Poached Pear Pillows Recipes

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:

• In a saucepan over medium heat, combine champagne, orange juice and sugar. Add orange slices, cloves and vanilla. Bring to a boil, and stir until sugar is dissolved. Place pears in saucepan, and reduce heat. Cover, and simmer 15 minutes. Remove cover, and simmer an additional 30 minutes. Remove pears from the liquid, and let cool.
• Heat chocolate in a bowl over hot water, stirring until melted. Pour chocolate over the pears, and serve.

Steps:

• In a saucepan large enough to hold all the pears, combine the wine, Simple Syrup, cinnamon stick halves, honey, and ginger. Scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean and add the bean and seeds to the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the honey has melted. Add the pears and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until the pears are tender. Remove the pears from the liquid and allow to cool.
• Continue to simmer the liquid until it thickens and is reduced by half, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Remove the cinnamon stick halves and the vanilla bean and discard.
• Place each pear on a small serving plate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Drizzle with the honey, ginger and cinnamon syrup. Serve immediately.
• In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool.

Steps:

• Place the white wine, water, sugar and vanilla bean and pulp into a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
• Core the pears from the bottom. Decrease the heat to medium low and place the pears into the liquid, cover and cook for 30 minutes or until the pears are tender but not falling apart. Maintain a gentle simmer. Remove the pears to a serving dish, standing them upright, and place in the refrigerator.
• Remove the vanilla bean from the saucepan, increase the heat to high and reduce the syrup to approximately 1 cup of liquid, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Do not allow the syrup to turn brown. Place the syrup in a heatproof container and place in the refrigerator until cool, approximately 1 hour.
• Remove the pears from the refrigerator, spoon the sauce over the pears and serve.

Steps:

• Place pears in a medium saucepan. Add wine, 1/2 cup sugar, cloves, orange juice and zest, and just enough water to cover pears. Scrape in the vanilla seeds, and add the pods. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, stirring gently. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until a paring knife easily pierces the pears, approximately 15 minutes. Transfer poached pears and poaching liquid to a medium heat-proof bowl; set aside to cool.
• Place almonds in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Process until finely ground, about 2 minutes.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and remaining 1/2 cup sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, flour, and ground-almond mixture; mix until combined. Transfer frangipane to a pastry bag fitted with a coupler. Secure top with a rubber band; chill.
• Lightly flour a clean work surface, and line two baking sheets with parchment. Roll out one piece of puff pastry to a 12-by-14-inch rectangle. Using a paring knife, cut pastry into six equal rectangles. Cut out six pear shapes from each rectangle. From the pastry trimmings, cut out twelve 1 1/2-inch leaves, and press two onto the top of each pear shape. Place assembled shapes on baking pan, and refrigerate until firm. Repeat process with remaining piece of puff pastry.
• Using a slotted spoon, remove pears from liquid. Cut pears in half, and, using a melon baller, core; set pears aside. Pour liquid through a sieve over a bowl; discard solids.
• Return liquid to saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cook until liquid has been reduced to a syrup that coats the back of a wooden spoon, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer syrup to a small bowl, and set aside.
• In a chilled bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form; cover with plastic; chill.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Using a fork, prick center of each pastry. Pipe a triangle of frangipane, about 2 tablespoons total, around each pastry, leaving a 1-inch border. Place a pear half in center of each "pillow."
• Bake pear pillows until pastry just starts to take on color, 8 to 10 minutes. Combine the corn syrup with 1 teaspoon warm water in a small bowl. Remove pear pillows from oven, and brush pastry edges with corn-syrup wash. Return pillows to oven, and cook until golden brown all over, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack. Divide desserts among plates, and brush each with reserved wine syrup. Serve each with a dollop of whipped cream.

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine wine, water, vanilla bean and lemon juice. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add pears to poaching liquid and poach for 8 minutes. Remove pears from poaching liquid and continue to reduce sauce by one-half to one-third. Plate pears and pour reduced sauce around each one.