Parsnip and Potato Soup with Roasted Pear Puree

Last week I had intended on making Rachael Ray's Pear and Parsnip Bisque from her October Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine.  But I realized I had forgotten to pick up heavy cream at the store so my plan was foiled. But I did remember the parsnips that trip to the store so I needed to figure out something to do with them.  Rather than venturing to the store again I decided I would make something using ingredients I had on hand.  I also came across a recipe on epicurious last week when I was in search of recipes using bosc pears that sounded delicious, Mashed Potatoes and Turnips with Roasted Pear Puree. Since I didn't have the complete ingredients to make each of these spearately, I came up with my own recipe which was inspired by both of these recipes.

Ingredients
1lb parsnips, peeled and cubed
5 medium sized yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
3.5 cups of chicken broth
2 shallots, chopped
1/4 cup soy creamer

In a Dutch oven I heated 1 tablespoon of olive oil and unsalted butter and then added the shallots. Cook the shallots until they soften up a bit.  Add the parsnips and potatoes, season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken broth.  Cook until the potatoes and parsnip soften up, they should be able to be cut with a fork.  Add 1/4 cup of soy creamer and begin to puree the soup with a hand blender   until it is smooth.  If you are not happy with the consistency you can always add a bit more broth to thin it out a little more.

For the roasted pear puree I followed the instructions from the second epicurious recipe but tapered the amounts back a bit.  The taste of the puree ended up being quite delicious, however I was a little disappointed in the coloring, I was hoping for something a little richer looking.  I think next time around I would roast the pears in a pyrex or corningware dish rather than on a cookie sheet with a baking mat.  I found that the juices just cooked to the pan so I wasn't able to use as much of the juice as I would have liked.

5 bosc pears, peeled, cored and cut into large chunks
2.5 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey

I roasted these for about an hour in total, 30 minutes on each side and then added them to the blender and pureed. I did add a splash of apple juice to the roasted pear puree when I was blending it.

To serve, add a couple ladles of the soup to a bowl and then swirl in a little of the roasted pear puree. Salt and pepper to taste. I also garnished with a little chopped green onion.

Garlic Herb Pork Loin Roast

Our dinner last night was definitely a fall inspired menu.  There is something about a rainy day and comfort food that go together so perfectly.

Menu

Garlic Herb Pork Loin Roast

Mashed Potatoes

Acorn Squash
Baby Arugula Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes, Point Reyes Blue Cheese and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Apple Pie

I had the apple pie filling ready to be poured into the pie crust and placed in the oven.  We however had no room so this is going to have to be made later this week. 

Pork Loin Roast

Whisk together the following ingredients to make the marinade:

9 cloves garlic, grated

¼ cup of rosemary leaves, chopped

1 tablespoon sage, chopped

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard with white wine

¾ cup organic apple juice

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon of Makers Mark Bourbon

2 tablespoon olive oil

Place boneless pork loin roast (mine was 2.22 lbs) in a zip lock bag and add marinade for 5 hours.

In a Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sear the pork roast on both sides until it is browned (approximately 5 minutes on each side). Add the remaining marinade and bring to a boil.  Scrape up any of the brown bits off the bottom of the pan.

While the pork is searing, prepare the following:

Peel 20 pearl onions (place in boiling water for approximately 3 minutes, cut the top and the peel should come right off).

1 Macintosh apple, peeled, cored and diced

1 Bosc pear, peeled, cored and diced

Add the pearl onions, apple and pear to the Dutch oven. Add 3 teaspoons of brown sugar to the Dutch oven and bring marinade back to a boil.  Place top on the Dutch oven and put in the oven on 350 degrees for 45-1 hour.  Be sure the internal temperature of the roast reaches 145 degrees.

Acorn Squash

Cut Acorn squash in half and scoop out all of the seeds in the middle. Place upside down in a shallow baking dish in approximately an inch of water. Cook on 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes.  You should be able to easily run a spoon through the squash to scrape the inside.  Flip the squash so that the inside of the squash is face up.  Add a small amount of butter and some brown sugar and put back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes.

Mashed Potatoes

Clean 6-7 red potatoes, quarter and place in a pot of water. Add a pinch of kosher salt.  Bring to a boil. Potatoes are ready when you can they can be cut with a fork.  Drain and add back to the pot.  Begin mashing with a potato masher.  Add ¼ cup of skim milk.  Continue to mash and add 1 tablespoon of sour cream and 1 tablespoon of butter.  Add a bit of kosher salt and approximately 2 teaspoons of Montreal steak seasoning.  Continue to mix until they are the consistency that you like.  I prefer a little lumpier of a mashed potato but if you can also mix with a hand mixer if you prefer a smoother texture.

This meal was rated 4 asparagus spears

Cinnamon Pear Filled Pancakes

We have a ton of apples and pears left from our last fruit delivery so I was trying to think of what I could do with them.  Last night I came across a recipe for Spiced Apple Filled Pancakes on the Williams Sonoma website. Chris said he would run to the grocery store for the few items we didn't have which included heavy cream, buttermilk and ground ginger.  In addition I added Gruyere and Black Forest Ham to the grocery list.  Well he went to the grocery store and came home with the Gruyere, Black Forest Ham and Bacon.  He mentioned that they didn't have buttermilk when he got home but I figured we could always run out in the morning to get it. So this morning I started getting everything out to make the pancakes and realized we didn't have the ground ginger or heavy cream either, so I scratched the Spiced Apple Filled Pancakes and decided to do my own thing.

Ingredients
2 Bosc pears, peeled, cored and diced
Unsalted Butter
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
2 teaspoons Brown Sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

In a bowl combine the diced pears and the lemon juice, be sure to try and coat all of the pears with the juice. In a pan, heat up approximately 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter and add the diced pears.  Cook on a medium low heat and stir regularly.  Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Cook the pears until they are soft.  Remove from heat.

Since we didn't have all of the ingredients to make the pancake batter from scratch I used Stonewall Kitchen Farmhouse Pancake & Waffle Mix.  I just followed the instructions on the side of the can for making the pancakes.

To make the filled pancakes you need a special pan, I used the Ebelskiver Filled Pancake Pan from Williams-Sonoma.  Coat each of the little compartments with some melted butter.  Add 1 tablespoon of pancake top, add your filling (approximately 1/2 tablespoon) and then another tablespoon of pancake batter on top.  Let the pancake bubble up.  I used a wood skewer to turn them.  It allowed me to go around the side of the pancake to loosen it if need be and then I was able to flip it over without making a mess out of them. The recipe for the Spiced Apple Filled Pancakes suggests that you need to let the bottom layer of pancake cook before adding the filling and the top layer of batter, however I didn't find that to be true.

I sprinkled the top of the pancakes with powdered sugar and ground cinnamon.

You will have to excuse the picture. I think my foodographer was more concerned about eating that he was about foodographing.

This meal was rated 4 asparagus spears