

Make a Low Carb Version: Change sugar to Swerve. Change the flour to Almond Flour

So tell me, do you run to the kitchen to eat when you stress, or do you start banging pans and turning on the oven?

Recipes You’ll Love from Spinach Tiger

Apple Dutch Baby

Peach Clafoutis

Pear Almond Tart with Shortbread Crust

Cherry Clafoutis

Low Carb Italian Pear Cake

Low Carb Apple Upside Down Cake

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Pear Almond Clafoutis

Adapted from Taste Food, this is an easy, elegant french dessert that is perfectly okay served for breakfast too.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Keyword clafoutis

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 3 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons brandy
• 3 to 4 ripe but firm Bartlett pears peeled, cored, thinly sliced
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• Confectioners sugar for dusting

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter your baking dish. Slice pears, thinly. I left skins on as the pears were very ripe.
• I mixed everything in my vitamix, but you can mix in a kitchen aid or beat with electric mixer. Beat the eggs and sugar for a few minutes.
• Add flour, cream, milk, vanilla and almond extracts, salt and brandy. Blend on low to thoroughly mix.
• Arrange the pear slices, slightly overlapping. Pour the custard mixture over the pears. Sprinkle with the sliced almonds. Bake until the top is golden and the custard is set, 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.
• Serve warm, cold or at room temperature.

The post Pear Almond Clafoutis appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Little did I know this buttermilk pie would take me through one of Spinach Tiger’s most difficult times. Last Friday, at approximately 3:55 p.m eastern time, I went to do a blog post, but I couldn’t connect to the server. Not panicking because this had happened before, I went out for the evening and forgot about it. I found out on Saturday morning that the company hosting my website suffered a catastrophic failure explained here. I wasn’t the only one. And, what made this even worse was the the second drive that was supposed to act as the backup protection had also failed. I still didn’t understand everything, even though I read their report over and over again. Saturday I was in a state of panic. Sunday, I felt depressed. I had everything backed up prior to going with Word Press in October but would have to reinsert every photo and then redo every post for the last three months. On Monday, the hosting company found the data and my blog was restored as explained in this nerve racking thread here.  I was dark from Friday afternoon until Monday night. It felt like a blog kidnapping. I was never so happy to see Spinach Tiger go live, and I never want to live this out again. The only thing I can be proud of during that dark weekend is that I held my temper, I stayed cool, and I immediately started looking for a solution to rebuilding if this was true. It made me stop and realize how much a part of me this blog is and to what ends I’ll go to maintain it.

But, the question remains, where was my backup? Having moved my blog to wordpress in September, I thought I had a backup in place.

A Word about Backing Up a Blog

What would happen if your hosting company had a catastrophic failure? It has happened to even the coolest, smartest bloggers. (Not me, I’m only semi-cool, and half smart).

Having a blog is like having a child. You think you know enough to keep growing. You think you have all protections in place. And then something like this happens. In a way it was a good thing because it has forced me to go above and beyond with a back up plan.

We all have our individual reasons for blogging. A large part of it is being connected. We are connected to a community and readers we will never meet. When the plug is suddenly pulled and the connection goes dark, it’s more than unsettling.  Our worst blogging nightmare is to go dark and be told our blog can’t be retrieved. Most of us think we are backed up and secure.

If you have a blog, tell me how is it backed up? Do you have just your content backed up? Or do you have the all data, photos and plug-ins backed up? I am putting a plan in place that will give Spinach Tiger that extra peace of mind. I’ve talked to a few bloggers since this happened. Surprisingly, many are not really sure how well backed up they are. Some back up content. But, what does that mean? How quickly could they get their blog put back together.

I am putting my security in place today, and I will share my plan with you. I would love to hear from you. How secure do you feel about the back up you have in place? What advice would you give someone? Have you ever been caught blind sighted and lost your blog? How would you feel if your blog went dark and you were unsure it could be restored?

The Pie

How much pie would you find yourself eating in the second day of blog darkness? I nearly finished this pie that dark weekend, as it became my comfort food. It was the only thing I ate because I was too upset to cook. The buttermilk creamy part of the pie was soothing to my soul as was the pastry crust which came out just perfect. I had made the pie on Thursday, but it got better each day and it was finished off on Monday morning. Lucky for me, I lost weight, so it never got the best of me, but I certainly got the best of this pie.

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Vanila Buttermilk Pie with Pears

I combined two recipes to make this southern style pie, made with whole buttermilk and pears. Inspired from Desserts from the Loveless Cafe.

Servings 6 -8

Ingredients

• pie shell or tart shell partially baked see my recipe in notes
• 1 cup thinly sliced pears
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 vanilla bean halved lengthwise
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk

Instructions

• Combine sugar, butter, flour and inside of vanilla bean in food processor. Add in eggs one at at time. Once incorporated, stream in buttermilk.
• Pour into pie shell. Top with sliced pears.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until top is golden brown and custard is set.
• Refrigerate for several hours prior to serving. Best made a day ahead.

Notes

Pie Crust Recipe

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour ( plus 1 teaspoon for later)
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
4 tablespoons iced cold water
1 teaspoon sugar

Mix salt and flour together. Cut butter into small pieces. Freeze both for a 15 minutes minutes, as butter softens immediately upon cutting. If using food processor, put flour mixture in bowl and freeze blade. Lay small pieces of butter evenly over flour and mix for 20 seconds at a time, stopping as soon as dough is shaggy. Stream in cold water. If using kitchen aid type mixer, use paddle attachment on low setting for one minute max.

Stream in cold water on sides of bowl. Mix on low, just until incorporated. Form into disc , wrap in plastic at least one hour. I rest my dough overnight, but this is not a must.
Take dough out 30 minutes before rolling to soften.
Roll out dough, evenly, not too thick, less than 1/4” thick and in all directions to make a circle. In this tart pan, it was a rectangle. Do not stretch dough, because it will shrink back. Patch any cracks or holes. Use fork to make indentations.
Partially bake: Cover with parchment and use pie weights or dry beans and bake at 325 for twenty minutes.

If you love the idea of creamy buttermilk desserts, jump over to Alexandra Cooks for her buttermilk panna cotta and some good information for purchasing vanilla beans.

The post Vanilla Buttermilk Pie with Pears and Backing Up Your Blog appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Meatballs with savory blueberry compote, also known in Italy as polpette con milistri, is quite a surprise of tastes and textures. Perfectly tender meatballs spiked with proscuitto, cooked in a brown wine sauce, tucked inside a crown of puff pastry or tart shell, topped with a savory blueberry pear and shallot compote, are the perfect appetizer or main course.  You can use a store bought puff pastry or make a pie crust and adorn it with poppy seeds. I have also made this atop a homemade poppy seed fettuccini.

I first found this recipe in La Cucina Italiana and I was immediately swept into a foodie fantasy, as I am with so many of their enticing modern, yet authentic Italian selections. I could eat their kind of food every night of the week. If I could only subscribe to one magazine, I would never give La Cucina Italiana up. It’s world class in style, yet approachable, non-intimidating, and the pictures alone are worth the price. It’s a style I lean towards. Simple. Clean. Appetizing. They can make a simple dish of pasta look like the last meal for the queen.

Homemade meatballs cooked in a wine sauce and tucked into a pastry shell with a little fresh fruit compote is not deep fried lasagna. It’s still good food, and if eaten in moderation, great food. But, alas, it’s not part of his plan and I looked at Mr. ST and said, “do you want to start the 24 day challenge tomorrow? I’ve made this amazing and unique meat ball dish and you have to try this.”

He didn’t mind one bit. I’ll give a little warning though. This is so good that you probably do want to make this for company so that there are no left overs. You could be easily tempted to eat it all. It’s the kind of good that makes you want to eat it again for breakfast.

Never would I have thought to pair meatballs with blueberries. It works and has opened up a possibility for all kinds of new dishes. The original recipe calls for a combination of veal and pork. I used lean grass fed ground beef and they ended up very tender and quite tasty. Impossible to sample just one.

As far as how to present them, you might experiment. I used a small tart pan to cut out circles and placed them in muffin tins. I baked them frozen and at the last five minutes stuffed them with meatballs. You could make smaller circles and use one meatball and serve as an “amuse bouche.” You could make larger tarts and fill each with six meatballs and serve as an entree with a fresh green salad. You can use a store bought puff pastry or make your favorite pie crust. I used my standard pie crust recipe and deleted the sugar. After rolling, I sprinkled with poppy seeds. I could have made them look a little better, but next time.

The blueberry pear compote is savory, made with a good amount of shallots, and the fruity notes play well off of the proscuitto in the meatballs.

This is a great party dish that can be made ahead of time. The meatballs can mixed and frozen raw or fry them and freeze them cooked (heating up in oven to cook). The compote can be made a day or two ahead and can be frozen.The tart shells can also be made in advance. Freeze prior to baking.

One way we’ve enjoyed this meatball dish in the past is over a homemade poppy seed fettucini.

Tell me, do you love meatballs, and what is your favorite way to eat them?

Pastry Dough recipe can be found  here. Omit sugar.

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Meatballs with Blueberry Compote

Known in Italy as polpette con composta di mirtilli, a lovely meatball dish, served in a poppy seed tart shell, with a blueberry compote. Adapted from La Cucina Italiana Magazine.

Course Entree

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• MEATBALL INSTRUCTIONS
• 1 slice white sandwich bread torn into large pieces
• 1/2 cup low fat milk
• 1/4 pound ground pork
• 3/4 pound grass fed ground beef
• 1 large egg
• 3 1/2 slices proscuitto finely chopped
• 2 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil for frying
• 1/3 cup white wine
• pastry dough see below for recipe Can substitute with store bought puff pastry
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds optional
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 
  COMPOTE INGREDIENTS
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium pear peeled, cored, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
• 1/4 cup blueberries
• 3 tablespoons dry vermouth can use white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

• Make pie dough according to directions found below, or use store bought puff pastry.
• MEATBALL INSTRUCTIONS
• Combine pork, ground beef and one egg.
• Add bread, prosciutto, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Combine with hands gently. Do not overwork.
• Form into 3/4 tablespoon portions and form meatballs. Fry in olive oil for 3 minutes.
• Add 1/3 cup wine. Reduce heat to low, continue to cook 12 more minutes until wine is reduced. Add 2 tablespoons of butter a little at a time until butter is melted.
• PASTRY INSTRUCTIONS
• Roll out pastry dough. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Cut circles with a biscuit cutter and put into small tart pans.
• Bake covered with parchment paper and pie weights at 375 for 10 minutes. Remove foil and pie weights. Bake until golden another 10-12 minutes.

COMPOTE INSTRUCTION

• Heat 2 tablespoons butter in medium pan. Add shallots, pear and blueberries until cooked through about one minute.
• Add dry vermouth, sugar, cinnamon, dash salt. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, continue to cook for about 6-8 minutes, and mash to make a compote consistency.
• Arrange each tart shell with meatballs. Pour in wine sauce.
• Top with compote.
• Serve in larger tart shell as an entree. Serve in smaller tart shells as appetizers

Notes

This recipes can be made into entree using a small 4 inch tart shells or smaller appetizers using, cutting into 4 inch rounds and pressing into muffin pans. The original recipe uses 50/50 ratio of veal and ground pork. I used grassfed ground beef and ground pork in 3-1 ratio.

The post Meatballs with Savory Blueberry and Pear Compote appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

As Fall is just waiting in the woods (I hope) my heart went right to pears. September is a favorite month around here because it gets cooler (a little) and I want to nest and have friends to come over for dinner. This five star makeover is an appetizer pizza that will make any dinner party just a little more elegant but not in any pretentious way. After all, it’s still pizza. Served with a starter white wine, it goes well before almost any main dish.

I don’t have a great story today, except to tell you that the ingredients were free. I won a $100 gift certificate at our local Whole Foods with this recipe I submitted for peach clafoutis. Part of my splurge included the fig jam, fresh mozzarella, pears and a very sharp Inverness cheddar cheese. I purchased these items to eat separately and this pizza was only made by default. It was not my original intention but it was nearly addictive and we made it two days in a row. That right there made it push the broccoli rabe pizza over (for another day) and become the five star entry.

Fig jam mixed with a bit of olive oil to spread on dough.

Pears Love Cheese. The cheddar cheese proved outstanding, but you could easily use a manchego, brie, goat or a blue cheese. And, as an afterthought, some finely chopped walnuts would work well also.

I used a mandolin to slice the pears very thin and evenly. I went back and forth deciding the order of the ingredients and put the fig jam (mixed with olive oil) first followed by pears, then cheese, then a little more fig jam and the salt. When it comes out of the oven, follow up with black pepper and fresh thyme.

Tell me, what is your favorite non-red sauce pizza?

ack pepper

In

The post Grilled Pizza with Pears, Fig Jam, Melted Cheddar, Lavender Sea Salt appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

It’s like pie crust. There’s a lot of chatter out there on how hard it is to make. I recently met a new friend who loves to cook, but was quick to tell me “I don’t make pastry, that’s too hard”. I was stunned, as this person has conquered a lot in their life, obstacles from many directions, yet was intimidated only by what she had “heard.”

And, I used to be just like her. I was intimidated by pie crust because I listened to the stories of other people being intimidated. I had fear because others had fear. Not because I had even tried and failed. This is the worst kind of fear a person can have. It’s the fear that many students in my freshman class of college had about Thaddeus Sampson. They were afraid of what they had heard about. They were afraid they would fail because it got too hard, but they never thought about what it would be like to succeed at something challenging.

Thaddeus Sampson shared his secret with us. He was nearly Simon Cowell honest about our presentation style and organization. But, he taught us how to organize our thoughts and give a presentation with gusto and charisma. He said that if we felt good about the words we used and we knew our subject, we could succeed, but we would have to practice. The more we could find opportunities to present ourselves, the more we could polish our skills. He said anyone could learn to give a good speech, if they knew these basics. Anyone that finished his class, finished as a better speaker and possibly even better person.

And, anyone can make a good pie crust, if they put the time in the kitchen. It takes PRACTICE. It’s a given to use nice flour and good butter and cold water. But, it takes practice to know when to stop each step and when to add more or less water. It takes practice to restrain from smearing a crust instead of incorporating the butter just right. And, when you get there, and you know you succeeded in this frightful kitchen challenge, your kitchen life is changed forever. As confidence builds on the things everyone told you were too difficult, you find you can take on anything.

And, once you’ve mastered the pastry dough, you will never throw a little left over dough away. This is how the dried pear galette was born. I had some left over from the blackberry pie crust cobbler and searched the kitchen for some fruit and only could find dried pears. I gave this a try because here in the south they make fried pies with dried apples and that gave me some inspiration and confidence to take the dried pears and make this galette.

This may be one of the tastiest desserts I’ve made so far. I gave it to Retro Rose when we met for coffee and we agreed to each take just a bite, and it was finished in a few minutes. And, until I make her another one, I’ll not hear the end of it.

What I learned from making pie crust is never listen to the fear in people. Listen for their courage. Thaddeus Sampson is currently the Dean of Communications, Humanities and the Arts Division in a Pennsylvania college. He graduated from Howard University in the late 60’s and if you know your American history, you will know he didn’t listen to fear.

Recipe
Pie dough
dried pears or any dried fruit soaked in any kind of fruit juice for 30 minutes
milk for brushing dough
sugar for sprinkling on dough

Pie Crust (enough for two pies, one large cast iron pan 10 inches)
1 stick butter
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons cream cheese

Cut butter into small cubes. Freeze. Mix flour, salt, sugar in food processor. Add butter evenly in flour mixture. Process just until you have large pea size pieces. Stream in water, slowly and stop as soon as dough forms. Flour your hands, take out dough and if it’s too wet, four each ball (make two and wrap in plastic overnight. You can make the same day, but refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Roll out, fill with dried fruit and fold up. Brush dough with milk, sprinkle with sugar.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake 30 minutes or when done.

The post Dried Pear Galette and A Word About Fear appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

This is beautiful world of food blogging. Like a snowflake or a finger print, everyone has their own unique way to talk to the world through food.

I want to tell you about my friend Peter. Peter is Australian of Greek descent, which is such a sexy combo, and his blog, Souvlaki for the Soul, often reflects Greek and Mediterranean food, his world travels and stunning photography. There is a certain “food blogger” look in photos that is quite lovely with white backgrounds and lots of softness, but Peter’s style is very dramatic and stands apart from the crowd, as he adds drama to his food placing it against dark backgrounds and using photos to tell his story, much more so than I do.

Peter recently did a pear post that inspired me to take the last of the pears and poach them in my homemade blackberry sangria. I couldn’t get the pear picture I wanted, but he nailed it. You might want to take a look at the pears, a greek dish or some places he’s been. It’s worth a visit to see how he captures his world. He is one of my on-going inspirations and I hope to one day have dinner with him again.

The Pears
I often think of poached pears as terribly sophisticated, and somewhat retro, which might be why I’m slightly drawn to them. They are the dessert for grown ups and for cooks who don’t want to fuss with pastry, (although I do like to fuss with pastry too).

I added cinnamon sticks, and allspice. This is wonderful idea to make for company, because your house will smell so good, (think mulled wine). This is an odd dish to make in June, but think of pairing with vanilla ice cream and or reduce the wine down to super syrupy sauce.

If you don’t have sangria, you can use red wine (merlot or shiraz) and a cup of sugar.

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Blackberry Spiced Pears and My Friend Peter

Blackberry Sangria poached pears make a lovely dessert.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 4 pears
• sangria or enough red wine to cover half the pears at a time they will be turned over midway
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• a few cloves optional

Instructions

• Bring wine and spices to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Add in pears. Turn at 10 minutes. Simmer another 10 minutes. This, of course depends on how ripe the pears were to begin with. You will have to be the judge. You want the pears to poach and be easy to cut through and still able to stand. The wine will only color the outside of the pear. Remove pears to cool. Reduce wine mixture down to make a sauce to pour over pears before serving.

The post Blackberry Spiced Pears appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

The green salad is much beloved. It’s on just about every menu just anywhere. It affords the largest stretch of creativity, jumbling lots of ingredients into one big bowl and tossing with any number of dressings. It’s the easiest dish to prepare and at the same time, the most difficult. A good salad requires a bit of finesse because you are balancing acid, fat, and salt amidst cold greens. It can be spectacular delivering a big punch, a cleansing of the palate, and satisfying refreshment. In all of my circles of friends throughout the years, I am most known for my salads, but I don’t present them here very often, because on the surface they seem overdone in recipe world and ordinary. And, no matter how much my salad could win best in show, it’s really the TASTE that makes the difference.

This is the salad we are having on Christmas Eve. I know it’s a winner because I took it to a party last night and it was gone in the first five minutes. It was huge party where everyone brought a dish and I was the only salad. People think salad is not an exciting or appealing dish to bring to a party, but I disagree. A gorgeous, delicious salad that is dressed in a bright vinaigrette is probably more welcome than one more Christmas cookie.

Of all the things I could possibly bring to a dinner or to a party, I most enjoy bringing the salad. I know how to make people happy to eat greens and make it almost feel like dessert.

Many home cooks can beat me out on pastry or sauces, but not salads. It’s my territory and for a few reasons:

• I love salads, I need salads.
• I understand vinegar and the myth of balsamic.
• I understand salt and the demise of Morton’s.
• I most often pair some kind of fruit and cheese into my salad (what’s better than that?)
• I am not afraid of fat (bring on the oil, cheese, nuts, prosciutto).

About Salad Greens
If you have fallen into the spring greens trap, or the delicate mixed greens trap that you find in a bag at the grocery or in a big bin at $8 a pound, perhaps it’s time to give an old lettuce a new try. Romaine is a great lettuce for wintery ingredients and happens to be packed full of nutrients. When I think of winter salads, I think of adding cheese, nuts, and fruits such as pear, apple, orange and pomegranate. Romaine holds up underneath these ingredients quite well.

The crispy prosciutto, winter pears, and pomegranate, bring the salt, the sweet, and the tart. I chose a ricotta salata, not to be confused with ricotta cheese. It’s sheep’s milk cheese that crumbles like a feta or slices and is milky, mild, and salty.

Instead of cheese, try white chocolate. This salad would be perfect with a shaving of white chocolate. I did that here and it was delicious and quite the surprise. You don’t need a lot, and you still want to add your salt and pepper. It’s still not a dessert although I often prefer my salad at the end of a meal.

The Salad Dressing
This is the hardest thing to teach with words. All greens are different. You will grab different amounts on different days, and the ingredients change things also. You need to taste! You need to get an idea of what a good salad should taste like. Just tasting the dressing doesn’t necessarily mean anything either because the taste can only really be tested on the salad you are eating. Now that’s unfair of me to say this, isn’t it? I should be able to give you a perfectly measured out recipe for a dressing, and I probably could do that. But, that is not how I make my salads. So I will give you some guidelines and invite you to play with your dressing, while abiding by a few of my own food rules.

Fat and Acid: A good salad tastes good by the right mix of fat and salad. I never drench my salad with oil, but I toss each leaf to glistening. If I”m adding cheeses, nuts, fruits, etc., I toss my greens first and get the flavors right. I prefer to toss with oil first, vinegar or lemon second, and then add in my ingredients and toss again. Many balsamic vinegars are not true to the process and should not be used for anything except perhaps a reduction in a sauce. If you taste, and you pucker, don’t use on your salad. There are some moderately priced, aged balsamics that are worthy. There are also some very expensive balsamics that can cost up to $100. These are used for special occasions, so think of balsamic that will “add” to your flavor profile but not necessarily be the main acid to the dressing. What I’m saying is mix it up. Use your wine vinegar for the zing and add in balsamic for the flavor. In this case, I used a blackberry pear balsamic that was part of the gift bag we received at the food buzz festival. It’s a small bottle and I used a tablespoon just at the end, drizzling it on.

You could mix your dressing together first, but truthfully, I don’t like to waste dressing, and the dressing I make today might not work for the salad I make tomorrow. (There are times, however, I do make a dressing that is emulsified).

Amounts of Ingredients: I have no true measurements here for the pomegranate, cheese or crispy prosciutto. If you look at the picture above, I used about 3 times the amount of romaine as remaining ingredients you see. I hope that helps.

Recipe for Holiday Salad of Romaine, Pear and Pomegranate

• 20-25 romaine lettuce leaves (about 3 heads)
• 1 cup of pomegranate seeds
• 4 slices prosciutto de parma crisped in oven (can sub with bacon)
• 1 pear, sliced in quarters and then again in thin slices
• 2 oz ricotta salata shaved over salad
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Balsamic Vinegar (something sweet) I used ……blackberry with pear
• Rose wine vinegar (or good quality red wine vinegar)
• Grey sea salt or sea salt
• Freshly ground cracked pepper

Rip lettuce leaves into large bite size pieces. Toss with olive oil, enough to glisten each leaf. Less is more. You can add more later, but you can’t retract oil. Toss with red wine vinegar, just enough to taste the brightness. Add in 3/4 of each of the rest of the ingredients. Toss. Taste again. Add salt and pepper to season. Garnish with remaining ingredients. Drizzle balsamic over dressing (about 1 Tablespoon) just before serving.

Note: Taste and taste again. Be your own judge. You want to taste, sweet, salty, tart and richness. It shouldn’t bee too salty, too sweet, or too tart, but work together to feel refreshing and satisfying. You may need to douse a bit more red wine vinegar on at the end.

Option: Instead of cheese, try a shaving of white chocolate. I know this sounds unusual. It is, but it is also so festive and wonderful, and really pairs well with the fruit and the blackberry balsamic vinegar.

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Watching the twitter board this morning, I saw a tweet from Chrystal of the Duo Dishes. She was making a tarragon chicken pie for her family while visiting Atlanta. I remember reading one of her posts where she and Amir won a pie contest for that pie, and I asked her how she did it. She gave me a great idea for the chicken left over from Thanksgiving.

Chrystal’s pie pointed me in the pastry direction and a tarte tatin popped into my head. Now that is actually funny and ridiculous because I’ve never even made the normal expected apple tarte tatin. I had to look up the spelling! Up until a year ago I never made my own pie crust, but since Spinach Tiger was born I’ve gotten so comfortable with pie crust or should I say, pâte brisée, that I don’t even use a recipe. Gasp! I know, I’m supposed to measure, but when I’m creating a recipe I get into the right brain “whirlwind” mode and reaching for measuring cups will break the cycle. To the best of my ability, I will remember how I did the flakiest crust of my life, and I’m convinced that it’s a lot more about the “feel” and not the specific directions. Flour and butter are not created equally. Of course you can use your own recipe. And, since this is dish meant to bring new life to “leftovers,” feel free to use a store bought pie crust. (Trader Joe’s makes a good one).

This recipe is a guideline. You might want to use various other ingredients, but I hope it gets you thinking about creative ways to use left overs. I’ve been reading Marcella Hazan’s memoirs, Amarcord, and one of the things I love about the Italians is that they never waste food. They ate nose to tail, and they recreated ways to use leftovers. Bread is never thrown away (it has/had religious symbolism). My mother, who is supposed to be 100% Italian descent, throws more food away than she makes, but not Ms. Spinach Tiger. I will find a way to take a chicken, roast it, make soup stock, and then any number of dishes until the food is gone. It’s a personal challenge to make leftovers taste as good as something one would serve intentionally in a restaurant.

This savory tarte tatin is made with left over roasted chicken, a pear and a bulb of fennel. I used what I had on hand, but would have loved more pears in the dish. I’m trying to discipline myself toward a practicality that most food bloggers (especially me) don’t have, because we will gas up the car to go out and purchase one more pear to make our dish even better.

This is baked upside down, layering in the caramelized pears, fresh ginger, fennel and onion, then the chicken, and then the pâte brisée It’s baked for 40 minutes and then flipped over to reveal a caramelized, savory delicious rustic lunch or dinner.

The onion is the key in bringing the pears and fennel together. The ginger is more of an afterthought, but it adds another layer of flavor. I kept it very simple, merely sauteing chicken in a little butter.

It was delicious and you could repeat this without any meat and it would still be good, perhaps with a bit of crumbled gorgonzola, roquefort or goat cheese. (I’m still a huge blue cheese fan, although we don’t hear enough about this anymore as goat cheese has taken over the food world), but I think it’s time to bring blue back.)

Print

Savory Pear, Fennel and Chicken Tarte Tatin

A savory tart tatin with fennel, pears, and chicken

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pie crust
• Savory Pear Fennel Chicken Tarte Tatin
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 pears thinly sliced, divided
• 1 bulb fennel sliced thinly, crosswise
• 1 medium onion sliced thinly
• 1 teaspoon ginger freshly grated
• 2 cups roasted chicken diced or turkey

Pie Crust Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 3-5 tablespoons ice water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

• Peel and thinly slice two pears. You will cook half of the pears with the chicken mixture and reserve the other half of the pears pears for the bottom of the pan. (Keep in mind after baking, pan is turned over) before serving. Those pears on the bottom will now be on the top. .
• Put onion and butter in cold pan. When onion is softened, add fennel, cook for about 5 minutes, add half of the pears. Continue cooking until all is softened. Grate fresh ginger over the mixture. Add chicken (or turkey) Cool to room temperature.
• another pear separately (will be used to line bottom of pan, so cut uniformly and thinly.
• op with remaining mixture. The decorative part will use about 1 pear. Add chicken. Top with pastry crust. Fold inside around the mixture.
• Poke holes for steaming. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.
• Allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning over.
• Turn over onto a serving plate.

Pie Crust Instructions

• Mix with pastry blender or food processor until butter is like peas. Don’t over mix. Add in water, and gently pat together. Wrap in plastic in disc shape for a minimum of 30 minutes. Don’t skip resting part.
• Take out, flour surface and rolling pin and roll into a round disc, enough to cover pan.
• You may have some left over.

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