Chai Poached Pears With Spicy Orange Sauce And Homemade Granola Food

MARSALA-POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Cut pears in half lengthwise and remove cores. Measure Marsala cooking wine into a small mixing bowl. Add brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg; stir to dissolve sugar.
• Melt butter in a large 12-inch skillet. Stir in Marsala mixture. Cook over medium heat until bubbly. Place pears in pan, cut side down. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 30-45 minutes or until cool enough to serve.
• Place each pear half in a small bowl. Stir remaining sauce in pan; drizzle each serving with 1-2 teaspoons warm sauce. Top with a small scoop of ice cream, and if desired, toasted pecans. Serve immediately.

POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• In a saucepan over medium heat, combine champagne, orange juice and sugar. Add orange slices, cloves and vanilla. Bring to a boil, and stir until sugar is dissolved. Place pears in saucepan, and reduce heat. Cover, and simmer 15 minutes. Remove cover, and simmer an additional 30 minutes. Remove pears from the liquid, and let cool.
• Heat chocolate in a bowl over hot water, stirring until melted. Pour chocolate over the pears, and serve.

POACHED PEARS WITH CREAMY PECAN SAUCE

Steps:

• To poach the pears: In a large pot, combine the water and sugar over medium-high heat. Using a vegetable peeler, cut wide strips of lemon zest from the lemon and add to the pot along with the juice of the whole lemon. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Submerge pears in the simmering liquid, adding more water, if necessary, to just cover the pears. Cut a piece of parchment paper into a circle just large enough to cover the pot. Ease the paper down into the pot until it is touching the surface of the liquid. Simmer the pears until a knife inserted directly into a pear meets little resistance, about 30 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and cool the pears completely in the poaching liquid.
• To make the sauce: In a saucepan, over high heat, combine the brown sugar and water and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the sauce is reduced, thicker and takes on a dark golden brown color, about 8 to 10 minutes. Carefully stir in cream, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until very thick, 2 to 3 minutes more. Stir in the toasted pecans and salt.
• Serve 1 to 2 pear halves per person, drizzled with the creamy pecan caramel sauce.

ORANGE POACHED PEARS WITH FUDGE SAUCE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine orange juice, sliced orange, cloves, vanilla extract and pears. Set pan over high heat and bring to a simmer. Warm fudge topping in a saucepan or in the microwave until warm. Remove pears from liquid and transfer pears to dessert bowls. Remove cloves from liquid and spoon liquid over pears. Spoon warm fudge sauce over top.

POACHED PEARS WITH SPICED CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Poach pears:
• Remove zest of oranges in strips with a vegetable peeler and cut away any white pith from strips. Squeeze juice from oranges and lemon into a 6-quart pot and add lemon halves, water, granulated sugar, and zest. Peel pears, leaving stems attached, and add to pot.
• Simmer pears 15 to 25 minutes, or until just tender, and cool in liquid. (Poached pears will continue to cook a bit as they cool.)
• Make caramel:
• Put granulated sugar in a 2-quart heavy saucepan and crumble brown sugar over. Melt sugars, undisturbed, over moderate heat until granulated sugar is mostly melted. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until a deep golden caramel. Carefully pour in cream (mixture will bubble up and caramel will harden slightly) and stir in clove, cardamom pods, fennel, peppercorns, and cinnamon sticks. Simmer, stirring, until caramel is dissolved and sauce is reduced to about 1‚ cups, about 10 minutes. Pour sauce through a sieve into a 2-cup measure and cool to just warm.
• Assemble dessert:
• Drain pears and pat dry, then transfer to plates. Serve drizzled with sauce and sprinkled with chopped nuts.

POACHED PEARS (POIRES POCHEES)

Steps:

• Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Add lemon juice and pears and let sit for 2 minutes. Remove pears from the hot water 1 at a time and carefully peel, leaving stem intact.
• Combine wine, sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and star anise in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Rinse pears and add to the boiling wine mixture. Use a plate on top of pears to keep them submerged. Simmer until a knife very easily pierces the pears, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and allow pears to cool in the wine mixture.
• Serve pears in a bowl, either whole or sliced and cored.