These were all windfalls from Ami and John's trees--and there are plenty more pears up there that have not let gravity get the best of them (yet). For a free-fruit-freak like me, this is a wonderful way to start a week.So now I am accumulating pear recipes to manage the bounty--so far I have a pear sorbet recipe and three different pear tarts to attempt (I'll post recipes or links if any of them turns out decent). I'm also planning on a pear/walnut/blue cheese salad. Suggestions for other favorite pear recipes I should try would be gratefully accepted at this time.
7 comments:
This is an obvious one, but I do love pears poached in clove-spiked, sweetened zinfandel syrup. There's a good recipe in, I think, The New Basics. It's lovely for a light autumn dessert, and is especially good with almond biscotti.
Happy pear-eating!
Laura
Followed a link to you from a fellow blogger. Here's a yummy recipe!
Cranberry Ginger and Pear Chutney
1 c Plus 2 tbs Light brown sugar
1/3 c Red wine vinegar
2 oz Ginger, peeled cut in 1/8 by 1-inch strips
1/4 ts Cayenne pepper
1 pn Salt
2 lb Pears (Bosc), peeled cut into 1/2" dice
3/4 lb Cranberries (3 1/3 cups) picked over
In a nonreactive medium saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, ginger, cayenne, and salt and bring to a boil over moderate heat. Add the peats, cover and cook until they are crisp-tender, about 10 minutes. Strain and transfer the pears to a bowl. Return the liquid to the pan.
Add the cranberries to the liquid. Cover and cook over moderate heat until the berries just begin to pop, about 3 minutes. Strain into a bowl and add the cranberries to the pears. Return the liquid to the pan and boil over moderately high heat until reduced, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cranberry mixture and let cool. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
My sister Beth makes some mean poached pears. We'll see if she comments a tells you what she does. I have a memory of Meg's mom once doing chocolate covered poached pears or something, which was good, but the memory of what is was is hazzy.
Have you considered canning those pears? You will be so happy to have them come January. Canning rocks!
Cynthia from annarborfood
groups.yahoo.com/group/annarborfood
I've seen them poached in wine and they look SO yummy and beautiful. Here's a recipe from the Food Network.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_13761,00.html
2 firm pears, about 1 pound
1/2 lemon
2 cusp dry red wine
1 cup Ruby Port
3-inch cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves
2 (3 by 1-inch) strips fresh lemon rind
1/4 cup sugar
Peel the pears and put them in a bowl of cold water acidulated with the juice of the lemon. Cut the pears into slices and return sliced pears to acidulated water. In a small saucepan combine the red wine, the Port, the cinnamon stick, the cloves, and the rind, bring the liquid to a boil, and boil the mixture for 5 minutes. Add the sugar and simmer the syrup, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the pear slices, drained, and simmer them for 5 to 7 minutes, or until they are tender. Let the pear slices cool completely in the syrup. The pear slices may be prepared up to this point 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled in the syrup. Divide the pear slices among 4 bowls and spoon some of the syrup over each serving.
Pear crisp! With finely chopped almonds and powdered ginger in the topping, a delicious dessert, and a helpful alternative for the pie-impaired among us. I could dig out a recipe, but I'm sure you could concoct an even better one. Martha Rose Shulman in one of her cookbooks (Feasts and Fetes) has a recipe like that which you're supposed to serve with crème anglaise, but I never have.
Several have already beat me to the poached pear suggestion - one of my alltime favorite desserts. The recipes already provided look good - Julia Child's is the one I always follow, red wine, cinnamon stick, cloves, sugar, and some orange or lemon peel, and water if needed to cover. Either keep the pears whole and core them (and peel them), or peel and core and cut in half. Poach till tender but not mushy. Then, cook the wine down to syrup stage. Also make some custard. Serve the cooled pears with the thickened poaching syrup, custard, and if you want to get extra fancy, a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Or forget the custard and throw some whipped cream on the plate.
Also good - pear upside down cake.
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