Roasted Spiced Pears And Figs With Almonds Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Toss the almonds with olive oil, salt and cayenne, and place on a baking sheet. Roast in the hot oven until they begin to crackle and smell toasty, 15 to 20 minutes. Be careful when you open the oven door because the capsicum in the cayenne is quite volatile, so avoid breathing in, and be careful of your eyes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Toss with the thyme.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• In an ovenproof 10-inch heavy skillet toast almonds in one layer in middle of oven until golden, about 5 minutes, and transfer to a bowl.
• Halve pears lengthwise and cut each half into 3 wedges, discarding cores. Quarter figs lengthwise.
• In skillet melt sugar and butter over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is melted completely and remove skillet from heat. With a knife halve vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape seeds into butter mixture. With a wooden spoon stir in vanilla pod, cinnamon, allspice, pears, and figs until coated and roast in middle of oven 20 minutes, or until pears are just tender. Remove pod and with spoon stir in almonds until coated well.
• Serve fruit mixture warm with sour cream.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Arrange the pears, cut sides up, on a baking sheet and dot with butter. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until the pears are just tender. Let cool.
• Increase the oven heat to 450 degrees F.
• Sprinkle the counter and a rolling pin lightly with flour. Roll the dough out to a 14-inch round, about 1/4-inch thick. It doesn't have to be perfect. Transfer the dough to the back of a lightly floured baking sheet. Slice the pears and arrange them on the dough round by overlapping the slices in a spiral fashion, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Drizzle with the honey, scatter blue cheese over the top, and sprinkle with the almonds.
• Brush the border with the egg wash. Bring the edge of crust over onto the filling, leaving the fruit exposed in center. Gently fold and pinch the dough to seal any cracks. Brush the crust with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle with the sugar. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is tender. Slide a knife under the crostata to loosen it from the pan. Then cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.
• Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix with a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg yolk and ice water and work that in with your hands. (Or do the whole thing in a food processor, pulsing a couple of times to combine the dry ingredients, then pulsing in the butter, and then the egg.) Check the consistency of the dough by squeezing a small amount together between thumb and forefingers: You want there to be just enough moisture to bind the dough so that it holds together without being too wet or sticky. If it's still crumbly, add a little more ice water, 1 teaspoon at a time. When you get it to the right consistency, shape the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic. Put it in the refrigerator and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Toast the almonds in a dry skillet over a medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer the almonds to a bowl.
• In a small bowl, stir together the cumin, garlic, cayenne pepper and salt. Heat the oil in the skillet over medium heat. Stir the spices into the oil and cook, stirring until warm, about 30 seconds. Add the almonds and cook, stirring frequently, until the nuts are warm and the spices are evenly distributed. Add the hot pepper sauce and stir to distribute. Remove the almonds from the pan and allow them to cool before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Melt butter in an 8-inch square glass baking dish in middle of oven, about 3 minutes.
• Arrange pears, cut sides down, in 1 layer in butter and roast in middle of oven until tender, about 20 minutes.
• Pour vinegar over pears and roast 5 minutes more.
• Transfer pears, cut sides down, to serving plates with cheese and spoon some of juices from baking dish over pears. Drizzle pears and cheese with honey and sprinkle with pepper.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Lightly grease a 10x15-inch jelly roll pan.
• Combine egg white and vanilla in large bowl; beat until frothy. Add almonds and toss to coat. Pour almonds into a mesh strainer to drain excess liquid, 5 to 10 minutes. Return strained almonds to the bowl.
• Stir white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, chili powder, and salt together in a bowl. Sprinkle sugar mixture over almonds and toss to coat evenly. Spread coated nuts evenly onto prepared jelly roll pan.
• Bake, stirring every 20 minutes, until the seasoning clings to the almonds, about 1 hour. Allow to cool completely before storing in an air-tight container.