Cool down with refreshing poached pears

BY Betty Williams

It’s hard to believe that August is more than half-way done and “Back to School” is back. While I’m sad that summer is ending, I’m also kind of glad to return to some type of routine in my life.

Between me, my husband and our three kids, there were six weeks of traveling for either business, school, or pleasure amongst us, most of it to the East Coast: Charlotte, Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York City,  Norfolk, Raleigh, and Boston.

As you might have guessed, my gym schedule has been a train wreck and I’ve been eating all sorts of goodies I normally don’t eat. I’m afraid to step on the scale. But, really, what’s summer without a little diversion from the norm? The change-up has been good.

Looking towards the fall and normalcy; however, I’m excited about getting back into a cooking routine. With people cycling in and out of the house this summer, so much of my menu planning and prep has been thrown together at the last minute. Being a creature of habit, it’s made me a little discombobulated.

I’m a gal who loves a plan, so I have been following Kitchen Tourists on Instagram and have been cooking things from their monthly plan. They have devoted this year to trying out recipes from UK chef and restauranteur Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbooks, “Jerusalem” and “Sweet.”

Remember those group projects you were assigned in high school and college? Inevitably the group assignment would wind up like this: one person would do the majority of the work, two people would pretend to do some work, one person would do absolutely nothing. Well, this is nothing like that.

Each month, several dishes are selected and posted. Folks like me make the recipes, take a photo and post them, along with comments, for all to see. It’s been a fun way to try out new recipes and share the good, the bad and the ugly with the group.

As for my Instagram (@betty_eatz), it’s all food, all the time. You might have guessed that. I share the results of the recipes I’ve made and liked, as well as restaurants I’ve tried and liked.

This week’s recipe is adapted from the one in Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook, “Jerusalem.” In the ingredient list, I substituted ground cardamom for the whole cardamom pods called for in the original recipe since I’ve never seen whole cardamom pods available locally. And I wasn’t able to find saffron threads in the grocery stores I shop in normally, so I made the recipe without them.

You may be thinking “what’s the big deal? It’s pears cooked in wine,” but oh, friend. These are so, so good. Eaten warm, they are a delicious way to end the day as our evenings are starting to cool down. Eaten cold, they are a refreshing pick me up during the heat of the day.

Photo by Betty Williams

Poached Pears in White Wine

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dry white wine
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 4 firm pears, peeled, stems intact
• crème fraiche or unsweetened whipped cream

Directions:

Combine wine, sugar, lemon juice, cardamom, saffron and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring mixture to a simmer, then add pears. You may need to add some water in order to completely submerge pears. Cover the surface with a circle of waxed paper and simmer, turning pears occasionally, until pears are tender but not mushy, about 15 to 25 minutes depending on the size of the pears. Check for doneness by inserting a knife into the fleshy part. If the knife slides in smoothly, its done.

Transfer pears to a plate using a slotted spoon. Turn heat to high and boil poaching liquid until reduced to 1 cup, about 10–15 minutes. At this point, the pears can be served warm with a dollop of crème fraiche or whipped cream (or vanilla ice cream!). Another option is to cover pears and refrigerate with the syrup. Pears can then be served cold for a refreshing dessert.