Poached Pears And Raspberries With Cinnamon And Cardamom Recipes

POACHED PEARS IN RASPBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Core pears from the bottom, leaving stems intact. Peel pears. If necessary, cut 1/4 in. from bottom so pears will sit flat. Place in a Dutch oven. Add the pear juice, cinnamon stick, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 25-30 minutes or until pears are tender. , Remove the pears and place in serving dishes. Discard cinnamon stick and cloves from poaching liquid. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and cranberry juice until smooth; stir into liquid. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add raspberries and syrup. Remove from the heat; cool slightly. , In a blender or food processor, puree raspberry sauce in batches until smooth. Strain and discard seeds. Pour sauce over pears. Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.

CINNAMON-ANISE POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Peel, halve and core 2 pears. Put in a shallow dish with 1 cup water, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 cinnamon stick and 1 star anise pod. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave until the pears are soft, 8 minutes. Meanwhile, beat 1/2 cup heavy cream with 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon until soft peaks form. Serve the pears with the syrup and cinnamon cream.

POACHED PEARS WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, bring the water, sugar and wine to a boil. Reduce heat; carefully add pears. Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until tender. Remove pears and reserve cooking liquid., In a small bowl, combine spreadable fruit and vanilla. Stir in enough cooking liquid to form a sauce consistency. Cover and refrigerate sauce and pears separately until chilled. , Remove sauce from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving. Place two pear halves on each dessert plate; top with sauce. Garnish with raspberries and mint if desired.

RIESLING POACHED PEARS WITH CARDAMOM CREAM

Steps:

• Pour the Riesling into a medium saucepan and whisk in the sugar until it dissolves.
• Peel the pears, leaving stem intact, if present. Remove bottom stem end with a small melon baller, and continue to scoop up into the pear to remove the core. Place the pears right in the Riesling mixture (poaching liquid) after they are peeled and cored to prevent them from discoloring. (The acidity of the wine keeps them from browning). Add just enough water to cover the pears.
• To keep the pears submerged in the poaching liquid, cut a circle of parchment paper the size of the pan and lay on the surface of the liquid. Place a small plate on top of the paper to make sure the pears are completely submerged. Cook the pears over medium-high heat, just until the liquid comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and poach the pears until they are just soft. The pears should be tender enough to pierce with a knife. This takes about 20 to 25 minutes for ripe medium pears, but this can vary depending on the size, variety and ripeness of the pear.
• Remove the pan from the heat and cool the fruit completely in the poaching liquid. Refrigerate the fruit in the liquid in a sealed container until ready to serve. (The fruit will hold for 4 to 5 days, the longer the fruit is stored in the poaching liquid, the fuller the flavor).
• Pour about half of the poaching liquid into a skillet and bring to a boil over high heat. Continue to cook and reduce until the liquid gets syrupy and about the consistency of honey.
• Meanwhile, whip the cream together with the sugar and cardamom until cream just holds soft peaks. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• To serve, place a pear in a bowl or on a plate. Drizzle with reduced Riesling syrup and garnish with a dollop of whipped cream.

POACHED PEACHES WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• To prepare peaches, bring juice, water and spices to a boil. (Make sure your pot is narrow enough so that the liquid will cover the peaches).
• Drop peaches in liquid and poach for 10 minutes.
• Remove the peaches, cover with cold water and slip off the skins.
• Cut each peach in half and remove the stone.
• Place the peaches in a glass or porcelain bowl. (The poaching liquid can be saved and re-used).
• For the sauce, mix the water and sugar in a saucepan, heat to a low boil and simmer until liquid has reduced by 1/2.
• In a blender, puree 1 cup of raspberres and 1/4 cup sugar syrup.(You can store the remaining syrup in a glass jar in the refrigerator.).
• Stir the remaining berries into the puree.
• Serve the peach halves, round side up, in a pool of raspberry sauce and garnish with whipped cream on the side, if you like.

PEARS POACHED IN RED WINE, CARDAMOM AND ORANGE

Steps:

• Combine first 7 ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to simmer. Add pears and return mixture to simmer. Reduce heat and simmer slowly until pears are tender when pierced with knife, about 25 minutes. Transfer pears to plate. Boil liquid in saucepan until reduced to 3 cups, about 20 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill pears in poaching liquid. Before serving, rewarm over medium-low heat until pears are heated through.)
• Arrange 1 warm pear and 1 scoop of ice cream on each of 4 plates. Drizzle some poaching liquid over. Sprinkle with biscotti crumbs. Garnish with orange peel strips, if desired, and serve.