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Slow Sunday, Indian Summer and Christmas Spiced Mulled Pears in a Jar

Yum
Slow Sunday, 
Indian Summer 
and 
Christmas Spiced Mulled Pears 
in a Jar
  
Let’s Make Christmas!

It must be built in to my Northern Hemisphere DNA, but October is not supposed to be this hot ~ not that I mind that much, well, I am a bit miffed that I can’t wear my boots and woolly scarves just yet, but other than that I am not that displeased….however, I do like seasonal cooking, so when I threw open the French windows this morning and saw the soaring mercury, I was a little perturbed that my Christmas preserving may seem somewhat bizarre today. Undeterred, I hunted out empty jam jars and searched for rubber sealing rings ~ I was on a mission to prepare spiced festive stuff and the fact that it was 30 degrees C was neither here nor there. 

I have been playing with my photo editing programme again, see above for Van Gogh style arty farty photo painting!
Despite the balmy weather (and I toy not with my choice of word), I had to prepare these rather lush pears today as they need dealing with before they go soft and are past their prime ~ a little like I feel today; as I gathered my winter spices together and raided the cellar for a decent red wine, the Indian summer continued to blaze outside and I could hear my husband cutting the grass, again……it was all slightly surreal. 
It is such a shame that my heroic culinary efforts were not immediately recognised by the aforementioned husband, who came in for a pint of water and asked if I had been spraying that “iffy” room fragrance around the place again………there are a couple of points that vexed me about that remark ~ firstly I don’t go in for “iffy” room fragrances and secondly, can’t he tell the difference between subtle spiced pears luxuriating in a hot oven and cheap chemical sprays? Obviously not, so I stomped back to my stove to check on the state of my “room fragrance” aka spiced mulled pears……
 It probably was a little foolhardy to continue with the mulled pears experiment today, but I am stubborn and I kept thinking of glistening ruby red spiced pears reclining on beds of vanilla ice cream and the glowing faces of admiration and respect as my family and friends tuck into them at Christmas, so on went the oven and very soon the kitchen was like a spiced mince pie scented Turkish bath……pride before a cold shower I’d say. But enough of this wailing and whining, this is a FABULOUS recipe for several reasons, firstly, there are NO pots and pans to wash up as the pears are cooked IN the jars they will be stored in, easy and definitely a result! Secondly, these are sublime ~ glowing red pears are cooked and preserved in ginger and lemon sugared spiced red wine, it doesn’t get better than this, believe me. 
I used a soft and fruity Loire valley wine, Chinon, you do need a good wine but not a robust wine….a Bordeaux or Burgundy are too strong and will overpower the flavours of the delicate spices and pears. This is a great recipe for those hard green pears that never seem to ripen although mine were yellow Williams pears, they still had a bite to them after baking for 3 hours. You will have just glimpsed the reason why I am posting these as a Slow Sunday recipe ~ these do indeed take 3 hours to bake in a slow/low oven…..all the time throwing out ever more pungent Christmassy smells by the minute…..so if you have a glut of pears have a go at making them; forget the October heat wave, grab a mug of hot chocolate, liberate some tinsel, pop Slade on the CD player and get totally Festive, or, take a shower after the kitchen has cooled down as I did! These are better eaten after about 2 weeks and keep quite merrily for a year in a dark, cool and dry place.  
Christmas Spiced Mulled Pears
in a Jar
 

Ingredients:
13 to 15 pears, depending on size, small and slightly under-ripe
5 cinnamon sticks, broken into smaller pieces
4″ piece of fresh ginger, chopped into small pieces
zest and juice of 2 large lemons
225g (8ozs) white sugar
1 litre red wine
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 130C/250F/Gas Mark 1/2.
Carefully peel the pears leaving the stalks intact. Divide them between 2 x 1 litre (1 3/4 pint) jars and 1 x 500ml (18fl oz) jar; I used Kilner jars.
Distribute the lemon zest, lemon juice, cinnamon sticks, fresh ginger, sugar and wine between all the jars, making sure that the pears are covered by the liquid.
Cover the jars but do not seal and place them in the oven for 3 hours.
Remove them and seal the jars whilst they are hot, taking care not to burn yourself and to use oven gloves; I use rubber sealing rings on my Kilner jars.

 
Before I go, I would like to share my gift with you that I won over at Judith’s lovely blog A Trifle Rushed ~ I JUST love her blog name! I was the lucky winner in her Give-away a few weeks ago. If you don’t know Jude’s blog, please DO pop over there and tell her I told you to drop by, she has some wonderful recipes, photos and tales of her second home in France. THANK YOU Jude and also for the pretty little Macaron card too!
Here is my lovely prize:
A fabulous book on French cooking, a set of 4 Bistro glasses and a lovely card that I may frame. Merci beaucoup encore Jude.
*****************************************

This has been entered into the 
event over at Vanessa’s site here:

Come over and join the fun!

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Comments

  2. A Trifle Rushed says

    Karen, your pears look gorgeous! Chinon sounds like the perfect wine to use. You have some very lucky friends to receive all the bounties of your kitchen (and hard work)!
    I'm delighted you were so pleased with the giveaway, and it was very kind of you to give my blog such a super mention. Thank you Judith x

    Reply

  3. Dom at Belleau Kitchen says

    Ooh those pears look sublime in their ruby juices. I have plenty of pears but no jars so I must sort this out today and get cooking!

    Reply

  4. Marie says

    What a fabulous idea Karen. I love that they are baked. What a novelty! They look wonderful!! I can imagine just how lovely it all smelled! xxoo

    Reply

  5. Choclette says

    Fabulous pears – lucky Christmas recipients I say. Love the method too, no fuss – easy peasy – just need me some kilner jars and some pears! Congratulations on your book and it is indeed a lovely card.

    Well weird weather – got way too hot yesterday, but it is nice to get some sort of summer 😉

    Reply

  6. millefeuilles says

    Karen, I am with you one hundred per cent on the weird for october weather thing. My DNA is topsy turvy to say the least. I must admit this indian summer is absolutely sublime though. I guess you are having roughly the same temperatures as us, possibly higher? Here near Tours we were at 33°C yesterday.

    I really enjoyed this post and I am a total slave to Christmas culinary delights so, yes, bring on those beautiful jewelled spiced pears and RELISH them… when the weather is a bit cooler, perhaps!

    Warmest (yes, I said 'warmest') wishes,

    Stephanie

    Reply

  7. Annie says

    It's a very odd October isn't it. Yesterday it was 29 degrees here yet almost dark by 7.00 pm … I don't 'do' heat, love autumn, and I am most miffed that my birthday month seems to have decided to become a summer one. Still there's hope … it's overcast and cooler this morning.

    The pears look delicious and congrats on winning the giveaway 😀

    Reply

  8. Kentish Keg-Meg says

    It does seem strange to have this 'Summer weather' interlude when in the middle of preparations for Autumn and Winter. Your recipe today looks fantastic. Those colours are so rich. My printer is 'hot and bothered' keeping up with such lovely recipes.Plus I'm running out of jars!!!

    Reply

  9. La Table De Nana says

    Vey cute gift:) and the pears are gorgeous.I love things in clear pots like this..
    the comment about the room freshener made me smile..
    I love Wallflowers..a brand name of plug ins..But I favor the Smore's ,,Sugar cookie etc.. scents.. things that smell like you just baked 🙂 Not the spicy ones..so I get the comment:)

    These look lovely..Thank you.

    Reply

  10. Karen S Booth says

    Create with Mom ~ thanks for stopping by!

    A Trifle Rushed ~ we had a wee glas of wine today in the bistro glass at lunch time, just the right size.

    Dom at Belleau Kitchen ~ many thanks Dom, try and beg, borrow and steal some jars, as I do!

    Marie ~ thanks, it is a fuss free way of preserving pears and great to open them at Christmas.

    Choclette ~ thanks! I love anything that is easy and generates less washing up!

    millefeuilles ~ thanks Stephanie, it is not just me that has that seasonal DNA then! We recorded 35C here yesterday, just too hot. Thanks for the "warm" wishes!

    Annie ~ I must admit I am hankering after boots, coats and scarves, and cool days….

    Kentish Keg~Meg ~ LOL! Sorry about your hot and bothered printer, blame it on the weather and not me!

    La Table de Nana ~ I am a sucker for stuff in pots and jars too Monique,and these really do scent the whole house.

    Thanks for all of your comments!

    Karen

    Reply

  11. Lauren says

    I can't believe it was hotter at your house than at mine! We got to around 80F yesterday.

    I think it's awesome that the pears are baked in their jars! I'd love to have some jars like yours, but the only jars that are FDA/USDA/whatever approved are the mason jars with brass lids and rings. People act like they're the first and only line of defense against botulism. So—all the pretty jars have to be imported from France and Germany. Not cheap! I keep hoping to find some at garage sales or something. Fingers crossed!

    I think I actually might have everything to make these. They look delicious!

    Reply

  13. Cathy at Wives with Knives says

    It's definitely fall here and pears have just started to appear in our farmers' markets so the timing of your post is perfect. Karen – when you say "cover the jars but do not seal" do you mean to close the lid but not clamp it down or do you add the rubber ring after baking? I've never canned with this type of jar before. Thanks, Cathy.

    Reply

  16. Janice says

    More jewels from your kitchen! Those look stunning, it was decidedly autumnal here today, grey, misty and wet!

    Reply

  17. Lucy, Vanilla Frost says

    These look gorgeous, beautiful colours! You are very well prepared to be doing Christmas prep already.

    Reply

  18. Karen S Booth says

    Thanks Lauren ~ it is a great idea that the pears are cooked in the jars, makes less mess in the kitchen!

    Thanks Liz ~ they are very festive colours!

    Cathy ~ that is right ~ close the glass lids but do not seal with the rubber sealing rings until they are baked……then seal whilst hot.

    Brownieville Girl ~ I will make him eat his words! LOL!

    Thanks Kate ~ these may stay in the family home though! And I will serve them to family and friends!

    Thanks Janice ~ was another scorcher here today…..

    Thanks Lucy ~ it is early for Christmas prep, but the pears needed using!

    Karen

    Reply

  21. Nell says

    These look absolutely delicious. The pear tree next door has a heavy crop of pears hanging over the hedge I may just give this a go!

    Reply

  22. Gail says

    Just made them,fab idea to cook in jars.Made rather a lot,so tried with bananas too,we shall see but added a bit of leftover ginger wine in that.steeping till Christmas,Boxing Day treat .thank you.

    Reply

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