It's almost midnight and I am still in the process of posting this!! It's been a long day, so this will be short and sweet... a little something to ease you into fall and give you those warm, toasty feelings.
Brown Butter Nashi Pear and Toasted Walnut Tartines
2 pain au lait (any sweet bread will work with this recipe)
2 nashi (asian) pears
1/4 cup of walnuts, chopped
juice of half of a lemon
3 tablespoons of salted butter
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar
Heat a small saucepan over medium heat and toast walnuts until brown, about 5 minutes.
Peel and cut the pears into 1/2 inch cubes. Place cubed pears in a bowl and squeeze half of a lemon over them. Mix to coat the pears with the lemon juice.
In a medium-sized saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook the butter until it turns a medium brown color and begins to smell nutty, skimming any white foam or milk solids from the surface with a spoon. Add the cinnamon and cardamom, and stir to combine. Add the pears and reduce heat to low. Add brown sugar and stir occasionally for 6-8 minutes until the pears become soft.
Place pear mixture on toasted and halved pain au lait, and top with toasted walnuts. This goes really well with a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream! Serves 2-4.
