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Juicy Poached Pears Dessert Recipe
This festive treat is so simple to make and these bright red pears will certainly be a talking point at your next dinner party. Poached pears are versatile and they can be a dessert or a side dish. When making them as a dessert you can serve them with whipped cream or ice cream. If you want to make these as a side dish, leave out half the sugar and add a pinch of chili powder to the recipe. They are great served with pork or game. If you have leftovers, serve them the next day with your granola and yogurt for a nutritious breakfast.
The following recipe combines ginger, red wine, cinnamon, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice for an exciting finish. The balsamic vinegar does not taste sour and in fact it enhances the sweetness of the dish. Choose Bosc pears or Seckel pears if you can get them. Bosc pears are like Conference pears. Winter Nellis is another good option. Bartlett and Comice are not wise choices because these will fall apart in the crockpot.
You can adapt the poaching liquid if you want. Vanilla is nice in there. You can switch the sugar for honey if you like. Just do not go overboard with the additions because too much complexity is not a good thing. Add a handful of cranberries, raisins, sultanas or another kind of dried fruit to the mixture when you add the pears, if you want to. They will plump up well in the liquid. Ensure there is enough cooking liquid too. You do not want your red poached pears to have non-red spots on them! It would spoil the whole effect.
How to Poach Pears
Ingredients -
2 big lemons
8 oz white sugar
4 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
1 pint boiling water
½ pint boiling red wine
2 sticks cinnamon
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
6 ripe pears
Fresh mint, to garnish
Preparation:
Peel the lemons and squeeze out the juice.
Add the wine and water to the crockpot.
Add the ginger, sugar, lemon peel, juice, and cinnamon to the crockpot.
Peel the pears carefully, leaving the stems on, then add them to the mixture in the slow cooker.
Cover and cook for 1 ½ hours on high or 3 ½ hours on low or until the pears are very soft.
Add the balsamic vinegar during the last 10 minutes.
Spoon some of the syrup from the crockpot over the pears and add some of the ginger.
Serve them garnished with the fresh mint.
(Makes 6)
Photo Description:
As the picture shows, this is a very festive-looking dessert. There is something really seasonal and festive about poached pears. This is not a difficult recipe. In fact, it is simple enough for anybody to master, regardless of cooking ability or experience. Why not decorate these poached pears with curling ribbon, like in the photo, and decorate the plate with slices of fresh orange and sprigs of fresh mint? If you like, you can use a corer to remove the pear cores but try to leave the stalks on because they look good.
