Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Pear-Ginger Crisp

2 1/2 lb firm pears
juice of one lemon
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C sweet marsala (or port or fruit juice)
1/4 C chopped crystallized ginger
1/3 C golden raisins
1/2 tsp vanilla
dash salt
2 Tbls butter

'Crisp' topping (streusel)
2/3 C flour
3 Tbls sugar
1/3 C brown sugar
1/2 C rolled oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
6 Tbls butter

Make crisp topping: Preheat oven to 350°. Line a rimmed a baking sheet with parchment. Mix dry ingredients. Cut butter into small chunks. Add butter; mix on low speed until crumbly. Spread on baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until streusel is golden at edges; stir. Bake an additional 3-5 minutes until golden all over. Remove from oven and let cool.

Increase oven temp to 375°.

Peel and core pears; cut into 1" chunks. Gently mix in large bowl with lemon juice. Coat a shallow baking dish with non-stick spray and set aside.

Combine sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a 3-4 quart pan. Cook over medium-high heat until sugar begins to brown (4-7 minutes). Swirling pan occasionally, boil 1-2 minutes more until sugar is golden brown. Remove from heat, let cool 30 seconds. Gently stir in pears; sugar will thicken. Return pan to heat and cook, stirring occasionally until sugar melts again, 2-3 minutes.

Add marsala, ginger, raisins, vanilla and salt. Reduce heat; simmer, stirring occasionally, until pears are just tender, 8-10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer pears to baking dish. Add butter to pan and cook until melted. Spoon over pears. Scatter streusel over pears.

Bake 15-20 minutes, until fruit is bubbling. Let cool about 10 minutes. Server warm with vanilla ice cream.

2 comments:

Gramma Grasshopper said...

Hey, I recognize that casserole :). This is still the most beautiful blog!

Tami said...

Yes! I've used them all, though only two have been pictured on the blog so far...though it's hard to tell the difference between the sizes in the pictures.