Pears Poached In Red Wine Cardamom And Orange Recipes

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.

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.

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine lemon zest, cinnamon stick, allspice, ground pepper, apple cider, and water.
• Add pears. Cover with waxed paper to prevent discoloring. Bring to a simmer. Cook, turning pears occasionally, until easily pierced with the tip of a paring knife, but not falling apart, about 20 minutes. Remove pears from liquid; transfer to large bowl.
• Raise heat to high; boil cider mixture until reduced to a syrup, about 15 minutes. Discard cinnamon. Pour syrup over pears; refrigerate. To serve, slice off a sliver from the bottom of each pear (so it stands upright). Serve pears with lemon sorbet, if desired.

Steps:

• Core pears from bottom, leaving stems intact. Peel pears; cut 1/4 in. from bottom to level if necessary. Place pears on their sides in a large saucepan. Add water, wine, sugar and vanilla. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, turning once, until pears are almost tender, 35-40 minutes. (For more intense flavor and color, leave fruit in cooking liquid and refrigerate overnight.), Meanwhile, combine sour cream, confectioners' sugar, orange zest and extract. Refrigerate until serving., Remove pears with a slotted spoon; pat dry and, if warm, cool to room temperature. Discard cooking liquid. Place pears on dessert plates. Serve with orange cream; if desired, top with additional grated orange zest.

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.