Tips & Techniques

Try chestnut honey with pears and cheese, or lavender honey with ice cream, or thyme honey drizzled over thick yogurt. Even regular honey can taste different, depending on where it comes from. And, while all honey is good in marinades for meat (as the sugars help meat get a crackly brown glaze), varietal honey is especially interesting, as the herb flavors reflect and interact with the rest of the marinade.

While poached pears are a classic dessert, roasted pears double the pleasure. Not only do you have a delicious final product that is excellent with blue cheese, caramel or salted almonds, the roasting process also makes the house smell wonderful.

To do it, peel the pears, wrap them in foil and cook in a low oven until tender (usually about an hour).

Or, skip the foil and leave the pears unpeeled and bury in a layer of kosher salt (dust the pears off before serving) for a crisp skin and a salty-sweet finish that would be great with chocolate.

Scripps Howard News Service