Two at a Time Baking

I received a box of delicious pears from Harry and David from my boss just before Christmas.  I was excited to receive a gift from him at all (it was totally unexpected) and especially excited to receive the pears because we've given H and D pears as gifts several times but we had never eaten any ourselves.  Although it was difficult to not eat them all right away, we followed the instructions and let them ripen over a few days.  When they were finally ready - they did not disappoint. They are definitely the best pears I've ever eaten.  After they ripened, we put them in the refrigerator to keep longer.  With the holidays and all the family get-togethers over the past couple of weeks, we forgot about them until today when I discovered that we had two left.  I remembered that I had recently listened to a Splendid Table podcast that included a discussion about roasting pears that sounded really good.  I decided to give the recipe a try and I am happy to report that it was a success.  I had a little bit of vanilla bean ice cream with mine and it was quite delicious.  The recipe was a little vague so I had to guess at some of the proportions and the cooking time.  On the podcast, they had some other suggestions that sounded really good, such as making them more savory (and less sweet) by seasoning them with coriander, cumin or rosemary;  serving them with cheese (like roquefort or aged goat cheese) and walnuts; serving with blackberry puree; and mashing them to make a pear sauce (similar to applesauce).

Roasted Pears
Serves 4
Adapted from The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider

4 not-quite-ripe pears, halved, peeled and cored (or leave stems on as a garnish)
juice from 0.5 lemon
0.5 cup sugar
0.5 vanilla bean, split
4 pats butter (approximately 1 tablespoon each)
balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Arrange pears, cut side up, in a baking dish.
3. Drizzle with fresh lemon juice.
4. Split vanilla bean and scrape the seeds with the tip of a sharp knife then mix the seeds with some granulated sugar. This will make a lot more vanilla bean-sugar than you need – leftovers can be stored, tightly covered, and used in other desserts.
5. Dust the pears liberally with the vanilla sugar.
6. Dot with butter. Throw vanilla bean pod into pan.
7. Roast the pears until caramelized, turning them over half way through baking (approximately 45-50 minutes total baking time) and occasionally basting them with the roasting liquid in the pan.
8. Just before serving, drizzle a few drops of balsamic vinegar on the pears.
9. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped creme fraiche and enjoy!