Muscat Poached Pears

Another gift from the Food&Wine Fairy!

Like clockwork, a pristine edition of Food & Wine Magazine shows up miraculously on my doorstep every month 🤔.

And, like clockwork, I go through it, grab whatever recipes catch my imagination, and pass it on, sans the best recipes!

Ingredients (for 4)

1 (750ml) bottle Muscat or other sweet wine (>15% sugar content)

3 Tbsp Honey

4 Thyme Sprigs

1 fresh or dried Bay Leaf

2 tsp Fennel Seeds

Small pinch Saffron threads

Pinch of fine Sea Salt

2 Unripe to barely ripe pears (preferably Bosc)

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1-2 cups boiling water

Crème Fraîche or Fromage Blanc

Method

• Combine wine, honey, thyme, bay, fennel seeds, saffron and salt into a dutch oven or saucepan that will accommodate 4 pear halves lay flat. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes.

• Peel the pears, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds and core with a small spoon, creating a perfect semi-sphere. Brush pear halves all over with lemon juice to prevent browning.

• Add pear halves to the wine mixture in a single layer and add enough boiling water to cover them.

• Simmer, uncovered, until tender, about 30 minutes or so, turning pears two or three times.

• Transfer pears to a plate and reduce poaching liquid by bringing to a light boil until you have about 3/4 cup syrupy sauce.

• Strain syrup into a small bowl and discard solids (as you can see from the picture, I forgot this step 😱)

• Spoon 2-3 Tbsp crème fraîche or fromage blanc into 4 shallow bowls or dessert plates. Nestle a pear upright on top (I cut off the bottom of the pear as mine wouldn't stand up by themselves)

• Drizzle each pear with the syrup and serve warm or chilled