recipe of the week: pear cobbler with creme fresh and hazlenuts

i miss having an oven at my beck and call. tonight i had the enjoyment of cooking in someone else's flat. *three cheers for jonathan - robin's new beau - and his fancy pants kitchen with an oven and mini food processor*

stewed pears

one pear per person, quatered, cored and chopped chunky
1 or 2 c apple/pear juice (mine was infused with ginger-lemongrass tea - which probably didn't do anything but make it pink and pretty)
a long sploosh of white wine
a goodly dollop of honey
top with water until chopped pears are just covered

handful of hazle nuts, coasely chopped
dollop of creme fresh

heat in a medium pot, pears,juice, wine, water, honey, on the stove top, on slow simmer, until pears are tender.
strain pears and reduce simmering liquid by more than half.

at this point, you could eat the pears with the creme fresh and chopped hazlenuts which is yum; or you could now make this into a cobbler, which i really suggest you try.

cobbler

preheat oven to 400*F / 200*C / gas mark 6

1 stick of butter
1c flour
1c sugar
1c milk

melt butter in oven proof dish on stove top.
mix flour, sugar, milk into a batter.
add batter to melted butter, followed by pears and chopped hazlenuts.
bake for 30 minutes or until oozey, bubbly and brown.
serve hot with a dollop of creme fresh and some of the reduced simmering liquid

this was so fantastically simple to do! and so very, very yummy. i'm just glad i'm not the one who has to clean the baked-on, sticky, nasty, dish.