So… It’s fall, and while my friends back on the east coast are enjoying the changing of the seasons, I feel like I’m missing out while living in the dessert. In an effort to chase away my grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side syndrome and be grateful for our present circumstances, I’ve been trying to find ways to bring fall into our home. One way is by cooking fall harvest foods.
Right now there are 10 varieties of pears being harvested in the US, and if you’ve never tried poaching pears, now is the time to try it! This was my very first time poaching pears, and I will admit that in the past I was too intimidated to give it a shot. I mean.. I get anxiety just walking into a kitchen. It turns out that poaching pears is simple and as easy as boiling instant noodles. Good thing I’m a pro at that! :P
Originally, pears were only poached in wine and sugar, but these days you can get really creative with what you use. Since beer is our preferred beverage of choice, we used a black lager (New Belgium 1554). It enhanced our Thai Basil Chicken, so it was naturally our first pick for this recipe. We were happy with the result. The chocolatey flavor of the black lager went perfectly with raspberry.
Black Lager Poached Pears Recipe with Raspberry Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup black lager (I used New Belgium 1554)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 4 bartlett pears
- 2-3 Tablespoons lime juice
- 1 cup of frozen or fresh raspberries
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
Directions:
- Peel pears but leave the stems on.
- Coat them in lime juice and set them aside to delay the browning process.
- Combine the beer, water, vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon and simmer on low heat (approx 5 minutes).
- Cook pears over low heat in sugar syrup, turning them often.
- Remove pears with a slotted spoon when tender. (You can use a knife or fork to check).
- Boil the remaining syrup and reduce it to half (about 1 cup).
- Remove the cinnamon stick and discard or keep it as a garnish.
- Add raspberries and cocoa powder to the syrup and stir in for 5 minutes.
- Drizzle your syrup over the pears and serve.
Chef’s notes:
- Pears that are crisp and unripe are ideal for poaching. You can also poach ripe but still firm pears.
- You can tell if your pear is ripe by applying gentle pressure to the neck or narrow part of the pear. If it’s ripe, it yields to pressure.
- You can halve the pears and pit them to poach them quicker and more evenly. It’s best if they are completely submerged in the syrup.
I’ve been meaning to make it out to Gilcrease Orchards to pick out my own fruit to take full advantage of pear and apple season! :)
What ways have you brought fall into your home?
Have you tried poaching pears?
What’s your favorite pear or fall harvest recipe?
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.