2.5 pounds ripe bartlett pears, peeled, cored and chunked
2 heaping cups (1 pound) granulated sugar
1 cup honey
juice of 1 lemon
1 vanilla bean, split
Optional 1/2 tsp cardamon powder
1 as you peel and prepare the pears, toss them in a bowl with juice of 1/2 lemon to prevent browning. Once they’re all cut up, heat them with the lemon juice in a pot over low flame and simmer for 10 minutes until quite soft.
2 puree the pears by passing them through a food mill.
3 return puree to the pot and add sugar, honey and vanilla. Bring to a boil and reduce for about 10 minutes until thickened.
4 the preserve will be ready when it sheets off the back of a cold spoon, or when a drop of it mounds on a cold plate. In the pot it will have the consistency of apple sauce. At this point, squeeze in the juice of the other lemon half, stir and return to a boil for 1 minute. Remove vanilla bean, ladle into half-pint jars and seal. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
YIELD
2.5 pounds of fruit yielded 1.5 pints
1 x 8 oz
4 x 4 oz