Pears With Raspberries And Meringue

• 3 pears, about 1 1/2 pounds
• 5 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 cups water
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups whole red, ripe raspberries, or 3 cups strawberries cut in half
• 3 tablespoons orange juice
• 2 egg whites

1. Peel the pears using a swivel-bladed paring knife.
2. Cut away the stems.
3. Combine enough water to cover the pears when added and 4 tablespoons lemon juice and add the pears as they are peeled.
4. Cut the pears lengthwise in half.
5. Scoop out the cores, and a little of the meat, of each half to form a nice-sized cavity.
6. Combine the 3 cups water with 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and the vanilla bean or extract.
7. Bring to the boil and add the pear halves and the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
8. When the mixture returns to the boil reduce the heat and cook about 20 minutes or until pears are tender when pierced with a fork.
9. Remove the pears and reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
10. Let the pears cool.
11. Put half of the berries in the container of a food processor or electric blender and blend while gradually adding the reserved 1 cup of pear-cooking liquid and the orange juice.
12. This mixture may be used as is, but it is best to put it through a fine sieve of the sort known in French kitchens as a chinois, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible.
13. There should be about 1 1/3 cups.
14. Fill the cavity of each pear with about 3 of the remaining berries.
15. Quickly invert the pears on an ovenproof serving dish.
16. Preheat the broiler.
17. Beat the egg whites until stiff and gradually beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar.
18. Continue beating until stiff.
19. Spoon the resulting meringue into a pastry bag outfitted with a star-shaped tube (No.
20. 3B).
21. Squeeze out the meringue in star patterns over the pears.
22. Pour the sauce around the pears.
23. Place the dish under the broiler about 4 inches from the source of heat.
24. Broil briefly until the tips of the stars are browned.
25. Garnish around the sauce with a circle of the remaining raspberries.

lemon juice, water, sugar, vanilla bean, whole red, orange juice, egg whites

Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/10700 (may not work)