Today is my gorgeous girlfriend, Jen’s, birthday. I cannot begin to express how much I love this amazing woman; she is my rock, my soul-mate sister, my “on demand” comedian, my friend.  She can make me laugh like nobody’s business! She is there through thick and thin and is a loving friend, mother, wife, sister, aunt, and daughter. Whenever I have something to share, complain about, need help, advise, or just want to chat, Jen if the first person I call.

The one really awful thing about Jennifer? She lives 1,400 miles from me (as the crow flies).  Happy birthday Jenny Jen, I forgive you for that one awful thing and love you unconditionally!

For the rest of the week, I will highlight and share recipes from Jen, who is coincidently, a great cook, or recipes of mine that are favorites of hers. Today’s recipe is a fun and quite rich appetizer pizza that is perfect for upcoming holiday parties.

My girl, Jen

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Before we get to the second poached pear recipe – a momentous occasion – for me, at least.  This is my 100th post, never imagined I’d get here when I began my blog back in August! Oh Happy Day!  OK, enough self congratulatory for now and on to the work at hand… savory poached pears…

Pears were poached in a sweet liquid and used for dessert in yesterday’s post.  Today, these wine poached pears with be used in a savory salad. The flesh takes on a gorgeous deep red color.

Walnut oil is used for the vinaigrette, but olive oil can be substituted. Nut oils should always be stored in the refrigerator. Just like the nuts they come from, the oils goes rancid quickly at room temperature.

The “seeds” of a fresh pomegranate are called arils and they should be showing up in markets since it is pomegranate season, take advantage and purchase them now, the season is short. The good news – arils can be frozen. To freeze, spread arils in a single layer on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Place in freezer for about two hours. Transfer frozen arils to a labeled and dated zip-lock bag. You can easily remove the amount you need when desired and return the rest quickly to the freezer.  They will keep for about 6 months.

This salad is beautiful for any of the upcoming holidays and the poaching liquid can be saved for an upcoming Thanksgiving recipe for Pearl Onions and Wild Mushrooms in Red Wine Sauce, which will be posted later this week.*
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I believe I’ve mentioned this before – I love chai tea! My brain has been working overtime to come up with recipes to use the chai concentrate that I am totally addicted too. First up are poached pears in chai – these are delicious! The poaching liquid uses a fresh vanilla bean. Vanilla beans (and extract for that matter) are expensive, so be sure you’re getting a nice fresh one. The way to tell if it is fresh is to feel it. It should be soft and pliable, when you bend it, it should not break or crack. Costco sells gorgeous plump beans in a glass tube with a rubber stopper (the stopper helps keep them fresh longer once the package is opened). The glass tube is attached to a large piece of cardboard, look for it in the spice aisle. A good reason to purchase the beans at Costco is because of their high turnover. When purchasing vanilla beans at the grocery store, (where the turnover isn’t as quick) be sure to pull a bottle from the very back of the shelf and give it a good shake and listen to whether it sounds hard or soft. If you get it home and it is hard and breaking, be sure to return it, it is of no use in that state.

Once you remove the vanilla bean from the poaching liquid, allow it to dry on a counter for a couple days, when it is completely dry, add it to your container of granulated sugar, the vanilla flavor will permeate the sugar and give you  lovely vanilla scented sugar.

The best way to core the pears is with a mellon-baller. It creates a perfectly round hole in the pear to fill. Tomorrow the other poached pear recipe – savory instead of sweet…
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Continuing on the panini theme, how about a couple dessert panini? Since I have leftover panettone, brie, and pears – it sounds like a plan to me! Raisin bread, sourdough, challah, or brioche are other great bread choices.

Nutella on top, brie on the bottom.

Panini are the perfect weekend late lunch or dinner while watching my Arizona Cardinals in Sunday Night Football.  The word “panino” is Italian for small bread roll; its plural form is panini. Many Americans use the word paninis, which is incorrect.  I’m using panettone as the bread for my panini. Panettone is a sweet bread of Milan, it is usually prepared for Christmas and New Year all around Italy and is one of the symbols of Milan.  It is readily available in markets now and throughout the holidays.  I found two flavors at Cost Plus World Market, the traditional which is studded with candied orange, citron, lemon zest and raisins. The other is a Cranberry Panettone and has dried cranberries in place of the raisins.

To make panini, you can use an electric panini press, a cast-iron stove-top press, a waffle iron, or even a George Forman grill.  Just be sure to preheat whatever you use. I have a well seasoned stove top cast-iron press, so I do not butter my bread first, but you certainly can if you so chose.

I was drinking a chai tea latte while I was making these and just before I was going to caramelize the apple slices, I decided to use the chai tea concentrate instead of water to caramelize the sugar… turned out great!  I love the TAZO brand, but you can easily use 1/4 cup water in it’s place.

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