Spiced Wine Poached Pears Recipes

SPICED RED WINE POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Halve the lemon, and remove 3 wide strips of rind. Peel the pears, leaving a topknot of skin and the stem, if it's attached; rub with the cut lemon. Working from the bottom, core the pears.
• Choose a pot that will hold the pears snugly. Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit inside the pot. Cut 4 slices from the lemon and put them, the strips of zest and all the other ingredients - except the pears - into the pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and add the pears, tops up - it's O.K. if they're not fully submerged. Cover with the paper circle and the pot's lid.
• Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes - the pears should still be slightly firm but easily pierced with the tip of a knife; transfer them to a bowl. Boil the syrup for 5 minutes, pour over the fruit and discard the spices. Serve slightly warm, at room temperature or chilled, with or without cream.

WHITE WINE POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Thinly peel the pears, making sure to keep the stem intact. Slightly slice the bottom of the pears so they will stand up in the pan and when serving.
• In a large and tall saucepan, stir together the white wine , water, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat.
• Once the liquid is simmering, add the prepared pears and place them standing on the pan. The liquid should cover most of the pears' height.
• Poach the pears, uncovered, for 7 to 9 minutes until their meat is slightly tender, but they are still firm enough to hold their shape. Watch this process carefully as you do not want the pears to overcook or they will collapse.
• Remove the pears from the poaching liquor with a slotted spoon and place them on individual serving plates.
• Return the poaching liquid to a simmer. Add the sugar and allow the mixture to reduce in volume by half or about 6 to 8 minutes. The syrup is ready when it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
• Remove the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean from the syrup and strain the liquid through a fine sieve.
• Drizzle each pear with the wine syrup and add any other topping that you'd like.

SPICED WINE POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Peel the pears and put in a medium bowl with the lemon juice and enough water to cover to prevent browning.
• In a large heavy saucepan, combine the water, sugar, anise, cloves, and cinnamon stick.
• Stir the sugar mixture over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
• Add the wine, port, ginger, and about 2/3 of the orange zest (the remainder will be used for garnish). Stir to combine. Bring to a simmer.
• Add the pears. Place the lid on the pot so that steam can escape and simmer until the pears are tender when pierced with a toothpick. This will take about 25 minutes. Make sure that you turn the pears so that all sides are evenly cooked.
• Remove the pears from the cooking liquid with a slotted spoon. Transfer them to a plate, cover with plastic wrap, cool in the refrigerator about 2 hours.
• Pour the cooking liquid through a sieve to remove the cloves, zest, and other particulate. Return to sauce pan. At this point you can refrigerate the liquid if you plan on serving it within a day or 2.
• To reduce the sauce, simmer until desired consistency is achieved (about 30 minutes to my taste). Taste as you are cooking it to adjust sweetness to your taste (I don't like things that sweet, so the sauce is tart when made according to the recipe).
• Serve each pear with a little sauce drizzled over and sprinkle with remaining zest. Mint & dark chocolate also make good garnishes.

SPICED RED WINE-POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• In a 4-quart saucepan, combine wine, sugar, orange juice, zest, cinnamon stick and cloves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. While liquid is simmering, peel pears, leaving stem intact and being careful not to blemish the flesh of the pears. Slice 1/2-inch off the bottom of the pears to create a flat bottom. Gently place pears in poaching liquid, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes to ensure even color, until pears are cooked but still firm. Remove saucepan from flame, uncover and cool with pears upright in pan. Once cool, cover and chill in refrigerator at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours, turning occasionally, if desired. Gently remove pears from liquid and allow to come to room temperature. Meanwhile, reduce liquid by about half over a medium-high flame for 15 minutes, until liquid is thicker and slightly syrupy. Remove from flame and let liquid come to room temperature. Drizzle each pear with 2 tablespoons syrup and serve.

PEARS POACHED IN SPICED WINE

Steps:

• Heat wine, sugar, water, peppercorns, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, cinnamon, vanilla bean and lemon zest to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat.
• Meanwhile, remove the pear cores with a melon baller.
• Add pears to saucepan; reduce heat to a simmer. Poach the pears until tender enough for a knife to pierce them without resistance, at least 20 minutes, longer if the pears are less ripe.
• Let pears cool in the poaching liquid, about 15 minutes.
• Place the pears on a serving platter.
• Strain the poaching liquid through a sieve into a large saucepan; discard the solids. Heat the liquid to a boil; reduce heat to low. Cook until reduced to a thick syrup, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly.
• Serve the pears drizzled with the warm syrup.

PEARS POACHED IN SPICED RED WINE WITH BOW-TIE PASTRIES

Steps:

• For pears:
• Combine first 5 ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add pears, reduce heat, cover and simmer until pears are tender when pierced with knife, about 20 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup anisette. Cool pears completely in syrup. Cover; chill in syrup overnight.
• Transfer pears to medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate pears. Boil poaching liquid in heavy large saucepan until reduced to 1 cup, about 35 minutes. Mix in remaining 1 tablespoon anisette. Cover and refrigerate liquid until cold, about 4 hours.
• For pastries:
• Mix flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, aniseed and lemon peel in large bowl. Add milk, butter and vanilla and stir until dough forms. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let stand 30 minutes at room temperature. Roll dough out on lightly floured surface to thickness of 1/16 inch. Cut dough into 3 1/2 x 3/4-inch strips. Trim ends diagonally. Twist strips at center to create bow ties. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Place bow ties on cookie sheet. Cover tightly and refrigerate.)
• Line cookie sheet with paper towels. Heat 2 inches oil in heavy medium saucepan to 375°F. Add 4 bow-tie-pastries and cook until deep golden brown, turning occasionally, about 1 minute. Transfer to paper towels using slotted spoon. Repeat with remaining pastries in batches. Place sugar in large bowl. Add warm pastries and toss to coat.
• Arrange pears on plates. Place scoop of ice cream on one side of each plate. Drizzle poaching liquid over pears. Garnish with cookies and serve.

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.

WHITE WINE-POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients but pears in a large saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil and cook 5 minutes. Add pears, lower heat, and cook 20 to 30 minutes, until pears are tender. If necessary, turn pears very gently by rotating stems with your fingertips so they cook evenly. Remove pears to a bowl, bring poaching liquid to a rapid boil, and reduce by half, about 10 minutes.
• Pour syrup over pears and refrigerate, covered, at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. Serve.

POACHED PEARS WITH WINE VINAIGRETTE

Steps:

• Trim flat the bottoms of pears, and stand them upright in the bottom of a large stock pot. Pour the wine and water into the pot, and turn the flame to high heat. Sprinkle with sugar, and add vanilla bean, star anise, cinnamon stick, and lemon and orange peels. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium low, and simmer 20 to 25 minutes. Remove pot from stove, and let cool completely. Reserve 1/4 cup poaching liquid. Transfer pears to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate.
• Place 2 poached pears in a blender or food processor, and puree. Remove to a large bowl. Whisk in walnut oil, red wine vinegar, and reserved poaching liquid. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover, and refrigerate.
• Place pears in individual bowls, and top with sauce.