There are so many inspirations at farmers’ markets this time of the year, and so many opportunities to eat them! Fall to me is about colors; oranges, golds, reds, purples. All the glorious colors of leaves, which, if you dry them between sheets of waxed paper, weighted down by a heavy, large book, make beautiful holiday table decorations.
In this dessert recipe, we are playing with colors too. “Al rosso” means “in the red”; this version is courtesy of Chef Frank Zucchini from the Wednesday Town and County Farmers’ Market.
Poached fruit can be found on most French menus; it is healthy and low in fat, as well as pretty spectacular when you dress up the pears with special crémes or gláces.
Poached Pears Al Rosso – serves 4-6
- 1 tbs unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cups Pinot Noir (red wine)
- 1/2 cup Port
- 1 3/4 cups filtered water
- 1 tsp orange zest
- small cinnamon stick
- 1 clove
- 4 -6 large, ripe pears, peeled and left whole with the stems on. You can also peel and halve if you like; just be sure and core them. Recommend Bosc or Anjou pears.
Place sugar, wine, Port, butter, water, orange zest, clove and cinnamon stick in a large enough saucepan or deep skillet that will hold all the pears in a single layer in the liquid. Heat over low, stirring constantly, until sugar melts, 5-7 minutes. Place pears into the liquid and simmer on low, turning several times, for 20-30 minutes, glazing the pears often during the cooking process. Remove from heat and let pears cool in their syrup for several hours.
Options for serving
- serve with little melon ball size scoops of vanilla bean ice cream or gelato
- reduce syrup by half and pour over pears. Serve with a dollop of mascarpone, créme fraiche or Devonshire cream
Another variation is to poach them in sweet white wine and serve them with some of the spiced syrup and a little almond gláce. Or, if you are really ambitious, you might make some of each for a red and white theme. In any case, you can’t go wrong here for a special dessert.
Enjoy!
Written by Susan Cypert, Phoenix Farmers Market Examiner at Examiner.com
View Susan’s article on Examiner.com by following this link or view more of Susan’s articles by visiting her writer’s page.