By Carolyne
Here’s a multi-fruit dessert to keep on hand all year round.
2 medium large Bosc pears, cored and peeled
1/2 medium large red delicious apple, cored and peeled
1 medium large peach, peeled, pit removed
1/2 medium, medium ripe banana
Chop the fruit in large pieces. Chop in the blender. With the blender running, add 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1 cup of half-and-half cream.
Keep the blender running for about a minute. The mixture will thicken. Stir in a teaspoon of peach or pear brandy or your favourite brandy.
Pour it into a bowl that can go in the freezer. I use a metal plum pudding container that has a cover.
There are a couple of different ways to serve. When frozen solid, remove from the container bowl and position it upside down on a cake server plate that you have made cold in the fridge. Use whipped egg whites for meringue. With a spatula, cover the frozen fruit mixture.
With a handheld decorating torch, singe the meringue till just lightly brown. Work quickly.
Position mandarin orange segments around the plate edge, just as you are ready to serve. Keep it in the coldest part of the fridge briefly until ready to serve.
Using a sharp serrated knife, cut in wedges. Lay the wedges on their sides and drizzle just a few drops fresh really good maple syrup.
Serve as salad: Split a quite ripe avocado in half and remove the pit. Spritz with white balsamic vinegar and olive oil and fresh ground black cracked peppercorns.
Using an ice cream scoop, position a round of the frozen fruit mix in the hole where the pit was.
Serve on a plate of a mix of shredded romaine and iceberg lettuce with a few large cold shrimp strategically positioned around the avocado half.
Sprinkle with fresh roasted walnut halves that, while still hot, you have drizzled with real maple syrup and sprinkled with coarse salt. If you fancy a little heat, dust the sugared walnuts with a little finely ground cayenne pepper.
This is a mock semi-fredo, or sorbet-like dessert. There are no eggs in it. Sort of a cross between sorbet and semi-fredo. I’m thinking you could easily make this in individual bite sizes to pop in your mouth, in either tiny paper cups that you peel off, or in mini metal muffin tins. Tap to release. Serve in a puddle of zabaglione perhaps, surrounded by fresh raspberries and or blueberries or even sweet, seedless white grapes. A tiny dollop of whipped cream on top, and again drizzle with really good quality maple syrup.
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Here’s an easy peel for peach: cut an X on the bottom of the peach and cover for a couple of minutes with boiling water. Let stand, then dip in ice water or just really cold water briefly. The skin will slip right off.
This is a quick and easy way to remove tomato skins too.
This dessert takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and it’s terrific to keep on hand to serve to unexpected guests. Instant gourmet.
It “travels” as a take-along in a freezer carry pocket like a frozen bag used for wine. This dish is beyond simple to make and tastes incredible. It keeps, covered, in the freezer for a long time.
The working title for Carolyne’s Gourmet Recipes cookbook is From Lady Ralston’s Kitchen: A Canadian Contessa Cooks. This kitchen-friendly doyenne has been honoured and referred to as the grande dame of executive real estate in her market area during her 35-year career. She taught gourmet cooking in the mid-70s and wrote a weekly newspaper cooking column, long before gourmet was popular as it is today. Her ebook, Gourmet Cooking – at Home with Carolyne is available here for $5.99 US. Email Carolyne. Scroll down to the comments at each recipe column. Carolyne often adds complimentary “From Lady Ralston’s Kitchen” additional recipes in the Recipes for Realtors Comments section at REM.
