Tiny forelle pears!
Forelle pears are very nice for poaching in a flavored liquid. Two or three forelle pears are about the same weight as one regular size pear. Forelle pears are very sweet, so they are nice for dessert. Forelle pears originated in Germany in the 1600's or 1700's. The German word forelle translates to trout. I do not know why these little pears share a name of a fish, but that could be an interesting subject to look into. Persia and Turkey also have a long history of growing miniature sweet pears and many other miniature fruits, so it is possible that the forelle pear seed stock came from the middle east. Persian and Arabic chefs have a tradition of using honey to candy and preserve miniature fruits. Before sugar became commonplace, honey was cooked down to a candy glaze, then the miniature fruit was simmered in the glaze, till the fruit became saturated and candied. Middle eastern candied miniature fruits were once reserved for special occasions. I featured Arabic miniature candied fruits in a mezze canape platter article last year, while I was still in Chicago. Poached pears have been a fine dining dessert for a few centuries. Most chefs poach pears in wine or a liquor. Winter spices are usually part of the liquor or wine poaching liquid. I featured a dessert recipe of red wine poached pear in this blog a few years ago. For this poached pear recipe, I chose to not use any liquor or wine in the poaching liquid. I only wanted to accent the flavor of the forelle pears with common winter spices. To achieve the pink color, organic red food dye was used. Pomegranate juice, beet juice or cranberry juice can be used in place of a few drops of organic red food coloring. Beet juice probably adds the least amount of flavor, so it would be the best choice for this recipe, because it would not mask the flavor of the pears. After the pears are poached, sugar is added to a portion of the spiced poaching liquid, and the sweetened poaching liquid is reduced to a red colored accompanying syrup for decorating the plate. The liquor choice was Kentucky sour mash bourbon for the accompanying cream sauce. Brandy, rum, Grand Marnier and fortified wines are commonly used for dessert sauces. Bourbon is rarely used for dessert sauces, but it has an excellent flavor profile for dessert sauce that is meant to accompany pears or apples. Bourbon, honey and lemon used to be an old fashioned cough syrup. In recent years, honey flavored bourbon has become popular with the cocktail drinking crowd. Bourbon and honey go nicely together. The bourbon honey creme sauce in this recipe turned out to be a nice choice for the winter spice poached pears. There are two poaching techniques. Cold start and hot start. Cold start poaching allows a transfer of flavor. Hot start poaching flavors the item that is poached and the poaching liquid gains a minimum of flavor from the item that is poached. Spiced Poached Forelle Pears: A subtle amount of spices is best, because the flavor of forelle pear is so nice. Some chefs go crazy with winter spices. Winter spices are very strong, so only a little bit of each should be used! Place 3 small peeled forelle pears in a small sauce pot. (Leave the stems on the pears.) Add just enough water to cover the pears. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar. Add 1 pinches of cinnamon. Add 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger. Add 1 pinch of allspice. Add 1 clove. Add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice. Add enough beet juice, pomegranate juice or organic red food dye to give the poaching liquid a red color. Place the sauce pot over medium/medium high heat. Bring the liquid to a gentle boil. Reduce the temperature to low heat. Simmer till the pears become tender, but not mushy. Remove the pears from the poaching liquid and keep them warm on a stove top. Save the poaching liquid!
Spice Syrup: A little bit of spice syrup is needed for the poached pear recipe, so only a small portion of the poaching liquid was called for. If you want to use some spice syrup for other recipes, then multiply the amount of sugar in this recipe, so it is the correct proportion for turning all of the poaching liquid into syrup. Place 1 cup of the poaching liquid in a small sauce pot. Add 3 tablespoons of sugar. Place the sauce pot over medium/medium low heat. Simmer and reduce, till the sauce becomes a medium thin syrup consistency. Keep the spice syrup warm on a stove top.
Bourbon Honey Creme: Heat a small sauce pot over medium/medium low heat. Add 2 ounces of Kentucky Sour Mash Bourbon. Boil for 1 minute, till the alcohol denatures. Add 4 ounces of cream. Bring the cream to a gentle boil. Reduce the temperature to low heat. Add 1/2 tablespoon of honey. Simmer and reduce, till the sauce becomes a medium thin sauce consistency.
Spiced Poached Forelle Pears with Bourbon Honey Creme and Spice Syrup: Spoon a thin layer of the bourbon honey cream sauce on a plate, as a bed for the poached pears. Trim the bottom of each spiced poached forelle pear, so it will stand upright. Place the poached pears on the bourbon honey creme. Spoon a small amount of the spice syrup over each pear. Drizzle drops and streaks of the spice syrup on the bourbon creme sauce. Serve as is or drag a skewer through the two sauces on the plate to create modern marbled effect if you wish to. I pictured both styles of saucing in the photographs above. No garnish is necessary!
This is a nice early winter poached pear recipe and a nice holiday dessert recipe. The spiced poached forelle pears and sauces are very easy to make. Poached pears are always an eye catching dessert! Yum! ... Shawna
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