Poached Pears Food

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.

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:

• Combine the wine, sugar, cinnamon stick, star anise, clove, orange zest and vanilla bean in a deep pot and bring to a simmer. Add the pears, cover with a heatsafe plate (making sure that it fully submerges the fruit) and cook on low heat until you can pierce the pears easily with a knife, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Serve with whipped cream and ground cinnamon.

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.

VANILLA POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Place the white wine, water, sugar and vanilla bean and pulp into a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
• Core the pears from the bottom. Decrease the heat to medium low and place the pears into the liquid, cover and cook for 30 minutes or until the pears are tender but not falling apart. Maintain a gentle simmer. Remove the pears to a serving dish, standing them upright, and place in the refrigerator.
• Remove the vanilla bean from the saucepan, increase the heat to high and reduce the syrup to approximately 1 cup of liquid, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Do not allow the syrup to turn brown. Place the syrup in a heatproof container and place in the refrigerator until cool, approximately 1 hour.
• Remove the pears from the refrigerator, spoon the sauce over the pears and serve.

POACHED PEARS IN SPICED TEA

Steps:

• Put the sugar, honey, jelly and tea bags into a big saucepan with 600ml water and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the pear halves, then cover and simmer for 12-15 mins until the pears are just tender - poke them with a skewer or the tip of a knife.
• Lift out the pears, then turn up the heat, throw in the cranberries and boil for a few mins until syrupy. Discard the tea bags. Serve the pears with the warm syrup poured over and a spoonful of crème fraîche or yogurt.

POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Combine all except pears in saucepan. Boil till sugar is dissolved then add pears.
• Cover and cook 8-10 minutes turning occasionally.
• When pears are barely tender remove from syrup and put in individual serving bowls.
• Boil remaining syrup rapidly uncovered until reduced to 1 cup. Pour over pears.
• Let cool before serving or serve chilled.

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.

SPICED POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Combine the water, red wine, lemon juice, sugar and spices in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
• Place the pears in an ovenproof dish and pour the syrup over them.
• Poach at 150°C (300°F) for 20 - 25 minutes or until tender.
• Pour a small amount of the syrup in the bottom of dessert dishes and place the pears on top.
• Serve with whipped cream.

POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Place the water, sherry, sugar, cinnamon and the cloves in a large saucepan over a low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves.
• Add the peeled pears and simmer for about 25-30 minutes or until pears are cooked through.
• Allow pears to cool in the poaching liquid.
• Serve with cream.

POACHED PEARS WITH GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• TO MAKE THE GINGERBREAD CAKE: Heat oven to 350°F Butter an 8 3/4 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/4-inch loaf pan, and set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2-4 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
• In a large bowl, sift together ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture, and mix on low speed just until the flour has been incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth top with a spatula.
• Bake until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, 50-55 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Run a knife between the cake and the pan, and invert onto a serving platter.
• Using a paring knife, make a trough in the center of the cake: Insert knife halfway into the cake, and cut a rectangle, leaving a 3/4-inch border all around. Insert a serrated knife through one long side of the cake, intersecting the cut made by the paring knife through the top. Cut bottom of the the trough, being careful not to cut through the shorter sides or all the way through the cake. Lift out trough, and reserve for snacking. Cover cake with plastic until ready to assemble.
• TO MAKE POACHED PEARS: Peel pears, and place in a medium saucepan. Add remaining ingredients and just enough to cover pears.
• Set saucean over high heat, and bring ot a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook, stirring gently, over medium-low heat until a paring knife easily pierces pears, about 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat; let pears cool in liquid.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer pears to a plate. Pour poaching liquid through a sieve set over a bowl. Discard solids, and return liquid to saucepan. Place over medium-high heat, and cook until liquid has been reduced to a syrup that coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 45 minutes. Let cool; store pears in red-wine syrup in an airtight container until ready to assemble dessert.
• TO MAKE THE CINNAMON CREAM: Place heavy cream, sugar, and cinnamon in a chilled medium bowl. Using a whisk, whip cream until soft peaks form. Cover with plastic and refrigerate until ready to use.
• TO ASSEMBLE DESSERT: Slice poached pears in half, and remove the cores with a melon baller. unwrap cake, and dust with confectioners' sugar. Stand halved pears in the trough of the cake. Drizzle 2 tablespoons red-wine syrp over the tops. Serve cake with additional syrup and dollop each portion with cinnamon whipped cream.

POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine wine, water, vanilla bean and lemon juice. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add pears to poaching liquid and poach for 8 minutes. Remove pears from poaching liquid and continue to reduce sauce by one-half to one-third. Plate pears and pour reduced sauce around each one.

POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine the wine, lemon juice, the vanilla bean, sugar and about 2 cups of water. Cover and cook until the sugar has dissolved.
• In another pan, blanch the pears for a couple of minutes, and then drop into cold water. Peel the skins gently with a small paring knife, leaving the stems. Set the pears upright in wine syrup and simmer until they are just tender. Remove them from the pot carefully so they don't bruise. Place them in a pyrex dish and refrigerate.
• Then turn the heat up and boil the syrup until it is reduced by half. Let it cool to room temperature and spoon it over the pears, basting often. The syrup will deepen the color of the pears. In spring, you may want them to remain a lighter red. At Christmas, I leave the pears in the syrup for a longer period of time, until they become almost burgundy in color.
• Remove the pears from the refrigerator about 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with Somebody's Mother's White Chocolate Whipped Cream (see Somebody's Mother's Chocolate and Raspberry Trifle for recipe).