Pear Kanten with Pecan Crunch

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• 3 cups unsweetened pear juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons agar-agar powder
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 325F and grease a baking sheet.
2. Combine all the ingredients for the crunch topping in a bowl and mix well.
3. Spread evenly on the baking sheet and bake for 4 minutes.
4. Toss the ingredients and bake for 4 minutes more, or until the topping is dry.
5. Let cool.
6. Pour the pear juice into a saucepan.
7. Add the cinnamon.
8. Sprinkle the agar-agar powder over the juice and let soak for 15 minutes.
9. Whisk the juice to remove any agar-agar that has gathered on the bottom of the pot.
10. Bring to a boil, whisking occasionally, then decrease the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, continuing to whisk every few minutes.
11. Turn off the heat and let cool to room temperature.
12. Pour the mixture into a blender and add the orange juice, zest, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and salt, and blend for 1 minute.
13. Pour equal amounts of the liquid into 4 wineglasses or martini glasses and chill for 1 hour.
14. To serve, scatter a generous spoonful of the crunch topping over the kanten.
15. Widely available in health food stores, agar-agar, also known as kanten or simply agar, is a seaweed that acts like gelatin.
16. It is used throughout Southeast Asia to make candies, puddings, and other desserts.
17. In Japan, it has recently been reinvented as a diet food because it contains no fat.
18. Gelatin, often used in sweets like cheesecake, ice cream, jams, and jellies, is made from cattle bones and hidesby-products of factory farmsthat are treated with chemicals before the collagen within is extracted.
19. Its an energy-intensive procedure that conjures some unpleasant images.
20. Making gel from seaweed, however, has a low environmental impact.
21. Cooking with agar-agar takes getting used to, but youll find that its adaptable to any flavor and fun to experiment with.
22. Use 30 percent more agar-agar when working with an acidic ingredient like orange juice.

rolled oats, pecans, olive oil, maple syrup, vanilla, ground nutmeg, salt, pear juice, ground cinnamon, agaragar, freshly squeezed orange juice, orange zest, maple syrup, vanilla, salt

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pear-kanten-with-pecan-crunch-381370 (may not work)