Pears Grilled In Vanilla Wine Syrup Recipes

Steps:

• Procedure for Syrup:
• Start this ahead while you are grilling other courses. Line bottom of heavy skillet to protect from soot. Add wine and sugar, slit vanilla bean open lengthwise and scrape out seeds with tip of pairing knife, adding these (and entire vanilla bean) to wine mixture. Allow mixture to boil on the grill until it becomes reduced to about 1/2 cup and has a slightly syrupy texture. Set aside until needed.
• Procedure for Pears:
• With a pairing knife, slice the bottom of each pear half into 1/2 inch thick slices (about 2/3 of the way towards stem, leaving the stem end intact.) Fan the bear slices slightly to make a flatter grilling surface. Remove vanilla bean pod from syrup. Dip each pear half in syrup, place on grill, flesh side down, and grill just until pears are lightly grill-marked. Turn pears skin-side down and continue grilling until skins are lightly grill-marked. Remove from heat and set aside. To serve add half of the remaining wine syrup and stir well to blend. Spoon a bed of the ricotta mixture on individual serving plates. Fan a grilled pear half on top of ricotta, drizzle with remaining wine syrup, sprinkle with black pepper and serve.

Steps:

• Combine pomegranate juice and sugar in a saucepan. Peel, halve and core the pears, and drop them into the pomegranate juice mixture. Add the cinnamon stick, cloves and allspice, cover the pan, and cook the pears gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until they are tender.
• Strain the syrup, discarding the cinnamon and cloves. Let pears cool in the liquid, then transfer pears to a bowl. Boil the liquid until reduced to 1 cup, about 20 minutes. Pour the syrup over the pears and chill.
• To serve, drizzle a serving platter or individual plates with the syrup, place a pear half on each plate, drizzle with more syrup. Serve with a dollop of sweet yogurt cream and sprinkle with the toasted hazelnuts.

Steps:

• Put a rack in a large stockpot, or line the pot with a folded kitchen towel. Fill with water and bring to a boil. Add 6 pint-size canning jars and boil for 10 minutes. Jars may be left in the warm water in the pot until ready to be filled. Alternatively, sterilize the jars by running them through a dishwasher cycle, leaving them there until ready to fill.
• Place canning rings in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the lids to soften their rubber gaskets. Rings and lids may be left in the water until jars are filled.
• Fill a large bowl with cold water and add the lemon juice to keep the pears from browning. Peel, halve and core the pears, dropping them into the water as you go. Meanwhile, make the flavored syrup. Bring 8 cups of water and the sugar to a boil. Add anise, vanilla beans and peppercorns.
• Drain the pears and add to the boiling syrup. Boil for five minutes. Using a slotted spoon, divide pears between six jars. Remove the star anise and vanilla from the syrup, dividing them between jars. Ladle in hot syrup and peppercorns, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Run a plastic knife gently around the inside of jar to remove any air bubbles. Recheck the headspace. There may be extra syrup, but resist overfilling the jars.
• Wipe jar rims clean with a damp towel. Place the lids on the jars, screw on the rings and lower the jars back into the pot of boiling water. Return to a full boil and boil for 20 minutes. Transfer jars to a folded towel and let cool for 12 hours; you should hear them ping as they seal.
• Once cool, test the seals by removing rings and lifting jars by the flat lids. If a lid releases, the seal has not formed. Unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within a month, or reprocessed. Rings and jars may be reused, but a new flat lid must be used each time. To reprocess, reheat syrup to boiling, add back pears, return to boiling, then continue as before.

Steps:

• Using a sharp vegetable peeler, peel the pears top to bottom, leaving them whole, with stems attached and the core intact.
• Put the pears in a large, wide nonreactive pot (enameled or stainless steel) in one layer. Add the wine, sugar and spices. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer, and cook for about 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted encounters no resistance. Remove from the heat and transfer the pears to a deep container, leaving the liquid in the pot.
• Heat the poaching liquid over high and boil down until it is reduced by half. (You should have about 2 1/2 cups syrup.) Pour syrup over pears, and refrigerate overnight if possible.
• To serve, put each pear in a soup plate and spoon over a little of the red wine syrup. Add a dollop of crème fraîche or a scoop of ice cream, and finish with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds.