Pears!!

I love pears.  Seriously love them.  I was overjoyed to see them in the box this week.  We talked about pear butter before, but let's go one step better.  Let's talk... pear desserts!

Poaching

Photo via Fine Cooking

The classic dessert for pears is to poach them.  That means letting them cook in a warm liquid.  If you poach pears, peel them first.  The flavor of the liquid is the key component, and it doesn't penetrate the skin well.  Poaching pears in wine is the most common option.  This recipe uses a white wine and sugar.  Another wonderful option is to use a heavy, sweet red wine, like port, so that you don't have to use the sugar.  (I'd omit the citrus from that recipe if you make that substitution.)  You can also play with the spices in the poaching liquid, such as using cardamom.  A really good vanilla bean ice cream is a fantastic accompaniment.

Photo via Simply Recipes

Baking & Roasting

Dry heat is also a great way to make dessert.  Use the same spice palate as we did in the pear butter, like this recipe does.  Or you can keep it really simple.  Pears make wonderful tarts, too.

And, my favorite...

I've made this for Christmas dessert a couple of times, and it's my absolute favorite.  The arborio rice makes a fantastic consistency for the "rice pudding" component of the dessert.  (That reminds me, I should see if arborio alone makes rice pudding better.)  The fact that I am a big fan of good, dark rums doesn't hurt either.

Enjoy your pears!