Muscatel & Vanilla Poached Pears
Ingredients
- 6 firm, ripe, large Anjou pears, peeled, halved, cored
- 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
- 2 c water
- 2 c muscatel (sweet wine)
- 6 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp pure vanilla bean extract
Cooking Steps:
- Toss pears with orange juice in large bowl. Set aside.
- Combine water, muscatel wine and honey in large saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Stir over medium heat until honey dissolves.
- Add pears. Cover mixture with round piece of parchment paper. Reduce heat to low. Simmer until pears are just tender when pierced, turning when half- way through cooking, 15 minutes.
- Using slotted spoon, transfer pears to large bowl.
- Boil poaching liquid until reduced to half. Cool syrup.
- Pour syrup over pears. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 8 hours or overnight.
- Remove vanilla bean. Halve the pears, removing the cores with stem attached. Or thinly slice each pear half lengthwise, leaving slices attached at stem end for a fancier presentation.
- Using metal spatula, transfer pears to plates. Spoon some syrup over pears. Serve with ice cream or enjoy the poached pears as they are.
Excerpted from Healing & Easy Eats: Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Patients and Survivors (Second Edition), the official cookbook of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance. Copyright © 2018. Available online now!