Poached Pears Belle Helene Recipes

PEARS BELLE HELENE

Steps:

• Peel, halve, and core the pears and sprinkle over them the lemon juice to stop them from discoloring. In a wide shallow pan (in which the pears will fit in 1 layer - otherwise cook them in batches) put 1 1/4 cups water, the sugar, and the vanilla bean, if using. Bring to a boil, stirring every now and again to make sure the sugar dissolves, then lower the heat slightly and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract, if using. Put the pears into the liquid, cut side down, and raise the heat again so that the syrup boils up and the pears are covered by it. You may need to spoon the syrup over. After half a minute or so, lower the heat, then cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes; turn the pears, cover the pan again, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Continue poaching until the pears are cooked and translucent; they should feel tender (but not soggy) when pierced. They may need more or less cooking time - it depends on the pears. Take off the heat, keep covered, and leave to cool.
• Now the chocolate sauce: place the chocolate, broken up into small pieces, in a thick-bottomed pan with the coffee and sugar and melt over a low heat, stirring occasionally. Then pour in the cream, still stirring, and when it is very hot pour into a warmed sauceboat or a bowl with a ladle.
• To serve, arrange pears cut side down on a big flat plate and pour some syrup over. (Any remaining syrup will keep in the refrigerator or freezer and can be used to pour over apples or other fruit when making pies or crumbles. You can wash the vanilla pod, wipe it and put it in a canister of sugar.) Offer with ice cream, sauce, and pistachios, if using, served separately; allow diners to help themselves.

POACHED PEARS BELLE HELENE

Steps:

• Place water in a heavy pot. Stir in zest and juice of 1 lemon. Place pears in pot. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and split pods to the poaching liquid. Pour in sugar.
• Bring pot to a simmer over medium-high heat; stir gently to dissolve sugar with minimal jostling of the pears. Reduce heat so pears continue cooking over a steady, gentle simmer. Pears need to stay submerged, so place a small plate over them in the pot to keep them under the liquid. Simmer until pears are just tender, 20 to 25 minutes. (Remove plate to test the pears for doneness.) Remove pot from heat and let pears cool to room temperature in the poaching liquid.
• Transfer pears and vanilla beans to a storage container and cover with some of the poaching liquid. Cover and refrigerate until pears are thoroughly chilled, several hours or overnight. Reserve all of the poaching liquid (see footnote).
• Heat hot fudge sauce in a saucepan over medium heat until warm. Dip base of pear into the chocolate and spoon chocolate along the sides except for the top inch or so of the pear.
• Place dipped pears in individual serving bowls with another generous spoonful of syrup and a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.

VANILLA POACHED PEARS WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE AND ICE CREAM (A.K.A. "POIRE BELLE HELENE")

Steps:

• Combine the water, sugar, cinnamon sticks, and lemon zest in a medium saucepan. Split vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape out the seeds and add both the seeds and the pod to the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is completely dissolved, about 5 minutes.
• Peel the pears. Reduce the poaching liquid to a simmer and add the pears. Cook until just tender (the tip of a paring knife will go through the flesh of a pear with just a little resistance), about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and cool the pears in the poaching liquid, until completely cooled, about 45 minutes.
• Heat the cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Put the chocolate and butter into a medium-size bowl. Pour the cream over the chocolate and stir until smooth and glossy.
• Serve the pears with a scoop of ice cream, a little pear-poaching syrup and warm chocolate sauce drizzled over the top. Garnish with a wafer cookie and serve.