Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Baked Pears in Brown Sugar

My mom recently has been buying pears for the cheap, since they are in season. But what do you do with them? I researched and found a simple, but delicious recipe. It is modified slightly, so read close.

Ingredients:
  • Pears. (duh. You will be halving them, so base how many on how many people you are serving. I am using 3.
  • 4 Tbsp butter
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar (preferably dark)
  • Pistachios coarsely chopped (or your favorite nuts. Hohoho)
  • Vanilla ice cream (originally called for sourcream, but I like this better)
Preheat oven to 400 F, make sure there the center rack is in place and will fit your pan.

Now then, start halving those pears! When I made them this time they were less than perfectly ripe (a little too soft) so take that into consideration when making this. I've found that using a strawberry stem remover works wonderfully for removing the core of the pears. A simple knife will do for cutting out the stem 'root'.



Plop the butter in slices into the pan of your choice (make sure that it will fit all pear halves) and put it into the oven to melt. In the meantime, pack up your brown sugar.

When the butter is melted, remove from the oven and sprinkle the brown sugar all over in the pan. It'll seem like a ton of brown sugar, but it'll be okay. Place the pears cut side down into the pan, and put into the oven for 30 minutes.



Do a crossword.

Have tongs and a ladle or spoon of some sort at the ready, and remove the pears from the oven. Flip them over, picking up some of that sauce and pouring over the 'white' of the pears (of course they won't be white at this point). Put back into the oven and bake for 10 more minutes.



When they are done, let them cool slightly before transferring to plates or bowls. Serve with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of sour cream, and sprinkle with nuts.



Done! :)