Fall is here and no, I do not want to hear your complaining about how long it has been since I have posted. The Mendon Foodie was very busy this summer planning and executing the Gates Foodette's wedding. (That would be my daughter.) Here is a picture. We didn't cater the wedding, but we did do the cold hors d'oeuvres, with considerable helper from Grandma Foodie. We served: Carpaccio of Beef with fried capers and parsley oil, shrimp cocktail shooters, endive stuffed with salmon spread, crudites with homemade Green Goddess dressing, salumi with assorted olives, some damn fine but very expensive cheese, and a cascade of fruit. You'd have to see it to believe it. It was truly amazing. If you're nice to me I might invite you to wedding hors d' oeuvres reenactment day, which we are planning on having for the Marine foodie, who missed the wedding and is returning home this week from Iraq. Oooh Rah. Leave a comment and I'll consider inviting you. If you promise not to bring any food.
Now that I have made your mouth water with food that nearly impossible for mere mortals to prepare, I will deign to grant you a fabulous recipe that anyone (almost anyone, I have a friend or two who shall remain nameless, L, who would still probably find a way to mess it up.) It is pretty simple and straightforward, yet sophisticated enough to impress all of your guests. It uses the ingredient that I cannot get enough of this time of year: pears.
Caramelized Pear Salad
3 Bartlett pears
3 T sugar
1/4 c butter
4 oz prosciutto
olive oil
butter lettuce
Balsamic glaze (you can buy or make. To make, boil balsamic vinegar until it is thick and syrupy.)
crumbled blue cheese (if you use anything other than Maytag or Point Reyes blue or a similar quality you are a heathen and shouldn't be allowed to cook.)
Peel, core, and cut pears into medium thick slices. Toss them with the sugar. (If you want to slice them ahead of time, drop them into a bowl of water with some lemon juice in it.) Heat a saute pan and melt the butter. Add the pears and cook on one side until they have nicely caramelized. Turn them over and cook the other side, adding more butter if necessary to prevent the sugar from burning. Remove the pears to a plate and let cool slightly. Wrap each slice with prosciutto. Toss lettuce with olive oil to coat and arrange lettuce on individual serving plates. Arrange 4-5 pear slices on top of the lettuce and sprinkle with blue cheese. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and start drooling, cause it is REALLY good.
