Paris in July - Poached Pears

Paris in July has officially ended - however, I've been so busy reading the amazing posts from all the Paris in July participants, I haven't posted my own Paris in July posts. So I've decided I'll just post these over the next week or so... [and the official Paris in July summary post will come soon too].

This is a brief post, because I didn’t get a lot of photo’s – but earlier in July I was invited to a friend’s place for a French Dinner. My friend and I have been attending the same French class for a few years now, and we wanted to celebrate Quatorze Julliet in a simple way this year, as she was heading off for holidays the next day. 

In simple and elegant style, the menu included

• Special French Cheeses – a Goats Cheese like a Brie, a classic Blue, and a French hard cheese with cows milk (cant remember the name)....
• Beef Bourgogne with seasonal herbed vegetables and steamed rice
• Beautifully poached pears and guava, done in a caramelised red wine
• All served with a light pinot noir, biodynamic

I thought I'd share two recipes for poached pears (because I just love this simple low fat dessert option) – one from Aussie Chef Maggie Beer, re known for her love of fresh from the garden produce, and the other from American born bus France Based Chef, David Lebovitz, because I’m reading him now.

David’s

·         1 quart water (1 l)

·         1 1/3 cup Sugar

·         4 Bosc Pears peeled, cored and quartered

Additions could include: one cinnamon stick, 2 teaspoons whole cloves, black peppercorns or allspice berries, one lemon half, one spilt vanilla bean, 2-3 star anise, 6-8 fresh ginger slices.

Check the recipe out here

Pears Poached in Sparkling Ruby Cabernet, by Maggie Bear, 

4 medium pears

400ml Sparkling Ruby Cabernet

2 tbsp caster sugar

1/3 cup crème fraîche

3 tbsp roasted pistachio nuts crushed

Peel the pears and set aside.

Place the Sparkling Ruby Cabernet and sugar into a small pot, which is just big enough for the pears to fit in snugly.
Place over a high heat and bring to the boil, then add he pears and reduce the heat to a gently simmer. Place a lid on the pot and allow to poach for 30 to 40 minutes or until the pears have cooked through and have taken on good colour.
Remove the pears from the pot and set aside. Turn the heat up and reduce the Sparkling Ruby Cabernet to approximately ¼ cup, which will create a beautiful red syrup.
Pour the syrup over the pears and allow to sit and come to room temperature.
Sprinkle with the pistachio and serve with the Crème Fraiche on the side.

I love poached pears, the flavour of Cinnamon and cloves, and a dollop of double king island cream. Followed by a sweet spicy dessert wine.

If you have a favourite Poached Pear recipe, let me know - I'm up for trying some new ones.