Sacramento Digs Gardening: Fall fruit is often best when simply prepared

Bosc pears are perfect for a simple poaching in a honey syrup. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)

As much as I love to bake with seasonal fruit in fall, sometimes I want to enjoy it as simply prepared as possible. That's especially true with pears, which get crowded out of the fall limelight by apples and all that pumpkin spice whatever.

Pears are picked when still hard, so buy them a few days before you plan to use them. They ripen from the inside out, so test the flesh right near the stem; it should feel just slightly soft. Bartletts ripen fastest, I've found, followed by the d'Anjou variety. Bosc pears are a little drier and grittier, but hold together well, so they're good for a dish like this.

This recipe is adapted from one by the late great James Beard in his "American Cookery." This classic cookbook is the first place I go when I want to find a solid basic recipe. I used local honey instead of the 1-1/2 cups of white sugar the original calls for, and it's still plenty sweet. Adjust the spice to your preference; I considered using nutmeg or cardamom instead of the cloves. Cinnamon would work too, of course.

Serve the pears alone, in their syrup, or with crème fraîche, heavy cream or crème anglaise.

Honey-poached pears
Serves 6

A melon ball cutter works well for coring the pears.

Ingredients:

6 ripe but still firm pears, such as Bosc or d'Anjou
2 cups water
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (or nutmeg, cardamom or cinnamon)

Instructions:

Peel the pears, leaving them whole with the stem. Use a melon ball cutter or a paring knife to core the pears from the bottom.

Bring the water, honey, vanilla extract and cloves to a boil in a 4-quart nonstick pot. Add the pears upright. (They may fall over; it's OK.) Reduce heat, cover the pot and cook gently for about 15 minutes, until the pears test done with the tip of a knife. If they've fallen over, roll the pears around so that all sides spend some time cooking in the liquid.

Remove the pot from the heat, and let the pears cool in the liquid with the lid on. Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled, plain or with desired accompaniment.

RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipes recipe gardening Sacramento backyard produce produce management farm to fork pears fall fruit

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Garden checklist for week of April 19

After this midweek storm, start getting serious about spring gardening. Flowers are blooming about three weeks ahead of schedule. That includes weeds!

* Get ready to swing into action in the vegetable garden – if you haven’t already. As nights warm up over 50 degrees, set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash; wait on pumpkins until May. Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Smell orange blossoms? Give citrus trees a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants. If leaves look yellow, your tree may need an iron boost -- apply some chelated iron fertilizer.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden needs nutrition. Give shrubs and trees a slow-release fertilizer. Mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost, which helps the soil, but keep it a few inches away from trunks and stems.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event. sacdigsgardening@gmail.com

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