POIRE A LA BEAUJOLAIS
An old recipe for poached pears dating from the 19th century. .
Poire a la Beaujolais is an old recipe for poached pears dating from the 19th century. Using ripe but firm pears poached in Beaujolais red wine and black currant sauce, this is an easy but special dessert that will complement the plum pudding on the Christmas table. The red wine sauce is intense and full of flavour promising to impress family and friends. .
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4 people
4 to 6 ripe but firm pears (suitable for poaching)
1 bottle of good quality Beaujolais red wine (gamay or pinot noir)
220 ml (7.4 fl oz) crème de cassis (black currant liqueur)
150 g (5.3 oz) granulated sugar
1 fresh vanilla bean
2 cloves
1 small piece of cinnamon
6 black peppercorns
Zest of 1 large orange
Juice of ½ a lemon
Biscuit pieces or toasted almonds for serving (optional)
PROCEDURE
Pour the wine into a saucepan and add the peppercorns, cloves, orange peel, vanilla bean, half of the cinnamon stick (deseeded) and sugar. Warm the contents up to a gentle boil on a medium heat.
Peel the pears (leaving the stem in) and brush each of them thoroughly with the juice of half a lemon (this prevents discolouring). Reserve the pears in a clean container.
If you want to you can remove part of the core of each pear as follows: Using a knife, cut out a ring at the bottom of the pear and then by using a micro melon baller or apple corer, gouge out the seeds and core.
Place the pears into the gently boiling syrup. Then reduce heat to minimum, cover the pan and simmer for 15 -20 minutes until the pears are soft enough. Turn off the heat and remove the pears gently into another container to cool.
When the pears are in the container pour half a cup of warm syrup and 200 ml of crème de cassis over them.
Remove the orange peel from the remaining syrup and on medium heat reduce the syrup by about a quarter. Cool the syrup to luke warm.
Pour the cooled syrup through a sieve (to remove the flavourings) over the pears.
Cover the bowl with a wrap and place it in the fridge for 24 hours.
Serve cold with each pear in a dish into which some of the syrup has been poured as a bed. Sprinkle over some biscuit pieces or toasted almonds and pour as much remaining syrup over the pear as desired. Bon Appetit!