Quince - Red Pear Jelly...Mmmmm!

    "They dined on mince, and slices of quince, which they ate with a runcible spoon.
           And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, they danced by the light of the moon."
                  ~Edward Lear

I've been wanting to make my own quince jelly for awhile now.  I've seen recipes on other blogs and websites, and more often now while they are in season -it cooks up beautifully in taste and color.  I have seen quince jelly at farmers markets and specialty grocery stores, and there are several recipes in Mes Confitures that I thought I might try.  To look at, quince (a quince?  Quinces?  Quincees? ;) ) looks like a cross between a lemon and a pear and is about the size of a pomegranate.  They are bright yellow on the outside, but inside the flesh color is similar to that of a pear. 

Once cooked, quince turns to a gorgeous orange-red and makes exquisite jelly.  Quince is typically too hard and sour to eat raw, although I took a bite of one of mine and I thought it tasted okay, just not great.    Quince are high in pectin and are used all around the world for variations of jams and jellies.  China and Turkey are the highest producers of the world's population of quince, but most of the quince in North America comes from Argentina.

I purchased my quince at the grocery store, as well as a few other fruits and veggies.  After researching recipes, I realized that I didn't have enough quince to make a full batch of jelly, so I used Red Bartlett pears to add to the recipe due to their similarities.  I think it turned out great!
Go to this web link for the recipe I adapted.  I used 2 pounds of quince (3 quince, cored) and 1 pound of Red Bartlett pears (4 pears, stemmed, cored)...yummy! xo, AB