Pears Poached In Beaumes De Venise And Honey Food

HONEY-POACHED PEARS WITH BROWN SUGAR CREAM (#7)

Steps:

• In a lrg bowl, toss pear halves w/lemon juice & set aside.
• In a med saucepan, combine water, wine & honey. Add vanilla seeds & pod & cinnamon stick. Stir over med heat til honey dissolves & add pears.
• Cover mixture & reduce heat to med-low. Simmer til pears are just tender when pierced, turning when halfway through cooking (about 15 min). Using slotted spoon, transfer pears to lrg bowl.
• Boil poaching liquid til reduced to slightly syrup consistency (about 2 min) & set aside to cool.
• Pour syrup over pears. Cover & refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.
• Whisk sour cream, sugar & brandy (if using) in lrg bowl till smooth. Whisk in 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp chilled poaching syrup.
• To Serve; Place ea pear half on a dessert plate. Thinly slice ea half lengthwise, leaving slices attached at stem end. Gently press on pears to fan slightly. Spoon some syrup over ea pear half, spoon sour cream mixture beside them & serve.

POACHED PEARS IN HONEY, GINGER AND CINNAMON SYRUP

Steps:

• In a saucepan large enough to hold all the pears, combine the wine, Simple Syrup, cinnamon stick halves, honey, and ginger. Scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean and add the bean and seeds to the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the honey has melted. Add the pears and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until the pears are tender. Remove the pears from the liquid and allow to cool.
• Continue to simmer the liquid until it thickens and is reduced by half, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Remove the cinnamon stick halves and the vanilla bean and discard.
• Place each pear on a small serving plate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Drizzle with the honey, ginger and cinnamon syrup. Serve immediately.
• In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool.

ORANGE-MUSCAT PEARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Select a deep, ovenproof, nonreactive saucepan that will hold the pears snugly when they are placed in it upright. Pour the wine and orange juice into the pan.
• Peel the pears, taking care to leave the stems intact. If desired, remove the cores, digging them out with the point of a vegetable peeler or knife. As the pears are peeled, place them upright in the saucepan, coating them with the wine mixture so they do not discolor.
• Place the saucepan in the oven and bake the pears for 3 hours, basting occasionally, until they are very tender.
• Remove the pears from the oven and carefully transfer them to a dish that will still hold them upright.
• Add the orange zest and honey to the saucepan and boil the remaining liquid until it is reduced to about 1/3 cup, turns a caramel color and becomes very syrupy. Toward the end of the cooking, the syrup will start to boil up in the pan; remove it from the heat and allow it to settle to determine whether it needs additional boiling. Do not allow the syrup to scorch. Pour it over the pears. Refrigerate them until serving time.
• Serve the pears in chilled goblets or dishes, with sorbet or ice cream on the side, if desired.

PEARS POACHED IN BEAUMES-DE-VENISE AND HONEY

Steps:

• Combine the Muscat, water and honey in a large noncorroding saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, peel the pears neatly with a vegetable peeler, keeping the stem but removing the blossom end. Drop each pear into the simmering liquid as you peel it. Lay a piece of parchment paper directly on the pears to keep them moist.
• Lower heat so that the liquid is just under a simmer. Cook until the pears are barely tender when tested with a knife in the blossom-end side, about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the pears.
• Remove the pears and cool in a container in a single layer. Increase heat and simmer the cooking liquid until reduced to about three quarters of its original volume, about 20 minutes. Cool separately from the pears. When pears and syrup are both cool, combine and refrigerate until cold, preferably overnight. Serve with creme fraiche and crisp cookies.