Sunday, April 15, 2007

Sweet and Simple

It's time for Weekend Herb Blogging again. For those who would like to join this weekly blogging event, whereby bloggers write about herbs, fruits, vegetables or even flowers, don't forget to check out Kalyn's Kitchen, where it all started. This week, the guest host is talented Haalo from Cook (Almost) Anthing At Least Once.

I picked up a packet of Seckel pears from the supermarket. Seckel pears are also known as sugar pears. As you might have guessed from the name, these pears are very sweet, and juicy as well. Another characteristic of these is the blushes of maroon on the green skin. They are also smaller in size than the usual ones such as Anjou or Bartlett.

I polished off two pears in one sitting. With the rest, I decided to poach them. With the recipe for Classic Poached Pears from Donna Hay, I made this:
Below is my recipe, which is a pretty major adaptation, because I changed the wine from red to white. As I do not like red wine, I didn't want to spend on a bottle of wine to be used only for this. That is also the reason for the light pink shade of these pears instead of the deep red hue.

Poached Pears
250ml sweet dessert wine (I used Muscat)
250ml natural red grape juice
50g sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 clove
5 Seckel pears, peeled, leave stalks intact

1) Heat all ingredients except pears in a pot over medium heat, until sugar is dissolved. Turn heat to low and simmer this liquid for 5 minutes.
2) Add in the pears. Over low heat, simmer the pears, covered, for about 30 minutes.
3) Remove from heat, let cool. Refrigerate the pears in the syrup overnight before serving.

12 comments:

Anh said...

Angie, I love your new theme. It's so cool!

I am enjoying a lot of pears here, but too lazy to bake or cook with them. Your poach pear is beautiful, perfect for a cool night.

Gattina Cheung said...

my pal, did you try another new layout before this one? Both super! The previous one with a white background your photos shown better, jmho :D
Your change of using white wine sounds much nicer than the original. Pear is one of my favorite fruit!

Orchidea said...

Nice... I like pears. Very nice your new look!
Ciao.

Kalyn Denny said...

I've never seen this type of pears, but they sound perfect for this recipe. I agree, your wine choice sounds perfect. Yum.

Unknown said...

Anh, thanks pal! I was getting a bit bored of the blue colour, hee...

Gattina, you're right. But the white background template refused to 'cooperate', gave me quite a bit of problems, so had to choose another.

I love the Muscat too, but using red will produce a more intense colour.

Orchidea, thanks!

Kalyn, thank you too! This is my 1st time seeng/using these pears too.

Helene said...

That's an awesome yet so simple dessert. It really lets the flavor of the pears show through. I love seckel pears, they are the perfect size for snacking. Great shots!

^cherie said...

Nicee layout Angie!! Love the colour ;)

Ooo..pear! I had this yesterday and boy, it was soooooo juicy and sweet! This batch of pears rock hor? :)

D said...

New theme but still the same old good material. This looks so pro now!

Freya said...

This sounds like a lovely, light dessert! I love poached pears and the muscat would be perfect with them!

Sandra said...

Angie!! I love pera.. and this recipe sound delicious!!
Bye from Italy!

Unknown said...

Helene, thanks so much for your kind words :)

Sherie, I agree, these pears taste so good on its own :P

D, for a moment, I was worried you were going to say "new theme but still same old stuff", hee... thanks for your commpliments.

Freya and Paul, yes indeed, this is simple to prepare and delish to eat :)

Warda said...

Your dessert looks so simple, yet so sphisticated. I love poached pears with a good drizzle of melted dark chocolate, just because I love chocolate and pears together. Lovely picture.