Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is Spice-Poached Apples or Pears. A classy dish.
The recipe is easy to make and the poached fruits will taste heavenly. I chose two different kinds of pears, first the “ Williams Bon Chrétien” – this variety has existed since 1770 (British origins) and second the “Conference” pear, a variety known since 1894 - just starting to appear in the stores for the season. With a bit of planning, it is easy to know how many days ahead you have to buy your fruit so that it will be perfectly ripe but not too soft for poaching.
The preparation of this recipe is straightforward. Place a good-quality honey, sugar, water, zest and juice of organic oranges and lemons, star anise, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean (and scraped seeds) into a pan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, then add the pears (or apples) and poach for 10-15 minutes, or until softened, but still firm. (Turn the pears frequently to keep them covered with the poaching liquid). Then you remove the pears and set aside. Bring the poaching liquid back up to a boil and cook until the liquid is reduced to a syrup, about 10 minutes.
To serve, place a pear into the center of a plate/dish and pour some of the poaching liquid around. Poached fruit go brilliantly with a whole host of things and therefore feel free to serve the fruit with a dollop of clotted cream, crème double, crème fraîche or ice cream.
Dorie´s recipe is delicious and both kinds of pears looked elegant on the plate and tasted superb! For the Christmassy smells alone I would give this five stars. The vanilla pods are very pricey but the star of the show in this dessert. They add a beautiful flecked appearance and yumminess. When I shopped for new spices with the right fresh “punch” which you undoubtedly need for this recipe, the manager of the store laughed out loud and told me that “the fresh Christmas spices have not arrived yet” although, at that point I did start to wonder at the logic of all of this because the shelves reaching up all the way to the ceiling in his store are already filled with “Zimtsternen”, “Lebkuchen”, Pfeffernüssen” and other assorted Christmas cookies, go figure. I ended up ordering the fresh spices from a spice merchant.
Last but not least, this dish can be made a day in advance allowing the fruits to soak up more of the spiced poaching liquid, flavor and color.
To see how the other Doristas prepared the poached fruits, please click here.
Wow great idea to keep the fruit whole! Your photography is inspiring! :)
ReplyDeleteMaria, thank you - taking a picture of a wonderful fall fruit is indeed inspiring!
DeleteYours looks so beautiful whole - classic and elegant! We're inundated by Hallowe'en goods in the store right now and once that's past, then Christmas decorations, music, and goods will be everywhere.
ReplyDeleteTeresa, thanks so much - it ts true, it is only the middle of September and the stores around us are already gearing up for the Christmas season.
DeleteGorgeous pics Andrea! Love the way you left a bit of the skin. I loved this pears, definitely better than with apples. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Paula, some fruits just seem to be elegant fruits and for me, pears are such fruits - I love the different shape of the many varieties of pears.
DeleteBeautifully styled, my friend! Have a wonderful weekend~
ReplyDeleteLiz, thank you so much!
DeleteGorgeous pictures - so bright and cheerful.
ReplyDeleteHave an amazing weekend.
Cher, just felt that I "owed" my lovely pears a pretty and different presentation.
DeleteBeautiful presentation:) Looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Geraldine! The pears were delicious and I just finished making a second batch - I had a special request from one of my favorite taste testers.
DeleteAndrea, Loved your Post and how you take us further into the recipe that we usually venture. In layman's terms, I think one of your pears was a Bartlett and the other, a Bosc. I thought it was clever to not cut them in half, leaving a little skin at the top and making a beautiful presentation. Like you, this didn't put me in the Fall mood, it put me in the Christmasy mood. Very lovely Post.
ReplyDeleteMary, thank you so much and I konw you are right with respect to the Bartlett pear - but the info I found with respect to a US equivalent to the Conference pear says that the US Concorde pear is closest as it is a crosse between a European Conference and Comice, oh, this is getting a little complicated - let us just agree to use whatever is best where we are...lovely comment, thanks again and Safe Trip to South America!
DeleteWhat absolutely sublime pictures! They show off the simple elegance of this one perfectly. I'll definitely be making this one again.
ReplyDeleteTrevor - looking at your pictures, I do consider this a huge compliment, thank you!
DeleteThis recipe launched me directly into wanting cold weather and holiday foods. Pretty sure it'll appear at our table several times over the course of the season. Your pics look beautiful.
ReplyDeleteEi, thanks so much - yes, it was wintry smells all over the house and I could not shake the feeling of being in the middle of my Christmas cookie baking frenzy.
DeleteLovely presentation. Your photos are fantastic. Have a wonderful weekend.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Nana! The pictures were in my head for a couple of days and it was fun to finally arrange everything yesterday and look at them. And the dessert tasted wonderful too!
Deletedelicious and elegant presentation of your pears kept whole, and thank you for the heritage pear lesson! it's wonderful to hear of these old varieties surviving the commercialization of our foods, and even making a comeback.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn, thank you - pears seem to be elegant all by themselves - no need to fancy them up too much!
DeleteSuch a lovely presentation, Andrea! They look like they jumped out of a cookbook! As always beautiful photos and lovely post! Enjoy your weekend!
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed some of you cake posts…I will be revisiting them. We were visiting my grandchildren last week and had very little time for the computer!
Your Autumnal cake with custard and apples looks divine! I’ve been following along, just haven’t had much time for commenting!
Kathy, thanks so much for the nice comments - we loved this recipe and I have made it twice since, my husbands just adores poached pears, who would have thought?!
DeleteWow- when I caught sight of the first photo I felt as if I hit a professional site.....it looked like Gourmet or Bon Appetit !! Gorgoeous job and I am with you on the holiday and 5 star rating for the aroma. And extra credit points for sharing the pear info - very cool and very interesting !!!!!
ReplyDeleteTricia, thank you very much for your wonderful comment! Much appreciated! The pears were "fun to work with" and to me they are what I call "inspirational food".
DeleteYour pears look beautiful...your photos are always so inspiring. The pears in our orchard should be ripening soon. I usually just poach them in white or red wine and a little sugar. I can't wait to try this elegant and flavorful recipe. Zimtsternen...my favorite cookie when visiting Germany at Christmas. I'll be in your lovely country in two weeks...I may have to find a store that has them.
ReplyDeleteKaren, thank you so much - if you are going to buy "Zimtsterne" while you are visiting Germany, try to find the ones from "Bahlsen" or "Lambertz" - they are so good! And if you are going to visit Cologne or Bonn, do make sure to contact me!
DeleteHi Andrea, I so wish I was visiting your area of Germany on this trip but we will be in Bavaria and the Black Forest. Would so love to meet you some day...it is not impossible as we tend to always include Germany in our travels. I will look for one of the two brands that you suggested. Thank you!
DeleteI never made poached fruit, but I always think it's a beautiful dessert. I've had it at a nice restaurant before and I enjoyed it. It's a gorgeous food to take a look at and take pictures of. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nami - pears are so photogenic, I had so much fun arranging these.
DeleteThat's too funny about the fresh spices not arriving yet. I once had a store employee tell me that yeast was a seasonal ingredient, only available in November and December! Go figure....Anyway, your pears came out beautifully. What did you decide to serve them with?
ReplyDeleteJora, I served vanilla ice cream for the rest of the family - I adore these pears "plain", nothing on the side, as I enjoy the taste of the spices (if I can get them, HA!).
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