As most of my readers know. . .
Thus, many of my pear recipes are desperate, elaborate concoctions to attempt to make them palatable to me. Today’s strategy: poaching. In chocolate. Mocha chocolate, to be exact.
And then dousing it all in tahini.
So for a pear-hater like me, this recipe was excellent. Super indulgent, but if you crunched the numbers, you’d probably find that it’s not really unhealthy at all.
Confession: I mixed a little (runny) PB2 with my tahini because I couldn’t help myself. #PB24lyfe
Now, my experience with poaching is minimal. Sure, I poached some rhubarb the other month, but that’s child’s play. Poaching a pear is another game entirely because pears are massive and, ideally, you should have enough liquid in the saucepan to cover the entire pear.
I’m a rebel, so I didn’t do that. I also didn’t want to waste valuable resources (soy milk, cocoa powder, coffee granules) just to fill a saucepan to cover an evil pear. Therefore, I took some liberties in my poaching methods.
Liberty #1: I cut my pear in half. *gasp*
Liberty #2: My pear still didn’t fit in the liquid. I shrugged it off and spent fifteen minutes rotating the pear to ensure semi-equal poaching coverage. *double gasp* Ina Garten will never invite me to one of her dinner parties. 🙁
Liberty #3: I diced one half of the pear so that my oatmeal would have pear in every bite. It wasn’t that evil because it was infused with mocha flavor, so it was happy pear bites. 🙂
And if that weren’t enough, I covered it all in tahini, just in case infusing my pear with mocha wasn’t effective to transform it into something I would deem edible.
And then, because covering it in tahini did not turn it into the gorgeous, tahini-covered oatmeal I had fantasized, I added freshly toasted almonds to cover the ugliness that occurred after I not-so-delicately doused the entire bowl in tahini.
This looks vaguely like a “Pinterest Fail” kind of concoction. But IT TASTED DELICIOUS and that’s all that matters. 😉
It looks prettier without the tahini. But the tahini is a must! If you don’t have tahini, sub almond butter. Just trust me.
And don’t forget to participate in the contest to become December’s Oatmeal Enthusiast!
All you have to do is leave comments. See details here.
Random Recommendations:
- [eats] If you’re trying to get into raw kale salads but find the real deal too bitter, try Trader Joe’s bag of mixed baby kale. It’s more tender and much less bitter. It’s a great “training bra,” if you will.
- [eats] Seriously, buy your nuts, seeds, flours, coconut, etc. in bulk. You will save so much money. I use Whole Foods, but I know other stores have the option as well.
- [tunes] Michael Buble – “Best of Me” – the song that reduced me to tears when I heard it live in 2009
What you'll need:
- 1 pear
- 1 cup milk of choice
- 1/2 cup water, or more milk
- 4 tsp cocoa powder
- 2 tsp instant coffee granules
- maple syrup, to taste (I used 1 tsp)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
- tahini, to top*
How to make it:
- Prepare pear first. Peel.
- Find the widest part of the pear and cut in half. I know it's unconventional, but trust me.
- For the top, skinny half, carefully remove any parts of the core at the center. You should probably use a paring knife for this, but I'm lazy, so I kept using my chef's knife.
- For the bottom half, cut out the entire core.
- Dice the bottom half into bite-sized pieces.
- In a saucepan, combine milk, walter, cocoa powder, coffee granules, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and salt. Set over medium heat and whisk until combined.
- When the mocha mixture begins to simmer, add pear (both the top section and the diced parts. Ideally, your pear should be entirely covered by liquid. Mine wasn't, so I just rotated the top section a few times to make sure all parts were able to poach.
- Cover with a lid or "parchment/baking paper" if you have it. Allow to simmer for approximately 15 minutes. I had my burner on the lowest setting and it still bubbled up constantly and overflowed a few times, so keep an eye on it. I remedied this by occasionally lifting it off the burner and/or stirring periodically. Not sure if this is allowed in "poaching," but I don't care. 🙂
- After 10-15 minutes, start checking your pear by poking it with a fork; once it's tender, it's done. Be sure to check multiple spots (outside, inside, top, bottom, etc.). Ideally, they'd cook evenly, but they might not have.
- Remove the large top half of the pear but leave the diced pear in the saucepan.
- This is the annoying part: pour the mixture out into a glass measuring container and make sure it comes to 8 oz. (one cup). If there's extra, pour it out (either down the sink 🙁 or into a cup to use for later. You could also thicken/reduce it and add it on top of your finished oats).
- Return the mixture back to the saucepan and set the heat back to medium.
- Add oats. If you want to add chia of flax seeds, now would be the time to do it.
- Stir occasionally until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Place large pear half in center of bowl and carefully pour prepared oatmeal around it.
- Add a splash of milk around the edges if desired.
- Top with tahini. Add any other additional toppings, such as chocolate chips, coconut, or nuts. (I added toasted almonds.)
Just an FYI:
*almond butter would also work instead of tahini I've basically never poached anything before, so my technique may be bonkers. However, the end result was great, so I don't care! 🙂
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