Several months ago my daughter sent me an e-mail in which she wrote that she thought I needed an “adventure.” What she meant was that she wished I would travel more, but there are all kinds of adventures. Like discovering a new restaurant while out on a stroll, or driving to a concert and along the way realizing that the street you are on is lined with beautiful old homes and majestic trees. (Try Vermont north of Los Feliz) After many years of contemplating a vegetable garden, last week Norm removed the roses that had lined my garage wall for 25 years (gasp!) to start one.
Just before the holidays, I was walking down the aisle of a Persian market and there was a large display of quince, an odd-shaped fruit that resembles a misshapen pear. I love quince paste, so I thought why not? I bought several to try, did some research, and poached the quince in a sweet liquid. What I didn’t know was that as quince cooks, the pale cream-colored fresh is transformed into a beautiful shade of rose and the longer it cooked, the more intense the color became. Sometimes an adventure can take place right in your own kitchen. Hopefully one day there will be larger scaled adventures, but in the meantime this will do, and I will keep you posted on the new vegetable garden.
Poached Quince (adapted from David Lebowitz)
This recipe is to taste, make it as sweet or lemony as you like.
5 large quince
4 cups water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 lemon
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
Place the water, sugar, honey, lemon and vanilla bean in a large pot and turn it on to medium heat. Meanwhile peel, and quarter each quince. Carefully remove the cores and cut each quarter into thick slices. Add slices to pot, and cover with parchment paper, trimmed to fit, with a small home in the middle. Press gently down on paper. Simmer for about 2 hours. Quince should keep it’s shape but be very soft.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Note: This would be a great side to Turkey!
Enjoy,
Irene
Eddie’s mom used to make poached quince and I never was quite able to replicate it. Now I have a recipe to follow. Thanks so much.
Good luck on your vegetable garden. We planted one a couple of years ago and have been enjoying homegrown tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cukes and even watermelon ever since. For great inspiration and recipes, read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I know you’ll love it.
Enjoy – Esti
That’s so interesting Esther. I don’t think my Mom had any idea what quince was. Let me know how you like it.
I will let you know about the garden and go find the book!
Thanks,
Irene
Sounds wonderful. I used to make poached pears all the time with chocolate sauce served on the side. What’s dessert without chocolate?
I love the idea of a chocolate sauce on the side!
Thanks,
irene
I made some poached quince for Rosh Hashana and it was just wonderful. I used a very similar recipe. Thanks for sharing…and good luck with the garden! Keep us posted.
I agree. I am going to make it for Thanksgiving too. It reminded me of the compote my mother used to make.
Thanks for commenting!
irene