Ingredients

2 pounds Comice or Bartlett pears

　　1/2 vanilla bean

　　2 tablespoons unsalted butter

　　1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

　　2 tablespoons granulated sugar

　　

Step 1

Cut the pears in half lengthwise, leaving the stem intact. Cut each half into 1-inch wedges. (Don’t remove the core.)

　　

Step 2

Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise down the center, and use a paring knife to scrape the seeds and pulp onto the butter. To make sure not to lose any of the seeds, run your vanilla-coated knife through the butter.

　　

Step 3

Heat a large sauté pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Add the butter, vanilla, and vanilla pod to the pan. When the butter foams, place the pear wedges in the pan, cut side down. Season with the salt and cook 2 minutes. Sprinkle the sugar over the pears, and shake the pan to distribute the sugar and help it caramelize in the butter. Cook the pears about 6 minutes, basting them often with the butter, until they’re caramelized on the first side. Carefully turn the pears over and cook another 3 to 4 minutes, continuing to baste, until the second side is golden and the pears are tender but not mushy. Transfer them to a platter and keep them in a warm place.

　　Sunday Suppers at Lucques[by Suzanne Goin with Teri Gelber. Copyright © 2005 by Suzanne Goin. Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved..Suzanne Goin graduated from Brown University. She was named Best Creative Chef by Boston magazine in 1994, one of the Best New Chefs by Food & Wine in 1999, and was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2003, 2004, and 2005. She and her business partner, Caroline Styne, also run the restaurant A.O.C. in Los Angeles, where Goin lives with her husband, David Lentz.Teri Gelber is a food writer and public-radio producer living in Los Angeles.](http://astore.amazon.com/epistore-20/detail/1400042151)