Clafoutis

Thanks for standing by.  I know it's been a while and my writing is a little horribly rusty so please bare with me as I clumsily make my way through this post.  2013 was full of incredible surprises, meeting new people, and taking great trips--including a three week vacation through Italy (ITALY!).  Don't worry, I will indulge in the details and share a few photos later but I figured I'd ease my way back into this place with a short but sweet post about Monday night's dinner which was inspired by scrolling through photos from our trip to Italia.   

Alex and I have just started watching Break Bad.  And by "just started" I mean we've just started Season 4. I don't think I've ever been more captivated by a television show in my life.  I have a very short attention span and usually get antsy after sitting still for just an hour but there have been a handful of days when Alex and I binge watched 5 episodes.  You'd be proud.  

Needless to say, every night that we're home for dinner we plop our bottoms down on the rug in the living room and eat at the coffee table front row to the television.  

Monday night was no different.  I made a big pot of spaghetti with butternut squash, pancetta, fresh English peas, and a Malbec tomato sauce and when Alex got home, we twirled ourselves a heaping pile of pasta, pulled up some rug and plopped ourselves down in front of the television.  No time for pleasantries and romance when there's blue meth to attend to.

Though the pasta was inspired by my flipping through photos of our trip to Italy, what I really want to talk about is the brown sugar pear clafoutis I made for dessert.  I had come across the recipe while reading the Orangette a few days back and dogeared it for another day.  Monday was the day. I had a comice pear who's time was running out and I remembered this clafoutis recipe I had bookmarked the week before. This recipe is going to become a staple in our home starting now.  It's insanely easy and o so good.

I had never heard of a clafoutis before let alone make it!  I had no idea what to expect.  What came  out of the oven was a fluffy, golden souffle that perfumed of sweet vanilla and pear. We let it cool on a wire rack as and once it cooled, Alex and I dove right in.

The clafoutis was smooth, custard-like, and it tasted of caramel.  I have to agree with Molly though, it is much better the next day once the custard has really set.

Brown Sugar Pear Clafoutis
Butter, for greasing the pan
About 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, for dusting the pan
1 large ripe pear
4 large eggs
1 ¼ cups whole milk
1 cup brown sugar
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. fine sea salt or table salt
½ cup (70 grams) all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter a 9 ½-inch pie plate and dust it lightly with granulated sugar. Shake out any excess.

Peel and core the pear, and slice it into roughly 1/4in.  Arrange them on the bottom of the prepared pan.

In the jar of a blender, combine the milk through flour. Blend on high speed for 1 minute (stopping once, if needed, to scrape down any flour that may stick to the sides of the jar). Pour the batter over the pears.

Bake until the custard is puffed and golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. The custard will deflate quite a bit as it cools.

Serve at room temperature or chilled. 

Yield: 6 servings