I use the wine I would drink with dessert to make my pears poached in red wine.
There are two schools of thought when it comes to cooking with wine. The one school says only use what you are prepared to drink, and the other school says only use what you would not drink. Raymond Blanc is of the opinion that it is a waste to cook with good wine. He does not imply that you should cook with bad wine, only that you do not cook with excellent wine. I was given 6 bottles of wine that are really not worth drinking. But, they are not so bad that they need to be thrown down the drain either. They are in fact perfect for cooking with. And, my heart does not break or my wallet cry when I used an entire bottle to poach some pears in. This is another dessert that needs very little attention. Once you have put the pears on to poach, you can leave them to slowly cook. Perfect for when you are entertaining and don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen.
Do you cook with good wine, or save it for the table?
For this easy dessert I used an apple corer to remove the core of the pears and then placed them into a large pan and covered them with red wine. I like a bit of spice with my dessert so I added a cinnamon quill and a few whole star anise to the poaching liquid. You could add vanilla or cloves or any other warm spice. I cut the pear in half only for the photograph, but you can serve them whole, with a little bit of thick cream or some ice cream if you prefer.
Amongst my favourite desserts. Nice post.
thanks Roger 🙂
Wine on the table for me would be wasted so using it in cooking like this is the way to go – yum 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I think you have a few years to go yet before you are allowed to legally drink, so in the meantime, use the wine for baking 🙂
Love pears in red wine – I usually add sugar though.
🙂 Mandy
I have never thought to add fructose to the dessert, I must try 🙂
I wonder if the fructose will thicken the wine to a syrupy consistency like the sugar does?
it should do! It makes jam much stickier 🙂
We can rarely afford to buy good wine – so it’s academic whether we drink it or cook with it. I have been known to cut red wine with lemonade to make it drinkable! Far better than wasting it. 😉 Now, I’ve never had a pear poached in red wine, which I can see is something of a failing. I must rectify this very soon I think. I have currently got a half a bottle of dessert white wine in the fridge and this post has got me thinking about poaching some peaches in it. Might work!
Sometimes we find the most amazing wines at really good prices. Those from the Langedouc region in France are the ones we look out for in the UK! Our South African wines are so expensive in the UK, and not half way decent so we tend to ignore them when shopping. I would love to hear about the white wine and peaches – it sounds like a perfect combination to me 🙂
This dessert brings back happy memories of my godmother, This was one of her 2 desserts (the other was an apple sponge) and my mother could only make creme caramel for a while, so on Sundays between the two famileis we used to rotate between these three desserts! I would drink all the wine I buy (not at once!) but would definitely not use the “good stuff” in cooking…would much rather enjoy a glass of it 🙂
I can relate to some people only having one dessert recipe in their repertoire! I think that is why supermarket desserts became so popular 🙂
How long would these last refrigerated, to make ahead? Thank you.
I would not keep them for more than a day or two and I would keep them in the poaching liquid and in a well sealed container! Thank you for the visit Gerard 🙂
A divine & well flavoured recipe! I love to cook with good wine, always!
that is interesting to know Sophie 🙂
I’ve nominated you for The One Lovely Blog Award. If you’re interested in accepting please check out my blog at http://www.susartandfood.wordpress.com. Congratulations!
*blush* thank you so much for the compliment! I will hop on over to your blog and accept the award, later in the day 🙂
I’m of the same school as you — it is a shame to use an excellent (and expensive) bottle of wine to cook. This recipe was the perfect solution for your wine!
We have access to so much above average wine here that I would rather save the good bottles for drinking 🙂
Lovely, Tandy! I think I shall try this for pudding on Saturday- sounds perfect…
please let me know how it tastes!
😀 Will do!
🙂
Poached pears are fantastic. I love this recipe.
thanks Greg 🙂
I hope to have a good crop of pears this fall if the porcupines don’t get to them. I love to poach pears but haven’t used star anise before. I’m looking forward to using them the next time I poach the pears.
how do the porcupines get to the pears? and, I am a blonde in disguise – my Aunt lives in Florida not Maine 🙂
Porcupines have large claws and climb like you can’t believe. They cut off branches with their sharp teeth. Not an animal you want to have in an orchard. That is too funny…Naples, Florida instead of Naples, Maine. At least she doesn’t have to deal with snow.
Wow Karen, I did not know that! I wonder if there are any plants they don’t like so that you can dissuade them from your orchards? My Aunt used to live in Washington and NY so I am sure she prefers the warmer climate of Florida. I am always surprised when I see how many places share names with other cities across the US and even laughed when I saw London UK on a TV program, not realizing how many other London’s there are. Have a super weekend 🙂
A little wine for the cook and a little for the dish is how I roll.
that is so perfect! Have you seen the widget to the left about wine?
That is great widget and my new motto! Have a great day.
and you too! I can send you the widget code if you want it 🙂
Would love it thanks!
I just loooove fruit poached in wine!
It is such an easy dessert 🙂