Friday, January 25, 2008

Poached Pears


When it comes to desserts I'm a big fan of fruit. Not that I am not otherwise a fan of fruit, on the contrary, friends often find me raving for days about my latest exotic fruit discovery from Berkeley Bowl Market (the latest being a pomelo). It's just that I find fruit focused desserts to be much more satisfying than say pastries or cakes.

On one of my last evenings in Washington with the family I made this simple and satisfying dessert. The spiced wine and warm pears go great with vanilla ice cream. There's a nice hot/cold temperature contrast in the dessert but it's sure to leave you feeling cozy after your finished.


Poached Pears with Spiced Wine

5-6 Bosc pears
Bottle of inexpensive red wine
3 Tbs sugar, or more to taste
1 cinnamon stick, about 2"
6 cloves
1 tsp black peppercorns

Method
Peel and core the pears. In a large sauce pan, bring the wine along with the spices and sugar to boil (you can place the spices in cheese cloth if you wish or simply strain after cooking). As soon as it begins to boil, add the pears and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes or until the pears are tender but not mushy. Remove the pears and continue to reduce the wine until it reaches a runny syrup consistency. Let the pears and wine cool and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

1 comment:

fifi said...

Hmmm, the pears look delicious hun. I've realized that warm fruit with ice cream is one of my favorite desserts. Hopefully you got to eat all of it.... wouldn't want them to go bad. ;)

I can't wait to get back so that we can cook! I've been truly inspired and can genuinely say I have a real motivation to learn how to cook now. Maybe we can host a few of our own dinner parties. I really enjoyed this blog hun. Keep writing!!!