A Perfect Pearing

I saw this recipe for Red Wine and Pear Sorbet on the PBS show, Everyday Food. I don't drink red wine so I thought, "oh I'll never make this" and quickly fast-forwarded through it. Then I remembered I still had POM juice in the fridge and rewound it and paid careful attention. I immediately pulled out my laptop and bookmarked this recipe.

My mother-in-law loves pomegranate juice so I decided to make this for her birthday and I served it with angel food cake and strawberries. I wish I had doubled the recipe though because we quickly consumed it and I was longing for more.

Since POM juice is sweeter than red wine, I cut back slightly on the amount of sugar and I added a few drops of red food coloring just to brighten it up a bit. It came together quickly and morphed from a frozen solid mass into a smooth blush beauty with the assistance of the food processor. Tart, smooth, creamy, sweet and refreshing. A perfect fat free summer treat.

POMegranate and Pear Sorbet adapted from Everyday Food

• 1 cup POM juice
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 lb. ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch pieces (2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Coarse salt
• a few drops red food coloring, optional

In a small saucepan, bring juice, water, and sugar to a boil over medium heat, stirring often, until sugar dissolves. Add pears; reduce heat, and simmer until tender, 5 to 10 minutes.

Stir in lemon juice, food coloring (if using) and a pinch of salt; cool completely. Transfer to a shallow baking dish. Freeze until solid, about 6 hours (or overnight).

With a fork, break frozen mixture into large pieces. In two batches, purée in a food processor until completely smooth, 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Transfer to an airtight container; freeze until ready to serve (sorbet will be soft).

Makes 1 quart

NOTE: I made this in two steps. On the first day I boiled the juice, sugar and pears and poured it into a pyrex dish. I then froze it for a couple days, then processed it til smooth on the third day. Do what you can with the time you have. This recipe's flavor will not be affected, in the least.

See my other POM recipes:

• Strawberry POM Smoothies
• Chocolate POM Cupcakes

Updated: I entered this in the ice cream social sponsored by ScottySnacks, SavortheThyme and Tangled Noodle.

Warning: The Aroma Emitted From The Oven Is Intoxicating (But Make It Anyway!)

My aunt has a pear tree in her backyard. She also grows tomatoes and peppers. She just gave us a brown paper bag full of pears. We ate a few, but decided to put the rest into this yummy bread.

I'm not sure exactly what kind of pears they were, but they were more like apples. They were crisp and ripe but never softened and weren't very sweet. From what I've been told, these are typical Texas pears. And they begged me to bake them into this wonderfully aromatic bread. I doubled the recipe and made my neighbors very happy.

Cornelia Walker Bailey's Pear Bread from Southern Cakes

• 3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 c. chopped walnuts
• 3/4 c. softened butter OR or 3/4 c. vegetable oil
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 c. sugar
• 2 c. peeled and finely grated ripe but firm pears
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl, and stir with a whisk to mix everything well. Stir the nuts into the dry mixture and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the butter or oil, eggs, sugar, grated pear, and vanilla, and stir to mix everything well. Scrape the pear mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the flour disappears and the batter is evenly moistened.

Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake at 350°F for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and firm on top and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack or folded kitchen towel for about 10 minutes. Then turn it out onto a plate or a wire rack to cool completely, top side up.

NOTE: I doubled this recipe and made 4 loaves- 2 in glass pans, and 2 in metal pans. They baked for 55-60 minutes. The loaves in the glass pans peaked a little higher and made a rustic chasm down the center, as opposed to the loaves in the metal pans that baked a little more evenly. Both beautiful and totally delicious.

I just wanted to say, I first found this recipe from Bake or Break and saw it again on Leite's Culinaria, which confirmed that I needed to make this bread. And you do too! Go on now...