Kelly Rossiter
DCL
Last week my kitchen counter looked like a booth at the farmers' market. As usual, I'd bought more fruit and vegetables than we could possibly eat. I had a basket of peaches, a basket of pears, a basket of tomatoes, a basket of heirloom tomatoes, a basket of green beans, a small basket of blackberries, a basket of purple grapes and a basket of potatoes. In the refrigerator, my vegetable crisper contained hedgehog mushrooms, blue chanterelle mushrooms, peacock kale, beets, carrots, patty pan squash, red peppers, lettuce and arugula. This is the conundrum I face when by buying local and in season. Everything is piling up on me at harvest time, but when you aren't going to get fresh blackberries for another year, how can you possibly resist?
There are two answers to the problem of too much food. Invite people to dinner and do some canning. I invited my daughter and son and his girlfriend for dinner and we had a pasta dish with a primavera type of sauce. I just sauteed a whole bunch of vegetables and topped it with fresh herbs, Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper and it was delicious. An entire week has passed and it's market day again, but I still have quite a haul of vegetables so I will be strict with myself and not buy too much. Luckily, I'm having company for dinner.
Last week the peaches were perfectly ripe, but the pears were still hard so we worked our way through the peach basket. Suddenly this week all the pears ripened at the same moment and were threatening to go bad. I realized that I had to can them right away or risk losing most of the basket. You really are better off using fruit which is slightly less ripened. I was definitely pushing the limit, but they were all just firm enough that I thought they would be alright. I halved the recipe because I didn't have four pounds of pears and I still ended up with more syrup than I could use and it never did get thick. It might be because I changed the recipe a bit. The original recipe called for boiling half of the sugar and water and then adding the other half after cooking the pears. Because I had decreased the amounts suggested in the recipe, I just boiled all the sugar and water at once and then cooked the pears in it. Hopefully that won't end up being a problem. Before you eat any preserves you should ensure that the jar is completely sealed and that the top is concave and not bulging. If you do have something where the lid is bulging, throw it away because it is not safe to eat. If you are new to preserving, read my post Preserving the Harvest: the Procedure before you begin this recipe.
Preserved Pears
4 pounds pears (whole, halved or quartered) 4 cups water 4 cups sugar 2 lemons sliced thin 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1. Boil sugar and water together for 15 minutes.
2. Add pears and sliced lemon and cook 15 minutes. Add remaining sugar and water and cook until pears are clear and transparent and syrup is thick. Pack into clean, sterile hot Ball jars and seal at once.
3. Process for 10 minutes.
Difficulty Level: Easy
[i]From CD Kitchen
