RECIPE: Poached Pears a la Mode

This is an extremely elegant dessert, that is so simple to make. If you can boil water and peel an apple, you can poach pears. Poached pears have such an amazingly elegant and subtly complex flavor that they pair so well with plain old vanilla ice cream. Plated as shown, this looks quite elegant – something you might expect from a high-end restaurant – but it is really quite simple to do. If you think this plating is too difficult, you may just core the pears, slice them, and serve them on top of ice cream with syrup. You will not miss out on the flavor.

The best part, for me at least, is that once you’ve eaten all the pears, you will still have excess syrupy poaching liquid, and you can use this as a wonderful syrup by itself to put on top of ice cream. You’ll get all the wonderful flavors without the texture of the pears, because the poaching liquid does take on some pear flavor.

::MISE EN PLACE::

Equipment:

• 1 Large Sauce Pan or Stockpot
• 1 Slotted Spoon

Ingredients:

NOTE: IF YOU WANT TO POACH MANY PEARS, YOU MAY CUT YOUR COST BY USING LESS POACHING LIQUID, AND POACHING IN MULTIPLE BATCHES. IT WILL TAKE YOU LONGER, BUT YOU CAN SAVE ON THE PORT WINE.

• 12 firm D’Anjou Pears
• 1 Liter Port Wine
• 2 Cups Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

::METHOD::

Poached Pears:

1. Mix all ingredients except pears in large stockpot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat.
2. Peel pears. Make sure that you peel in large strokes. The marks left on the pear after poaching become pronounced, so if you use lots of short strokes to peel your pears, they will not be as aesthetically pleasing. I like to take a little skin off the top near the stem, a little off the bottom, and then make long strokes from the top of the pear to the bottom of the pear (see pictures).
3. Place pears in stockpot. The liquid should be steaming, but you should not see bubbles.
4. The pears will float in the liquid, and you want to prevent this so that the pears are evenly colored red at the end. Place parchment over the top of the stockpot, and press it into the pan. Place a weighted item on top of the parchment. You do not want the object to be so heavy that it crushes your pears, but it must be heavy enough keep the pears from floating. It also must be wide enough so that pears cannot “sneak” up for air around the edges. (For example, using a single coffee mug would not be a large enough object.) I use a small lid from another pan. You may also use a small plate or saucer.
5. Poach (see ::POACH::) until tender. A knife should pierce to the core easily, but the pear should not feel like you could easily mash it into an applesauce-like product with a spoon. There should still be some texture to the pear. If you over-cook the pears, make yourself some pearsauce.
   1. This process, depending on how firm the pears are, can take hours. I poached my pears for 3 hours, but I also probably let my liquid get a little too cold.
   2. If you need to hurry this process, you can turn up the heat so that you have small bubbles (simmering), but then you are more braising your pears, and you will have to watch them more carefully to make sure they do not become “mealy”, meaning that  the outside of the pears start breaking down such that it feels like soft grains of sand on your tongue when you eat the pear. We want to avoid making mealy pears.
6. Remove the pears from the liquid onto a plate. You DO NOT want to move the pears to anything with an “edge” to it… like a cooling rack. You want the pears on a flat surface, because anything with texture will leave a mark on the soft outside of the poached pear. You also want to avoid having the pears sit in any of the hot poaching liquid that will collect on the bottom of a plate, because that part of the pear in the liquid will over-cook.
7. Cool at room temperature, or place, uncovered, in your refrigerator until the pears have completely cooled.
8. Reduce the poaching liquid until it becomes “syrupy”. It should have the consistency of maple syrup (the sugary, corn syrup stuff you probably use… like Log Cabin). If you put a spoon in the syrup, it should coat the back of a spoon. (see pictures)
9. Cool the syrup and store in a covered container in the refrigerator.

At Service:

1. Cut into the pears so that the tip of your knife cuts into the core (but not through the other end). Cut into approximately thirds.
2. Cut out the core using a knife or melon baller  (as shown). You may perform steps 1 and 2 in advance if you like, or if you are serving a large party.
3. Heat the reduced syrup in a pan. If you want, you may warm your poached pear in the syrup.
4. Scoop a sphere shape of ice cream into a dish (I use super-premium ice cream, but you may use any ice cream you like). If you think a flavor other than vanilla would compliment the complex flavor of the poached pear, you may use another flavor.
5. Open the pear up, and place around the ice cream.
6. Drizzle the heated syrup over the pear (gives the pear a nice glossy look) and some on the bottom of the plate.