Wine Poached Pears

Thursday was one of those nights after work where as soon as the clock hit 5:00pm, I just wanted to run home, kick my shoes off, soak them in a nice Epsom salt bath, and drink as much wine as my liver could hold. So that is exactly what I did. =)

In preparation of tomorrow: Friday! and my co-workers Spa Party, I shopped for groceries and decided to indulge in a new type of dessert. Instead of just drinking a nice glass of Merlot or Cauvernet Sauvignon like I had originally planned , I made Wine Poached Pears. It was something new for me, since I'm not usually "the cooking type" but after reading this recipe in one of the blogs I follow: www.cupcakesandcashmere.com, I was intrigued by the delicious idea. I love Emily's blog because she mixes food recipes, fashion, and jewelry that she makes and sells herself on Etsy. Though her pieces usually sell out in a second, I'm still hoping to get my hands on one of her necklaces one day in the near future.

Here is the recipe and ingredients for a simple fruit dessert when you want the bourgeois fancy part of you to come out and Woah! your friends =)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4-6 Peeled, Cored and Sliced Pears (recommend Bosc or Anjou)
• 1 1/2 cups of red wine (recommend Zinfandel, Shiraz or Merlot)
• 3/4 cups of granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice (can also add lemon zest if desired)
• 2 Teaspoons of Ground Cinnamon (can use a cinnamon stick as well)
• 2 Teaspoons of Vanilla
  

The Ingredients

Chopped Slices of Pears (I used both Anjou + Bosc)

2Teaspoons of Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice + Lemon Zest go in the pot

Adding 3/4 Cup of Granulated Sugar. After all ingredients are mixed in the pot bring to a boil

Once wine sauce has boiled, bring heat to a simmer and start adding pears to the boiled Wine Sauce

Sliced Pears floating in the Wine Sauce, heat brought to a nice simmer. Let the pears simmer in the wine sauce for at least 10 minutes on each side, until the pears are soft (enough to be poked by a fork without falling apart).

After pears have been in pot for 20 minutes remove from heat

Once pears are out, bring Wine Sauce back into a boil and let it reduce to half the size

Whalaaa! Pour remainder of Wine Sauce to Pears and you got your Final Product!

All I was missing was a side of Mascarpone to go with this sweet but not too-sweet enough for the tooth fairy to say ok, dessert.