braised pears in a caramel apple cream sauce

I saw this made a week or so ago and have been struggling to find the time to try it on my own. The wife and kids ate the pears I was going to use earlier in the week so I had to get more and hope that they wouldn't touch them. I travel for work so I was taking a risk by leaving the pears unattended all week. I know, I live life one the edge. 

When I come home from being on the road sometimes the best I can hope to do on the weekends is maintain. I don't think I sat down for more than a half hour today and I feel like I didn't really get anything done. Clean, watch the kids, run an errand, clean some more, watch the kids, made my daughter this "special dessert", which she wouldn't try and put the kids to bed. For all of you know it alls that like to give advice on how to get picky kids to eat please reread that last run on sentence. I made caramel and couldn't get my 3 year old to try it. Now that I finally have 15 minutes to myself I just realized all I had to eat was a bologna sandwich and one of these pears. I hate that. I was fine a minute ago and now that I know I forgot to eat I'm probably going to die of starvation if I don't eat in the next few minutes.

In typical guy fashion I didn't leave well enough alone. The original recipe is from a world class chef that doesn't need any of my help, but I thought I would mess with it a little. Playing in the kitchen makes for a wild and crazy Saturday night and I was looking for a good time. Before I messed with it the recipe didn't call for adding any additional liquid unless the pears were not ripe. My pear were but I happened to be drinking a little homemade apple pie cocktail that my sister gave us as a gift and thought I'd add some. It was a good idea.

This guy had to go to bed but he seemed impressed. He's a pig too so he was made he didn't get any.

Here's how to do it. Peel, core and cut off the stem of the pears. Lay them flat in a baking dish and sprinkle coat the pears and the pan with the sugar. Stick them in the oven @ 425 for 30-40 minutes. If you have very ripe pears they will cook fast and fall apart so keep an eye out. If that's the case take the pears out to cool and finish making the caramel in a sauce pan. If the pears are not ripe they won't give up much juice so you may need to add a little liquid in the pan. Water will work, but apple juice or maybe a little spiced rum would add a little more complexity.  Poke the pears with a knife to check for doneness. They should be soft and the knife should go in without any resistance. When the pears are soft add the cream and bake for another 10-15 minutes and bast the pears every 5 minutes.

Bartlett pears

1/4 C sugar

1/2 C apple juice or liquid of your choice

1 C heavy cream

pistachios to garnish 

Pin It