Pears poached in red wine
Recipe
Recipe
Elegant poached pears are surprisingly simple to make. My favorite use for the leftover poaching liquid: process it in a blender with an extra poached pear, then freeze into sorbet using an ice cream maker. Effortless and divine.
Serves 4
Ingredients
| 4–6 | pears, peeled* | |
| 1 | 750m | bottle red wine |
| 4 | cups | water |
| 2 | cups | sugar |
| 1 | vanilla bean, split and scraped | |
| 1 | cinnamon stick | |
| 2 | whole clove | |
| 1 | star anise | |
| ¼ | cup | freshly squeezed lemon juice** |
| 1 | strip | orange zest*** |
Directions
- Peel 4–6 pears, leaving the stem intact.
- Using a melon baller, scoop out the core of the pear from the bottom. Take off a small slice across the bottom so the pear will stand up when served.
- Combine red wine, water, sugar, vanilla seeds and bean, cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise, lemon juice and orange zest in a spacious, non-reactive saucepan.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium high heat until the sugar dissolves. Adjust the heat to prevent boiling over.
- Place the pears on their sides in the poaching liquid. To keep them submerged, cut a circle of parchment paper just a little smaller than the diameter of the pan and place the circle on top of the pears.
- Bring the pears to a lively simmer; reduce the heat to a simmer. Poach the pears until tender, about 25 minutes. A cake tester or toothpick should glide through the pear. Do not overcook them or they can become mushy.
- Once poached, turn the pears so that they absorb the liquid evenly. Let them cool in the liquid until room temperature.
- Place the pears in a spacious bowl and cover with the liquid. Refrigerate overnight. Poached pears will keep 1–2 days in the refrigerator.
- When ready to assemble, remove the pears from the bowl and strain the poaching liquid into a bowl.
- To make a reduction sauce: Pour one-half cup of the poaching liquid foreach pear into a saucepan over medium-high heat. (This would be 2 cups for 4 pears and 3 cups for 6 pears.) Adjust the heat as required. Cool to room temperature. Bring to a boil and continue cooking until reduced by half.
- To serve, spoon the sauce into a pretty bowl. Set the pear atop and drizzle more sauce down the sides. Add freshly whipped cream on the side, decorate with a flower or mint sprig and serve.
Preparation Time:
approximately 40 minutes plus 24-48 masceration in the refrigerator.
Tips and Techniques
- How To Split and Scrape a Vanilla Bean.
