Three Color Poached Pears Food

POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• In a saucepan on medium heat, mix sugar, red wine, water, cloves and zests of orange and lemon. Cook until sugar is dissolved and sauce thickens to syrup consistency. Add pears to saucepan and simmer 10-15 minutes until pears are heated through but not mushy. Remove pan from heat and stir in vanilla. Divide pears and syrup into individual dessert bowls, with syrup just barely covering the pears. Let pears cool in syrup for at least 20 minutes before serving. Serve with meringue or vanilla ice cream, if desired.

RED WINE PEARS

Steps:

• Using a sharp vegetable peeler, peel the pears top to bottom, leaving them whole, with stems attached and the core intact.
• Put the pears in a large, wide nonreactive pot (enameled or stainless steel) in one layer. Add the wine, sugar and spices. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer, and cook for about 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted encounters no resistance. Remove from the heat and transfer the pears to a deep container, leaving the liquid in the pot.
• Heat the poaching liquid over high and boil down until it is reduced by half. (You should have about 2 1/2 cups syrup.) Pour syrup over pears, and refrigerate overnight if possible.
• To serve, put each pear in a soup plate and spoon over a little of the red wine syrup. Add a dollop of crème fraîche or a scoop of ice cream, and finish with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds.

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.

POACHED PEARS IN CINNAMON-SPICE SAUCE

Steps:

• Add the water, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and sugar to the slow cooker and cook on high for 1 hour.
• Remove and discard the spices and ginger. Place the pear halves in the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours, until the pears are just tender when pierced with a fork. Turn carefully once or twice during the cooking to ensure the flavors are evenly distributed.
• To serve, place the pears on a serving platter or individual plates and spoon the poaching liquid over the top. Serve piping hot or chilled.

POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Combine the port and sugar in a saucepan with 2 cups water; heat until the sugar dissolves. Add vanilla beans.
• Peel and core pears. Pour on port mixture and simmer 15 to 40 minutes, until tender.
• Let pears cool in the liquid.
• Reduce the liquid to less than a cup. Serve individually with the liquid spooned over.

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.

POACHED PEARS WITH SWEET WINE AND FRUIT CONFETTI

Steps:

• Using melon baller, remove core from bottom end of pears. Combine wine, pear nectar and cinnamon stick in large pot. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to simmer. Add pears (liquid should cover pears halfway). Reduce heat to medium-low; cook until pears are tender, about 10 minutes, turning pears halfway through. Transfer pears and cooking liquid to large bowl. Cool completely.
• Drain poaching liquid back into pot. Mix 2 tablespoons liquid with arrowroot in small bowl; return to pot. Boil until sauce thickens and is reduced to 2 cups, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Cool sauce to room temperature. (Pears and sauce can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.)
• Spoon sauce into 6 shallow bowls. Place pears atop sauce. Sprinkle kiwi, cantaloupe and strawberries around pears. Garnish with mint and serve.