Pears Poached In Red Wine And Cassis Food

PEARS POACHED IN RED WINE AND CASSIS

Steps:

• Combine wine, honey, and crème de cassis in a medium saucepan. Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean halves into wine and add pods.Add cinnamon stick and raisins and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, fill a bowl with water and add lemon juice. Peel, quarter and core pears and drop into the acidulated water. (This prevents the pears from discoloring.)
• Drain pears and add to simmering wine. Bring back to a simmer, cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes more, until pears areslightly translucent. Turn off heat and remove cinnamon stick. Add almonds. Serve warm or chilled.

POACHED PEARS IN SPICED RED WINE

Steps:

• Halve the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape out the black seeds and put in a large saucepan with the wine, sugar, cinnamon and thyme. Cut each piece of pod into three long thin strips, add to pan, then lower in the pears.
• Poach the pears, covered, for 20-30 mins, making sure they are covered in the wine. The cooking time will very much depend on the ripeness of your pears - they should be tender all the way through when pierced with a cocktail stick. You can make these up to 2 days ahead and chill.
• Take the pears from the pan, then boil the liquid to reduce it by half so that it's syrupy. Serve each pear with the cooled syrup, a strip of vanilla, a piece of cinnamon and a small thyme sprig.

RED WINE POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients but pears in a large saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add pears and cover with a parchment round. Reduce to a simmer and cook until pears are tender, 20 to 30 minutes. If necessary, turn pears very gently by rotating the 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 reduced syrup over pears and refrigerate, covered, for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. Serve in shallow bowls or cups.

RED WINE POACHED PEARS WITH VANILLA BEAN CUSTARD

Steps:

• For the pears: Remove a large strip of peel from the lemon and set aside. Squeeze the juice of the lemon into a medium bowl filled with water. Peel, halve and core the pears, adding the pears to the lemon water as you work (this will prevent them from browning).
• Combine the wine, sugar, vanilla, cloves, cinnamon stick and reserved lemon peel in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves.
• Remove the pears from the lemon water and add to the wine mixture. Boil the pears until tender, 8 to 10 minutes on each side. Remove the pears from the poaching liquid to a wire rack to cool. If desired, continue to boil the poaching liquid until syrupy, about 10 minutes.
• For the vanilla bean custard sauce: Combine the cream and milk in a medium saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add to the cream mixture along with the scraped bean. Place over medium heat until bubbles form around the edges, then remove from the heat and remove the vanilla bean.
• Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until combined. Gradually add a little of the hot cream mixture, whisking constantly until combined. Gradually add the remaining cream, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 6 minutes. Remove the custard from the saucepan and cool slightly.
• To serve, spoon some of the custard sauce onto serving plates and top each with a pear half. Dollop with whipped cream and sprinkle with candied pecans, if desired.

RED WINE POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Juice the lemon and orange, reserving the juiced citrus halves. Put the juice, citrus halves, wine, water, honey, ginger, black peppercorns, cloves, cardamom, star anise and bay leaf in a wide saucepot. Gently place the pears into the liquid. Make a circle of parchment paper that is 1/2-inch larger than the pot and cover surface completely with the parchment paper (see Cook's Note*). Make sure the pears are fully submerged but not touching the bottom of the pot. Bring the poaching liquid and pears to a boil, then reduce the heat to just below a simmer.
• Cook the pears until fork tender. Test for doneness by inserting a sharp knife in the base; there should be little resistance when fully cooked. Gently transfer pears to a glass or ceramic bowl. Pour enough poaching liquid over pears just to cover. Cover and refrigerate for several hours, preferably overnight; the longer the pears soak, the darker they will become.
• Strain remaining poaching liquid and return to saucepan. Cook over high heat until a syrupy consistency is achieved or the syrup coats the back of a spoon. Chill until the pears are served.
• Use a parisienne scoop to remove each pear's core, hollowing out a 1-inch wide cavity that starts at the base and extends 3/4 of the way up the pear. Transfer the Creamy Pistachio Nut Filling to a piping bag without a tip. Gently fill the pear cavity until it slightly overflows. (The overflow will help to provide a sticky surface to stand the pear up on.) Place the pear, base side down, in a bowl and surround with 1-ounce of the syrup. Serve.
• In a medium-sized bowl, cream the mascarpone, sugar, and vanilla together. Stir in the pistachio nuts.
• Use immediately or refrigerate and return to room temperature before filling the pears.

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.

CASSIS & BAY-BAKED PEARS WITH BLACKBERRIES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Halve the pears - you don't need to peel or core them - and put them, cut-side up, in a baking dish in which the fruit can sit quite snugly in a single layer. Pour the cassis and red wine over the pears, sprinkle with the sugar and tuck the bay leaves under the fruit.
• Bake - spooning the juices over the pears from time to time - until the fruits are tender right through to the centre (how long this takes depends on the ripeness of the fruit; start checking after 20 mins, but it could take as long as 45 mins). It's a good idea to turn the pears over a couple of times while they're cooking so that they are cut-side down in the liquor for part of the cooking time.
• By the time the fruit is cooked, the juice around it won't be thick, but should be syrupy and sweet enough to serve as it is. If you don't think it is, then remove the pears and bay leaves and reduce the juices by boiling them for a little while, leave to cool, then pour them back into the dish with the pears. Leave at room temperature and add the berries about 30 mins before you want to serve, spooning the juices over them, otherwise they get very soft sitting in the red wine syrup.

PEARS POACHED IN RED WINE

Steps:

• Simmer the wine, crème de cassis, raisins, cinnamon, and honey together for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Add the pears and cook gently for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Serve in bowls or sherbet glasses topped with freshly whipped cream and slivered almonds.
• This dish can be prepared hours in advance and is good hot, warm, or chilled.