Poached Pears in Red Wine

We were assigned the dessert for a dinner party and decided to make poached pears!  The recipe is from my "Holiday Entertaining" book.  The pears take awhile to cook, but they are really good.  The recipe below makes 4 servings.

*image from "Holiday Entertaining"

Ingredients:

4 firm but ripe Seckel pears, peeled with stems intact

2 1/2 cups Pinot Noir or other light, fruity red wine

1/2 cup sugar

1 lemon zest strip, 2 inches long by 3/4 inch wide

1-inch piece vanilla bean

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup fresh or thawed frozen unsweetened raspberries

1/2 cup fresh raspberries

Directions:

1.  Place pears in a non-aluminum saucepan large enough to hold them lying down.  Add the wine, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla bean, and the water.

2.  Place the pan over medium-high heat and bring to boil.  Reduce the head to medium-low, set a heatproof plate on top of the pears to keep them submerged in the liquid, and simmer gently until a thin knife inserted into the widest part of the pear pierces easily to the center, 35-40 minutes.  Remove the plate covering the pears.  Let the pears cool to room temperature in the liquid.

3.  Meanwhile, make a raspberry puree.  In a food processor or blender, puree the 1 cup fresh or frozen berries until smooth.  Pass the puree through a fine-mesh sieve held over a bowl, pressing with the back of a wooden spoon to push as much of the puree through the sieve as possible.  Discard the contents of the sieve.  Set the puree aside.

4.  Using a slotted spoon, lift the pears from the liquid.  Set each pear in a shallow individual bowl, or place all 4 pears on a deep platter.  Remove zest and vanilla bean and discard or save the vanilla bean to garnish, if you like.  Drizzle the raspberry puree onto the plate and garnish with a few fresh raspberries.  Serve at room temperature.  

Jason's Rating: Good

Beth's Rating: Good