Introduction
Some recipes can be simple but elegant. This is a desert made with just pears, red wine and water (you can add some spices). For a more prestigious version, I made it recently using one of Australia's most famous and expensive wines: Penfold's Grange Hermitage (1989 vintage).
You don't have to waste any of the wine to make the dessert. Old wines have to be decanted, to remove the sediment. You can use the wine left in the bottle, after decanting, along with the sediment, for the pears.
This version of pears in red wine is a lot simpler than some I have seen, such as Sue Dyson and Roger McShane's on the ABC Web site. They suggest making the syrup separately, and seem to throw away the pear skin. Instead I just put everything in together, including the skin and cook it all in one step. Also I use less liquid, so you don't have to reduce it later. These pears aren't cooked as long as in other recipes and so will retain more texture (and nutrients).
Ingredients
- Four Pears
- One quarter cup of red wine in the bottle
- Three quarters of a cup of water
- 1 Cinnamon stick (optional)
- Quarter lemon (optional)
- One tablespoon of raw sugar (optional)
- Saucepan with lid (glass or plastic for microwave version)
Instructions
Peal the pears (leave the stem and core in place). Place the pears and peal into a saucepan. Add the red wine. Rinse the wine bottle with the water and add to the saucepan. Add cinnamon stick, sugar, juice of the lemon and a small slice of the peal (optional). Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Serve each pear with some of the sauce and stewed peal. Serve with vanilla ice cream (optional). Eat with a fork and spoon. Can be refrigerated and eaten the next day (cold or reheated).
Microwave version: Set an intelligent microwave to "stewed fruit" or set to medium until boiling, then allow to sit for 15 minutes.
About Penfolds Grange
Penfolds Grange (until the 1989 vintage labelled Penfolds Grange Hermitage) is a famous, prestigious and expensive Australian wine, made predominantly from the Shiraz grape and usually a small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon. It is widely regarded as one of the premier red wines of the world. The term "Hermitage" was commonly used in Australia as a synonym for Shiraz. In 1953 two version of Grange were made, one 87% Shiraz and 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, the other 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.
From Penfolds Grange, Wikipedia, 2006