Preheat oven to 400. Place four halved and cored pears, cut side down, on a 9×13 baking dish. Split a vanilla pod and place the pod halves among the pears. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the pears, then sprinkle generously with sugar – about 1 mounded tsp per pear half (here, vanilla-infused sugar). Dot with butter (about ¼ tsp per pear half) and then bake in oven for 20 mins. Then turn over (cut side up) and sprinkle cut half with more sugar (½ tsp per pear half). Let roast for another 5 minutes, then broil on low for a few minutes until lightly browned. General guidelines from The Splendid Table: http://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/roasted-pears (Oct. 2015)
Cooking Adventures 