Pears With Spiced Caramel Sauce Food

POACHED PEARS WITH SPICED CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Poach pears:
• Remove zest of oranges in strips with a vegetable peeler and cut away any white pith from strips. Squeeze juice from oranges and lemon into a 6-quart pot and add lemon halves, water, granulated sugar, and zest. Peel pears, leaving stems attached, and add to pot.
• Simmer pears 15 to 25 minutes, or until just tender, and cool in liquid. (Poached pears will continue to cook a bit as they cool.)
• Make caramel:
• Put granulated sugar in a 2-quart heavy saucepan and crumble brown sugar over. Melt sugars, undisturbed, over moderate heat until granulated sugar is mostly melted. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until a deep golden caramel. Carefully pour in cream (mixture will bubble up and caramel will harden slightly) and stir in clove, cardamom pods, fennel, peppercorns, and cinnamon sticks. Simmer, stirring, until caramel is dissolved and sauce is reduced to about 1‚ cups, about 10 minutes. Pour sauce through a sieve into a 2-cup measure and cool to just warm.
• Assemble dessert:
• Drain pears and pat dry, then transfer to plates. Serve drizzled with sauce and sprinkled with chopped nuts.

ROASTED PEARS WITH CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• Place butter in a baking pan large enough to hold the pears in a single layer.
• Set baking pan with butter in the heating oven until the butter melts.
• Sprinkle sugar over melted butter.
• Place pears, cut side down, on top.
• Bake until tender, about 30 minutes.
• Remove from oven.
• Turn over pears and baste with pan sauce.
• Return to oven.
• Bake until golden and glossy, about 10 minutes.
• Let cool slightly.
• Transfer pears to dessert plates or bowls.
• Top each with a dollop of sour cream, drizzle with caramel pan sauce, sprinkle with nuts.
• Serve and enjoy!

SPICED PEARS WITH ORANGES AND CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Using melon baller and starting from bottom, core each pear. Cut thin slice off bottom of each pear to make level.
• Stir sugar and 1/4 cup water in heavy large saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil until syrup is deep amber color, brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat; whisk in butter, then 2 tablespoons water.
• Stand pears in caramel sauce in saucepan. Sprinkle cinnamon over. Cover and cook over low heat 10 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with ras-el-hanout. Cover and continue to cook until pears are tender, occasionally spooning caramel sauce over pears and shaking pan so pears don't stick, about 15 minutes. Arrange orange slices around pears; spoon caramel sauce over. Cover and simmer until orange slices soften, about 5 minutes.
• Place orange slices on plates. Stand pears atop orange slices. Spoon caramel sauce over and sprinkle with almonds. Serve warm or at room temperature.
• *A Moroccan spice blend available at some specialty foods stores and Middle Eastern markets, and by mail from The Spice House (312-274-0378; thespicehouse.com).

PEAR CRISP WITH SPICED TEQUILA CARAMEL

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large glass baking dish (preferably 8 by 11-inches), add the sliced pears, the cinnamon and juice of 1 orange. Toss to combine and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the orange zest, flour, oats, sugar, butter, salt, and pecans. Using a pastry cutter, 2 knives or, your hands, mix the ingredients until they resemble crumbly peas. Sprinkle the mixture over the pears and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the pears are al dente and the crisp is golden brown.
• While the crisp is baking, prepare the caramel. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the sugar, tequila, cinnamon, orange zest and orange juice. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and slowly add the half-and-half or cream. The mixture will boil up as the cool dairy meets the hot sugar, so hold the pot away from you and take care not to add too much cold liquid at once. Keep the caramel warm over low heat until ready to serve.
• To serve, spoon the warm crisp onto serving plates and top with several tablespoons of the caramel. Remaining caramel can be brought to the table for guests who might enjoy a little extra or stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

SALT ROASTED PEARS WITH CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Arrange the pears upright in an 8" ceramic dish that is 4 inches deep. Cover pears with salt, allowing stems to stick out. Bake until pears are tender when pricked with a fork, 60 to 75 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Cook, without stirring, until syrup comes to a boil, brushing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush a couple of times to prevent crystals from forming. Let boil, swirling the pan occasionally, until medium amber. Remove from heat, and carefully stir in butter and cream (watch out for steaming and splattering!).
• Remove pears from the salt, letting a small amount to cling to each pear. Place each pear on a serving plate. Pour caramel sauce over top, and serve. Enjoy!

SPICED BAKED PEARS

Steps:

• Core the pears and set inside a baking dish. An old fashioned peeler with the pointy tip works well for this.
• Combine the craisins, walnuts and orange peel. Set aside.
• In a saucepan, combine the rest of the ingredients over medium-low heat for 2-5 minutes or until combined and bubbly.
• Take a pinch of your craisin mix and stuff into bottom of each pear. Stir in the rest of the craisin mix into your bubbly sauce.
• Ladle the hot sauce into each pear.
• Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven till the pears are soft. (Usually 30-40 minutes) Check on the pears halfway through. If they look like they are going to burn, cover with foil till the last 5 minutes.
• Let stand at least 5 minutes. Put each pear on a plate then ladle some of the escaped sauce over the pear and drizzle around the plate for presentation.
• Tip: If you don't have any orange peel handy, substitute orange juice for the water.
• Tip: The sauce will escape through the bottom. Don't sweat it. Just ladle it back in after baking. The nut/craisin mix in the bottom helps with this.
• Tip: I know the baking time is a little ambiguous, be we move around a lot and I've made this in several different ovens. It's hard to "kill" these. Just test the pears with a fork. When the tops get that pretty caramel color and they're soft, they're ready.
• Tip: This works with any pear, just adjust the baking time depending on the firmness of the pear. Firmer=longer. I like Bartlett pears because they're fat and stand up on their own better.