Baby Chef: Pear Puree

Several months ago, I announced a new part to Chef Bolek, which coincided with a major change in the lives of my beautiful Angel and myself.  We were welcoming a new addition to our family, a baby Chef Bolek.  I pledged early on to make baby food for our little guy once he was ready to eat something more than breast milk or formula.

Well, he has reached that point and, even with our very busy schedules, we have managed to make our own baby food.  The focus has been organic fruits and vegetables.  To this point, our little guy has eaten pea puree, sweet potato puree and peach puree.  At first, he did not care for the peas, which was obvious from the many funny faces that he made when he ate them.  He eventually came around and eats his peas.   It was also clear that our little guy did not like sweet potatoes; and, to this date, he has not changed his mind.  But, our little guy loves his peaches, which he eats with delight.

Our latest recipe -- and the first of the Baby Chef recipes for Chef Bolek is a pear puree.  This puree could be made with Bartlett, Anjou or Bosc pears.  Given that pears are in season right now, I bought four good sized, organic Bartlett pears and got to work.

The great thing about baby food recipes is that they are very easy to make.  It is important to make sure everything you use (including your hands) is very clean.  It is also important to make sure that the food is "clean" as well.  This means that the food is either organic (meaning that pesticides are not used) or, if organic food is too expensive or unavailable, that the food is washed thoroughly.

PEAR PUREE

Recipe adapted from from  

The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet, page 29

Ingredients:

4 pears, washed, peeled and quartered

1 to 2 cups of water (if using the stovetop method)

Directions:

1.  In a microwave.  Place the pears on a plate.  Microwave the pears for 5 minutes each or until soft.  Allow the pears to cool, then blend them for about 30 seconds or until the pear is completely pureed.

2.  On a stove.  Heat the water in a saucepan until it begins to boil.  Add the pear to the water, reduce heat and simmer the pears for about 10 minutes or until they are soft.  Remove the pears from the water and let them cool.  Reserve the water.  Puree the pears until they reach the desired consistency.  You can use some of the reserved water to achieve that consistency.

ENJOY!