Practical pear can be poached, baked or eaten raw

A walk through a pear orchard or well-stocked produce market suggests that "pear-shaped" is a relative term, even when applied to pears. But here's an absolute: There's a pear for every purpose, from eating out of hand to poaching for desserts, baking into tarts, churn-freezing for sorbet, making preserves or pickling.

A good poaching pear for cooking should be well-flavored, shapely and capable of holding its shape -- qualifications met by Anjou, Bosc, Comice and Seckel varieties, among others.

To peel pears, use a vegetable peeler with a flexible cutting shaft. A sharp paring knife will work as well, but is more difficult to control when peeling bumpy fruit. For coring, the ideal tool is a pear corer, with a cutting blade in the shape of a pear. Otherwise, a melon baller, apple corer or teaspoon does a reasonably good job.

To core a peeled pear half, place it cut side up in your palm. With your other hand, use a pear or apple corer, melon baller or teaspoon to scoop out the fibrous core and seeds.

To core a whole pear, hold the pear, stem-end down. Working from the blossom end, insert an apple corer or vegetable peeler about a third of the way into the center of the pear. Rotate the tool to release the center of the core, leaving a narrow cavity. Then enlarge the cavity, using a melon baller, teaspoon or pear corer, and remove any remaining fibers or seeds.

This fast and easy salad has only five ingredients, including the dressing. From the Pear Bureau Northwest.

• 1/2 pound mixed salad greens or baby spinach
• 1/4 cup bleu cheese, crumbled
• Balsamic Vinegar Dressing (recipe follows)
• 1 large Anjou or Bosc pear, cored
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped, or a favorite nut

Combine the greens and crumbled cheese in a large bowl. Toss with enough dressing to coat the leaves. (You might not need all of the dressing.) Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Cut the pear into slices and nestle them among the greens. Sprinkle with the toasted nuts. Divide among 4 individual salad plates.

• 5 tablespoons premium extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• Salt, to taste

In a small bowl, whisk the oil and vinegar. Season with salt.

This quick bread, which lends itself to any variety of nuts and spices, including cinnamon, cloves, cardamom or nutmeg (go light on these so as not to overwhelm the delicate fruit flavor), freezes well. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then slice before serving.

• Butter or shortening, for greasing pan
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
• 1 Bosc or Anjou pear, cored and grated
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped, plus 1/4 cup walnuts, for garnish
• 1 Bosc or Anjou pear, cored and sliced for top garnish
• 1/4 cup honey for top glaze (optional)
• Maple Walnut Butter (recipe follows)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 81/2- by 41/2-inch loaf pan.

Combine the eggs, oil and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and grated pear.

In another bowl, blend the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and 1/2 cup walnuts. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring to just moisten. Spoon into the prepared pan. Arrange the pear slices on top and sprinkle with 1/4 cup walnuts.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Brush with honey, if desired. Serve with Maple Walnut Butter.

• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, melted
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

In a small saucepan, boil the maple syrup with the whole cinnamon stick for 8 to 10 minutes, until the syrup reaches soft ball stage (234 degrees to 242 degrees on a candy thermometer). Remove from the heat and remove the cinnamon stick. Stir in the melted butter and the walnuts. Chill to firm.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Like Peach Melba, this classic dessert is based on one created by Escoffier, the French "chef of kings." The chocolate sauce complements the buttery flavor of pears poached in a simple syrup. If you prefer, instead of halving four large pears, use eight smaller pears. Peel and core them, but leave them whole. The poached pear in the photo is a well-shaped Bosc, in season now, but any poaching pear will work for this dish. This recipe is by Annette Gooch, Lifestyle Media Group.

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 cups water
• 4 Bosc or other large ripe, firm pears, peeled, halved and cored
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla
• 1 quart French vanilla ice cream
• Old-Fashioned Chocolate Sauce (recipe follows)

In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil. Add the pears; cover and simmer at very low heat until the pears are just tender (for about 12 to 18 minutes, depending on the size and density of the pears). The liquid should barely cover the fruit during poaching.

Remove from the heat and let the pears cool in the liquid. Stir the vanilla into the cooled liquid. Cover and chill the pears in the liquid.

To serve, place a small scoop of ice cream on a dessert plate; use a slotted spoon to remove a pear from the poaching liquid. Rest the pear atop the ice cream. Drizzle some Old-Fashioned Chocolate Sauce over each serving.

Makes 8 servings.

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla

In a heavy-bottomed 1-quart saucepan, carefully melt the chocolate over very low heat. When melted, add the corn syrup; stir until smooth. Stir in the whipping cream and vanilla, mixing well. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

An appealing combination of seasonal fruit -- pears and grapes -- goes into this pie, from the California Table Grape Commission.

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 cups seedless grapes
• 3 cups cored, peeled and sliced fresh pears (about 3 medium pears)
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 package ready-to-use refrigerated pastry for 2-crust, 9-inch pie
• 1 tablespoon butter

Combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, orange peel and cloves; mix well. Toss the grapes and pears with the sugar mixture and orange juice.

Line a 9-inch microwave-safe pie plate with pastry. Add the fruit mixture and dot with butter.

Roll out the remaining pastry and cut into 3/4-inch strips. Arrange the strips in a lattice pattern over the fruit filling. Fold the ends of the lattice strips under the edge of the bottom crust. Seal and flute the edges.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees.

To bake in a microwave oven (700 to 800 watts): Set the oven on high power (100 percent) and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the filling begins to bubble. Transfer the pie to the heated conventional oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

To bake by the conventional method: Bake the pie in the heated oven for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 375 degrees and bake for 35 to 40 minutes more or until the pastry is golden and the filling begins to bubble.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 349 calories, 14 grams fat, 4 milligrams cholesterol, 4 grams protein, 56 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams dietary fiber, 431 milligrams sodium.