I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the stone fruit this year, with yellow peaches being the most highly consumed fruits in our house over the past couple of months.
As we round into September, the availability of freshly harvested peaches is rapidly declining with the season’s end approaching. As we soon round the corner into fall, there will be plenty of other fresh fruit waiting to take their place.
This week emerged one such fruit that I was quite excited to encounter at our Saturday Santa Barbara from one of our markets’ newest farmers: fresh pears.
Located in the foothills of the Sierras in Placer County, Jeff Rieger of Rieger’s Penryn Orchard Specialties operates a small 2-acre orchard that includes about 50 different crops under production, with 10 types of pears harvested annually.
With nine Asian varieties and one European variety, Mr. Rieger’s business will be bringing some very special fruit to market over the coming months. This past week was the first for this orchard at our market, and I could already see the excitement beginning to build. I have only experienced Mr. Rieger’s Bartlett pears thus far but am looking to sampling through the other fruits as they emerge.
These Bartlett pears are, of course, excellent to just enjoy as they come. They can also be poached, or even grilled and served with some ice cream for dessert.
Use these pears to make a pear crisp or cobbler or incorporate them into a salad.
Because the flavor of the pear itself was so delicious, I prepared a simple yogurt and granola breakfast bowl, with delicious slices of fresh Bartlett pear experienced in each bite.
Bartlett Pear Granola Bowl
1 ripe Bartlett pear, sliced thin, core and stem discarded
2 cups yogurt (I prefer Greek Yogurt.)
1 cup granola (available from Roan Mills at the Saturday Santa Barbara farmers’’ market)
Drizzle of honey
Optional, raw pistachio kernels
Place 1 cup of yogurt in 2 separate bowls and spread out a little. Place slices from a half of each of the pears in a circular pattern on top of the yogurt. Top with granola and then a very light drizzle of honey. Add raw pistachio kernels if desired.
Yield: Serves 2.
