Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Baked Pears Without Chocolate

Our local food co-op is great. We get good food at a nice price, and we're helping the community. Plus, we love to volunteer at the co-op. We always end up working alongside some really nice people.

This month's share included six ripe pears. But as it turns out, I'm the only one in the family who likes pears. Katie, however, was determined to find something she could do with them. She went searching through recipes from our old innkeeper days and found an incredibly simple one for baked pears. Neither of us has ever had them, but Katie decided to make them for dessert. Now, baked pears didn't sound terribly exciting. My motto has always been, "If it doesn't have chocolate, it's not a dessert rather a side dish."* But, I was willing to give baked pears a try.

After dinner, Katie brought out the pears. All three kids wrinkled up their noses, but I forced them to take the obligatory bite. All it took was that first spoonful, and we were hooked. Yum, yum, yum! Happiness in my mouth! They would have been completely devoured in seconds until I spotted my camera, and shouted "Don't eat them all. I want to take a picture for the blog." A recipe this good and this easy must be shared.**

So, here it is.

A little artistic still-life photography of the co-op pears

I admit this is a fantastic dessert. But, I bet I could probably
figure out some way to add chocolate.

*I have a niece who doesn't like chocolate. I know! What's up with that?
**We like this so much we've now had it two nights in a row.



Baked Pears

Ingredients:

  • 3 Anjou pears
  • Butter
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup cream
Peel each pear*, halve, and remove seeds. Generously butter baking dish just large enough to hold pears. Sprinkle dish with half of the sugar. Place pears cut side down. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Pour cream over pears. Return to oven 15 minutes. Serve warm.

*If you like the peel like I do, you can leave it on. Isn't that where all the vitamins are?

2 comments:

  1. I must admit that I don't like fresh pears. It's something about that grainy texture to them that freaks me out. I like canned pears, though. When you cook them, does the graininess disappear?

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  2. No one in my family, except me, likes pears because of the graininess. However, if you bake these well, the grainy texture does disappear. I would also suggest making sure the pears are ripe.

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