Dark Chocolate-Ginger Pear Muffins

This recipe is adapted from one by Nigella Lawson in her book, Nigella Express. The original is unbeatable, and amazing with (as she recommends), "some sharp, hard cheese, a Cheddar maybe ..."

I was desperately in the mood for some chocolate, however, and thought I would try her original recipe and add coco powder. As it turns out, they were delicious! I also used a can of pears slices that I then cut right into the batter. Normally when I make this (original) recipe, I just cut an un-peeled pear into it. Use whatever you have around.

I also used plain Greek yogurt rather than the sour cream the original recipe calls for. I'm not sure it will matter much either way. Again, it just happens to be what I had around.

Finally, this recipe could really stand up to having some chopped walnuts and/or dark chocolate chips added.

Dark Chocolate-Ginger Pear Muffins

1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbl packed light brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger
3 Tbl good quality, dark cocoa powder
2/3 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbl honey
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped pears (around 1/4 inch dice)

Line or grease a 12 cup muffin pan.

Put all of the ingredients but the pears into a mixing bowl (you can do this by hand -- a mixer is really not necessary) and fold everything together with a wooden spoon. Don't overmix! The secret to light and fluffy muffins is to just barely get the ingredients incorporated.

This mixture will be dry, but fold in the pears and they will offer more moisture. This batter is not intended to be very wet. This is another trick to having light, fluffy muffins. We are not making a cake batter.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and then bake for 20-25 minutes. Use a toothpick to make sure they are cooked through -- stick the toothpick into the center of a larger muffin. If the toothpick comes out clean, then they are done; if it does not come out clean, cook another couple of minutes and try again.

Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes then move to a cooling rack. Eat them warm and reserve the rest for a light dessert.

Clatite (Klah-tee-t-suh)

You may know them better as crepes. A friend of ours call them "Bubba's Pancakes" because his grandmother made them and they ate hers with Nutella. Call them what you want and they are delicious regardless.

Clatite (Crepes)

4 eggs
1 Tbl sugar
1 Tbl salt (I always use kosher)
4 cups flour
4 cups milk

Beat the eggs, sugar, and salt together (I use my stand mixer to make this batter), then gently add 1/2 a cup of the milk. Add a cup of flour at a time and 1 1/2 cups of milk. Whisk until well blended. The mixture will be thick so add the remaining milk to the batter until it is very thin.

Heat a non-stick skillet (I use an 8") with some vegetable oil and a dab of butter. Ladle the batter into the skillet and twist the pan so the batter spreads evenly into a thin cake. This will take practice! I usually need to spread the batter out with the back of a spoon or a spreader I use for icing cakes.

Once one side is golden brown, flip and let cook on the other side. Once cooked through, move to a plate and make the next one. The first crepe never turns out right, which is fine -- cook's treat!

This recipe turns out quite a lot of crepes, so it is perfect when you are feeding a crowd! They can be made ahead of time and allowed to sit on the counter until you are ready to use them. You can set out a variety of jellies or jams, a chocolate/hazelnut spread like Nutella, fresh fruit, powdered sugar ... whatever you have around or sounds good. You can also use these as a more elegant way to serve chicken salad for a luncheon -- I'm imagining a bridal shower or a light weekend brunch with friends. My favorite way to eat these, though, is with "rich cream" and syrup-y strawberries as pictured above.

Rich Cream

Cottage cheese, soft ricotta cheese, or softened cream cheese
Vanilla (real and of good quality)
Sugar

The measurements above will depend upon how much cheese you want to flavor. My preference is the soft ricotta -- fresh or store-bought. Flavor the cheese, whichever one you use, to taste. Start small -- a few drops of good vanilla go a long way -- and if you are starting with a cheese like the ricotta you probably won't need much sugar. Cream cheese will require a bit more. Just taste along the way until you find your balance.

Syrup-y Strawberries

Strawberries, hulled and sliced
Sugar

Sprinkle the berries in a bowl with a tablespoon or two of sugar -- it does not need to be a proper measuring spoon here. I use the spoons we eat soup with. Gently turn the berries over in the sugar and let sit on the counter while you work on everything else. Even ten or fifteen minutes will give you sweet strawberries with a bright red syrup. Put them in the refrigerator if you have any leftovers and you can spoon them over some vanilla ice cream later.