1859 Sept | Oct 2012_opt

Food & Home
farm to tale
Fall Fruit
in a Can
The words, canned fruit may bring back childhood
memories of mushy, overly sweet imitations of the sunripened
fruit found fresh in orchards every fall.
A pear pickers ladder and a
stairway to heavenly pears.
Euwer with her son, Henry.
ite into a ood-Crest canned pear and you may
change your mind. uirhead Canning, the craft cannery
that makes the ood-Crest line, produces food the
old-fashioned way in small batches, using steam rather
than chemicals to loosen the fruits skins, even doing
some of the work by hand. The result is canned fruit that
closely resembles its original form.
uirhead Canning (muirheadcanning.com) was founded
in The alles in 19 as a custom cannery. Farmers
brought in fruit from their orchards, and the company
canned it for them. Today uirhead is one of the few
remaining canneries in Oregon and the only one that
still does custom canning.
ood-Crests cherries come from ust down the road,
and the pears come from nearby ood River. Its peaches
and plums come from Oregon and Washington. Only
the apricots, which oughmiller sources from orthern
California, arent grown in the acific orthwest.
North in Hood River, Chef Kathy Watson, chef and owner of Nora’s Table, loves dishes with pears. Nora’s Table specializes in “classy, world-wise food”
mostly from local orchards, farms and ranches. One of Watson’s favorite ways to use pears is in a curried pear gastrique, which she serves over lamb chops
with a side of yellow coconut dahl.
“Get to know the different pear varieties,” Watson advises. “Each one works particularly well for certain things.” She likes the Anjou best for poaching
pear, the Comice for eating plain, Seckel pears with roasted meats and the Red Star Crimson alongside cheese.
There are many ways to use pears in desserts—from upside down cake to pear and hazelnut pie, says Heidi Tunnell, chef proprietor of Heidi Tunnell
Catering Company in Creswell. In savory applications such as roasted fall vegetables, she adds, pears are perhaps at their best. “They add a nice sweetness,”
says Tunnell, who recommends a savory roasted pear and pancetta soup to showcase the fruit. She occasionally serves the dish at her popular summer barn
dinners or her Thursday night family-style meals.
On the sweet side, try tarragon panna cotta with pear caramel. Pears and caramel are a natural pairing, and tarragon is a mystery ingredient that will leave
people guessing. The recipe comes from chef Scott Dolich, owner of Park Kitchen and The Bent Brick in Portland, both of which are dedicated to using
the highest quality local ingredients at the peak of their season. “Be sure to choose a firmer pear for cooking, but don't be timid,” Dolich says. “Pears can be
treated in the same manner as apples. They can be baked, stewed, puréed, grilled and roasted.”
In the orchard, pears differ from apples. They should be picked before they’re fully ripe, when the body gives just slightly when squeezed, then stored in a
cool place for a month and ripened at room temperature. When the neck of the pear feels soft, it’s ready for eating, canning or cooking. “I like to cook, and
I love to feed people,” Euwer says. Her favorite way to eat pears is in pie, but a green salad is a close second. She cuts a couple pears into chunks and soaks
them in rice vinegar, which prevents them from browning. She tosses together a combination of lettuce, bleu cheese, hazelnuts and dried cranberries, and
dresses the salad with the pears, vinegar, and olive oil right before serving.
When she craves an unadorned pear, Euwer reaches for a Bartlett. It may not be the most celebrated variety in the vanity fair of pears, but sometimes
the simple choice is the best one.
102 1859 oregon's mAgAzine SEPT OCT 2012