When thinking about what to do with all those pears most of what I came up with was dessert. After flipping through some magazines and a few google searches, I managed to find a couple of savory applications for them too. The first one I tried was pear ketchup.  Because I had never heard of anything other than tomato ketchup I was a little worried, but since the ingredient list sounded good I gave it a shot. I’m really glad I did. It tasted amazing. The pears sautéed with onions smelled wonderful and tasted even better. I was a little nervous about adding the cider vinegar, but it added a really nice tang to the pears (and really, a ketchup needs vinegar.)

I needed to come up with something to put the ketchup on as well. The website I found the recipe on (which is currently not working) had the ketchup on bacon and blue cheese sliders. I liked the idea of a slider, but wanted something a little healthier than a chunk of bacon. Instead I made mini chicken burgers with brie. The ketchups tang went really well with the creaminess of the brie.

Pear Ketchup

• 3 Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 cup apple cider
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1. In a medium pot, saute the onions until translucent. Add the pears, season with salt and pepper. Add the cider and bring to a boil.
2. Lower the temperature and simmer for 1 hour.
3. Using an immersion blender, puree the pear mixture. Add the cider vinegar and stir to combine.

For the mini chicken burgers I basically made things up as I went along. I have no idea what quantities I used so I’ll just give you a list of ingredients. I still haven’t really figured out my grill, but these turned out pretty juicy and tasty.

Chicken Sliders

• ground extra lean chicken
• 1 egg
• semolina flour
• salt and pepper
• onion powder
• dried thyme
• slider buns
• brie cheese
• pear ketchup
• lettuce

1. In a large bowl, mix ground chicken, egg, flour, and spices until well combined. Shape into small burgers (they will be very sticky)
2. Cook on a hot grill until 7 minutes a side.
3. Place in slider buns and top with cheese, ketchup and lettuce. (you know, make a burger)

Enjoy!