Pears and apples a plenty

[forever_young_ca]

We have been forced to pick all our apples and pears before the neighbourhood bear ate them up. The result is I have a major surplus on my hands. So far I have come up with:

Apples - apple pie, apple sauce. I am also going to try Mamster's quick puff pastry for an apple galette of sorts.

Pears - pears and mango chutney, spiced pears.

Any suggestions as to what else I can do? Favourite recipes?

I would be most grateful.

[tejon]

I love pear clafouti, though it isn't something you'd want to store for long. How about pear and/or apple butter? I don't have a recipe handy, but it cooks down quite a bit and requires a lot of fruit at the outset.

[lperry]

I just had the same "problem" with pears. I made spiced pears, a pear and cranberry chutney, and pear and chestnut preserves. The rest got dried in the dehydrator. Apples are great dried as well. You can rehydrate them this winter in tasty liquids and use them in anything from savory relishes to desserts like pies or crumbles.

[FaustianBargain]

a while ago, i saw 'apple crisps' in some supermarket. is it the same as dehydrated apple slices?

edited to add: oh dear! someone thought of this. You can probably freeze it!

Pear and Parsnip Soup

1 kg parsnips, peeled and chopped

4 pears, peeled and cored

8 cups chicken stock

butter, salt and pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg

1 cup cream

½ cup sherry

Edited September 19, 2004 by Lalitha (log)

[bloviatrix]

I posted my recipe for Carrot-Pear-Ginger soup here last week. It freezes quite nicely, although you might need to add some extra water or broth to thin it out.

[Kapuliperson]

We have been forced to pick all our apples and pears before the neighbourhood bear ate them up.    The result is I have a major surplus on my hands.  So far I have come up with:

Apples - apple pie, apple sauce.  I am also going to try Mamster's quick puff pastry for an apple galette of sorts.

Pears - pears and mango chutney, spiced pears.

Any suggestions as to what else I can do?  Favourite recipes?

I would be most grateful.

←

Apple struedel, apple tarts/jam, apple cinnamon rolls, apple granola bread, caramel apple, dehydrated apple with maple or caramel or just plain, apple chips

[beccaboo]

Jams: apple-ginger, apple-blackberry, pear-lemon-ginger.

Pear butter's good. I make it like apple butter but with ginger and nutmeg for the spices, and white sugar instead of brown.

[curlywurlyfi]

peel pears, split in half, scoop out middles with teaspoon. mix up some mascarpone with brandy/vanilla/cocoa grains/grated orange peel/pretty much whatever you like, plus a bit of sugar. put a blob in the cavity, replace other half of pear. spread some brown sugar and cinnamon on a plate, roll pear in mix, put on a piece of silicon paper and fold paper loosely into packet, secure with paperclip. (I sometimes put a few drops of water or, better, pear grappa in the parcel). Bake for 30-40 minutes in a medium oven. serve with the leftover mascarpone.

pear tart with cinammon walnut pastry? Anna N's saffron baked pears (mmmm)? sliced pear on watercress topped with Roquefort and grilled?

couple of ideas from Gordon Ramsay in Sunday's Times

have got a great recipe somewhere for a German style apple pie/cake with marzipan. And for a Norwegian three-layer coffee cake with a layer of apples and a cinammony crumble topping, do PM if you'd like them. And Nigella Lawson has a recipe I've never tried but which sounds yummy for translucent apple tart (basically you grate the apple into a heinous amount of butter). apple snow? toffee apple upside down cake? apple tart with cheese pastry?

(edited to add Ramsay link + apple recipes)

Edited September 20, 2004 by curlywurlyfi (log)

[forever_young_ca]

Lovely suggestions. Thank you to all. Keep them coming.

The rest got dried in the dehydrator

Can I dry fruit without a dehydrator - in the oven (electic) or microwave?

[forever_young_ca]

have got a great recipe somewhere for a German style apple pie/cake with marzipan. And for a Norwegian three-layer coffee cake with a layer of apples and a cinammony crumble topping, do PM if you'd like them.

I would love the recipes, but in my ignorance I don't know how to PM anyone. Instructions? Thanks

[curlywurlyfi]

I would love the recipes, but in my ignorance I don't know how to PM anyone.  Instructions? 

there are various ways, but if you find a post by the person you want to PM, look at the bottom of their post, towards the left hand side there is a teeny button marked 'PM' - click there and you're all set!

[hjshorter]

Pear butter's good.  I make it like apple butter but with ginger and nutmeg for the spices, and white sugar instead of brown.

←

Proportions, please? This may be one of my holiday preserves to give away.

[beccaboo]

Proportions, please?  This may be one of my holiday preserves to give away.

←

This is a good way to use up over-ripe pears--just cut out the bruises and worms.

Pear butter

Cut the blossom ends out of the pears, then roughly chop them and cook in a tiny bit of water till soft. Run through a food mill or sieve, and measure the mush. For 6 cups of mush add 3 cups of sugar, 1/4 cup orange juice, 1 teaspoon orange zest, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ginger (or more if you want it gingery). Cook till thick (running a spoon along the bottom of the pan leaves a trail that takes a while to fill in). Pack into jars and boiling-water-bathe for 15 minutes.

[hjshorter]

Beautiful, thanks so much. I assume the ginger should be fresh?

[beccaboo]

Beautiful, thanks so much.  I assume the ginger should be fresh?

←

I think I made it with powdered. Fresh would be better, though--if you want to use fresh, use mabe 2t to 1T grated, and cook it along with the pears so the stringiness (sp?) gets strained out along with the pears peels and seeds.

Edited September 20, 2004 by beccaboo (log)

[chappie]

Depending on how many you have, I'd look into getting or building a juice press, then making hard cider (champagne method) with both or a mix of the two. All you need are glass carboys, the yeast (montrachet worked well for me), a siphon, funnel and airlock. While it's fermenting you can collect bottles (I used Newcastle as well as American sparkling wine bottles -- which accept a beer cap perfectly), which you'll sanitize and then cap.

Do you have access to a brewery supply store? If not there are several sources online for all of this.