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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

St. Florian's Fire--Stewed Pears and Habenero Pepper Preserves

St. Florian is the patron saint of putting out fires. He organized firefighting brigades for that purpose around (250 - 304 C.E.), in Rome, where he was later killed for his Christian beliefs...learn more

Creating this dessert is my way of remembering the good saint.The heavenly taste of the slowly-cooked sweet cinnamony-flavored pears is gently overshadowed by the subtle flavor of the habanero peppers. The after-taste is unique and almost indescribable, but pleasantly memorable. I call it Sweet Fire.

If you like sweet, but not too sweet; and hot -- but not too hot, you may want to try this recipe out for size -- especially if you've got a lot of extra pears on hand, and you want to do something different. It makes a great topping on hot sourdough bread, or over Cajun-fried ice-cream.

Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 dozen pears, peeled and cut-up
  • 2 mature habanero peppers, seeds removed and cut into tiny pieces
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. whole cloves
  • 1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
  • pinch of salt

    Instructions 

    1. bake the pears in your oven at 350 degrees F. for about 30 minutes and allow to cool before peeling
    2. once peeled, slice or cut small chunks of the pears to the core, discard core and seeds
    3. remove the seeds and chop the habanero peppers into very small pieces
    4. add everything together in a stew pot and mix well
    5. cook on medium heat for 2 hours or more, stirring occasionally, until pears have softened
    6. store the preserves in a glass vessel and refrigerate

    Note: Wearing gloves when handling habanero peppers to protect your hands is a good idea. Do not rub your eyes and thoroughly wash your hands with soapy water immediately after handling the peppers if gloves or not used.


    The reason for chopping the peppers into very small pieces is to evenly spread the heat throughout the preserves.


    I hope you enjoy this dessert. Spread the word about it and please support your local firefighters in any way that you can. Bon Appetite!

    Announcement: I am under a little 'pear pressure' to come up with a Cajun joke concerning (you named it) -- pears. I don't know any, so I need some help.

    If you have a joke or humorous anecdote that you would like to share, concerning pears, please submit it in the comment section below. Keep it clean, okay? The best one will be published with proper credit given.





       
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