Poached Papaya And Pear Food

PEAR & BERRY PIE

Steps:

• To make the poached pears, put the sugar in a big saucepan with the lemon peel, cardamom pods, nutmeg, cinnamon and 1 litre water. Bring to a gentle simmer. Lower the pear halves into the liquid and place a circle of baking parchment on top, so they cook through properly. Leave over a medium heat, so that a few bubbles break the surface every now and then, and cook for 15 mins. Allow to cool in the liquid. Can be chilled overnight if making ahead.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Dust the work surface with a little plain flour. Roll out the pastry so it's big enough to line a 20-23cm frying pan, pie dish or shallow baking tin. Grate a little nutmeg over the surface, then gently roll again to help it stick. Lift over your dish, press into the corners, then trim the edges. You can give it a pretty crimped edge, if you like, then wrap the off-cuts in cling film and keep in the fridge until needed. Scrunch up a sheet of baking parchment, unfold, and lay it over the pastry. Fill with baking beans and bake for 15 mins. Remove the beans and parchment, brush with some of the beaten egg and return to the oven for another 5 mins.
• Meanwhile, make the filling. Cook the remaining pears and sugar in a small pan until the pears are soft enough to squash with the back of a spoon. Drain off 3 tbsp of the poaching liquid and mix this with the cornflour, then pour back into the pears and continue cooking and squashing for another minute or so, until the filling has thickened.
• Sprinkle the ground almonds over the pastry case, then add the squashed pear mixture and scatter over the berries. Remove the poached pears from their liquid and blot them on some kitchen paper. Arrange them face-up among the pear mixture and berries. Using a mini pastry cutter, cut little shapes from the leftover pastry, then arrange them on top. Brush the pastry pieces with beaten egg and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake for 45-50 mins until the pastry is golden and berry juice is bubbling. Cool for 10-15 mins before serving with custard, cream or ice cream, if you like.

FRESH POACHED PEAR, TOASTED PECAN AND BLEU CHEESE SALAD WITH PEAR VINAIGRETTE

Steps:

• To assemble salad, wash lettuce well and drain until very dry. Toss leaves in the Pear Vinaigrette in a salad bowl. Add the bleu cheese and pecans.
• Place a mound of lettuce on each of 4 plates. Serve with 1/2 a Poached Pear.
• Peel pears, leaving stems intact and trimming bottom to "seat" them firmly in bottom of large stockpot.
• Into the stockpot, add the wine, water, sugar, vanilla bean, star anise, lemon and orange peels, and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from stove and let cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Reserve 1/4 cup of poaching liquid for the vinaigrette.
• Place ingredients in large bowl and whisk together. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

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.

POACHED ASIAN PEARS WITH STAR ANISE AND TROPICAL FRUIT

Steps:

• Bring first 7 ingredients to boil in heavy large saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cover and simmer 5 minutes.
• Peel and core pears. Add to syrup. Add enough water to cover pears. Cover pan; simmer until pears are tender, about 40 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer pears to bowl. Increase heat; boil liquid until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 25 minutes. Strain syrup; pour over pears. Chill until cold. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Chill.)
• Stand 1 pear in center of each plate. Spoon papaya and mango around pear. Spoon syrup over and serve.

POACHED PAPAYA AND PEAR

Steps:

• Cut papaya in half lengthwise. Remove peel and seeds. Cut fruit into bite size pieces. Halve and core pear; cut into thin slices. Stir together orange juice, lime peel and nutmeg in a medium skillet. Add papaya and pear; bring to boiling. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 3 to 5 minutes or till pear is tender. Remove from heat. With a slotted spoon, transfer fruit to a serving bowl. Stir together the lime juice and cornstarch. Return skillet to heat. Stir cornstarch mixture into orange juice mixture. Cook and stir until thickened; cook and stir 2 minutes more. Pour sauce over fruit. Garnish with lime peel strips if desired. Serve warm or cool.