Poached Pears

This one turned out to be an light easy dessert that had a nice elegant touch to it.  I made Dessert for three, as I have said in the past one for me one for Kris and one for my kids to stare at in distrust.  This takes a couple of days but really easy plus the house smells great when you poach the pears.

The ingredients:
1 1/2 cups white wine
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I would have used a cinnamon stick but didn't have any
1 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
2 strips orange peel (from my preserved citrus)
3  Bosc pears, peeled, stems left intact

These are Bosc pears right... yes if you follow this blog this picture is from the archives, but the ones that I took this time didn't turn out as well.  The one above is from a couple of days ago.

For later I whipped Mascarpone Cheese with a little brown Sugar and Vanilla to garnish

Combine white wine (I used Pinot Grigio) water, sugar, cinnamon, a split vanilla bean, and preserved orange rind in 2 quart sauce pan. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add peeled pears. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover pot and simmer until pears are tender, turning pears occasionally, all this takes about 40 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer pears to platter. Boil liquid in pot until reduced by half.  strain syrup then pour over poached pears. Chill until cold, turning pears occasionally, I made these the day before I wanted them cold.

When it is time to serve cut the pears in half and take out the seeds them stuff with Mascarpone cheese mixture and drizzle with the thickened sauce.  I heated mine sauce up a little. 

Grilled Pears

I have probably mentioned a few times that I like to cook on the grill.  I like it a lot in fact I got this gas grill before winter came just for that reason.  I wanted to be cooking outside when in the middle of ice storms etc... I don't know why, I just did.  As it has started to thaw out here in Chicagoland I have been cooking on the grill even more... the kiddos have been re-discovering their bats, balls, skates swings and the trampoline.  It works well because I like to be able to keep an eye on them and I miss grilling.  Not just the food and the flavor it brings, but the standing outside and taking my time, enjoying a cocktail  and cooking out.  Instead of running out in the dark (winter sunset is about 4:30 in my area) and flipping food over then running back in.  I prefer the leisurely pace that a grilled meal should have.

One of the things I really like and haven't done in a while is grilled fruit, in this case pears.  I like grilling fruit for a quick summer dessert.  Grilling brings out the sweet flavors and most fruit caramelizes well when cooked on a grill.  This time Bosc Pears and a Blackberry Compote, one of the guys at work got a good deal on both so I brought a few home.  The Blackberry compote was simple enough and can be made a day ahead (in fact I encourage that) the ingredients:
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Triple Sec
3 TBS Sugar
1/2 Pound Fresh Blackberries
1/4 tsp (or less) Cinnamon

Put the water, triple sec and sugar into a sauce pan and cook for about15 minutes until reduced by about 1/3 when it is ready poor in the Blackberries and cook for just a couple of minutes then set aside.  Let that cool for a few hours until it is thick and syrupy.  The compote is really great the cinnamon adds a really nice depth to the sauce.

For the Pears slice them top to bottom and brush with melted butter.  I sprinkled mine with a little cinnamon sugar for good measure then place on the grill to cook 3-4 minutes on each side.  My middle slices were cut a bit thicker because I wanted cool pictures so they took a bit longer to cook.  When I arraigned the plates I propped the pears on top of some angel food cake the topped with the blackberry compote.  A little bit of a drizzle in the edges and here you have that dessert that will impress.