Poached Red Pear Zinfandel Recipes

POACHED PEARS IN RED WINE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Fill a bowl with cold water and add all but 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice.
• Peel, halve, and core each pear.
• Place them in the bowl of lemon water to rest; the lemon juice will help prevent browning.
• Combine the red wine, sugar, the reserved 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan large enough to hold the pears.
• Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to reach a low simmer. Add the pears and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes on one side.
• Rotate the pears and continue to poach them for an additional 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are tender and are easily poked through with a fork.
• Remove the pears from the pan and cool them on a cooling rack or old, clean towel.
• Bring the wine sauce back up to a rolling simmer and cook until the liquid has been reduced by half.
• To serve, place one pear into a shallow bowl. Pour a stream of sauce over the fruit.
• Place one scoop of ice cream, mascarpone cheese, or crème fraiche next to the pear (if using). Serve and enjoy.

RED WINE POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Place all the ingredients (except pears) in a saucepan. Make sure the saucepan is large enough for the pears to fit snugly in there, with just enough wiggle room for the pears to submerge in the poaching liquid at an angle as well.
• Bring the red wine to a simmer while stirring to dissolve the sugar.
• When the wine comes to a simmer, strain the red wine liquid (IF YOU USED FRESH FRUITS), to remove the seeds or fruit pulp. Discard the seeds and pulp, but NOT the cloves, orange peel and cinnamon. Add the cinnamon, cloves and peel back into the liquid and return the liquid back to the saucepan. You can skip this step if you didn't use fresh fruits with seeds and pulp.
• Peel the pears ONLY when the poaching liquid is ready (pears will discolor if you peel them too early).
• Lower the peeled pears into the poaching liquid.
• Let the pears poach in the liquid on medium-low heat (simmering) for 20 - 25 minutes, but rotate the pears every 5 minutes to ensure they poach evenly on all sides, including the tops of the pears.
• When the pears have been poached, keep them upright in the poaching liquid, and remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the pears to cool down in the poaching liquid.
• I prefer to serve poached pears chilled, but they can be served at room temperature as well.
• Before serving, remove the pears from the poaching liquid and leave them on a plate, covered with plastic wrap.
• Heat the remaining liquid in the saucepan, and bring it to a simmer. Simmer for a few minutes until the liquid thickens slightly into a syrup. The cooking time depends on how much liquid is left, so keep an eye on it. If the syrup is too thick, add a little water to thin it out.
• Serve the pears on a serving plate, and brush them a little with the syrup to make the pears look shiny (optional).
• Pour a little syrup over individual pears, and serve with some whipped mascarpone cheese or whipped cream.

RED POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• In a medium sauce pan combine the wine, water and sugar. Bring mixture to a simmer and stir until sugar dissolves. Stir in orange rind, cinnamon stick and clove. Peel the pears leaving the stems on and arrange them in poaching liquid. Reduce heat to medium so that liquid is simmering. Occasionally rotate the pears. Pears are done when they are soft to the core when stuck with a knife. Remove pears to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Return liquid to a boil and cook until syrupy. Serve each pear with the reduced poaching liquid as a sauce and garnish with toasted almonds;

POACHED RED PEAR ZINFANDEL

Steps:

• Core pears from bottom, leaving stem intact.
• Using a paring knife, peel a spiral channel from tip to bottom of fruit, if desired.
• Slice the very bottom off pears to allow them to stand upright.
• Stand pears up in the bottom of a large saucepan then add wine and vanilla.
• Bring mixture just to boiling.
• Reduce heat and simmer pears, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes or until pears are just tender.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer pears to four dessert dishes.
• Add sugar to liquid in pan and bring to boiling.
• Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 12 minutes or until liquid is reduced to 2/3 cup and is the consistency of a thin sauce.
• Spoon sauce over pears.
• Drizzle honey on top.
• Serve warm or chilled.
• Garnish sauce on each plate with fresh mint leaves, if desired.

RED WINE POACHED PEARS WITH MASCARPONE FILLING

Steps:

• Peel pears and leave stem intact. In a large saucepan, bring wine and an equal amount of cold water to a simmer. Split vanilla bean lengthwise and add to wine and water mixture. Add cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and sugar, to taste. Add pears to liquid and simmer for about 20 minutes or until tender. Cool pears in wine mixture to room temperature. You can refrigerate them in the poaching liquid until you're ready to fill them.
• Remove stems from pears and set stems aside. Core pears with an apple corer, leaving pear whole.
• Whisk together mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, pinch cinnamon and powdered sugar until smooth. Transfer to a pastry bag, or if you do not have one, use wax paper tightly wrapped into a cone with the corner snipped off. Pipe filling into cored pears and finish by putting the stems gently into the mascarpone filling on top of the pears.
• Bring sauce up to a simmer and reduce by half. Add butter to reduced sauce and stir until combined. Spoon generously over pears. Cool to room temperature before serving.

RED WINE POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Juice the lemon and orange, reserving the juiced citrus halves. Put the juice, citrus halves, wine, water, honey, ginger, black peppercorns, cloves, cardamom, star anise and bay leaf in a wide saucepot. Gently place the pears into the liquid. Make a circle of parchment paper that is 1/2-inch larger than the pot and cover surface completely with the parchment paper (see Cook's Note*). Make sure the pears are fully submerged but not touching the bottom of the pot. Bring the poaching liquid and pears to a boil, then reduce the heat to just below a simmer.
• Cook the pears until fork tender. Test for doneness by inserting a sharp knife in the base; there should be little resistance when fully cooked. Gently transfer pears to a glass or ceramic bowl. Pour enough poaching liquid over pears just to cover. Cover and refrigerate for several hours, preferably overnight; the longer the pears soak, the darker they will become.
• Strain remaining poaching liquid and return to saucepan. Cook over high heat until a syrupy consistency is achieved or the syrup coats the back of a spoon. Chill until the pears are served.
• Use a parisienne scoop to remove each pear's core, hollowing out a 1-inch wide cavity that starts at the base and extends 3/4 of the way up the pear. Transfer the Creamy Pistachio Nut Filling to a piping bag without a tip. Gently fill the pear cavity until it slightly overflows. (The overflow will help to provide a sticky surface to stand the pear up on.) Place the pear, base side down, in a bowl and surround with 1-ounce of the syrup. Serve.
• In a medium-sized bowl, cream the mascarpone, sugar, and vanilla together. Stir in the pistachio nuts.
• Use immediately or refrigerate and return to room temperature before filling the pears.

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

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.