Pears Poached in Red Wine
We are having this for dessert tonight :)
:
Pears poached in red Wine
A very delicious, impressive and easy to prepare Desert.
Can be prepared the day before, just follow instructions from 1-5, then finish next day.
1-2 pears, not to ripe, Comice, for each person
1 bottle of good quality red wine
1/2 the amount in water
2 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla pods, sliced open
a piece of lemon peel
sugar to taste
heat the wine and water with the cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods, sugar and lemon peel
simmer until the sugar has dissolved
peel the pears, leaving on the stalk, with a small melon ball spoon or small coffee spoon, scoop out 2/3 of the centre of the pear
place pears, stalk up, into a good size saucepan, which will accommodate all your pears and cover them completely with the wine
when the pears are ready, depending how ripe they are, leave them to cool in the liquid
remove them from the liquid
strain the liquid through a sieve lined with muslin
simmer the liquid until it has reduced and thickened
leave to cool
slice the lower part of the pears into strips ( about 2/3 ) all around, leaving it still on the stalk
place onto a plate and fan out the slices
pour over the wine sauce and serve with Vanilla ice cream or cr?me fraiche. delicious.
PS. Don't forget, the pears will still carry on cooking while they are cooling down.
Ok my notes are, I didn't scoop out the middle first, I did it after and when it says scoop out the middle it means from the bottom of the pear (uncut). What I did was cook the pear whole, then chopped the top off and set aside (for decoration), then cut the pear in half and using a melon baller scooped out the core from each side of the pear. Then I've stored the pears in a tupperware container in the fridge till tonight and I have simmered down the sauce as well to keep cool. You could if you wanted to reheat the pears and sauce but we're having ours cold with ice cream :)
And another cheats tip, if you don't have vanilla bean ice cream to serve (I love it with pears) then get a regular tub of ice cream and allow to soften slightly on the bench, using a mixer with a paddle attachment or a wooden spoon mix in some vanilla bean paste. Then put back in the container into the freezer. Then lift out 10 mins before you wish to serve and scoop out perfect quenelles of vanilla bean ice cream! YUM!
