Pears Poached in Port Wine
The idea of poaching pears in fortified wine came about soon after the creation of Port wine in the 17th Century. Pears have been cultivated in Europe for centuries. By the 19th Century, pears poached in Port and other fortified wines like Madeira, became a refined dessert served in the grand hotels of Europe.
You remember learning what alliteration is, don't you? It's the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. I came up with this recipe on a lark for a Christmas dinner that was to be accompanied by the Kitchen Tapestry recipe for Pistachio Ice Cream . This dessert was, in fact, an alliteration that had us all chuckling around the dinner table as we attempted to continue the joke: Poached Pears in Port Wine with Pistachio Ice Cream. Think "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers," and you get the idea. At one point, I was “papa poaching pears in port wine with pistachios ice cream, perched on the porch, puffing a puro, while sipping a potable potion.” And yes, we were all drinking alcohol at the time.
This dish is devilishly simple, but it requires about two hours of cooking time. It can, however, be made many hours ahead of serving. The key is to reduce the poaching liquid to mere tablespoons of thick, delicious syrup, plus additional time to allow the syrup to cool, which will further thicken it.
As simple as it is, it is very elegant, and the addition of two or three 2-ounce scoops of Pistachio Ice Cream elevates it to the sublime.
Pears Poached in Port Wine
Ingredients
- 4 ripe, large Bosc pears
- 1- 1/2 cups quality port wine
- 1- 1/2 cups water
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp dried orange peel
- 2 tbsp dried lemon peel
- 1 stick cinnamon
- Kitchen Tapestry recipe for Pistachio Ice Cream
Instructions
- Cut the bottom 1/8 inch off the pear so that it will not fall over when you stand it up on a plate. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the pear, being sure to leave the top stem intact.
- In a sauce pan large enough to accommodate the pears (they will float in the poaching liquid), add the port wine, water and sugar, then stir well so the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the lemon peel, orange peel and cinnamon stick, then dunk the pears in the liquid.
- Bring the liquid to a slow, rolling simmer, and cook uncovered for an hour. Turn the pears over every once in awhile to ensure even cooking throughout.
- After an hour, remove the pears from the poaching liquid, and stand them up on a platter, allowing them to drain and cool. They can remain there throughout the day until you're ready to serve them, and taste best when served at room temperature.
- Remove the cinnamon stick, and bring the poaching liquid to a rolling boil. Reduce the liquid until you have about 1/8 to 1/4 cup of liquid left. This will take 45 minutes to an hour.
- Remove the sauce pan from the stove and allow it to cool completely. The liquid, now a sweet syrup, will thicken as it cools. Once the syrup has completely cooled, you can cover the sauce pan until you are ready to serve the dish.
- To serve, stand the pear up on a dessert plate, and drizzle the syrup over and around the pear. Serve with two or three 2-ounce scoops of the Kitchen Tapestry recipe for Pistachio Ice Cream.
Pistachio Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1- 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1- 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 whole eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1- 1/2 oz cream cheese at room temperature
- 2 tbsp light corn syrup
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup ground pistachios, plus a few whole for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add the salt and room-temperature cream cheese and whip all the bumps out with a whisk or cake mixer.
- In a large bowl, make an ice bath (heavy on the ice) and set aside.
- Pour the milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup into a medium saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. As soon as the liquid begins to boil, set a timer for precisely 4 minutes and allow the liquid to simmer, whisking frequently to keep the milk and cream from scalding.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Temper the eggs and egg yolk in a small bowl by ladling in the hot milk and cream mixture, a tablespoon at a time. Do this 4-5 times, then and gradually whisk the eggs into the milk and cream.
- Return the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook, stirring until the mixture is slightly thickened for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Do this a little bit at a time so that you can whip out any lumps of cream cheese.
- Add the vanilla and almond extracts and whisk to blend.
- Pour the mixture into a large Ziploc freezer bag, seal, and submerge the bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until very cold, about 30 minutes.
- Pour the custard into a Ziploc bag and press every last bit of the air out. Seal it tightly and place it flat in the freezer. Allow to freeze completely for at least six hours, but overnight is best.
- Put a standard loaf pan (8-1/2" x 4-1/2" x 2-1/2") in the freezer.
- When the custard has thoroughly frozen, crumble it into your food processor and pulse frequently until the custard is completely smooth.
- Add the pistachios and pulse a couple of times to mix them in thoroughly.
- Scrape the ice cream into the loaf pan, cover with cling wrap and place it back in the freezer for at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
- This dish was originally created specifically to be served with the Kitchen Tapestry recipe for Pears Poached in Port Wine, but is certainly good enough to stand on its own.
- You can make any other flavor by following this recipe, but substitute the 1/2 cup of ground pistachio for any other flavor ingredient.
- If you prefer to retain this recipe as Vanilla Ice cream, add an additional tablespoon of vanilla extract, and a tablespoon of vanilla seeds or vanilla powder.
