Pear

This recipe was created by chef Lachlan Mackinnon Patterson of Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado. It's part of a special menu he created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. Start this recipe a day before you plan to serve it. Both the pear jam and the panna cotta are best if chilled overnight.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Fonda San Miguel: Thirty Years of Food and Art, by Tom Gilliland, Miguel Ravago, and Virginia B. Wood. . This traditional wine punch presents the opportunity to turn robust jug wine and fresh seasonal fruits into a festive party drink. The recipe includes a mix of firm fruits (such as seedless grapes, apple slices, pear slices) and soft fruits (like strawberries, peaches, and kiwi). The soft fruits are added to the glasses at serving time.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from The Skinny: How to Fit into Your Little Black Dress Forever by Melissa Clark and Robin Aronson. Roasting the pears in chestnut honey gives this dish a nice robust flavor, but if you don't have any around or don't feel like seeking it out at a specialty store, regular honey works well too. The sprinkling of cinnamon on top is a classic with the pears, but feel free to flavor this dish any way you'd like — our variation using black pepper and thyme lends the pears an unexpected sweet and savory twist. Be sure to use firm Bosc pears here. Other varieties tend to fall apart.

The juicy pears in this elegant tart provide a dose of filling fiber. Each slice also serves up a helping of satiating healthy fat and phytonutrients, which come from the almonds.

Don't be nervous about making meatless mincemeat if you've never tried it before—it's a knockout combination of dried fruits and spices that adds wonderfully deep flavor to baked goods. Here, chunks of sweet pear and a handful of tart fruit create a pie that's fantastic with vanilla ice cream.

Muscat-poached Seckel pears are tucked into moist almond cakes for a charming dessert. Besides being cute, these tiny cakes leave guests room for pumpkin pie.

Substituting fried ham for bacon is a great use of everyday deli meat. The sweet pears mellow chicory's pleasant bitterness.

Until you've tried this dessert, you may not have tasted a pear's multiple personalities.

The heady flavor of almond is threaded through this lovely dessert. The combination of Amaretto and warm pear juices creates a fragrant syrup, and a crisp, nutty topping adds welcome contrast to the tender roasted fruit.

Kuchen, a German yeast cake, acts as a golden pillow for ripe pears and a cinnamon, sugar, and hazelnut topping.

The combination of sweet and savory from pears and sausage is just what you want to take the chill off an autumn evening.

A few simple ingredients come together in an unexpected way to create a delicate beginning for a luxurious dinner.

Even pears that aren't quite ripe become extraordinarily delicious when roasted until sweet and caramelized. Here, they make the perfect counterpoint to a beautiful mix of bitter greens.

In this easy dish, a little bit of almondy custard dresses up fresh fruit, making it special for company while preserving its pure goodness.

The sweetness of the pears and honey in this recipe are a nice foil for the savory ricotta.

We chose to garnish our cocktail with Seckel or Forelle pear slices because of their small size — they fit perfectly in the Champagne flutes. Be sure to lower the slices slowly into the flute or the Champagne will bubble over.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.