POACHED PEARS, LOW-SUGAR, BOOZE-FREE

An easy-peasy way to poach pears without booze and nearly free of added sugar

Poached Pears, no booze, low-sugar
'Lovely! The lack of booze or sugar doesn't affect its delicousness at all.' Taster

Poached pears are a delightful dessert but, until now, not really a family offering, with too much wine and quite a lot of sugar. 67's recipe has neither wine nor a great deal of sugar.  Red grape juice provides gorgeous colour and lovely spices add layers of flavour. And, there's a foolproof method of cooking the pears so they're fork tender throughout.

The pears need to be peeled, halved and cored before cooking. After that, it's easy peasy.  There's about 4 hours involved, but only about half an hour of that involves actually cooking. So you can get on with other things at the same time. 

The results are spectacular, both in taste and appearance, and healthy, too. 

Cost: £3
Serves: 4-6

Ingred:
   4 decent sized pears, peeled 

   750 ml grape juice (67 used red but white is fine)
   2 star anise
   1 tsp cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
   1/2 tsp nutmeg
   1 1/4 in/1/2 cm slice fresh ginger or 1/3 tsp dried ginger
   1 tsp vanilla essence or one vanilla pod
   juice of one quarter lemon

   1/4 lemon
   water
   
   min 1 tbsp - max 3 tbsp soft brown sugar
   
Method:

1. Try to halve the stems as well as the pears.  Use a set of small kitchen scissors to snip the top of the stem and then use a sharp knife to divide it and the pear in two.
2. A melon baller will do the best job of removing the central core but the same effect can be achieved with kitchen scissors and a teaspoon.  Use the the scissors to cut round the circular core and the spoon to dig it out. The rest of the stringy bits from stem to blossom can be removed, carefully, with a sharp knife. Go deep enough to remove all the tough strands. 
3. OR if you've a steady hand and a knife with a sharp point, cut out the entire core (from top to bottom). See  www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cVR-xfLz8E
4. Drop the pears in a jug of water with a quarter lemon to prevent browning
5. Choose a heavy bottomed lidded saucepan wide enough to accommodate the pears in a single layer (but don't put them in yet).
6. Pour grape juice into pan, add spices, vanilla and juice of 1/4 lemon; whisk 
7. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to med; simmer at a gentle bubble 15 mins
8. Remove star anise and ginger; set aside 
9. Drain pear halves; add to juice; bring heat up to a point where the juice is gently bubbling; cover the pan with the lid, leaving a small crack on one side and cook 30 mins; turn pears half-way through
10. Remove from heat; leave to cool in liquid, covered, for two hours
11. Remove pears with a slotted spoon; set aside
12. Taste juice; add sugar if necessary and return star anise and ginger
13. Reheat the juice; boil until liquid is reduced by half - if not syrupy enough, stir 1 tbsp cornflour in 2 tbsp cold water and add to the hot juice; stir and allow to thicken
14. The pears look impressive on one large plate but individual plates will also be fine  
15. Garnish with fresh berries, sprigs of mint or finely chopped candied ginger.
16. Serve with yoghurt ice cream, candied ginger yoghurt cream, or yoghurt cream with cinnamon and ginger

Tip:

To make pear fans, start slicing 1/3 inch from the top, keeping the slices attached; press down lightly to spread the slices.

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Like this? Hate it? Comments or questions, pls email b67goingon50@yahoo.co.uk and say if they can be included in the blog                                         

This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.