Cherry Pear Crumble

This weekend Melissa has a couple Auburn friends in town so we had a backyard grill fest to welcome them to Brooklyn.  Kurt smoked  the place up grilling up burgers and several yummy vegetables.  I made dessert.  A delicious, simple, not to sugary Cherry Pear Crumble.  (I  apologize because I can't find where I found the recipe...) The most work is pitting the cherries and dicing the pears.

The before

Kurt and I mixed a few drops of bourbon in our second serving of crumble, an excellent addition. If you try it, you really only need a drop.  Kurt had to get more crumble because the tablespoon or so he poured in was way too much. I think I am going to try mixing it in before baking next time.

Cherry Pear Crumble 

• 4 cups cherries, pitted
• 2-3 pears, peeled, cored & diced
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• pinch nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

topping:

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup whole oats
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Add the cherries and pears to a casserole pan or deep pie dish, tossing with the sugar,cornstarch, extract and nutmeg. Pour in lemon juice and stir to combine. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl combine all the topping ingredients and use your hands to work in the cold butter into doughy clumps.
3. Scatter the topping evenly over the fruit. Bake for 45 minutes until the topping is golden and the fruit have created a bubbly sauce. Cool slightly and serve.

Enjoy!

The after

Pear & Brie Quesadillas

 This weekend I did some major grocery shopping all excited for light & springlike meals.  I had some leftover brie from the Easter Feast, so I started with the recipe for Peach &Brie Quesadillas with Lime Honey Dipping Sauce that has been on my fridge forever.  I figured that peaches would not be available since they are out of season, so I decided to use pears instead. I love this brie & pear sandwich from 'Snice & was hoping all the other flavors would still work together.  They did wonderfully, oh so wonderfully.  I completely recommend the switch.  I will try it with peaches when they are around, but for now I will be my pear version again.

Pear & Brie Quesadillas

Sauce: 

• 2 tablespoons honey
• fresh squeezed juice from one lime
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lime rind

Quesadillas:

• 2 thinly sliced peeled pears (I used bartlett) 
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 4 ounces Brie cheese, thinly sliced
• 4 (8-inch)flour tortillas
• Cooking spray

1. To prepare sauce, combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl, set aside.
2. To prepare quesadillas, combine pears, chives, and sugar, tossing gently to coat. 
3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat with cooking spray. Brown on side of each tortilla. 
4. Arrange half of the cheese and half of pear mixture on a browned side of one tortilla; top with another tortilla, browned side down. Place in pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until tortillas are lightly browned and crisp. Remove from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining quesadilla. 
5. Cut each quesadilla into wedges; serve with sauce.

Enjoy!