Photo Courtesy of My French Cuisine |
For an extensive explanation of the authentic PBH (I'm sure I'd be denied re-entry into France if they saw how I massacred the auditory beauty of les poires by using such an abbreviation), Estelle at My French Cuisine offers a beautiful description.
But I'm going to share with you the shortcuts that we poor 20-somethings used, which is the "recipe" I still follow today.
Drain most of the liquid from a can of pear halves.
Place 1 or 2 pear halves in each bowl with a little bit of the juice.
Melt some chocolate. You can do this quickly in the microwave, depending on what type of chocolate you use, or make a hybrid bain marie/double broiler by bringing a small pot of water to a near boil, then setting a dinner plate on top. Put some chocolate (chips or a bar) on the plate and stir them around to melt them evenly.
Once the chocolate is melted, top each pear with a scoop of ice cream, then the melted chocolate.
Et voilà! You have an authentic (more or less) French dessert in minutes, and for pennies!
As a variation, which I actually prefer, try Pêches Belle-Hélène, substituting peaches for pears. I don't know how often the French would do that, but I'm a peach gal myself, so Pêches Belle-Hélène is my fave!
Any favorite dessert memories from your travels? We'd love to try them at our house!
Glossary (in order of appearance):
une recette (French) = a recipe
Je vous présente (French) = Introducing
Et voilà! (French) = And there you have it!
Very clever choice for an international "recette," as PBH is named after an operetta by a German-born French composer.
ReplyDeleteAh-ha, the international flavor goes deeper than I realized. Thanks for the new info!
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