Caramelized Pear & Brie Crostini

Wow. I can't believe that I received so many "welcome back" comments on my last post! I thought for sure that I had completely lost all my readers after being gone for so long! Thanks so much, everyone, for all your support! It really means a lot to me that you haven't given up on me/the blog. =) I will take pictures of my kitchen soon! I'm waiting for a good sunny day...which is rare these days in Seattle. hehe.

Whew! I meant to post earlier in the week, but I've been super busy with Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday of all time. What could be better than cooking, eating, and shopping?! Three of my favorite things rolled up into one holiday! Not to mention, a four-day weekend. =)

We always celebrate Thanksgiving on Saturday and for the past couple of years, I've been in charge of the entire dessert spread, which consisted of: (1) Pumpkin Cheesecake, (2) Apple Pie, (3) Pumpkin Pecan Pie, (4) Caramel Corn, (5) Peppermint Bark Dark Chocolate Brownies, and (5) Gingerbread cookies - all decorated in snowflake patterns! What made it on your dessert table this year?

My BFF Kelly and I are hardcore about Black Friday Shopping. We get up every year at 4am and shop 'til we drop! This year, I was extremely productive and finished all of my Christmas shopping! We woke up at 4am, shopped for 9 hours, then went home and rested for 20 minutes. After which, I baked for 8 hours straight and ended up going to bed at 1am! BEST DAY EVER.

Earlier today, Hubby and I put up the tree - a red and silver themed tree with sprays of cranberries and pine cones! We also wrapped all the presents with 4 different types of red and silver wrapping paper, to match. It's super beautiful!! All in all, it's been an incredibly productive and fun weekend! I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did!


Today's recipe is a toasted crostini, topped with Brie, Gorgonzola, caramelized cinnamon pear, and minced chives. The cheese is gooey and suuuuper creamy. The crostini is incredibly crispy and has a great crunch to it. This is one of my favorite recipes of all time. Yes, it's just that amazing.

(1) The Crostini

You'll need a baguette, preferably day-old. The trick is to slice it suuuuuper thin. The thinner you can slice it, the better. Seriously, I can't stress it enough. Mine are less than 1/4inch thick.

Slicing thin pieces of bread can be difficult to do. What will help is a super sharp knife. So grab the sharpest one you have. If you slice it too thick, it won't toast up to be crispy. This recipe calls for a completely crunchy crostini- think crouton crispy. Just say no to soft centers~! =)

Line them up on a cookie sheet and coat them with olive oil. Make sure you do both sides.

It's easier if you use Pam olive oil spray, as opposed to brushing it on. It'll take 30 seconds to spray each side.


When you bake them, let them get golden brown, but be careful not to let it get too dark. You'll have to return them to the oven for about 5 minutes to melt the cheese later, so if you let them get too dark now, they'll burn later. Set aside. (Since they're totally crisped through, they will not get soggy if left on the pan.)

(2) Caramelized Pear

You'll want to pick some ripe pears. However, they still need to be firm.

Peel and dice into small, one centimeter cubes.


Melt butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Let it simmer and thicken. Then add a small amount of apple juice. Let simmer some more, stirring continuously.


Add the pears and let it cook down and thicken some more.



When done, it should look like a thick and gooey apple pie filling.

(3) Assembling the Crostini

You'll need crumbled Gorgonzola and small slices of Brie.


You'll also some chives. Make sure to chop them into tiny pieces.


First top the crostini with Brie. The Brie tends to get really sticky, so it's easier just to smear it onto the crostini, like you would butter.


Then, top with Gorgonzola. Generously. Very very generously.


Return to the oven for about 5 minutes to melt the cheese.


Top with the caramelized pear.


Then sprinkle with chives. You're done! Serve immediately or they'll get soggy.

Ok look, I don't want any of you to get weirded out by all these seemingly different flavors mashed up together in one crostini. It might sound gross - you know, the sweet with the savory. But TRUST ME. This is the most amazing combination of flavors your tongue will ever experience. Everyone who's ever tried this has been super amazed by its deliciousness. The flavors just work. I can't explain it. It just tastes really gourmet. The flavors are very sophisticated and compliment each other in the best way possible.

You'll just have to try it yourself and prepare to be blown away! Seriously, try it for nothing else other than your curiosity. And to surprise all your friends. It'll be fun to see their reactions, I promise. =)

CLICK HERE for the recipe

Silky Pumpkin Cheesecake

I'm BACK!!! For good!

I'm sad about the fact that as I sit down to type this entry, this whole blogging thing now seems so foreign to me. It took me a little longer this time to upload pictures because I had to spend a second trying to remember how to do so!

I'm sorry it's taken me this long to get the blog up and running again. This whole moving into a new house thing has been disastrous!! Here are all the reasons why I have been separated from my beloved blog:

(1) I packed up my entire apartment in March, prior to leaving for California for a three month work assignment, assuming that when I returned to Seattle in June, we'd be all moved into our house...
(2) wishful thinking. Not only was construction delayed, I came home to see that there was a giant gaping hole in my new kitchen's ceiling, among other things. Not only did we NOT get to move into the new house in May, now all my kitchen stuff was packed and we kept thinking, "oh it'll be another week." So I couldn't bring myself to unpack all the stuff I worked for DAYS to pack.
(3) Our fridge in our apartment broke (for the third time in two months). Along the same lines as the unpacking thing, we kept thinking that it wouldn't be much longer, so we didn't bother to fix it. We ended up eating out for four consecutive months. Three meals a day, seven days a week. I hadn't stepped foot into a kitchen at that point for six consecutive months. It was killing me. I was dying a slow painful death on the inside from not being able to bake or cook. Or use my glorious kitchenaid mixer.
(4) We finally moved in at the end of September. Hurray! Then it's taken me about a month and a half to unpack, set up my kitchen, acquire new furniture, start blogging, etc.

So needless to say, it's been quite the adventure. But now I'm back for good! I've got a GIANT kitchen now. It's glorious! Just the center island alone is 6ft by 7ft! With it's own built in sink, no less. And I've got TWO ovens. Yesss! I don't know how I ever lived with one before. It feels SO good to be back! To be in a kitchen again! To be cooking and baking again! To be back in my natural habitat.

Silky Pumpkin Cheesecake

So I was feeling super ambitious. My first kitchen adventure in almost EIGHT months had to be a good one. Last year, I was so excited about Patricia's pumpkin cheesecake, that I ran out and immediately acquired the cookbook. Ever since seeing it on her blog, it's been at the top of my to-do list. This was the perfect "welcome back to the kitchen" recipe.

Make sure you make this a day in advance because it needs to chill in the fridge overnight.

(1) The Gingersnap Crust

The crust is super easy to make. You'll need gingersnap cookies, pecans, sugar, and butter. You can find gingersnap cookies at your local grocery store. The recipe called for toasted pecans, but I bought the candied ones, which worked out awesome! Candied pecans are simply irresistible.

Break up the gingersnaps and grind in the food processor until it becomes a fine crumb. I found that it was easier if you did a small handful at a time. Add the pecans, sugar, and a pinch of salt to the food processor and pulse a few times until all of it becomes incorporated.

Then, add melted butter and pulse for a few seconds.


Pour the contents into a greased 9 inch spring form pan.


Press the crumbs into the pan and up the sides. Done! Set aside.


(3) The Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling

You'll need Turbinado sugar. I didn't know what this was prior to going to the grocery store. I just copied it down from the recipe and blindly went looking for it in the baking aisle. To my surprise, it was right next to the regular sugars. Basically, from what I can tell, the only difference is that it's more course and granular than regular sugar. Plus, it's um.. not white. lol. Very scientific, eh? =)

Anyway, heat up the sugar and pumpkin puree in a small saucepan.


It'll get super shiny!

Then comes the easy part. You basically dump everything into the food processor and let it work its magic. Barely any effort involved!

In goes the pumpkin mixture, cream, cream cheese, eggs, egg yolks...


...and it comes out super smooth!


Pour it into your awaiting crust.

Now comes the tricky part, which I completely forgot to take pictures of! Great! In my defense, it was my first time back in the kitchen, so I was off my game a bit.

Ok, so you'll need to cover the sides of the pan with aluminum foil, and then place it in a water bath. You'll need a slightly larger pan to place it in and fill it up with about 1 inch of water. I didn't have a larger roasting pan, so I used my super large dutch oven, which worked perfectly. Um, word of advice: CAREFULLY place the pan into the oven and CAREFULLY take it out. Because splashing water onto your cheesecake would be bad. Not that I would know from experience or anything. *cough, cough* Moving on...

Bake it, let it cool, put it in the fridge overnight, un-mold it.

The recipe made the unmolding process seem like it was a super big deal. And I totally tried the hot towel thing at first, then thought, "screw this. it's way too complicated." Then I took a knife and ran it along the inside of the cake pan. Perfect.

It came out just fine, didn't it? =)


Smother it with caramel sauce.


Don't forget the whipped cream!


And more caramel sauce.


Devour!

OH. EM. GEE. This cheesecake was the most amazing cheesecake in the history of cheesecakes! Hubby, who usually hates cheesecakes, told me specifically that I wasn't allowed to give any of it away because he was going to eat it all!

It was smooth and silky...and surprisingly light on the palate, which is amazingly unusual when you're talking about cheesecake. I did end up giving some of it away and every one who tried it was equally as impressed by it!

This would be the perfect addition to the thanksgiving dessert table! I'm already planning on adding it to my line up this year. It should be a thanksgiving tradition in every household - right up there with pumpkin pie and stuffing. Seriously. It's just THAT good.

CLICK HERE for the recipe.