I really hate pears. Which is a shame, as I have two pear trees in my garden, well, one either side, to be precise, belonging to my neighbours. These trees, one grandiose, the other spindly, provide a show all year round. White spring blossom, coquettishly adorning the dark branches, like a jazz singer on stage; all summer, the sluttish swaying in the heat and the rain; and autumn, ripe fruit drop onto my lawn to rot or be nibbled, by squirrels, foxes or slugs.
But I’ve found a solution: the granular texture, faintly unpleasant to my palate, simmered in leftover wine from guests, is an easy economical pud. I usually do it with red wine and mulling spices but this weekend, I had a bottle of white wine, probably too oxidised to drink, littering my work surface. A pinch of saffron, some sugar, a dollop of double cream and pistachios, forms a boozy amber dessert for a late winter weekend.
4 pears, not too ripe, peeled, leave stalk on
3/4 of a bottle of white wine
175g of sugar
Generous pinch of saffron
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
150ml of double cream
2 tablespoons of pistachios
Simmer the pears in the wine, sugar, saffron, cinnamon for 45 minutes or so.
Serve warm with a nub of double cream topped with pistachios.
Or preserve them with their syrup, in a jar, for an occasion when you have no dessert to offer guests. They will last at least a year.
Do you like pears? Do you wait around for that brief time frame when they ripen?
Debs Dust Bunny
February 25, 2013 at 11:33 amWell, they look stunning! : )
theundergroundrestaurant
February 25, 2013 at 12:03 pmThanks Debs!
Mark Willis
February 25, 2013 at 8:23 pmWell, I'm sorry, but I LOVE pears! I love them with blue cheese and toasted fruit loaf, and I love pickled pears with cold meat; poached pears in red wine; pears Belle Helene; pears any old way in fact. I have one Conference pear tree in my garden, but I wish it produced ten times as much fruit.
you are right though – pears are only perfectly ripe for a period of about 10 minutes!
theundergroundrestaurant
February 26, 2013 at 2:38 amMark: As fruit go, pears are very moody and unstable. Bipolar even.
However I love pear drops. Do you think there is any pear in pear drops?
Lianne Marie Mease
February 26, 2013 at 8:08 amThese look magnificent! I have been working on a pear and pistachio tart but not quite got the cinnamon level right yet. I wonder if a bit of saffron might be the key! xxx
theundergroundrestaurant
February 26, 2013 at 7:17 pmSaffron is the key to many things I find. I'm sticking it in everything. Not cheap though.
tori
March 1, 2013 at 3:10 pmThese are just gorgeous. It's taken me a while to come back to pears- I believe they're one of the most pH neutral foods, so years ago when I was very ill I was put on an elimination diet for a stretch. I had to subsist for a few weeks on just plain carbohydrates, pears, gin and vodka until I could safely test adding other things back in. It took me a while to look at them the same way again.
Yuki - Japanese Cooking
March 9, 2013 at 7:36 pmThey look beautiful in the jars, I also have a pear tree in the garden. The fruit won't be going to waste this year!