<p>We have a bumper crop. I estimate about 300 pears from our tree. After I’m finished giving them away I’ll still have a bunch left. We make pear salad pretty frequently, and I just made my annual lamb and pear tagine. Any other ideas? I’m not looking for dessert-type dishes.</p>
<p>I don’t have a recipe but I did have a wonderful pear dish on vacation- poached pears.</p>
<p>By the way, I can never get my pears to ripen. Any ideas?</p>
<p>I have a great one. The actual recipe is at Jan’s Sushi bar, but it is pretty easy. Place several thin slices of pear on 3 thin asparagus spears, wrap with prosciutto, broil for a few minutes.</p>
<p>Lucky you, to have a pear tree! In your shoes I would be making lots of chunky pear-sauce, with grated fresh ginger and cardamom.</p>
<p>Pear and gouda grilled cheese sandwiches.
Or, for a cold sandwich, try gouda, pear, and ham on a hearty multi-grain bread with a little mustard.</p>
<p>I’ve made squash soup with pear as the secret ingredient.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dave-lieberman/butternut-squash-and-pear-soup-recipe/index.html]Butternut”>http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dave-lieberman/butternut-squash-and-pear-soup-recipe/index.html]Butternut</a> Squash and Pear Soup Recipe : Dave Lieberman : Food Network<a href=“without%20curry”>/url</a></p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/curried_squash_and_pear_soup/]Curried”>Curried Squash and Pear Soup Recipe]Curried</a> Squash and Pear Soup Recipe | Simply Recipes<a href=“with%20curry”>/url</a></p>
<p>I love pear jam.</p>
<p>No recipes I’m afraid, bit I now how to to ripen pears. @Onward: Place inside a brown paper lunch bag, loosely closed, on the kitchen counter. Check daily. They’re ripe when they yield to gentle pressure–Bartlett’s are ripe when they turn yellow, other varieties need the pressure test. Be patient–I’ve waited as long as a week to get pears ripe enough. Just bought the first Comice pears of the season (the best!) and they look like they’re going to need two or three days.</p>
<p>Martha Stewart has many recipes. I did not see the one I like there, a sliced and baked pear desert with nutmeg and cream.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/pear-recipes[/url]”>http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/pear-recipes</a></p>
<p>Pear is often used for ravioli filling, usually combined with a gorgonzola or, my favorite, a taleggio cheese sauce. If you don’t want to make fresh pasta, you can buy the fresh sheets at many italian markets (Whole Foods also sells them).</p>
<p>[Chef</a> Lidia Bastianich’s Recipe for Ravioli Stuffed with Pear and Pecorino Cheese on StarChefs](<a href=“http://www.starchefs.com/chefs/LBastianich/html/ravioli_pear_pecorino_l_bastianich.shtml]Chef”>http://www.starchefs.com/chefs/LBastianich/html/ravioli_pear_pecorino_l_bastianich.shtml)</p>
<p>Thanks, MommaJ! I’ll go pick some tomorrow and try some of these recipes. Our weather has turned crisp, so maybe soup will be first.</p>
<p>Head over to Gardenweb’s Harvest forum. They have lots of canning recipes and know how. You can easily boil-water-bath fruit, and pears have lots of potential. I usually make a liquid of 1/2 water, 1/2 moscato wine, add sugar and crushed cardamom pods, and can my pears in that.</p>
<p>You can make pear tea. It’s very good. Cut the fruit into small pieces and mix it with slices of fresh ginger and boil it. Use a strainer to remove the pieces of pear and ginger. And sugar to until you reach your desired sweetness.</p>
<p>This is sort of like a desert or breakfast bread but we had a pear tree at our first house and it produced pears. I found an apple bread recipe and replaced the apples with pears and baked and froze at least a dozen loaves to enjoy all winter. I couldn’t bear to watch the pears fall on the ground and rot. I miss that tree. Can’t remember the recipe except that it was pretty basic. And yes, the brown paper bag trick works great.</p>
<p>Caramelized onion and pear pizza with some kind of sharp cheese. Lots of recipes online, such as this one:</p>
<p>[Caramelized</a> Onion and Gorgonzola Pizza Recipe - Allrecipes.com](<a href=“http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/caramelized-onion-and-gorgonzola-pizza/detail.aspx]Caramelized”>http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/caramelized-onion-and-gorgonzola-pizza/detail.aspx)</p>
<p>Also, this pear tart is heavenly:
<a href=“http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pear-and-Hazelnut-Frangipane-Tart-105747[/url]”>http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pear-and-Hazelnut-Frangipane-Tart-105747</a></p>
<p>In this week’s email from Whole Foods. Enjoy!</p>
<p>[Whole</a> Story Blog Archive Delicious This Week: Organic Bartlett Pears](<a href=“http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2011/09/organic-bartlett-pears/?utm_source=Responsys&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2011_09_14_Specials]Whole”>http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2011/09/organic-bartlett-pears/?utm_source=Responsys&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2011_09_14_Specials)</p>
<p>Thanks all, this is great! I just printed out a bunch of recipes. We’ll be eating pears every night for the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>About ripening pears - you don’t want to pick them ripe. They get mushy if you leave them on the tree too long. Pick them when the sugar has come in but they’re still green. Pears produce ethylene gas as a ripening hormone, which is why keeping them together in a paper bag will cause them to ripen. I keep mine together but in the fridge so they don’t ripen too fast. I can generally get them to last until about Halloween.</p>