PEARS IN WINE
Ingredients:
2 pounds pears, ripe but firm (such as Bosc)
1/4 cup blackberries
3 cups Chianti
1/4 cup sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 bottle of Moscato or Sardinian Vernaccia
Peel the pears and leave them whole. Cook the pears and the
blackberries in the Chianti for 30 minutes. The fruit is cooked when
you can easily insert a needle through the pulp of the pear.
Meanwhile, add the sugar, the lemon juice, and the ginger to the wine
and reduce it by half, until the consistency is similar to a syrup.
When the wine is reduced and the pears are cooked, immerse them in
the Moscato or Vernaccia wine and let them macerate until serving
time.
Serving suggestion: arrange the pears in a pyramid formation on a
platter and pour the Moscato syrup over them or dust with
confectioner's sugar. Serves 4.
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PEARS IN MERLOT
Ingredients:
Zest of one orange
1 cup orange juice
4 cups water
1 bottle Merlot wine
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 pears peeled, 1/4 inch cut off at bottom to flatten
Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker except for the pears.
Cover; cook on HIGH for 1 hour.
Add the pears to the stoneware and cook for an additional 1 hour.
Remove pears and strain liquid. Pour the liquid over the pears. Serve
chilled.
B-man
