Thanks to the hosts of the Facebook Creative Cooking Crew (CCC), Lazaro Cooks and Foodalogue, for pushing the boundaries for another monthly challenge.

When the August Challenge: “A Tasting Trio of One Ingredient: pick one fruit or vegetable and prepare it three ways,” was announced, I knew I wanted in.

I’m a big fan of doing as much as possible with one ingredient. In fact, many times, I create recipes based on one ingredient. The other thing I liked about this challenge-my CSA basket has been full this month-August in Kentucky will do that.

But when I got an abundance of green beans, lima beans, tomatoes and not-so-pretty pears in last week’s basket, I got a little nervous. I blanched and froze my fresh beans before I realized I might need them.

And certainly I could work with tomatoes, but every other glossy and online magazine is dishing tomatoes, not to mention, I knew one of the CCC would snag the honor to use tomatoes, and since I waited, I mean procrastinated, this month’s challenge, I was right, Christo of Chez What? created an amazing, mouth-watering tomato extravaganza.

This week I got a small bag of perfectly ripe, uniform-looking pears in my CSA basket.

Bingo! My challenge was born.

I knew I would roast some pears (I’m a roasting fanatic lately) and from there I let my imagination roll. Not too much though. I like simple, rustic, easy-to-prepare dishes. See? I left the skin on the pears for instance, and I was determined to work with what’s in my pantry.

After I halved, cored ( a grapefruit knife works best for this little task-thank you Julia Child), sprinkled with sugar, half a vanilla bean, a spritz of lemon juice, a broken up cinnamon stick, and a few tablespoons of unsalted butter (thank you Smitten Kitchen), my pears were in a 375 degree oven.

For the first dish, I decided a simple dollop of Greek yogurt and fresh mint plopped on the side of a few plated pears would best showcase the simple nature of this dish.The tangy cream of the yogurt cooled the warm rustic flavors of the buttery-baked pears, and the fresh wild mint popped in my mouth. Perfect for breakfast, as a side dish at lunch, or for dessert after a I-ate-too-much-lasagna dinner. You choose.

Who doesn’t crave a sweet-icy something in August?

Roasted Pear and Mint Granita was my second concoction for the August CCC challenge. ( I gotta admit-this does look a little like oatmeal). I took most of the roasted pears (had to save a few-just because), the slightly caramelized juice, a little simple syrup and fresh water to the food processor. Then poured the slushy concoction in a jelly roll pan and then into the freezer it went. I have to say, the only thing I don’t like about making granita is the scraping every thirty minutes for about four hours. But after I tasted the crunchy divineness, I didn’t mind a little scheduled scraping. In fact, I found it’s a great way to stay focused on the page and as it gets more frozen, it’s like granita therapy and a forearm exercise all in one!

My third choice was going to be tart-related.

But after I consulted my two favorite French master’s cookbooks, Julia Child’s Mastering The Art of French Cooking, and Jack Pepin’s Complete Techniques, I realized I didn’t have lard, lemon, nor enough time to make a fresh pastry dough, so I used the frozen pre-made tarts I bought a few months ago. Yes, my Pear and Banana-Almond Tart is a bit lopsided and I admit, not my best effort at photography.

I decided to create another recipe, a pear cocktail.

This is a variation on a refreshing Chambord-Shrub cocktail I had a few months ago at Table Three Ten in Lexington.

Nashi Sake

Muddle St. Germain, pear-infused simple syrup, and a few sprigs of fresh mint in a tall glass. Add ice, (I like the over-sized ones-they don’t melt as quickly), top with sparkling sake (yes, really), stir and sip. Straw optional.

Appetite required.

Want more mouth-watering recipes from the Creative Cooking Crew? Check out the complete spread on Pinterest. This month’s challenge roundup of “A Tasting Trio of One Ingredient” goes live tomorrow at Lazaro Cooks.

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