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Pears, Beans, and Bacon: Birnen, Bohnen, und Speck (from Bremen)

Enjoy this traditional autumn dish that combines pears, green beans, and bacon. The sweetness of the pears adds such a wonderful flavor to the earthy green beans and smoky bacon.

Servings:

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1¼ pounds (570 grams) smoked slab bacon
• 4 cups (1 liter) cold beef broth
• 1 pound (454 grams) fresh green beans, ends trimmed and broken in half
• 4 small firm pears with stems
• 1 teaspoon dried summer savory
• ½ cup (75 grams) chopped onions
• 2 tablespoons (19 grams) cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) cold water
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons (5 grams) finely chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Instructions:

1. Cut the bacon slab into 5 pieces.
2. Place 4 of the bacon pieces in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add the beef broth and bring it to a boil over high heat. Reduce to medium-low heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the green beans, whole pears, and summer savory. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, dice the remaining piece of bacon into small pieces. In a small skillet over medium heat, sauté the diced bacon and chopped onions for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon has rendered its fat and the onions are lightly caramelized. Set aside.
4. Just before serving, use a slotted spoon to transfer the pears, green beans, and bacon from the sauce pan to a large serving dish.
5. Add just enough of the cornstarch slurry to the simmering liquid to thicken the sauce. This should take about 2 minutes. Season it with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
6. Pour some of the sauce over the pears, green beans, and bacon and put the rest of it in a serving bowl to serve alongside. Sprinkle the dish with the sautéed bacon and onions and garnish with the parsley.
7. Serve with boiled potatoes. 

Notes/Hints:

• VARIATION: Instead of the bacon, use 4 smoked sausages. Pierce them with a fork and add them to the large saucepan in Step 2. In Step 3, sauté only the onions.
• If you're unable to find small cooking pears, use 2 Bosc pears instead. Simply cut them in half and remove the seeds. Be sure to leave the peel on since it looks so nice in the finished dish.
• If you don't have beef broth on hand, you can use 4 cups of water instead.
• Be non-traditional and serve this with Spätzle (one of my favorite combinations).

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