Rescuing a Pear in a Pickle

A History:

Monday, August 24, 2009

• Vin de Noix gets bottled. I fill two large bottles but still have enough to fill a third bottle, halfway.
  

Thursday, August 27, 2009

• My friend Robin drops off a bag of Comice pears. Pear butter? No. Pear tart? No. Pear chutney? No. Hmmm, didn’t the Old Foodie post something about pickled pears… Yes, she did!

• Pears Preserved.
  “Take Pears that are found, and newly gather’d from the Tree, indifferent ripe, then lay in the bottom of an Earthen-pit some dried Vine-leaves, and so may a lay of Pears and leaves till you have filled the pot, laying between each lay some sliced Ginger, then pour in as much old Wine as the pot will hold, laying some heavy thing on the Pears that they may not swim.”
• Fair enough. I don’t have an earthenware container but I have a large glass jar…

• Hmm, maybe I’ll use the half bottle of vin de noix. Pears and walnuts? Sure. But I need more wine… Ok, will use the same Syrah I used for the vin de noix infusion.
• Will keep my eye on it, check every few days.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

• Ok, must be brave and taste the pears.
• Removed one, sliced it in half. Umm, very soft.
• Smells very strongly of wine.
• Must taste must taste must taste…
• Um, very very alcoholic. Not good. Very squishy. Subtle pear taste, strong wine flavor.
• What am I going to do with a whole jar of squishy pears?

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

• I must do something with those pears. Are they fermenting?
• Ok, remove pears from jar for proper inspection.
• Oh my, they are fermenting. The skin has pulled away and formed a pocket of air between the flesh and skin. !!!!!

• Maybe I’ll pass the pears through a food mill, add some sugar and cook with the wine and make some kind of reduction…
• A pear vin de noix reduction? Sounds great!
• First thing, pears through food mill.
• Ok, 3 lbs pear sauce. I’ll add the wine and maybe start with 2 lbs sugar.
• Cook cook cook slowly slowly slowly…
• 2 hours later, lower the heat.
• 3 hours later, needs to reduce some more.
• 4 hours later, I think it’s ready!

• Hmmm, not a syrup. Too thick, more of a pear walnut wine butter.
• Is it any good? I hope so!
• Hmmm, wow, it worked! Kind of…
• Taste? Warm rich pear sauce is a really aromatic wine sauce, a hint of walnuts, of ginger. Some caramelization of the sugars, a little burnt. Lots of different tonalities.

Thursday, September 17, 2009 1:38 a.m.

• 6 jars of thick black yummy sauce… I think!

Wednesday. October 7, 2009

• What a long day. I need dessert! Too late and too tired to bake anything. Hmmm, vanilla ice-cream and and and… Carrot jam? NO. Strawberry syrup? NO. Tomato Chutney? NO NO NO! Maybe that weird pear sauce…
• So good! Must write about it.

Never accept defeat. This is the first time I set out to preserve something and ended up with something entirely different.  I really like this sauce, and I think it will be great this Winter, for it is thick and rich. And I don’t think I will be able to reproduce it! Non the less, I am happy I did not throw the pears out in a moment of defeat and despair. Instead, I added sugar and heat! A very pleasant surprise.