Old Fashioned Pear Dessert Food

OLD-FASHIONED PEAR DESSERT

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, 3 tablespoons sugar and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks and lemon juice; stir into dry ingredients with a fork. Remove 1 cup to another bowl; stir in the remaining sugar and set aside for the topping. , Press remaining crumb mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned., Meanwhile, for filling, combine the sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, salt and cinnamon in a small saucepan; slowly stir in water and lemon juice until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in butter and vanilla., Toss pears with remaining cornstarch; spoon over crust. Top with filling. Sprinkle with reserved topping. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

OLD FASHIONED PEAR FRITTERS (WOK)

Steps:

• Combine 2 TB powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl.
• Slice pears 3/8 inch thick. Dip each slice in lemon juice mixture.
• Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small mixing bowl.
• Combine beaten egg and milk; add to flour mixture, mixing well.
• Fill wok with oil half the depth of wok; heat to 360°F
• Dip pear slices in batter. Fry 1-2 minutes per side or until golden. Drain on paper towels.
• Dust with powdered sugar and serve hot.

OLD-FASHIONED PEAR PRESERVES

Steps:

• Day 1:.
• Peel and core pears. Slice or dice into pieces of desired size.
• Place pears in a large bowl and add an equal amount of sugar by weight (e.g. 4 lbs of pears = 4 lbs of sugar) Add juice of one lemon. Zest is optional, but adds a nice flavor. Stir gently to distribute sugar. Leave in refrigerator overnight. Stir several times to coat fruit with syrup.
• Day 2:.
• Place pears and syrup in a large pot. Bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer and cook an additional 15-20 minutes until pears are translucent and candied. Turn off heat and leave pears in syrup overnight (no need to refrigerate). Place a clean dish towel under pot lid to prevent condensation.
• Day 3:.
• Remove pears from syrup, straining all syrup back into the pot. Bring syrup to a boil and cook to desired thickness (usually around 220 degrees). Test doneness by dropping syrup onto a frozen plate. It should gel almost immediately. When ready add pears back to syrup and remove from heat. Stir gently for approximately 10 minutes as preserves cool. This will keep the fruit distributed in the syrup and prevent it floating to the top of your jars.
• Place preserves in sterilized jars leaving 1/2 inch of head space. If packing hot jars, process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes. For cold jars, process 10 minutes.
• Leave jars undisturbed for 24 hours to cool and set. Enjoy!

EASY PEAR CRISP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350*F
• Coat a 9x9 casserole dish with non-stick spray.
• Slice and core pears, then chop into bit sized pieces. You can leave the skins on or off. (My kids wont eat the crisp unless the skins are off the pears)
• Toss pears with corn starch and place in casserole dish. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, rolled oats, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, slat and melted butter. Mix well until mixture is crumbly.
• Spread crisp topping over pears and bake for 35 minutes or until crisp is bubbly and golden.
• Serve hot with a fresh scoop of ice cream.