Fresh Produce of the Month: pears

Mmmmmmmmmm..... I feel really terrible for not having written on the blog for so long. However, better late than never, I keep believing! And at last, I am on vacation, amazingly enough! I have almost finished the first part of my 'application campaign', and I am waiting to see if at least one of them will lead to some sort of job in the near future. Not a good year to be looking for jobs, but what can one do?

So, as a first post, I really have to write about the roundup of the 'Fresh Produce of the Month: Pears', that was held now months ago! I'm really sorry this is not the fresh produce of the month anymore :( However, the entries were so wonderful that I hope reading about them will still be a joy and inspiration to many!

I received the first entry from my colleague and friend Albert. He does have a blog in Catalan, 'La cova d'en Còdol', but he doesn't publish recipes on it. So he sent me a picture and a recipe for these 'Pears in wine' that you see here.. a very typical Catalan dessert. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1kg Pears (blanquilla)
½ l red wine
1 cinnamon stick
300gr sugar
1 lemon peal

We peal the pears without cutting the tail. In a deep bowl we put first the pears, then the rest of ingredients. We put the bowl in the microwave at high power for 8-10 minutes, we turn the pears and we cook it 5 more minutes. In order to know if they are done just prick the pears with a knife.
Serve warm or cold as desired with the "sauce" of the bowl.

A quick and delicious pear centered recipe comes from Francesca, from 'francescav'. It's a 'Quick strudel with pears and grapes'. I love strudels, my mom used to make a lot of them when I was younger. Francesca is right: they are quick and wonderful! She suggests serving it with ice cream or with a home-made yogurt sauce.




Stuffed pear in orange spice sauce is what Soma from 'ecurry' brings to the table: it's a delicious idea, that involves stuffing a pear with all sorts of nuts and raisin, and cooking it with spices in orange juice. I'm in awe :)




Priya from 'Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes' suggests an 'Orange pear cocktail juice', containing a healthy and refreshing combination of vitamins and fibers! And the color is really pretty. Thanks Priya!












Marta from 'Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare' contributes with a very enticing recipe: 'Risotto con pere speziate e formaggio bleu', a risotto with pears, nutmeg, pistachio nuts, and bleu cheese. This sounds like a wonderful idea, and I'm putting it on my list of recipes to try out!










Aparna from 'My diverse kitchen' bakes a 'Spiced pear galette' , containing pears and black pepper, cinnamon, star anise, and nutmeg. I can imagine how all these spices must contribute to making a really delicious galette!






Sweatha from 'Tasty curry leaf' prepared 'Roasted Pears with sweet cous cous', by stuffing pears with cous cous and apricots and other dried fruit. Another great idea for serving pears, thank you Sweatha!






My dear friend Simona at 'briciole' serves pears with her amazing homemade cheese, in the most famous combination 'Formaggio con le pere'. I have first-mouth experience of Simona's cheese, and I am just amazed at her ability and adventureousness with the art of cheesemaking!





Rachel from 'The Crispy Cook' also combines pears and wine in this 'Poached pears in rioja' , which I'm sure tastes as wonderful as it looks!






The last recipe (simply because it was really late..) is my 'Pear tarte', which I made with a recipe from my Aunt Maria Rosa, a really healthy one, with almost no flour and butter.. I can assure you that the result is mouthwatering even with these healthy ingredients :)





Very well, my dear readers, finally the roundup is up! Now, I have a question instead of an announcement: is there anybody who would like to host the Fresh Produce of the Month for the next month or two? I'm going to be still rather busy for a while and I don't want to have this event die. So if somebody would like to host it, I'd be very happy to pass the torch for a few months. Please let me know by sending an email to chemcookitATgmailDOTcom or by commenting on the blog. I can help you with the announcement and the picture for the logo. In order to continue the series, next month a 'fresh vegetable' should be chosen, and a 'fresh fruit' the month after (that's how I've been alternating the produce up to now). Any ideas, anybody?!?