October’s Abundant Harvest
Here in the Sierra Foothills of Northern California, there is a wealth of delicious fruit and colorful pumpkins to be found in local markets, orchards, and the backyards of neighbors. Over the past week, we have been given bags of Bartlett pears and delicious plums by friends we have come to know since moving to Nevada City. At first, the pears and plums were nested in wide Thai baskets, creating a still life on our harvest table. But now, they are ripe and ready for cooking and being shared once again with neighbors and family.
First, I baked a honey-pear upside-down cake. This is a gorgeous, honey-golden, irresistible dessert that disappears without guilt and is a grand finisher at the end of a festive meal. I found the recipe by Melissa Clark in a food column some years ago and loved the title: “A Purloined Fall Dessert Evolves into a Favorite.” Clark contends “All good cooks steal (borrow) recipes.” One that worked its way into her dessert rotation is Claudia Fleming’s roasted chestnut honey pears. Over the years Clark has tweaked the recipe and made it her own. It is now one of my favorite ways to cook up pears when they begin to pile up and ripen.
This Honey-Glazed Pear Upside-Down Cake recipe calls for 3-4 Bosc pears, a wonderful old-world kind of pear that tastes like a cross between a pear and an apple. Skinned, cored, and sliced into quarters, the pears are arranged in a cast iron skillet where they simmer 8-10 minutes in ¼ cup honey (the more exotic the better). Then add a few sprigs of fresh thyme, put the skillet of honey glazed pears in the oven, and bake 25 minutes in a 350º oven. In the meantime, assemble the cake ingredients—1 cup sugar whisked with the zest of a lemon, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 2 eggs, ½ cup melted butter, then stir in 1 cup flour with a dash of salt. Finally, pour the batter over the honey-simmered pears, sprinkle with ¼ cup sliced almonds, and bake an additional 25-30 minutes. So simple.
I love every stage of the preparation of this delicious dessert but admit that the final step after letting the pear cake cool takes a pinch of faith and a deft, turn-of-the-wrist maneuver that releases the skillet cake onto a strategically positioned plate. My Dad’s cast iron skillet required lumberjack-strong wrists. So, unless you split firewood regularly, three hands, a flexible spatula, and a bit of courage came in handy the first time I undertook this pear-cake’s flip and release maneuver. But I promise you, the rustic golden cake topped with a honey-hued swirl of simmered pear slices is always worth the effort.
Next on my list of fall recipes to be cooked up is chutney. This delicious relish involves assorted combinations of many of October’s treasures—pears, apples, plums as well as cranberries that can be turned into delicious, sweet/savory relishes. One of my old favorites is cranberry chutney that makes a perfect relish for a chicken pan-roasted with carrots and small purple potatoes. Simmer one sliced onion diced pears/apples, raisins, grated ginger, and a bag of cranberries in a cup of water, ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and a dash of mace until the cranberries pop. This not-too-sweet chutney is also delicious with turkey or ham over the holidays. But given my current abundance of pears, I’m going with a pear-chutney recipe that I found on the Fine Cooking website by Melissa Clark.
Ingredients:
½ cup packed light-brown sugar, ½ cup cider vinegar, 2 Tbs. seeded and minced jalapeño, 2-inch cinnamon stick, 1 whole clove, 2 lbs. firm-ripe pears (about 5 cups peeled, cored, and cut into ½ cubes), 1 cup finely diced yellow onion, ¼ cup dried cranberries,1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger, 1 tsp. mustard seeds, 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger, and a ¼ tsp. Kosher salt.
Options: For a pear-raisin chutney, substitute golden raisins for dried cranberries, and use white vinegar plus 2 tsps. Balsamic vinegar instead of cider vinegar. And instead of a jalapeño pepper, add ½ tsp. red chili powder.
Preparation:
1. Combine the sugar, vinegar, jalapeño, cinnamon stick, and clove in a large, heavy-duty saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until the sugar is completely dissolved, 3-4 minutes.
2. Stir in the pears, onion, cranberries, crystallized ginger, mustard seeds, fresh ginger, and salt.
3. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally until the mixture is soft and the liquid has reduced somewhat.
4. Uncover and continue to simmer about 10 minutes more, until the liquid has almost evaporated.
5. Remove the cinnamon stick and clove.
If you are not canning the chutney, let it cool and then divide among clean canning jars. I use 2- oz. jars that are a perfect size for a meal and make wonderful gifts to be shared with neighbors. The chutney can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen until needed over the holidays.
October is a great time to visit The Common Ingredient website/recipe-sharing blog, launched March 2020 in Columbia, MO during the Covid pandemic. The idea was to have cooks and chefs in the community share comfort food recipes and stories that visitors to the website can peruse, borrow, and share with family and friends in their own kitchens. Today the website features recipes, cooking interviews and videos, cookbook reviews, cooking with Youth, and tips from The Common Ingredient’s team. Recipe submissions come from across the country and beyond its borders. When you use a recipe, we ask that you consider donating to a local organization that helps families in your community in need of food security.
I plan to submit the honey-pear upside-down cake recipe and a few seasonal chutney recipes to the Common Ingredient website and encourage you to share a favorite fall recipe of your own. Spread the word and let the TCI team know what’s cooking in your October kitchen. Visit thecommoningredient.com today!