Check out the Cooking forum for some recipes:

Here is a link that might be useful: pear recipes

I recommend canning pears in red wine. Follow the standard directions for canning pears in terms of process time, but make your syrup from cheapo but good-coloured red wine, sweetened to taste, simmered with your choice of spices (some or all of the following: cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, cardamom, peppercorns, orange zest, lemon zest, bay leaf, ginger-root). Leaving whole spices in the jar is very pretty but the flavour can become too strong in standing if you leave it for a while (esp. the fruit pieces in direct contact with the spices).

Thanks to our 2004 hurricane season I put up forty nine and a half pints of pear sauce last year. Hadn't intended to make so much of it, but it was fortunate that I did as my daughters love the stuff and will happily eat it straight from the jar. Make it the same as you would applesauce.

In my case I cooked them soft, ran them through my Victorio, add a modicum of sugar, some apple cider vinegar then boiling water bathed the lot.

When Charley blew up and had to be attended to I had two bushels of fruit in the kitchen...

.....Alan.

Just made the gourmet ginger pear recipe above. Do you think this recipe will get stronger over time or mellow out? The liquid is so ginger-y it has a bite to it. Perhaps the ginger was really strong or fresh.... It's really good but it will knock your socks off unless you use it in small quantities.
How do others use these types of canned pears? I have some "victrola-style" in wine from last year too. I served them warm with ice cream, biscuits, and whipped cream. Any other uses besides straight out of the jar?

I made a Kiwi/Pear chutney last week. The mild sweetness of the pears was set off my the tanginess of the kiwi.

I suppose just about any two fruits would go together though.

I make pear upside cake, using canned pears instead of pineapple and gingerbread cake batter for the cake, served with vanilla ice cream. I also like sliced pears in a salad with some walnuts and poppyseed dressing over dark greens.

I also puree pears and use them in baked goods in the place of some of the fat, that's especially good in bran muffins.

Annie

Oooh Pear upside down cake sounds delightful! Do you have the source of the recipe for the gingerbread cake?

I just wanted to give this thread a bump up. I made the ginger pear sauce with splenda and loved it! I served it to the in-laws with a pork roast, and they raved about it. They are from England, and said it tasted of home. Everyone wanted a jar to take home so I'm off to find more pears to make a couple more batches. Thanks Nancy
Lynette

Flatlander,

This is in response to your question of over a year ago, but since I didn't see this thread last year what're you gonna do?

My experience is that at the "victrola-style" spiced wine pears definitely mellow over time. I remember drinking the leftover wine syrup from a batch, and it was lovely and spicy. When I opened the last jar a year or so later, it was tasty, but definitely NOT highly spiced --- could have used a little more. I made a note to up the cloves & cinnnamon if I do 'em this year. Was thinking of getting some of the essential oils to put in a touch.

Did you try the ginger-y pears later on, and did they mellow or strengthen?

Zabby

Wow. I thought I was the only one who made upsidedown pear gingerbread. Guess we have similar tastes.

Here, I had no luck trying to grow pears. The tree would get black leaves, and then they dropped off every year. IT was a dwarf tree, but had never had a single fruit. I tried spraying many times, and finally dug it up and tossed it. In its place are three types of Asian pears, and last year, the oldest of the three trees (2 years), had two big pears. These are bigger than apples, with tan color russet surface. They need no sprays, of any kind, for any problems. Once ripe in September m I can pick them and keep them in the fridge for up to 6 months! MUCH better than any regular pear type and are nice and crisp and very juicy.

sorry I'm so many months behind, flatlander. Here's the recipe I use for upside down pear gingerbread from Gourmet magazine:

Upside-Down Pear Gingerbread Cake
Serves6

For topping

2 1/2 firm pears (preferably Bosc)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
For cake
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup molasses (preferably mild)
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Special equipment:a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet or a 12-inch deep nonstick skillet (handle wrapped with a double layer of foil if not ovenproof)

Make topping:
Peel and core pears and cut each into 8 wedges.
Melt butter in skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides. Reduce heat to low, then sprinkle brown sugar over bottom of skillet and cook, undisturbed, 3 minutes (not all sugar will be melted). Arrange pears decoratively over sugar and cook, undisturbed, 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Make cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together molasses and boiling water in a small bowl. Beat together butter, brown sugar, and egg in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes, then alternately mix in flour mixture and molasses in 3 batches at low speed until smooth.

Pour batter over topping in skillet, spreading evenly and being careful not to disturb pears, and bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes.
Cool cake in skillet on a rack 5 minutes. Run a thin knife around edge of skillet, then invert a large plate with a lip over skillet and, using pot holders to hold skillet and plate tightly together, invert cake onto plate. Replace any pears that stick to skillet. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This is so good, dark and moist. I plead guilty to adding a bit more ginger and using dark molasses because I like that flavor. This is amazing still warm with vanilla ice cream and my daughter likes to drizzle some hot caramel topping over the whole thing.

Annie