Ooops.
I completely missed this guest post by my lovely friend Courtney!
Her family blog is amazing.
I literally aspire to be her.
I know that's a little creepy (sorry, Courtney!) but she does everything handmade and homemade for her two darling kiddos.
This pear sauce looks delicious and I can't wait to try it!
I completely missed this guest post by my lovely friend Courtney!
Her family blog is amazing.
I literally aspire to be her.
I know that's a little creepy (sorry, Courtney!) but she does everything handmade and homemade for her two darling kiddos.
This pear sauce looks delicious and I can't wait to try it!
Homemade Pear (or Apple) Sauce
I love to hear ooos and aaaahs from friends and family when I get the chance to feed 'em. There are, of course, those meals where everyone politely eats what's served, and I make a note that that experimental recipe was not a repeater. However, when there's a success, it seems more often than not that it's a simple, homey, comforting dish. Funny, isn't it?
Humble, ordinary, down-right delicious simplicity seems to be my recipe for success, and when it comes to all those apples and pears Fall bring, you can't go wrong with homemade pearsauce (or applesauce).
Not only is this homey, comforting dish easy to make, it’s
also healthful, flavorful, versatile, and an awesome excuse to go ahead and indulge in that 38-pound box of
local organic pears (or apples) from the co-op (ahem). Once you try it
homemade, you’ll never go back… and what better fall afternoon project could
there be if you have a kiddo or two dying to help out in the kitchen?
(And just wait and see
what you can do with the sauce once you make it!)
Pear Sauce
Note: this recipe is a
kind of use-what-you-have type of recipe- you can calculate the ratios of
ingredients based on what you have, or you can just wing it, as it is very
forgiving. If you are planning on canning your sauce, you can roughly gauge
what you’ll need knowing that approximately 2 ½ pounds of apples or pears will
yield 1 quart of sauce. For this recipe I’m calling a ‘batch’ 2 quarts.
5 pounds Bartlett pears (if making applesauce instead, vary
the types of apples, and avoid the tart varieties like Granny Smith)
½ cup 100% white grape juice
Half pears and scoop out core using a melon baller. Trim
stem ends and quarter the halves (so the pear is now in 8 pieces). There is no
need to peel. Toss chunks into a large heavy-bottomed pot and add grape juice.
Cover and simmer on a medium-low heat, stirring regularly,
for approximately an hour, or until larger chunks of fruit mash easily with the
back of a spoon.
Cool to room temperature and either mash through a fine-mesh
colander with a potato masher, or use a food mill like the one pictured (I got
mine on amazon.com). You could even pulse in a food processor if you don’t mind
the coarser texture of the peel mixed into the sauce.
At this point, you could serve it, still warm, or you could
return sauce to pot and simmer on very low heat to reduce and thicken. If you
would like to spice it up a bit, add 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp powdered ginger, and
a pinch of cloves as it simmers (your house will smell awesome). In a jar with
a tightly fitted lid, sauce will keep for up to a month in the fridge.
But wait, there’s more. You could take your pear (or apple,
of course) sauce- immediately after mashing, before adding spices- and turn it into pear butter! Have a crock
pot? Try this:
Double up on the pear sauce recipe above, and after mashing
or running through a food mill, pour into a crock pot. To the plain, thin sauce
(if your sauce is actually quite thick at this stage, add some more white grape
juice):
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp powdered ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp allspice
The zest of an orange
1 cup orange juice (or ~3 TBS frozen orange juice
concentrate)
2 cups brown sugar
Mix all ingredients together in a crock pot, put the lid on
slightly ajar (to let steam escape so butter will thicken), and cook on low for
8-12 hours or overnight. Butter is at the correct thickness if a spoonful
dolloped onto a plate holds together without juice leaking from the edges.
Try one- or both- of these recipes, and I promise: Your
house will smell amazing, your kiddos, friends, and/or family will thank you,
and you will be hearing oos and aaahs the whole season long.
Note: if you are in to
canning and would like to ‘put up’ the pear/applesauce or butter, you’ll need
to fill ‘sauce jars to ¼” headspace and process for 15 mins in boiling water
bath for pints, and 20 mins for quarts. For the butter, fill to ¼” headspace
and process in boiling water bath for 5 mins if using pint jars and 10 mins for
quart jars.
My sweet friend, you are WAY too kind :) I'm so flattered to be a part of your wonderful blog! Thanks for publishing my post!
ReplyDeleteI was happy to have you!
ReplyDelete