Jackie Kennedy's Pears Poached in Wine
Source of Recipe
Celebrity Recipes
List of Ingredients
1 bottle (750 ml) red wine
Juice of 1 lemon
1 vanilla bean, split
1-1/2 cups sugar
8 pears (see directions)Recipe
Use any pear in season. Comice (the holiday pear) work well, but narrow-necked Boscs look very nice because they stand up high. I have also used Bartlett and Anjou and even Seckel, not the tiny ones, but the slightly bigger ones.
In a saucepan large enough to hold all the pears, combine the wine, lemon juice, the vanilla bean, the sugar and enough water to cover. Cover the pan and cook until the sugar has dissolved. While that is going on, bring a pot of water to a simmer. Blanch the pears for a minute or so, then immediately drop into cold water. Peel the skins off with your fingers or a small knife, leaving the stems in place.
Set the pears upright in the wine syrup and simmer until they are just tender. Use a wooden spoon to remove them from the pot so the fruit is not gouged. Place the pears on a deep serving platter with sides to hold the wine mixture and refrigerate pears until ready to serve .
Raise the heat under the wine syrup and boil it uncovered until it is reduced by half. Let it cool at room temperature, then spoon it over the pears. Keep basting the pears over and over with the syrup. It will coat the pears beautifully and make them all shiny and glazed.
Remove the pears from the refrigerator about 5 minutes before serving so the syrup has a chance to get a little runny again.
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