Poached Pear Salad with Blue Cheese, Toasted Pecans and Cabernet Reduction Infused Dressing.
I went to a farmers market at the end of their day and found a big bag of small pears for a dollar, so what to do with them? I also had a cheap bottle of Aussie red wine from Trader Joe’s (cheap even for a college student) so I tried poaching. Here’s what’s happened…so far. (PS: You do need to plan ahead as they need to cool in the poaching liquid for at least 3 hours.)
Cabernet Poached Pears
Ingredients:
- 2 Cups of Cabernet Sauvignon
- 1 Orange (or a little less than a cup if using OJ)
- 1/4 Cup Sugar
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 3-4 Whole Cloves
- 4-5 Pears
Steps:
Mix the wine, juice from orange, strips of orange peels (or not if using OJ), cinnamon stick and cloves in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, carefully peal the pears leaving the stems but cutting a little off the bottom so the pears can stand in the pan.
After the wine has come to a boil, reduce to simmer and add the pealed pears to the liquid. Simmer for 20-25 minutes, turning a few times to make sure the poaching is equal on all sides. Remove from heat, let cool, then put in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to complete poaching.
Poached Pears with Frozen Vanilla Yogurt and Cabernet Reduction Sauce
CAREFULLY remove pears from liquid and blot dry. Remove the cinnamon stick and cloves, then bring liquid to a boil and let reduce to about 1 cup of syrup.
When you serve the pears, cut in half lengthwise and remove the core with a spoon. Slice pears lengthwise again and fan them out so you can see the pretty colors (see photos).
I mixed a few tablespoons of the syrup in with some oil, vinegar, salt and pepper for a dressing for the salad and left some syrup to drizzle over the pears and frozen yogurt for dessert the next day. YUM. REALLY YUM.