Oh, Pears!

Hey, It's pear season here in the Pacific Northwest. It's also that time between Thanksgiving and Christmas when turkeys are easy to come by. Well, this is a recipe for turkey thighs (you could probably try it with a turkey breast, or a half chicken even. Let me know if it comes out good) and a pear or two. It's turkey thighs baked on a bed of pear slices. It's even better than it sounds, when you serve it up with mashed potatoes. Here's what you need;

2 turkey thighs, bone in and skin on
1 good sized pear (Bosc is what I used, but you can try whatever)
1 small onion
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp coarse salt (like kosher salt or sea salt)
2 tsp ground black pepper
3 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp thyme
Some butter

Preheat the oven to 374

Start out by peeling the pear, as you would a potato, and cut it into 1/4" slices. Remove and discard the stem and seeds and lay the slices into the bottom of a baking dish. Cut a couple of 1/4" slices of the peeled onion and lay them in there too. Put a small smear of butter on each of the slices of onion, then sprinkle about a half tbsp of the brown sugar over the pear and onion slices.

Put the rest of the Sugar, salt, pepper, parsley and black pepper into a bowl and mix it together. Rub that mix into the turkey thighs (both sides) and lay them skin side down on top of the pears and onions in the baking dish. Pop that into the oven for about 40 minutes while you make mashed potatoes. After 40 minutes, take the baking dish out and carefully turn over the thighs so that the skin side is up. Pop it back into the oven for another 30 minutes.

When it's done, remove the thighs from the baking dish and slice them, removing the bone. The pears should be served alongside the mashed potatoes, or mixed in with them. It's a very nice flavor combination.