Chai Spiced Poached Pears

It was time to make poached pears again. This time I didn't have any red wine to spare (we drank it all), so I poached them in a simple syrup. To make it a bit more interesting, I decided to use some spices, but I wanted a theme, so I decided on chai spice (I guess I was in an Indian kind of mood).

To start, make your simple syrup. Put 7 oz sugar and 2 cups water in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once at a boil, reduce to a gentle simmer, add your spices and prep your pears.

The spices I used were: a slice of fresh ginger, a few cardamom seeds, a small piece of cinnamon stick, 2 or 3 cloves, a few black peppercorns and a pinch of fennel seeds.

I poached 2 Bartlett pears, but you can use any type of pear, and as many as you like, although the more you want to poach, the more syrup you'll need to cover them. Peel the pears, cut in half and remove cores, stem and tail. Once prepped thusly, put the pears in the simmering syrup, return to a simmer and cook until tender (a knife slides into the pear easily). Remove from the heat and cool in the syrup.

To serve, remove the pear halves from the syrup and enjoy with vanilla bean ice cream. The syrup can be saved and used again to poach more pears, as a base for sorbet, or even as a base for lemonade. Alternatively, you can strain out the spices and boil it down until thick and serve it with the pears.

Metric Info: 7 oz = 200g; 2 cups = 470 ml.

For red wine poached pears, click here.

Poached Pears

Pears are my second favorite fruit, after dates. While there is little better than a ripe pear, an unripe pear can be poached and will taste great. I got hold of some Anjou pears from the store for this recipe, but you can use pretty much any kind, so long as they are not too soft.

Pears can be poached in a simple syrup (water and sugar) or in a wine or port syrup. Port is my favorite, but I didn't have any on hand, just 2 cups of red wine left over from making the beef stew. You could also use white wine if you like.

Start by boiling 2 cups red wine, 1 cup water and 10 oz sugar and some whole spices until the sugar dissolves. The spices are your choice. I like to use any or all of the following: clove, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom (remove from pods), black peppercorn. Once the 'mulled wine' is hot and the sugar dissolved, peel 3 pears. Cut in half and scoop or cut out the cores, stem and base. Immerse the pear halves in the wine mixture and return to a simmer. Cover your pan and cook gently until the pears are tender (soft but not mushy). Remove pears (chill in refrigerator) and strain out spices, then return the liquid to the pan and boil it down into a heavy syrup.

Serve the pears cold with warm syrup and ice cream (I used cinnamon ice cream - see variations here) or custard sauce. Any leftover syrup makes a great accompaniment to ice cream. Enjoy!

Note - Metric Info: 2 cups = 470 ml; 1 cup = 240 ml; 10 oz = 280g.