Poached Pears With Pepper And Bay Leaf Food

POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Peel the pears, and place in medium saucepan. Add wine, sugar, vanilla bean, cinnamon stick, orange peel, lemon peel, cloves, star anise, bay leaf, and just enough water to cover pears.
• Set saucepan over high heat, and bring liquid to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook, occasionally 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 an airtight container until ready to serve.
• When ready to serve, arrange pears on a platter or on individual plates, and drizzle poaching liquid over them.

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 WITH PEPPER AND BAY LEAF

Steps:

• Peel pears, cut in half vertically and remove cores. Place pears in bowl with juice of one-half lemon and enough water to cover. Set aside.
• Place remaining lemon juice in large, heavy saucepan with wine, sugar, water, peppercorns and bayleaf. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer 20 minutes.
• Drain pears and add them. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes, until just tender. Transfer pears to bowl with slotted spoon; be sure to drain well.
• Boil down cooking liquid until about three-quarters cup, 10 minutes or so. Remove from heat, discard bay leaf; stir in eau de vie. Pour over pears; serve at room temperature.

SPICE POACHED PEAR AND AGED CHEDDAR SALAD

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients into a large pot. Make sure that the liquid comes up so that the pears are submerged. Depending on how deep and wide your pot is, you may have to add just a touch more water so that the pears are covered.
• Put the pot over medium heat until the liquid comes up to a low simmer and allow to cook for 5 minutes or so.
• Turn the heat off, and allow the pears cool to room temperature in the liquid. The pears should be tender when poked with a fork.
• The pears will hold best in the fridge, in their cooking liquid. When ready to use, cut the sides of the pear off, working around the core, then slice.
• Combine all ingredients, with the exception of the aged cheddar, into a large bowl. Season with salt & freshly ground pepper, then gently toss. Finish by grating the aged cheddar right over top.
• Combine all ingredients except the olive oil into a small bowl. Whisk together so that the salt dissolves, then whisk in the olive oil.

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.

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.

BALSAMIC-ROASTED PEARS WITH PEPPER AND HONEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Melt butter in an 8-inch square glass baking dish in middle of oven, about 3 minutes.
• Arrange pears, cut sides down, in 1 layer in butter and roast in middle of oven until tender, about 20 minutes.
• Pour vinegar over pears and roast 5 minutes more.
• Transfer pears, cut sides down, to serving plates with cheese and spoon some of juices from baking dish over pears. Drizzle pears and cheese with honey and sprinkle with pepper.