Help! recipes for pears please

[cevenol jardin]

Does anyone have any good recipes for pears anything at all. The wind took the pears off the tree before i got there so i doubt they will store. Anything preserve wise, to make and freeze or just to eat right away would be great.

[Chantal]

I've posted a recipe for High Dumpsiedearie Jam (pear) in the Recipes section. I've yet to try it out but it looks good, if you make some, please report back with the results Go to viewtopic.php?t=2801

[Alison]

I have cooked them in red wine with sugar and a cinnamon stick (many recipe books have a recipe for pears with red wine), and then, when they are cooked and the pan of fruit is still boiling all the way through, I put them into preserving jars that have been heated up in the oven and I quickly shut down the lids with their rubber seals. Because everything is so hot, it seals beautifully and doesn't need any futher sterilisation. The pears are nice as an impromptu pudding served with cream or ice-cream. I also bottle pears cooked with demerara sugar and lemon juice; or cooked with stem ginger bits added at the last minute plus some of the ginger syrup from the jar. They are also nice cooked in cider.
Alison.

[Primrose]

It's too late now but for future years perhaps you should acquire one of those food dehydrators which Chantal has bought. Then you could slice and dry your pears and use them in different ways. Also they require much less storage space when dried.

[cevenol jardin]

Good idea primrose
Have been seriously thinking about getting a hydrator - we have a lot of sunshine here but equally a lot of insects and drying any fruit outside has been problematic so far.
We have a big cherry harvest and its just not possible to eat them all no matter how much you gorge or take round to friends so i was thinking of trying to dry them. Harvest will be mid May so I either need to make a solar hydrator with mesh to keep the hornets, wasps etc out or buy an electric one.

What do you think, chantal, of the one you got and what quantity can you dry at a time.

[RAREBREDCHICK]

Try this, we did this at a hotel I worked at, but only when not very busy!

Core & peel the pears carefully, if very ripe & sweet thats good, if a bit hard still, gently simmer for about 8 mins in a light water syrup & leave to cool.

Melt some good chocolate, careful not to catch and mix about a quarter of cream until well mixed. Then

Carefully stuff the inside with vanilla ice cream, easier to soften & use a icing bag.

Place on individual serving dishes, pour over the chocolate mixture, delicious when chocolate hot, or put in fridge to set. Decorate with some dusted icing sugar, cocoa, or a few currents.