Pears Poached In Beaumes De Venise And Honey Food

EASY POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine lemon zest, cinnamon stick, allspice, ground pepper, apple cider, and water.
• Add pears. Cover with waxed paper to prevent discoloring. Bring to a simmer. Cook, turning pears occasionally, until easily pierced with the tip of a paring knife, but not falling apart, about 20 minutes. Remove pears from liquid; transfer to large bowl.
• Raise heat to high; boil cider mixture until reduced to a syrup, about 15 minutes. Discard cinnamon. Pour syrup over pears; refrigerate. To serve, slice off a sliver from the bottom of each pear (so it stands upright). Serve pears with lemon sorbet, if desired.

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 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.

SPICED POACHED PEARS IN CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Steps:

• In a pan big enough to hold the pears snugly, tip in all the ingredients except the pears. Half fill the pan with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 mins to infuse, drop in pears, cover and gently poach for about 30 mins until soft. Turn off the heat and set aside. The pears can be poached up to 2 days ahead and kept in the poaching syrup in the fridge.
• To make the chocolate sauce, tip the chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream, milk and cinnamon to the boil and pour over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted. To serve, drain the pears and, holding them by the stem, dip them in the chocolate sauce to completely cover. Serve each pear with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.

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.