Poached Pears

I'd always wanted to make these because they look so pretty, so I finally found a recipe for them and gave it a go. Its a surprisingly simple process as most of it is inactive, waiting for the wine to absorb.

Ingredients:
4 ripe pears
2 cups of red wine (preferably dry)
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 of a cup sugar
juice and zest of 1 small orange

Combine your wine, juice, zest, sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Peel your pears and slice a small slice (less than an inch) off the bottom, so that they're flat and will sit in the pan. Also when peeling the pears, keep the stem intact so that you can turn them in the pan and lift them out more easily. I accidentally pulled one out and its very difficult to move them with tongs once they start poaching as they go quite soft. Place the pears in the wine mixture, cover and simmer for approx 20 minutes turning every 5 minutes (this is to attempt an even colour but you do tend to get a deeper shade at the bottom, as you can see.) Cool the pears (standing upright) in the pan then chill in the fridge for approx 3 hours. When ready to serve bring pears out of the fridge and allow them to come to room temperature. While the do this, reduce your wine mixture (on a medium heat) for approx 15 minutes, allow to cool slightly then pour over pears.