2.5 pounds of cooking pearsca. 2 cups of water
one large cinnamon stick
lemon peel (optional)
lemon juice
1.5 to 2 oz organic cane sugar
tablespoon of corn flour
Peel pears; for display leave whole with stem attached. Arrange side to side at the bottom of a thick bottom pan. Add water, cinnamon stick (lemon peel) and a squeeze or two of lemon juice to prevent browning and slowly cook the pears until either tender ( ca. 45 minutes) or red (ca. 4 hours).
Carefully remove the soft pears (scooping them out with two spoons helps) and arrange side to side in a nice dish. Remove the cinnamon stick (and lemon peel) and bind the cooking fluid with a little cornstarch to create a syrup.
A very good variation is to exchange the cooking water with either red wine or port.
To can these delicious pears, pack hot pears in sterile pint jars.
Pour the hot liquid over the pears, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.
Process in a boiling water bath, pints 25 minutes.
The cooking times, amount of sugar needed and the redness of the finished pears are all variables depending on the variety of pear used. The Netherlands offers specific cooking pear varieties which are not available in the States. But, the States does have old fashioned cooking pear varieties that can be used just as well.
A good rule of thumb is: if the pear is good eating when picked, it is a hand pear and too soft for cooking. If the pear is too hard and bitter straight of the tree, it will need to be stored to ripen (for hand eating), and can be used for cooking.
Translated from "Het Nieuwe Kookboek", page 292.
