Poached Pears, Apple Plum Sauce

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

I got these two emails a few weeks ago, apropos of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but they are still applicable because they are seasonal cooking questions, not Jewish holiday questions. Apples, pears, plums … the local crops are being harvested as I write.

“Hi Arthur

I just got 12 pears from my farm share last weekend and am looking to contribute a dessert to my future in laws' Rosh Hashanah table. The subject of my email ‘Yummy, pareve, somewhat easy, pear dessert recipe?’ is not in fact code for ‘Yukky, dairy, very difficult potato entree recipe’ but in fact, the actual subject itself. What can I say; I speak the truth. 

So, got one? Yummy, pareve, somewhat easy pear dessert recipe?

Thanks Arthur

Rebecca from Brooklyn”

Dear Rebecca,

 Take a look in Jewish Home Cooking, which I know you have. You will find pears poached in sweet kosher wine, a dessert my grandmother always made for Rosh Hashanah, it being local pear season. In fact, I just bought Bosc pears at the Greenmarket with the intention of poaching them. But I ate them out of hand instead. They were very sweet and juicy, if very crisp. This is a good recipe for Passover, too, because there are plenty of Boscs around then, too. In fact, excellent Bosc pears are available all winter and into early spring. They may not be local, from New Jersey or New York’s Hudson Valley, but pears ripen off the tree in any case, so shipping them from the northwest doesn’t diminish them at all.

“Dear Arthur,

You said you made applesauce with plums. Are you adding a liquid to it or lemon or sugar? It sounds like it would be very good. Do you have a preference with the apples.

Maria from Long Island”

Dear Maria,

For applesauce, I like a mix of apples, whichever new crop red apples you can get – Macs, Cortlandt, Macoun, Jonathan, Empire, Jonagold, etc.

Wash the apples. Do not dry. Remove the stems. Cut the apples in quarters. With a small, sharp knife, cut out the cores. Chunk up the apple wedges: Cut each into two or three pieces. Put them in a pot.

Wash the plums. Do not dry. Cut them in half. Remove the pits. They will come out easily. Italian prune plums are freestone. Put the plums in the pot with the apples.

For 3 pounds of apples and 1 pound of plums, start with 1/2 cup sugar. Do not add water. Cover the pot. Place over low heat. After 5 minutes or so, liquid will collect on the bottom of the pot. Raise the heat slightly. Continue on medium-low to medium heat, stirring from the bottom to the top several times. Eventually, you want the apples to simmer.

When the apples are all mushy, after about 20 minutes of simmering, smash them and break them up with a wooden spoon. Taste and add more sugar if desired. At this time of the year, the apples rarely need the added tartness of lemon juice, but add some if you like. Sometimes, depending on the moisture of the apples, I add a tiny bit of water, as needed, toward the end of the cooking.

Puree the apples and plums together in a food mill that will hold back the skins, or in a chinois (also called a “china cap,” a conical metal sieve with a wooden pestle to push the food through.

I can't resist eating some of the sauce while it's still warm, but it should be well-chilled. It will thicken when chilled.

Okay?

If you want a fancy presentation, serve the applesauce in a meringue shell. You can buy these in some bakeries and specialty stores.

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