Of pears & cranberries
A kind and generous neighbor made us a gift of a ten pound sack of pears from her tree. Husband made pear bread with pecans and raisins from about half of them. He also cut some up and froze them. That left about three pounds for me to deal with. These are Asian pears, sometimes called "apple-pears" because they are shaped like apples. Sweet and fragrant, but without much acid or bite. Firm and crunchy like an apple unless allowed to become overly ripe and mushy. What to do?
Well, as serendipity would have it, an ad for a cooking magazine arrived in the mail with a few sample recipes. One was for a pear-cranberry pie, and it sounded interesting, so I revised it a bit. Here's a photo of the result:
And here's the recipe as I revised it:
Pear-cranberry Deep Dish Pie
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. instant tapioca
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
6 ripe, but still firm, pears, cored and sliced (about 2 lbs.)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen whole cranberries
1 Tbsp. milk
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling
pastry for a double crust pie (best home made, but packaged store-bought is OK)
Preheat oven to 375F. In a large bowl combine sugar, tapioca, ginger and nutmeg. Add pear slices, cranberries, and lemon juice. Stir gently to coat the pears and cranberries.
Divide prepared pastry dough into two parts. Roll one portion into a 13 inch circle. Use this to line a 9 inch deep dish pie plate. (Ease pastry into place, do not stretch.) Spread pear filling in the piecrust.
Roll out second pastry portion into a 12 inch circle, and gently place this on top of the filling. Crimp edges, cut slits in top for steam to escape. Brush top of pie with the milk, and sprinkle with coarse sugar for a little sparkle.
Place pie on a baking sheet or pizza pan to catch any drips. Bake 65 to 70 minutes or until filling is bubbly and crust golden brown. Allow to cool on wire rack, but serve while still slightly warm.
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Our review: Tasty, but really needs a bit more spice to give it character. Compared to apples or cherries, pears are, well, pretty bland.
comments
Well, as serendipity would have it, an ad for a cooking magazine arrived in the mail with a few sample recipes. One was for a pear-cranberry pie, and it sounded interesting, so I revised it a bit. Here's a photo of the result:
And here's the recipe as I revised it:
Pear-cranberry Deep Dish Pie
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. instant tapioca
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
6 ripe, but still firm, pears, cored and sliced (about 2 lbs.)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen whole cranberries
1 Tbsp. milk
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling
pastry for a double crust pie (best home made, but packaged store-bought is OK)
Preheat oven to 375F. In a large bowl combine sugar, tapioca, ginger and nutmeg. Add pear slices, cranberries, and lemon juice. Stir gently to coat the pears and cranberries.
Divide prepared pastry dough into two parts. Roll one portion into a 13 inch circle. Use this to line a 9 inch deep dish pie plate. (Ease pastry into place, do not stretch.) Spread pear filling in the piecrust.
Roll out second pastry portion into a 12 inch circle, and gently place this on top of the filling. Crimp edges, cut slits in top for steam to escape. Brush top of pie with the milk, and sprinkle with coarse sugar for a little sparkle.
Place pie on a baking sheet or pizza pan to catch any drips. Bake 65 to 70 minutes or until filling is bubbly and crust golden brown. Allow to cool on wire rack, but serve while still slightly warm.
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Our review: Tasty, but really needs a bit more spice to give it character. Compared to apples or cherries, pears are, well, pretty bland.
comments
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