Evelyn Keyes' Cuban Pears

Eddie Muller "The Czar of Noir" joined us for this special tribute to Evelyn Keyes.

Evelyn Keyes was spotted early on by director Cecil B. DeMille and had roles in The Buccaneer and Union Pacific. She is best remembered today for her small role as Scarlett's sister "Sullen O'Hara" in Gone with the Wind. Keyes went on to star in several films in the noir genre including Johnny O'Clock, Mr. Soft Touch, The Prowler, 99 River Street and Hell's Half Acre. Eddie Muller spent time with her and chronicled her life and career in his book "Dark City Dames".

Recipe

This recipe is from the cookbook "What Cooks in Hollywood" edited by Dorothy and Maxwell Hamilton from 1949.

Ingredients:

1/2 canned pear per person

1/2 tablespoon of honey for each pear half

1/4 of juice of 1 lime for each pear half

1/2 cup rum to 4 pear halves

Nutmeg

Directions:

Place four pear-halves, cup-side up, in a flat oven-proof dish. Fill each pear cavity with specified portions of honey and lime juice. Pour rum over all. Bake 1 hour in slow oven in slow oven. Turn pear-halves upside down and baste. Put under broiler for 2 minutes, sprinkle with nutmeg and serve. Serves 4.

The recipe didn't give an oven temperature of cook time, but I found another similar recipe online and it suggested that I bake this at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Special Guest

Eddie Muller aka the "Czar of Noir" is the host of TCM's Noir Alley and the prolific author of crime fiction (The Distance), biographies (Tab Hunter Confidential), cinema histories (including Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir) and the children's book Kid Noir: Kitty Feral and the Case of the Marshmallow Monkey. He produces, programs and hosts a national network of Noir City film festivals, presented under the auspices of the Film Noir Foundation, a non-profit corporation he founded in 2005 to rescue and restore films from America and abroad. The Foundation also publishes Noir City magazine, the world's leading publication on classic and contemporary noir. He was born in San Francisco and continues to reside in the Bay Area.

Video

Final Result

I learned a lot about rum in the making of this episode! When I tested the recipe, I used Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum. The combination of the rum, lime juice and nutmeg tasted really funky. I put everything in the refrigerator and it tasted much better the next day. Maybe it all need time to soak in. My friend Xavier suggested that I try Myers's Rum in the Original Dark flavor. That made a big difference! I felt it had a much tastier and better result. I would totally make this again and even add cinnamon and some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for a nice, summer dessert.