The combination of something warm and something cold works magic.
Apple pie with ice cream is one example, but the other one that naturally springs to mind is poached pears. Also with a scoop of ice cream.
The texture of the pears, the CREAMINESS of the ice cream……
Really, it’s like totally innocent happy sex in a bowl.
Go ahead, lick the spoon and have some more.
Then rest replete, grinning.
Life is good.
To achieve this wonderful state of silly bliss, you will need to do just a little simple preparatory work.
POACHED PEARS
Four firm pears.
Four cups water.
Two cups sugar.
Two TBS lemon juice.
Heat water, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan till the sugar dissolves.
Meanwhile peel the pears and quarter them – do not remove the cores yet.
Immerse the pear segments in the liquid, and simmer on very low for about fifteen minutes, making sure that the pears are covered by liquid at all times.
You may add an additional squeeze of lemon juice to prevent discolouration.
Turn off the heat, let the pan and its contents cool.
Remove pears from liquid, and with a coffee spoon remove the cores. It’s much easier now that they are cooked.
Bring the liquid back to a boil, and thicken it slightly. Place the pears in a deep dish and cover them with the syrup. When cool enough, you can flatten a sheet of plastic wrap over them and place them in the refrigerator.
Keeps for several days.
You will note that this recipe is exceedingly simple. It can be modified, and you may want to ‘personalize’ it by doing so.
What I do is add a splash of strong coffee in the cooking liquid, which gives it depth and character. I also use more sugar than I have specified above, because I like syrup. For a very bright flavour you can add a thick curl of orange zest, as well as two or three green cardamom pods. If you throw in a handful of raisins when reboiling the syrup they will plump up nicely.
To serve, heat up two segments per person or more in some of the syrup.
Slide into a dessert bowl and top with a big luscious scoop of vanilla ice cream.
There are also OTHER things you can do with warm poached pears and syrup – they too may include ice cream, or whipped cream, if you prefer – but I do not wish to shock you.
So I shall not go into details.
Please use your imagination.
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3 comments:
I much prefer caramelized pears. Just cut them in half, remove seeds, then dip cut sides in a plate of sugar and place on medium-hot pan for a bit. Add some water, cover, then remove. Skin comes off easily at this point, and they're golden-sweet on the cut side.
Fresh pears with any blue cheese works for me.
I detect a distinct note of hamsap in the post above,
What, pray, else can be done with poached pears?
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