What to do with pears?

[m00nwater]

I am so clueless with pears as I don't buy them often. I was given a bag of about 15 or so pears by a friend that has a tree in their backyard.

What are some things I can do with them? They are the ones that have brown skin and they are quite firm right now.

[miniman]

We like making pickled pears. Peel, core and cut up the pears and prepare a vinegar syrup (you will have to look up the proportions as I use a book recipe). Simmer the pears in the syrup and then place them in pickling jars (these need to be warmed else they shatter). Top up the jars with the syrup and sterilise as per other bottling/canning techniques.

You also have pear flavouered vinegar syrup left over which I use in sweet & sour recipes.

You can also make a pear tarte tatin, pear crumble or pear tarts.

Of course, you could just eat them!

[GhettoRacingKid]

you can poach them in port wine and have them for dessert

I have sliced them, soaked them in a simple syrup then grilled them. very awesome.

[Uncle Bob]

Are you able to weigh the pears you have?? I'll try to formulate a pear preserves recipe for you, but I need the weight.

[buckytom]

i haven't had them in years, but my favourite pear recipe is port poached pears? (try not to spit on anyone)

slice the bottom flat to make them better able to stand up, then peel the pears.

simmer them until soft, turning to saturate all around in a sauce made of port wine, sugar, vanilla bean, cinnamon, salt, and a little water.

serve standing up in a pool of the sauce on a deep plate, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

[lezah]

oh, an acquaintance of mine had a glut of pears recently too.

she made pear-strudel with it. As far as I can tell you can pretty much treat them like apples in that respect. Though I'd say the taste depends a lot on the type of pear.

[babetoo]

make a tort, make jam, mix with apples for a pie. eat them out of hand.

[ChefJune]

Pear Tart, Pear Salad (with blue cheese and toasted hazelnuts), Pear Souffle, Pear Clafoutis, Poached Pears in Port, or white wine, or red wine, with its own sauce, with chocolate sauce... the possibilities are endless.

[Constance]

Peel them and poach in white wine and mixed pickling spice for a lovely lite dessert.

[Maverick2272]

I like to chop em up and put them in yogurt and cottage cheese. Other than that, can them for use later, and they are good in fruit salads.