Poached Pears Recipe Mary Berry

RUM POACHED PEARS RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Peel the pears and cut the bottoms out, but leave the stems intact.
• Mix the water, sugar, rum, and vanilla in a large pot. Set to medium heat.
• Add the pears. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 40 minutes, turning occasionally. Cook until soft and golden (this can take less time depending on the ripeness of your pears.
• Scoop out the pears and place upright on a dish. At this point you can cook the liquid longer until it becomes a syrup, or ladle a small amount directly onto the pears right away.
• Add optional ice cream.
• Melt some dark chocolate and spoon it onto the pear or your favorite toppings like nuts!
• Enjoy!

POACHED PEARS IN SPICED RED WINE

Steps:

• Halve the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape out the black seeds and put in a large saucepan with the wine, sugar, cinnamon and thyme. Cut each piece of pod into three long thin strips, add to pan, then lower in the pears.
• Poach the pears, covered, for 20-30 mins, making sure they are covered in the wine. The cooking time will very much depend on the ripeness of your pears - they should be tender all the way through when pierced with a cocktail stick. You can make these up to 2 days ahead and chill.
• Take the pears from the pan, then boil the liquid to reduce it by half so that it's syrupy. Serve each pear with the cooled syrup, a strip of vanilla, a piece of cinnamon and a small thyme sprig.

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.

EASY POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine lemon zest, cinnamon stick, allspice, ground pepper, apple cider, and water.
• Add pears. Cover with waxed paper to prevent discoloring. Bring to a simmer. Cook, turning pears occasionally, until easily pierced with the tip of a paring knife, but not falling apart, about 20 minutes. Remove pears from liquid; transfer to large bowl.
• Raise heat to high; boil cider mixture until reduced to a syrup, about 15 minutes. Discard cinnamon. Pour syrup over pears; refrigerate. To serve, slice off a sliver from the bottom of each pear (so it stands upright). Serve pears with lemon sorbet, if desired.

SPICED TEA POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, combine the water, brown sugar, cranberry sauce and honey. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat; add tea bags. Cover and steep for 5-8 minutes., Meanwhile, core pears from bottom, leaving stems intact. Peel pears; cut a thin slice from bottom to level if necessary. Remove and discard tea bags. Add pears to the pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until pears are tender. Remove pears with a slotted spoon and keep warm., In a small saucepan, bring 2 cups tea mixture to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup, about 20 minutes., In a small bowl, combine the creme fraiche, confectioners' sugar and orange zest. Place pears on dessert plates. Drizzle with syrup and serve with sauce.

CRANBERRY-POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Place pears in a saucepan large enough to hold them snugly. Add enough water to barely cover them (about 4 cups). Add sugar, cinnamon, citrus peels, honey, and lemon juice. Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape vanilla seeds into pan, and toss in pod. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat, and simmer gently until pears are tender, about 10 minutes.
• Add fresh cranberries, and simmer until cranberries are soft but not mushy, about 3 minutes more.
• Use a spoon to transfer pears to a dish. Spoon cranberries and syrup around pears. Add tea bag and dried cranberries if using. Let cool for 15 minutes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
• Before serving, remove vanilla bean, cinnamon stick, citrus peels, and tea bag. Transfer pears to plates with some of the cranberries, syrup, and a dollop of yogurt, creme fraiche, or cheese.

POACHED PEARS WITH BLACKBERRIES

Steps:

• Put the pears in a saucepan with the lemon rind and juice.
• Tip in half the blackberries, the apple juice and the caster sugar. Heat until the mixture bubbles, then cover and cook gently for 20 minutes or until the pears are tender.
• Flip the pears over half way so they cook evenly on both sides.
• Lift the pears from the cooking liquid and cool for a few minutes.
• Slice each one in half and scoop out the cores with the tip of a teaspoon.
• Tip the cooking liquid into a sieve set over a bowl and rub it through, leaving the seeds behind.
• Pour the fruity syrup back into the saucepan, add the rest of the blackberries and reheat gently for a minute to lightly cook them.
• Pour the blackberry sauce over the pears.