Sweet Riesling Pears Recipes

POACHED PEARS WITH RIESLING

Steps:

• Core pears from the bottom, using a small melon baller to scoop out the seeds. Cut a round of parchment to fit inside a large pot (it should be wide enough to hold the pears in one layer). Place pears in pot along with wine, brown sugar, and enough water to just cover pears (2 to 3 cups). Scrape vanilla bean seeds into pot, then drop in pod. Cover with parchment round.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce heat; simmer, turning pears occasionally to coat with liquid, until very tender but not falling apart, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on ripeness and size of pears. Use a slotted spoon to transfer pears to a large bowl. Remove and discard vanilla bean pod. Cover bowl with parchment round (or cut a new one to fit).
• Bring poaching liquid to a boil and cook until reduced to consistency of thin syrup, about 10 minutes. Pour syrup over pears and refrigerate, covered with parchment, until cool. Serve pears in shallow bowls or cups; tuck a chocolate-mint leaf into stem end of each one, 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.

RIESLING BAKED PEARS

Steps:

• Tip: For the orange zest, scrub the orange first and then use a vegetable peeler to remove the strips of zest. Make sure to leave behind the bitter, white pith.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice a thin piece off the bottom of each pear so that it will sit flat, standing up straight.
• Arrange the pears in a pie pan or oven-proof small casserole dish.
• Whisk wine and honey in a medium bowl until blended. (I usually have to microwave mine to make the honey melt a bit so that they will combine.).
• Pour honey-wine mixture over pears and add cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and orange zest to the liquid.
• Roast the pears, basting every 15 minutes, until they are tender and a bit wrinkled (about 45 minutes to 1 hour).
• Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pears to serving dishes. Put the honey-wine mixture into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil until slightly thickened, about 6 minutes. Drizzle over pears and garnish with cinnamon sticks and orange zest.
• Serve warm, at room temp, or chilled.
• Note: We sometimes put a small scoop of vanilla ice cream on this. Very rich and yummy. Another option: try cheese, such as ricotta or mascarpone -- sweeten cheese and stir it first.

POACHED PEARS WITH SWEET WINE AND FRUIT CONFETTI

Steps:

• Using melon baller, remove core from bottom end of pears. Combine wine, pear nectar and cinnamon stick in large pot. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to simmer. Add pears (liquid should cover pears halfway). Reduce heat to medium-low; cook until pears are tender, about 10 minutes, turning pears halfway through. Transfer pears and cooking liquid to large bowl. Cool completely.
• Drain poaching liquid back into pot. Mix 2 tablespoons liquid with arrowroot in small bowl; return to pot. Boil until sauce thickens and is reduced to 2 cups, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Cool sauce to room temperature. (Pears and sauce can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.)
• Spoon sauce into 6 shallow bowls. Place pears atop sauce. Sprinkle kiwi, cantaloupe and strawberries around pears. Garnish with mint and serve.

LIMONCELLO, PEAR AND RIESLING GRANITA

Steps:

• Mix water, 1 cup of the wine and the sugar in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil.
• Add pears, lower the heat to simmer and cook the pears gently, about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly in cooking liquid.
• Drain the pears, reserving the cooking liquid.
• Puree the pears in a food processor until smooth (you should have 1 cup of pear puree).
• Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the cooking liquid, the remaining wine and the limoncello to the bowl; mix well.
• Pour into a shallow metal pan that will fit into the freezer and freeze.
• Gently stir the granita every 20 minutes or until frozen to allow the mixture to freeze without separating and give the proper crystalline texture.
• Once the granita is frozen, scrape the mixture with a spoon or ice-cream scoop into a pretty glass and serve immediately.
• Garnish with lemon zest or a sprig of mint.