Pear harvesting time again

by Pat Laster

 

                This year’s loaded pear tree has done itself proud again.  The fruit, though smallish (due to no selective thinning), continues to fall from the tree. [This picture is from Google Images.]

 I’ve taken a different tack this year when (ahem) attacking the pears. I only cut out the rot and the core and leave the peelings. I don’t even cut them into smaller pieces, but plop them in a pan of ascorbic water until it is full. Then I place the entire pan into the fridge.

After all, the time it takes to cut a pan full of pears is all the time I want to spend on that job. I probably need to check my email. Or take a nap. Or work on a column. Or a story. Or a poem.

The next step to preserving the free pear crop is to cook them. Four years ago, I wrote about a different method of preparing—peeling, cutting into bite-sized pieces, and using the microwave.

This year, I hauled out my Dutch oven and set it on the large front burner of the range. Using a colander, I poured off the water from the pan of cooled pears and placed the pieces in said pot. I added enough tea kettle water to assure some liquid, shook two dashes of salt over, poured white sugar to cover the top and some brown sugar and cinnamon to give it a homey aroma while cooking and a sweet and spicy taste.

With the heat set at 6 (out of 10), I covered the pot and set the range timer for 10-12 minutes. Being cold to start, the pears would take a while to heat. Since it was dangerous to leave the kitchen—the portable timer had a hitch in its gitalong; it wasn’t dependable--I set the oven timer. After the fruit began boiling, I turned the heat lower--to 5--and stirred them every ten minutes or so.

During the cooking, I usually stood at the sink and began working up another batch, either brought in that day or the day before. Reminding me of the sheep and the goats story from scripture, I separated the ones with obvious rot from those whose outsides looked unsullied. (Hmm, maybe that’s not a good allusion.) I laid out the good ones on a table in an adjoining room.

There was another step. After the fruit was cooked and cooled, I poured the contents into a glass salad bowl, covered it with a glass plate and stowed it on the bottom shelf of the fridge. Till tomorrow. Or whenever I got around to it.

After gathering those containers that had been emptied, washed and stored, and buying new ones, it was time to cut the pieces into bite sizes, cover them with juice, seal them and pop them into the freezer. They were already cold so there was no need to cool them first.  When they were frozen, I moved them to the chest freezer on the back porch.

Now, (after thawing) they will ready for compotes, cakes, cobblers, or to eat alone with whipped topping or ice cream. The skins are as soft as the meat, with a slightly different texture.

Here is a made-up recipe for a light dessert: one berry bowl of stewed pears, to which a dollop of whipped topping and a shake or two of sunflower seeds have been added and mixed in. Yummy!

c 2012 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press