Recipes - Luscious Fruits for Fall Feasts

Pears are apples' elegant cousins. As I write this, they are hanging luscious and succulent, weighing down the branches of the trees in our local Hood River orchards. Pears, like apples, are ready for harvesting from late summer to mid-fall. At their best, pears have a more sophisticated taste than apples, spicy-sweet, rich and mellow. However, like so much of our produce, the hybrids commonly sold in supermarkets are hard and tasteless.

Seventy percent of the pears sold in the United States are Bartletts. The Bartlett is not necessarily a bad-tasting pear, but it is mundane, in no way representative of the 250 pear cultivars in the National Clonal Germ Repository. Many of these cultivars boast an ancient history. Most are over one hundred years old, and some date back to Roman times. Like other heirloom produce, they are idiosyncratic: sometimes difficult to grow, not always ripening on schedule, not catering to the demands of agribusiness. It is up to local growers to bring these history-rich pears back to the forefront, and up to consumers to demand them. If heirloom pears are not sold in your area, you can order them direct from the grower via the Internet.

One of the more commonly available and delicious pears is the Seckel, spicy, sweet, fine-grained and juicy, with an especially flavorful skin. Rousselet de Reims are the parent of the Seckel, with a similar flavor but tending to be hard. The Bosc is an old variety dessert pear with sweet, richly flavored medium to large fruit. The Red D'Anjou pear is especially attractive, adding wonderful color to a fruit bowl. Asian pears are smaller and harder, with a juicy texture and flavor more reminiscent of apples.

Pears are almost always picked unripe and ripen best at room temperature. Perfectly ripe pears are slightly soft, with some give at the stem end. Overripe pears go bad very quickly, so be sure to refrigerate pears once they are ready.

This is a favorite fall salad here in the Northwest.

• 6 cups salad greens (I like a mixture of mild lettuces and slightly bitter ones, such as arugula. Spinach also works well.)
• 2 ripe pears, diced
• 1 cup gorgonzola, or other blue veined cheese, or 6 oz goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 cup hazelnuts or pecans, toasted
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• dash black pepper

1. Combine greens, pears, and cheese in a large salad bowl.
2. Combine oils, vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and whisk well.
3. Toss greens with dressing.
4. Top with toasted nuts and serve immediately.

Or you can try a similar flavor combination with pasta.

• 12 oz linguine
• 2 large ripe Bartlett or D'Anjou pears
• 1 T fresh lemon juice
• 5 oz crumbled gorgonzola cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
• 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 3/4 cup roasted pecans
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook linguine to al dente, drain.
2. Meanwhile, core pears and cut into eighths lengthwise. Slice into one-fourth inch thick pieces. Gently mix with lemon juice, gorgonzola, and parsley.
3. In a medium saucepan over high heat stir broth and cornstarch until boiling. Gently mix into drained linguine. Add pear mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with pecans. Pears that remain resolutely unripe (some inevitably do) can be made into jam.

• 4 cups diced pears
• 4 cups diced tart apples
• 5 T fresh lemon juice
• 5 cups sugar
• grated rind of one lemon

1. Peel and dice fruit. Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
2. Boil about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to stand about 10 minutes.
3. Bring back to boil stirring frequently until mixture is thick and clear (about 10 minutes). Pour into sterilized jars to within one-fourth inch of top. Put on cap and screw band firmly tight.
4. Process in boiling water bath 10 minutes.