Finding a recipe that’s easy to make for the first time can be challenging. I enjoy putting the time into creating something new and special, but if the instructions are too complex I tend to lose interest.
So after randomly watching an episode of ‘Rick Stein’s Cornwall’ on BBC over the Easter weekend, I was intrigued to try his simple-looking poached pear recipe. The colourful dessert looked tasty, attractive and possibly even good for you, as it’s bursting with fruit, herbs and spices. The ingredients were interesting and unusual, including a sprig of rosemary and a bay leaf.
There were a couple of other spices I needed to pick up from the shops, but everything you need is easy to find – and the actual preparation only takes about 30 minutes, before the poaching process begins.
What I loved about this recipe was the unique flavour of the poached pears. The aroma of all the ingredients during the prep and the poaching was also delightful, these were fun to make.
I remembered there was rosemary growing wild down the road from me, so on the way to the health shop, to pick up cloves and fennel seeds I picked a sprig.
Rosemary has a floral herbaceous aroma and according to several studies, it could also boast a range of possible health benefits.
The other spices and herbs were cloves, fennel seeds, a cinnamon stick are steeped with root ginger, red wine and blackberries in this recipe.
Ginger and cinnamon are also said to be helpful for health, being anti-inflammatory and full of protective antioxidant properties, according to some studies.
If you don’t want to use red wine, Rick Stein’s recipe has a suggestion: “Use a sugar syrup made by dissolving 300g/10½oz caster sugar in 1 litre/1¾ pint water with lemon zest and a split vanilla pod.”
Here are all the ingredients you need for this poached pear recipe:
- Eight whole pears, peeled and cored leaving the top stem intact
- One lemon
- One orange
- 750ml red wine (fruity red wine is best)
- 200g fresh root ginger (roughly sliced, no need to peel)
- One cinnamon stick
- Four whole cloves
- Five fennel seeds
- One fresh bay leaf
- One sprig of rosemary
- 500g caster sugar
- 300g frozen blackberries
- Thick custard, cream or ice cream, to serve
Frozen blackberries should be easy to find in most supermarkets, I had some in the freezer already that I’d picked last summer. As Rick Stein suggested, look for pears that have their stem intact – as this is helpful during the poaching process.
A tip I can suggest after making these poached pears is that after peeling each pear, I rubbed the flesh with a little sugar to stop them going brown. Because eight pears are to be poached in total, I’d say the most time-consuming and fiddly part of this recipe was peeling them.
Because I was making this for myself and my partner, I actually only used four pears, but stuck to the same amount of all the other ingredients in the recipe. This just meant I had more of the delicious poaching juice to cover the pears with when they were served – we ate two each easily!
I also used golden caster sugar, rather than white when I made these – and although you need to use ripe pears it’s best if there are still a little firm. So choose ‘ripe and ready to eat’ when you buy them, but make sure the fruit is not squishy.
Method:
Prepare the orange and lemon by zesting with a potato peeler utensil – so it will be large swaths of zest for this recipe. Squeeze the juice from the citrus fruits into a bowl and set aside.
Peel the skin from each pear and then carefully core the fruit, this ensures the pear will suck up the juice when being poached.
I did this by cutting inwards from the base of the pear in a circular motion, reaching for the top of the fruit but only coring about three-quarters of the way up towards the pear’s stem.
Set the pears aside (as previously mentioned I rubbed each pear’s flesh with a little sugar before standing them on a plate). Then, place a large saucepan over medium heat on the stove.
Pour in the wine, blackberries, sugar, citrus zest, ginger, spices, herbs (do not add the cinnamon stick at this stage). Bring it all to the boil then reduce the heat and leave to simmer for 10 minutes before straining the mixture into a clean saucepan.
Return the new pan with strained mixture to a low heat and now add the cinnamon stick. Then add the peeled pears and leave to simmer for 45 minutes until the pears are tender and the flesh turns red, turn the fruits once to ensure they poach evenly.
Once poached, lift the pears carefully from the liquid and set them aside. Continue to simmer the sauce in the pan until thick. According to Rick, the volume of the liquid should be reduced by two-thirds – and then you need to strain it through a fine sieve.
Now, you pour a generous helping of the sauce over the pears – they can be enjoyed warm right away or at room temperature later. You can add a scoop of custard, ice cream or double cream – whipped cream would also complement them nicely I think (I used double this time).
If you want to watch Rick Stein put this dessert together, you can view his creation in Series 1, episode 10 of ‘Rick Stein’s Cornwall’ on BBC Two. Or you can head over to BBC Food to find his yummy poached pears recipe here.
