Spiced pecans with rum glaze

It's no secret that I love cookbooks by the late Gourmet magazine, given how often I cook from The Gourmet Cookbook and Gourmet Today. In addition to those books, I also own copies of the 1979 edition of The Gourmet Cookbook, Volumes I and II (these were given to me at my bridal shower - such a thoughtful gift!), as well as The Gourmet Cookie Book, The Gourmet Menu Cookbook (1984), and The Best of Gourmet (2005 and 2006). I love looking through the books from different times and seeing how recipe writing, cooking styles, and photography have developed over the years.

The Gourmet Menu Cookbook in particular has some text that is really funny to read now because of how dated it is. For example, in the section about cocktail parties:

"At a small party in a servantless house, guests can usually be counted on to offer assistance by helping themselves...Food that can be served from trays and eaten with the fingers is best for a small party. To attempt to manage a plate, a glass, and a cigarette all at once can prove most uncomfortable."

Making sure the guests can manage their cigarettes is not usually the biggest concern for a host/hostess these days, but one thing that hasn't changed is the fact that roasted/spiced nuts are always a good party snack. I'm sure the recipes by Gourmet are quite good, but my go-to recipe comes from America's Test Kitchen. The pecans are perfectly spiced, and the rum glaze will keep you going back for more - I certainly hope this recipe never goes out of style!

Pear galette with dried fruit and nuts

Remember when I made this quiche? Well, I ended up with quite a bit of leftover dough, and it seemed like a shame to throw it away, considering all the butter effort and more butter time that went into it - Julia Child's pastry dough should not go wasted! So I rolled the scraps into a ball and stuck it in the freezer, figuring I could use it for something else later. A few days later, I found myself with an excess of fresh pears, and decided to use the pastry dough to make some small pear tarts. I didn't want any fussy shaping or blind baking, so I decided to go with rustic free-form galettes, which don't require a special pan and could easily be made into a customized size based on how much dough I had. I also decided to add honey, dried fruit (cranberries and raisins), and nuts to the pear filling, inspired by a baked apple recipe from Around My French Table that I recently tried. I wasn't thrilled with how the baked apples came out, but I loved the combination of flavors and textures that came from the dried fruit and nuts, and thought they would add a nice dimension to the galettes.

These galettes came out so, so good! The pastry was flaky and crisp, even on the bottom of the galettes, and the fruit/nut filling had a fantastic blend of flavors and textures. I especially liked the way the tart dried cranberries worked with the sweet fruit and honey. I am never going to throw out pastry dough scraps again - in fact, I might make dough just to keep in the freezer for impromptu desserts like these!

How have you been using fall fruit?

Cranberry pecan caramel bars

Yesterday, to procrastinate working on a paper, I baked up a batch of these delectable bars (and now, to procrastinate more, I'm blogging about it). I found the recipe in The Gourmet Cookbook a few days ago, and couldn't wait to try it. The bars have a layer of buttery shortbread topped with caramel, cranberries, and pecans, and finished with a drizzle of chocolate. They're decadent and perfect for the holidays, especially because cranberries are in season right now. The tart cranberries keep things from getting too sweet, and the combination of flavors and textures is fantastic. I especially liked the way the slightly salty shortbread worked with the sweet-tart topping.

I experimented a bit with the shortbread, using a mixture of all-purpose, white whole wheat, and oat flour, which gave it a slightly complex, nutty flavor. I also scaled the recipe so that the bars would fit in a 9 x 13 inch pan, rather than a 10 1/2 x 15 1/2 (who has a pan that size with sides?). Sorry for the slightly odd measurements that resulted. But given how buttery and delicious these are, it's probably best for my waistline that I didn't make the full recipe...

One important note: Make sure you have all the ingredients ready before you start the caramel step. You don't want to end up panicking because the caramel is already boiling and the corn syrup lid is stuck closed and you haven't yet toasted the nuts or chopped the cranberries. Yeah..that happened. Andrew actually had to punch a hole through the top of the corn syrup jar for me. Just be organized and you'll avoid the stress!

Andrew and I are leaving for India in a week, and I probably won't be able to post again until we return in December. Have a happy Thanksgiving!