Pears And Cranberries Poached In Wine Food

CRANBERRY-POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Place pears in a saucepan large enough to hold them snugly. Add enough water to barely cover them (about 4 cups). Add sugar, cinnamon, citrus peels, honey, and lemon juice. Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape vanilla seeds into pan, and toss in pod. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat, and simmer gently until pears are tender, about 10 minutes.
• Add fresh cranberries, and simmer until cranberries are soft but not mushy, about 3 minutes more.
• Use a spoon to transfer pears to a dish. Spoon cranberries and syrup around pears. Add tea bag and dried cranberries if using. Let cool for 15 minutes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
• Before serving, remove vanilla bean, cinnamon stick, citrus peels, and tea bag. Transfer pears to plates with some of the cranberries, syrup, and a dollop of yogurt, creme fraiche, or cheese.

PEARS AND CRANBERRIES POACHED IN WINE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Place pears in a greased 13x9-in. baking dish, cut side up. Top with cranberries., In a small saucepan, combine wine, sugar, cranberry juice, butter and lemon zest; bring to a boil. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved; spoon over pears., Bake, covered, 30-35 minutes or until pears are tender, basting occasionally. Serve with creme fraiche.

POACHED PEARS IN RED WINE

Steps:

• Remove the pear cores and slice pears lengthwise into eighths or twelfths.
• Set the pan over low to medium heat, bringing the wine to a simmer. Add pepper to taste, and then poach the pears for 5 to 10 minutes, until soft. Flip the pears halfway through so that both sides of the slices spend some time in the liquid.
• Remove the pears from the liquid. If desired, you can reduce the liquid down to a syrup to pour over the fruit. The pears can also be served with caramel sauce, vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

POACHED-PEAR AND CRANBERRY PIE

Steps:

• Pate Brisee: Pulse together flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor to combine. Pulse in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With machine running, add 1/4 cup ice water in a slow, steady stream, just until dough holds together. To test, squeeze a small amount together; if it is crumbly, add up to 1/4 cup more ice water, a little at a time. Do not process more than 30 seconds.
• Turn out dough onto a clean surface; divide in half. Place each half on a piece of plastic, flatten into disks, and wrap tightly. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before using. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.
• Filling: Combine wine, sugar, cinnamon, star anise, vanilla seeds, and cranberries in a wide saucepan. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Add pears; if not completely covered in liquid, add water as needed. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover with a round of parchment, pressing it directly on surface of pears. Simmer until tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer pears and cranberries to a heatproof bowl, then increase heat to high and boil liquid until reduced to 2 cups. Pour liquid over pears; refrigerate until cool, about 30 minutes or up to overnight.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out remaining disk of dough to a 13-inch round. Transfer to a parchment-lined unrimmed baking sheet. Using a 1-inch petal cutter, cut out a decorative pattern in center, reserving cutouts to decorate edges. Freeze until firm, 15 minutes.
• Remove pears and cranberries from liquid and blot dry with paper towels. Arrange pears in prepared pie dish, then add cranberries. Brush overhang with egg wash. Place top crust over filling; press edges to seal with bottom crust. Using kitchen shears, trim dough to a 1/2-inch overhang, reserving scraps. Tuck overhand under so edges are flush with rim. Brush edges with egg wash and decorate with petal cutouts, rerolling scraps to cut out more shapes as needed. Brush entire surface with egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar.
• Bake 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and continue baking until crust is evenly browned (if browning too quickly, tent edges with foil), 45 to 60 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

RED WINE & CRANBERRY POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring the first 6 ingredients to a boil; add cranberries. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes., Meanwhile, core pears from bottom, leaving stems intact. Peel pears. Add to pan, in a single layer on their sides. Simmer, uncovered, until pears are almost tender, about 10 minutes longer, turning occasionally. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes., Drain pears; reserving poaching liquid and cranberries. Remove peppercorns. Place pears on dessert plates; drizzle with reserved poaching liquid. Top with cranberries and crème fraiche, if desired.

POACHED PEARS FILLED WITH CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Cut lemons in half, squeeze juice in a medium bowl, half filled with cold water and add squeezed lemon halves to bowl. Peel pears as carefully and as smoothly as possible, leaving stems attached. Place pears in lemon water as you peel them.
• In a large saucepan, combine wine, 3 cups water, 1/2 cup sugar, peppercorns, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a bare simmer. Remove pears and 2 of the squeezed lemon halves from water and add to the saucepan. Keep pears submerged in liquid by placing a lid slightly smaller than the pan, a damp piece of cheesecloth, or a clean dish towel over them. Simmer until pears are tender and translucent, 10-30 minutes, depending on ripeness.
• Remove from heat, and let pears cool in poaching liquid. Refrigerate when cool. (Pears can be prepared to this point up to 2 days in advance.).
• In a medium saucepan, combine fresh cranberries, kumquats, 1 cup water and the remaining 1 cup sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and let cranberries simmer gently until skins burst and mixture thickens slightly, about 15 minutes. Stir in dried cranberries. Rmove from heat, cool completely, and refrigerate. (Cranberry sauce can be prepared up to 2 days in advance).
• Remove pears from poaching liquid with a slotted spoon, and cut in half lengthwise. Drain on paper towels. Using a melon baller or small spoon, carefullly scoop out seeds and a little of the surrounding flesh to create a small round cavity in each pear half. When ready to serve, fill each cavity with 1-2 tablespoons chilled cranberry sauce. Serve extra cranberry sauce on the side.

POACHED PEARS IN RED WINE

Steps:

• Place the wine, sugar, honey, lemon juice, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, orange rind, clove and peppercorn in a saucepan just large enough to hold the pears standing upright. Heat gently, stirring occasionally until the sugar has completely dissolved.
• Meanwhile, peel the pears, leaving the stem intact. Take a thin slice off the bottom of each pear to keep it standing upright.
• Place the pears in the wine mixture, then simmer uncovered for 20-35 minutes depending on size and ripeness, until the pears are just tender; be careful not to overcook.
• Carefully transfer the pears to a bowl, using a slotted spoon. Continue to boil the poaching liquid until reduced bu about half. Let cool, then strain the cooled liquid over the pears and chill for at least 3 hours.
• Place the pears in four individual serving dishes and spoon a little of the red wine syrup over them. Serve with whipped cream or sour cream.

PEARS POACHED IN RED WINE, CARDAMOM AND ORANGE

Steps:

• Combine first 7 ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to simmer. Add pears and return mixture to simmer. Reduce heat and simmer slowly until pears are tender when pierced with knife, about 25 minutes. Transfer pears to plate. Boil liquid in saucepan until reduced to 3 cups, about 20 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill pears in poaching liquid. Before serving, rewarm over medium-low heat until pears are heated through.)
• Arrange 1 warm pear and 1 scoop of ice cream on each of 4 plates. Drizzle some poaching liquid over. Sprinkle with biscotti crumbs. Garnish with orange peel strips, if desired, and serve.

WINE-POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Peel pears, leaving stem intact.
• Using a small melon baller, remove stems and seeds from bottoms of pears.
• In a saucepan that will accommodate pears upright, combine wine, water, sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, lemon zest and lemon juice.
• Bring to a boil.
• Add pears, cook over medium heat, maintaining a boil for 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat, allow pears to cool slowly.
• Baste pears occasionally with poaching liquid.
• When completely cooled, chill pears.
• Serve on individual dessert plates; spoon liquid over pears.

PEARS POACHED IN PORT AND CRANBERRY JUICE WITH PORT SYRUP

Steps:

• Combine first 5 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring twice. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 5 minutes. Add pear halves to liquid. Simmer pears uncovered until tender, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes.
• Using slotted spoon, transfer pears to large bowl. Boil cooking liquid until reduced to thin syrup (about 1 1/4 cups), about 15 minutes. Pour syrup over pears in bowl. Cool to room temperature. Cover and chill until cold, about 4 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)
• Mix yogurt and powdered sugar in small bowl. Spoon cold syrup onto plates. Place 1 pear half, flat side down, on each plate. Spoon yogurt mixture over pears. Garnish with mint, if desired, and serve.

SPICED WINE POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Peel the pears and put in a medium bowl with the lemon juice and enough water to cover to prevent browning.
• In a large heavy saucepan, combine the water, sugar, anise, cloves, and cinnamon stick.
• Stir the sugar mixture over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
• Add the wine, port, ginger, and about 2/3 of the orange zest (the remainder will be used for garnish). Stir to combine. Bring to a simmer.
• Add the pears. Place the lid on the pot so that steam can escape and simmer until the pears are tender when pierced with a toothpick. This will take about 25 minutes. Make sure that you turn the pears so that all sides are evenly cooked.
• Remove the pears from the cooking liquid with a slotted spoon. Transfer them to a plate, cover with plastic wrap, cool in the refrigerator about 2 hours.
• Pour the cooking liquid through a sieve to remove the cloves, zest, and other particulate. Return to sauce pan. At this point you can refrigerate the liquid if you plan on serving it within a day or 2.
• To reduce the sauce, simmer until desired consistency is achieved (about 30 minutes to my taste). Taste as you are cooking it to adjust sweetness to your taste (I don't like things that sweet, so the sauce is tart when made according to the recipe).
• Serve each pear with a little sauce drizzled over and sprinkle with remaining zest. Mint & dark chocolate also make good garnishes.

CRANBERRY POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Put the cranberry juice, orange juice and sugar in a saucepan large enough to hold the pears. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar. Add the cinnamon and star anise, if using, and boil for 5 minutes.
• Peel the pears and immediately stand them in the pan with the cranberry syrup. Cover and simmer gently for 40 minutes, or until the pears are cooked and soft through to the center when pierced with a skewer.
• Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely in the syrup. Chill for 2 hours or overnight, occasionally turning the pears in the syrup to achieve an even color.
• Remove the pears from the pan and bring the cranberry syrup to the boil for 20 minutes, or until reduced to a thick syrup. Add the fresh cranberries and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside until competely cooled.
• Place the pears on a plate with the cranberries and pour the sauce over and around them.

POACHED PEARS FILLED WITH CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Cut lemons in half, squeeze juice into a medium bowl half filled with cold water, and add squeezed lemon halves to bowl. Peel pears as carefully and smoothly as possible, leaving stems attached. Place pears in lemon (acidulated) water as you peel them.
• In a large saucepan, combine wine, 3 cups water, 1/2 cup sugar, peppercorns, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a bare simmer. Remove pears and 2 of the squeezed lemon halves from water, and add to the saucepan. Keep pears submerged in liquid by placing a lid slightly smaller than the pan, a damp piece of cheesecloth, or a clean dish towel over them. Simmer until pears are tender and translucent, 10 to 30 minutes, depending on ripeness.
• Remove from heat, and let pears cool in poaching liquid. Refrigerate when cool. (Pears can be prepared to this point up to 2 days in advance.)
• In a medium saucepan, combine fresh cranberries, kumquats, 1 cup water, and the remaining 1 cup sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and let cranberries simmer gently until skins burst and mixture thickens slightly, about 15 minutes. Stir in dried cranberries. Remove from heat, cool completely, and refrigerate. (Cranberry sauce can be prepared up to 2 days in advance.)
• Remove pears from poaching liquid with a slotted spoon, and cut in half lengthwise. Drain on paper towels. Using a melon baller or small spoon, carefully scoop out seeds and a little of the surrounding flesh to create a small, round cavity in each pear half. When ready to serve, fill each cavity with 1 to 2 tablespoons chilled cranberry sauce. Serve extra cranberry sauce on the side.