Fruit In Spiced White Wine Food

WHITE WINE-POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients but pears in a large saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil and cook 5 minutes. Add pears, lower heat, and cook 20 to 30 minutes, until pears are tender. If necessary, turn pears very gently by rotating stems with your fingertips so they cook evenly. Remove pears to a bowl, bring poaching liquid to a rapid boil, and reduce by half, about 10 minutes.
• Pour syrup over pears and refrigerate, covered, at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. Serve.

WHITE WINE POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Thinly peel the pears, making sure to keep the stem intact. Slightly slice the bottom of the pears so they will stand up in the pan and when serving.
• In a large and tall saucepan, stir together the white wine , water, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat.
• Once the liquid is simmering, add the prepared pears and place them standing on the pan. The liquid should cover most of the pears' height.
• Poach the pears, uncovered, for 7 to 9 minutes until their meat is slightly tender, but they are still firm enough to hold their shape. Watch this process carefully as you do not want the pears to overcook or they will collapse.
• Remove the pears from the poaching liquor with a slotted spoon and place them on individual serving plates.
• Return the poaching liquid to a simmer. Add the sugar and allow the mixture to reduce in volume by half or about 6 to 8 minutes. The syrup is ready when it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
• Remove the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean from the syrup and strain the liquid through a fine sieve.
• Drizzle each pear with the wine syrup and add any other topping that you'd like.

SWEETENED GRILLED PEACHES AND PEARS IN WHITE WINE

Steps:

• Cut the peaches and pears in thick slices, don't peel, just nice thick slices. You will be grilling these so you don't want them too thin.
• Mix the wine, mint, allspice and brown sugar in a pie pan or small bowl and add the peaches and pears and let marinade 1-2 hours.
• Mix the mascarpone, honey and orange juice and chill in a small bowl.
• Toast the pistachios. I rough chop and then lightly toast in a dry saute pan for 2-3 minutes just to lightly toast and intensify the flavors. Remove and let cool.
• Grill on medium heat on a grill pan or they can be done on a outdoor grill as well. Grill until until nice grill marks on each side but not overdone.
• Just serve the fresh grilled fruit with a dollop of the mascarpone cheese topping and toasted pistachios.

WHITE MULLED WINE

Steps:

• Put all the ingredients into a pan and heat until steaming but not boiling. Ladle into mugs or glasses to serve, while you keep the rest warm on a low heat.

VANILLA & WHITE WINE POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Before you start, cut out a circle of baking parchment using a large pan as a template. (This is called a cartouche, and will cover the pears later - it should be the same size as the pan to keep the pears submerged and the liquid from evaporating too quickly). Set aside. Tip the sugar, cinnamon sticks, vanilla seeds and pod, cardamom, wine and 200ml water into the pan. Peel strips of the lemon zest, avoiding the pith. Drop in the strips of zest, then warm over a low heat until the mix is steaming and the sugar has dissolved.
• Peel the pears, leaving the stalks intact. Slice in half lengthways through the core, then use a melon baller or small, sharp knife to remove the hard core and pips. Carefully place the pears in the steaming liquid, then turn up the heat to medium- low and bring to a simmer. Cover the surface with the circle of baking parchment and cook the pears for 20-30 mins, or until they can be pierced with the tip of a knife with little resistance.
• Meanwhile, sterilise two 1-litre jam jars. When the pears are cooked and still hot, transfer to the jars with any aromatics from the pan. Top up with the poaching liquid so the pears are covered. Seal and leave to cool. Will keep for up to six months in a cool place. Serve with ice cream or hot chocolate sauce, if you like.

EASY WHITE SANGRIA

Steps:

• Put all the ingredients (except the ice, water and flowers) into two large jugs and put in the fridge for at least 1 hr to chill. Just before serving, top up with the ice and water. Pop a few edible flowers in the jug, if you like.

FRUIT IN SPICED WHITE WINE

Steps:

• Combine 4 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 30 minutes to blend flavors.
• Combine apricots and cherries in large bowl. Pour hot wine mixture over. Cool to room temperature. Cover and chill. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.) Serve fruit with liquid.