Glazed Apples and Pears

Ingredients

• 2 firm cooking apples, such as Golden Delicious, Macoun, Cortland, or Gravenstien
• 2 ripe pears, such as Anjou, Bartlett, or Comice
• 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick or vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1 to 2 tablespoons Calvados or Apple Jack, optional
• Serving suggestion: Vanilla Ice cream and gingerbread cookies

Directions

Peel, halve and core, both the apples and pears. Cut each 1/2 into 4 wedges and transfer to a medium bowl. Halve the lemon and squeeze the juice over the fruit, toss lightly.

Melt the butter in a skillet over high heat. Add the sugar, and cook until the sugar begins to caramelize. Add the fruit the caramel may seize (harden) don't be alarmed. Add the cinnamon stick or vanilla, and cook, stirring, until the caramel melts, and the fruit is juicy, about 7 minutes.

If adding the Calvados, remove the pan from the heat before adding the alcohol. Return the pan to the heat. To flambe the alcohol on a gas burner, carefully tip the pan toward the flame; and on an electric element hold a long match at the inside edge of the pan until it ignites. Swirl the pan over the heat until the flame subsides. Serve fruit, warm, over ice cream with cookies.

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