Saturday, October 22, 2011

Good Eats--Corned Beef and Chardonnay Caramel Baked Pears

DH came home from the grocery store today with deli corned beef and the instructions from the sales lady behind the counter to make a Reuben sandwich at home.  The lady told him she was a cook in a restaurant for 20  years and this is how they made Reuben's:

Instruction #1: Toast the bread in a skillet as though you were making a grilled cheese.  
So I put 4 buttered-side-down pieces of bread in a skillet with a slice of baby Swiss cheese atop each.

Instruction #2.  As the bread toasts, warm up the corned beef in a second skillet.
I did that.

In a matter of a few minutes everything in the skillet was done.

Instruction #3:  Top with cole slaw and then the second slice of bread.

As instructed, I put the corned beef atop a slice of Swiss cheese bread, added cole slaw and topped it with the second slice of bread.

Need I say more? YUM!!! That sales lady did not steer DH wrong! She did get him to buy baby Swiss  and cole slaw in addition to the corned beef he came to buy.  She was a great deli sales lady!  She made two additional sales and we LOVED the sandwich she suggested!

It is the time of year when I like to make Caramelized Pears for dessert.  I asked DH to buy some pears and he  brought home 4 of them.    We had two for tonight's dessert and saved two for tomorrow.
Did you notice the  dried Limelight hydrangeas in the background?

These were so easy to make and so good. I just cored them from the bottom, used a veggie peeler to remove half of the skin, added about 2 TBLS brown sugar, 1 oz. of Chardonnay and then baked them at 350 degrees  until soft (a little over an hour). I removed them from the oven three times to spoon the liquid over the pear, so they did not dry out.  Here is a pic to show the amount of liquid during one of the spoonings.

When the pear is soft and the caramel liquid is thickened, they are ready to remove from the oven. If cooked too long the liquid will harden as it cools--hard like rock candy...you don't want to cook it that long.  These are best served warm. They were swoon-over delicious! Even DH thought so and he is not usually that crazy over a fruit dessert.  If you don't have or like wine, you can use another liquid.  Last year I used diet 7-up.  You could use fruit juice or even water, if that is all you have on hand.

Earlier today I made a new leather/animal handbag. I won't repost it here, but you can see it on my quilting/sewing blog. Just clik here.

9 comments:

  1. I am saving this recipe for Corned Beef Reuben sandwiches. It is one of my hubby's favorites and I always thought it was so much trouble. This is an EASY version! Thank you- xo Diana

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  2. OMG, my favorite sandwich! I sometimes don't eat the bread thinking I am going to lose weight! I think I would like the cole slaw better than sauerkraut. I can taste it now!

    Eileen

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  3. I don't think I've ever had corned beef on a Reuben, only pastrami but this is how I've always made them.

    I'll have to try it with corned beef though, it sounds super good.

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  4. Looks great. I like the sauerkraut but that is one of my favorite foods but I bet that recipe is good also. The pears look fantastic.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  5. Diana,
    It is actually wheat bread, but use rye. As good as it was on wheat, rye would be better. DH is not fond of rye, so he bought wheat.

    Eileen,
    Life is too short to skip the bread! :)

    Michael,
    They must be different depending on what part of the country you are from. In my part of the country they have always been made with corned beef. Are you from NY?

    Cher,
    I love the original kraut version, too. DH does not like it with kraut, so he loved the cole slaw version. With cole slaw, you don't even need a dressing as it has its own. So simple and so good!

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  6. Zoey..never thought to use coleslaw but maybe it's because we like sauerkraut so much!
    Those pears look amazing..I make something similiar and it sure is a treat.
    When my hubby does the grocery shopping..I love to check the bags to see what else he brought home besides what was on the list:)

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  7. Your hubby went to the store?? I could hardly get past that part! Mine wouldn't be caught in a grocery store for any amount of money!
    I've always loved Reubens. I understood that a reuben with pastrami is a Rachel. (Really!)
    The pears look like something out of Gourmet magazine, Zoey...

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  8. Yum, Reuben's are one of my favorites. I like them on good old rye bread too-saves some calories from making them like a grilled cheese. I wonder if a Panini press would work too? I have one and rarely use it.
    The pears look scrumptious!
    I've been changing my blog a bit, hope you like it!

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