Alright, gang, I am not going to beat around the bush. Historically speaking, I’ve had an ambivalent relationship with pears.  I have always felt like it’s way too hard to get a decent pear; usually they are mushy, mealy or way too hard.  But seriously, when I have scouted a ripe one, after slurping the pear juice while trying to keep the pear from jumping out of my hands like live trout, I am usually left feeling like, meh, why did I work so hard for a whole-lotta NO flavor?

So, this fall when some friends added pear cognac, actually Belle de Brillet to be specific, to a dangerously yummy drink I was pleasantly surprised!  The drink was delightful and really tasted pear-y.  As a side note Belle de Brillet is some sweetass, tasty nectar that you should totally enjoy. I think there are something like 40 pears crammed into one tiny bottle, but get ready to pay some big $$, as its almost 50 bucks for 750 ml.  Drinking aside, this cognac reminded me that although sometimes hard to find, pears can have a light, delicate flavor that I shouldn’t just write off.  Also, if I am keeping it upfront, which I try to do, I AM a pear!  I’ve got some curve on my lower half…so, why am I such a hater?  OK, so what I am really trying to say is I’m committed to embracing pears in all their curvy, fleshy, round-bottom goodness.

This leads me to a beautiful dessert I made last weekend.  Its from Gourmet, found on epicurious, wait for it….wait….oh yess….Caramelized Upside-Down Pear Tart.  It’s a rustic tart that is literally baked in a frying pan. Baking can’t get much more rustic than that. The recipe instructs you to heat butter and sugar in a large pan, then arrange the halved and cored pears in the pan, sprinkle some cinnamon and wait for the sugar to become all golden, bubbly and perfect!  Then you tuck your round, curvy pears under a pastry dough blanket of sorts, then bake.  After baking, the trickiest part is flipping the tart over, so I did my best by channeling Julia: I strapped on some courage and flipped my tart pretty nicely.

My only comments on this recipe are 1: resist any urges to overspice the pears with cloves, nutmeg and other wintertime flavors, they are perfect simply bathed in butter and sugar, and 2: you may only need to let your pears caramelize for less than 10 minutes, depending on your stove and how well your pan holds heat.

If you enjoy pears, pear shapes or curves in general, take this tart for a spin:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Carmelized-Upside-Down-Pear-Tart-108779