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Pear & Dark Chocolate Turnovers

Café Soufflé is my pit stop in Montreal for all things delicious in the morning. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s 4 doors down from my favorite resting place, Urban Haven. Café Soufflé seems to have mastered the art of variety. With each stop you never know what treats will come out of their kitchen that day… but lucky the day I walked in and found warm out-of-the-oven pear & chocolate turnovers.

This Montreal coffee shop has become my model for when I save enough money to open up my perfect little coffee shop in Dallas. One that is known for the FOOD as much as their coffee.

Maybe I’ll add these to my coffee shop menu… they are divine.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 box frozen puff pastry (2 sheets per box), thawed overnight in refrigerator
  • 3 pears – peeled, cored & cubed into 1/2 dice
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoons water
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
  • 2-3 ounces dark chocolate bar, broken into chunks (i prefer a 54-60% chocolate bar)

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients (except chocolate) in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Cook for about 5 minutes or until pears are just tender (you don’t want them mushy). Cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut each puff pastry sheet into 4 squares (8 total squares).

Brush the edges of each square with egg wash and place about 1/8 of the pear mixture on one side of the square. Top with dark chocolate chunks. Fold the pastry diagonally and seal the edges using a fork. Place these on a baking pan lined with parchment paper and brush the top with egg wash. If desired, sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until browned. Serve warm.

Pear Bruschetta with Goat Cheese, Honey & Almonds

Bolsa in Oak Cliff is hands down my favorite place to eat, drink and be merry. The atmosphere is laid back and you can’t help but feel at home. 1/2 price wine on Tuesday nights makes me feel even more at home. The food is fresh, local, fun and not over the top. The menu does change on a daily basis but there are a few mainstays I indulge in on every visit. The bruschetta flight is a delightful array of 4 variations on this ever popular appetizer. Tomatoes, Proscuitto, Salmon and my personal favorite: Fuji Apple with Honey & Almonds.

I made a few tweaks with the addition of the goat cheese and chose a juicy Bosc pear at the market. I am making this again today with a Honeycrisp apple – which I imagine will be the nuts! You can use any crusty bread you like. I think slices of kaiser buns will also be perfect for this simple bruschetta recipe.

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 slices crusty bread of your choice, toasted lightly
  • 2 ounces Goat Cheese
  • 1 Pear or Apple, sliced
  • 1-2 tablespoons Honey
  • 2 tablespoons sliced Almonds, toasted

DIRECTIONS

Lightly toast slices of bread in 350 degree oven for 5-6 minutes.

Spread each piece of bread with a thin layer of goat cheese. Fan 4-5 slices of pear over the goat cheese and drizzle with honey. Sprinkle the top of each with the sliced almonds.

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