Baked Pear in Red Wine
Sooooo sexy. Looking for a little kink in your life? Throw out the chocolate spread and put this pear, vanilla and wine syrup to good use...sex ain't never going to be the same again!
Serve with creme fraiche and if possible a slice of biscotti
Serves 4 x kinky pepes!
Ingredients
4 x pears
290ml / 1/2 pint red wine
290ml / 1/2 pint water
1 vanilla pod or 1 Tsp of vanilla essence
110g / 4oz brown sugar
1 lemon, juice and zest of
Mise-en-Place:
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/ 180°C / 350°F
Measure the ingredients
Peel the pears, slice the base of each pear (so that it stands upright) and if you wish, scoop out the core and seeds with a parisienne scoop (or use a spoon)
Zest and juice the lemon
Method:
Place all the ingredients into a roasting tray
Bake in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes
Every 10 - 15 minutes open the oven doors and use a ladle to pour the cooking liquids over the pears. (This adds flavours to the pear, aids cooking and is known as 'to baste')
To test if the pears are cooked, insert a skewer, it should pass easily through the pear with no resistance. If the pear still feels quite firm, cook for longer
When cooked remove the pears from the liquid and allow to cool
(You can now reduce the liquid to a syrup or if you prefer keep it thin and as is: the choice is yours)
Strain the liquid then return to the roasting tray, place over a naked flame and rapidly boil until the liquid is thick and syrupy.
Allow to cool
Serve the pear with the syrup
Adjust: Regardless if you reduced the sauce to a thick syrup or left it as is; the sauce is supposed to be a heavenly, balanced mix of vanilla, pear juices and mellow red wine flavours
Too astringent: add more sugar
Too sweet: add more lemon juice
Too thin: Continue to boil the syrup until it thickens
Too thick: loosen the syrup with a little water
Presentation:
If you left the sauce thin:
Flood the plate with a thin layer of sauce. Place the pear off-centre on the plate and garnish with creme fraiche and a slice of biscotti
If you thickened the sauce to a syrup:
Layer the syrup onto the plate. You can either shape it into a zig-zag or a circle.
Place the pear, off-centre on the plate, garnish with creme fraiche and a slice of biscotti
Chef Tip: To increase the pear flavours to the sauce add the pear trimmings (base and core) to the roasting tray. The added volume will increase the flavours in the liquid
Chef Insight: The pear originated in asia minor, different species ripen from as early as july and as late as january. Pears have had great significance in historical contexts, not only in culinary histories but ancient religious and pagan rituals. The pear is very often associated with fertility. Pears are rich in vitamin C and B. An alcoholic drink, similar to cider is made from pears and is known as 'perry'
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