Sauteing Quince

I came across a box of quinces (is that right? or is it just quince?) at the farmer's market this past weekend, and I thought it might be good to try a quince crisp, instead of an apple one. The guy who owned the stand told me to treat the quince just like an apple in terms of baking methods and time, but I think he was wrong. I sliced up the quince, which was not easy. The inner core was tough and thick, and I found that I didn't get much fruit out of two big quinces. I tasted a slice and wasn't impressed. For me, the fruit seemed a little bitter. So I started cutting the slices thinner, and I did what for me is the unthinkable in a crisp: I sprinkled sugar all over those quinces. And then I added some dried cranberries for some extra sweetness. I mixed together a cup of oats, a cup of flour, 3 TBSP brown sugar, 5 TBSP melted butter, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon for the crisp topping. I still worried about how dry the quince was, so I added about 1/3 cup of lemon juice to the fruit, then put the crisp on top. I popped it in the oven at 375 for about a half an hour. By 25 minutes, I could smell the quince...it was a really nice fragrance. I added some chopped walnuts and a few pats of butter to the top and put it back in at about 400 degrees.

Disappointing. It was very very dry. We had to put some whipped cream on top so that it was edible. Next time, I would definitely saute the quince with butter and lemon juice, and maybe even put in some cream. Or maybe not even do a quince crisp at all. Just enjoy it in jam and leave the crisp to more amenable fruits like apples, strawberries, and pears.