Poached Pears With Asian Spices Food

POACHED PEARS WITH ASIAN SPICES

Steps:

• Combine sugar and spices with 5 cups water in a medium saucepan (large enough to accommodate the pears upright), and turn heat to high. Peel pears, leaving stems on, then core them.
• Lower pears into the water, and adjust heat to gentle simmer. Cook pears, turning them every 5 minutes or so, until they meet little resistance when prodded with a thin-bladed knife, usually 10 to 20 minutes. Turn off heat, and cool pears in liquid.
• Place pears on serving plates. (At this point they can also be covered and refrigerated up to a day; they should be brought to room temperature before serving.) Reduce the poaching liquid to about a cup (it can also be stored for a day), then spoon a little over each pear before serving.

PLUM WINE POACHED ASIAN PEAR

Steps:

• Cut the Asian pears in half vertically. Use a small spoon to scoop out the core. Put the 4 halves in a pot large enough to fit the pears in a single layer.
• Cover the pears with the pomegranate juice and plum wine. Add more juice and wine if the pears are not completely covered. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Take the pot off the heat and let the pears come to room temperature in the pot. Remove the pears and juice from the pot and put in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat a grill to high.
• When you're ready to serve the pears, dry each half thoroughly using paper towels. Put the sugar on a shallow plate and dip the flat side of each half in the sugar. Put each pear half, flat side down, on a very hot grill and grill until the sugar is brown and bubbly.
• Transfer the pears to serving plates, flat side up. Put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle of each pear and garnish with mint.

SPICED POACHED PEACHES

Steps:

• Score a cross shape in the bottom of each peach. Put the peaches into a large pot of boiling water, for 30 seconds, then transfer the peaches to a large bowl filled with cold water to refresh. Set aside for another 40 to 45 seconds, then drain the peaches, and peel using a sharp knife.
• Put the measured cold water, cinnamon, whole star anise, ginger slices, and sugar into a large saucepan, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture resembles syrup.
• Add the peaches to the syrup mixture, and cover them with a disk of greaseproof or parchment paper measuring the same diameter as the pan. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce the heat to a simmer, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the peaches are cooked through (they will be soft when pricked with a knife.) Remove the peaches, and set aside on a warm plate. Continue to boil the syrup until its volume has reduced to about 1 cup. Set aside to cool.
• Brush the peaches with a little of the syrup. Stir half of the remaining syrup and the ground star anise into the Greek-style yogurt until well combined, adding more syrup as necessary, to taste.
• To serve, cut each of the spiced poached peaches in half and place 2 of the peach halves onto each of the serving plates. Spoon a portion of the star anise yogurt alongside each peach. Drizzle a little syrup over each peach. Sprinkle over the toasted almonds.

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.

TEA POACHED ASIAN PEARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. In a large oven-safe saucepan, bring sugar and 3 cups water to a boil over medium heat; cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Add wine, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, tea leaves, and orange zest; bring to a boil again. Add pears, remove from heat, and cover; transfer to oven.
• Bake pears 1 1/2 hours, turning every half hour until tender but still crisp.
• Remove from oven; let stand until cool enough to handle. Serve warm in cooking liquid.

POACHED PEARS WITH GINGERBREAD CIDER SYRUP

Steps:

• Mix cider, brandy, sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, lemon peel, lemon juice and ginger in deep 2-quart saucepan just large enough to hold the pears. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. Add pears; cover and simmer about 15 minutes or until just tender when pierced.
• Remove pears from saucepan and reserve liquid. Stand pears upright in a bowl to cool. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Meanwhile, bring reserved liquid to boil in same saucepan. REDUCE HEAT until it is just bubbling and cook for about 15 minutes or until syrupy. Strain and cool. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• To serve: Place pears in a standing position on individual dessert plates and spoon some of the syrup over each pear. Sprinkle lightly with chopped pecans and cinnamon if desired. Really looks great with a mint sprig as a garnish as well.

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 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.