Perfectly Paired Pears

Ok, here’s the deal. It’s October – OCTOBER, and we just hit a record high of 100º F here in the Raleigh area. It is really getting ridiculous. They say the heat will finally break this weekend, but in the meantime, my desires to make soothing bowls of soup and chili in my crock pot are on hold.

After scrapping my original idea of sharing a chicken chili recipe with you this week, I racked my brain for another Fall food to share. This brought me to pears. Pears are currently in season and at their Autumnal peak.

I love apple crisp, but I thought pear crisp might be delicious, too. The beauty of baked fruit crisp is that it is simple, warm and done correctly, it brings out the natural flavors of the fruit without being overly sweet.

I started with the basic elements of apple or pear crisp. You make a simple filling with the fruit, and a buttery crumble topping. As I looked at the sweeteners used in most recipes, I remembered how delicious summer peaches were with honey bourbon. Pears seem like a natural pairing with honey bourbon as well.

Indeed, I was right! I know, you’re thinking I am a paid spokesperson for Evan Williams Honey Bourbon and perhaps I should be. But seriously, it just makes some baked goods turn to magic. You can, of course, leave out the bourbon and add more granulated sugar or honey, but the honey bourbon really works well here.

Nice firm pears are ideal for this dish. I used Bartlett, but any firm, juicy variety will do nicely. You need to peel, core and dice the pears. A vegetable peeler works nicely, but be sure to keep a firm grip, as the fruit gets quite slippery. If you are using an old-fashioned style peeler, as in a straight-handled peeler, not a Y, you can use the potato eye remover on the end to help you remove the core and stringy stem part of the pear. I have to admit to you that I didn’t realize until sometime last year that the point on the end of the peeler served such purposes. If you don’t have a handy-dandy peeler like that, but you feel your kitchen needs one, you can find one on Amazon here.

Once you have prepared your pears, you can mix in the lemon juice, bourbon, sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch and set aside while you prepare the crumble topping. I added some chopped pecans to my topping, for texture and flavor, but you can definitely leave them out if you have allergies, etc.

To make the topping a “crumb”, you mix all of your dry ingredients together and then cut in cold butter until you get the desired crumb effect.

The easiest way to cut in butter is to use a pastry cutter or blender, which you can also find affordably on Amazon here. If you don’t have one of these tools, you can use a fork, it just takes more elbow grease.

Next, you simply pour the pears into a prepared baking pan, and sprinkle the crumb evenly on top. Bake for about 28-30 minutes until it’s golden brown and bubbly and your house smells delicious.

Of course, the best way to eat pear crisp is still warm from the oven with a scoop of ice cream on top. If you can’t eat it right away, be sure to heat it slightly in the microwave before enjoying.

This recipe is prepared in an 8×8 pan, and provides a nice balance of topping to fruit, but if you like more topping, less fruit, feel free to tweak it a bit, or spread it a little thinner in a slightly larger pan. Just be sure to cut the cooking time if you spread it out more.

This recipe tastes scrumptious and is easy to whip up for a last minute dessert or coffee with friends. Feel free to play with it and make it your own.

Maybe next week I can finally open up my windows and work on cooler weather comfort foods….

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