Caramelized Pear and Bacon Empanadas with Thyme Maple Syrup

Hello again.

It has been a while.  I've been busy busy busy with work (and play, but sadly most of that play has not been in the kitchen....) but last Wednesday I found time to make some lovely empanadas.  Now, it's up to you to decide whether they are better as an appetizer (a rather sweet one) or a dessert (not too sweet as far as desserts go)

Caramelized pears accented by fresh thyme, with a cornmeal bacon crust, drizzled with a syrup boasting the complex medley of sap and herb.

Maple and thyme is one of my favorite flavor combinations, and here a syrup of just those two ingredients lets their simple but complex flavor show through together.

Cornmeal Bacon Dough:
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup creme friache
1 tbsp butter, unsalted, melted and cooled
2 cups flour
1 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 tsp salt
8 slices bacon
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup


Cut the bacon into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces, cook in a pan over high heat, when crisp add the brown sugar. Stir continuously for two minutes or until the pan is getting dry, then add the maple syrup. Cook, stirring, until bacon is caramelized and crisp. Remove bacon from pan using slotted spoon letting oil drip off, then spread bacon in a thin layer on a baking sheet or plate to cool. 


Proof yeast with sugar in 1/4 cup of the warm milk until foamy and yeast is doubling in size, about 5-10 minutes. 


Beat in remaining milk, egg and egg yolk, creme fraiche and butter. Stir in cooled bacon, making sure the little pieces aren't all stuck together. Mix in flour, cornmeal and salt and knead using the dough hook until a soft dough comes together. 


Turn out onto a board and knead with your hands, about four minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. Transfer to an oiled bowl, turning dough to coat with a little oil, and let rise for 1 1/2 hours in a warm place or until doubled in size.


Pear Filling:
6 large firm pears
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup
3 sprigs fresh thyme


Mix granulated sugar with brown sugar, set aside. 


Remove cores and stems, and cut pears into rough 1/2 inch cubes. Toss with sugar mixture to coat.


Heat butter in a large heavy pan, cast iron works well. When hot and foaming, add sugared pears and 3 thyme sprigs. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar is bubbling. Cook about 3-5 more minutes, and then pour off most of the liquid, leaving just a bit to coat the bottom of the pan and the pears. Pears should now brown easier, but keep stirring so they don't get stuck. When pears are starting to get soft, 2-3 more minutes, add the 2 tablespoons maple syrup and stir continuously until liquid has been cooked off. Remove from heat, place pears in a bowl and let cool.


Maple Thyme Syrup:
1 cup maple syrup
4-6 sprigs fresh thyme


Place 1 cup maple syrup with 4-6 sprigs thyme in a saucepan. 


Four sprigs makes for a medium sauce, while six will be quite strong. 


Bring to a boil, and let boil gently for three minutes. Cover, remove from heat, and let sit for at least an hour. 


Strain out thyme, and refrigerate syrup.


Asssembly:
Cornmeal Bacon Dough
Pear Filling
Maple Thyme Syrup
1 egg
a few springs thyme


Oven at 450 degrees. 


Punch down dough, and roll out to 1/8 inch thick. 


Cut into circles, any size will work, whatever size cutter you have handy, I find 4-6 inch circles easiest to work with though. 


Spoon filling into center, be sure to squeeze out extra liquid before placing it on dough. A little less then 1/4 cup filling seemed to work well for mine, you want them plump but not to the point to exploding. 


Moisten edges of dough slightly, and press closed firmly with your fingers, then use a fork to crimp the edges. 


Arrange empanadas about 2 inches apart on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Beat egg with 1 tbsp water, and brush on tops of empanadas. Sprinkle with thyme leaves, just a few. Bake 10-15 minutes, or until golden.


Serve warm, and drizzle with thyme maple syrup. Also, some extra syrup in the side is good for dipping.

Brown Bread with Kumquat Butter

It's raining, Annie.

A beautifully rainy and cloudy day, the perfect weather for a steamed up kitchen window.  A hearty, slightly sweet loaf of rustic bread?  I think so.

Things have been hectic, I haven't had the time in the kitchen lately to give birth to my thoughts, and therefore they have been dashing around my head preventing me from doing pretty much anything.  I figured I should fix the whole fiasco before it got too late!

Brown bread with a hint of molasses, a generous amount of wheat germ, and lots of missing-you-for-weeks love packed in there.

This loaf is perfect sliced and toasted in the morning, or the afternoon, or pretty much whenever.  I made some kumquat butter to spread on it, but it really doesn't need it, though the citrus brightens up the dense wheat for sure.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 1/2 cups wheat germ

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbsp salted butter

2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/3 cup molasses

Oven at 350 degrees.  Place your baking sheet in to let it warm up.

Sift flours with baking soda and salt, whisk in wheat germ.  

Cut in butter with your fingers until there are no more chunks.  It should look sort of like cornmeal texture.  

Add molasses and 2 1/2 cups buttermilk.  Stir in until it is damp and dough like.  You may need more buttermilk, keep adding until it is right.  

Knead gently, and when it is a smooth lump, divide into as many loaves as you'd like.  I made two, and they were quite large.  

Once you have divided it into balls, cut an X on the top of each.  About 1/2-1 inch deep depending on how big your loaves are.  

Place on hot baking sheet, and put back in oven.  I made two loaves and baked them on the same pan, they took about 45-50 minutes.  Depending on the size of your loaf/loaves it may take as few as 25 minutes for quite a few small loaves, or a bit longer if you made one giant loaf.  

Once it is done let it cool for quite a while on a wire rack.  

I was too impatient, so I left to go rollerblading while I let mine cool.  ((Well, actually I broke off a piece to eat warm and then left.  But shhhh...))

Kumquat Butter

some butter

some kumquats

I use about half a stick of butter and maybe six kumquats.  Just take the zest or peel or whatever part you like, I used the peel.  Mix it into your softened butter.  Add salt or honey or both.  I also added the tiniest hint of cardamom, but I'm a sucker for spices, I throw them in everything, I just don't tell people...