Pears In Port With Meringue Cream Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F and line a baking sheet with a sheet of waxed paper.
• Put your egg whites into a squeaky clean bowl, making sure there are absolutely no little pieces of egg shell or egg yolk in them. Whisk on medium until the whites form firm peaks. With your mixer still running, gradually add the sugar and the pinch of salt. Turn the mixer up to the highest setting and whisk for about 7 or 8 minutes, until the meringue mixture is white and glossy. To test whether it's done you can pinch some between your fingers - if it feels completely smooth it's ready; if it's slightly granular it needs a little more whisking.
• Dot each corner of the waxed paper with a blob of meringue, then turn it over and stick it to the baking sheet. Spoon the meringue out onto the paper. Using the back of a spoon, shape and swirl it into a rectangle. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour or until crisp on the outside and a little soft and sticky inside. At the same time, bake the hazelnuts on a separate sheet in the oven for 1 hour or until golden brown.
• Drain the cans of pears, reserving the syrup from 1 can. Cut each pear half into 3 slices. Pour the pear syrup into a saucepan with the ginger, if using, and warm gently over a medium heat until it starts to simmer. Take off the heat and snap the chocolate into the saucepan, stirring with a spoon until it's all melted.
• Take the meringue and hazelnuts out of the oven and leave to cool. Place the meringue on a nice rustic board or platter. Whip the cream with the sifted icing sugar and the vanilla seeds until it forms smooth, soft peaks. Smash the toasted hazelnuts (in a kitchen towel) and sprinkle half of them over the top of the meringue. Spoon half the whipped cream over the top and drizzle with some of the chocolate sauce (if the sauce has firmed up, melt it slightly by holding the saucepan over a large pan of boiling water). Divide most of the pear pieces evenly over the top. Pile over the rest of the whipped cream and pears. Drizzle with some more chocolate sauce, then sprinkle over the remaining toasted hazelnuts with some grated orange zest. Serve straightaway. If you're making this in advance, get everything ready and assemble at the last minute.

Steps:

• Soak almonds, glace fruit, and 1/4 cup rum together overnight.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Combine water, cinnamon, and jam in a large saucepan. Boil until well incorporated and syrupy. Reduce heat. Add pears and cook gently for 5 minutes. Remove to an ovenproof dish. Fill cavities with crystallized fruit. Reserve pan syrup, discarding cinnamon bark.
• Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold in confectioners' sugar. Pipe this meringue over pears. Dust with confectioners' sugar and bake for 5 minutes.
• Stir chocolate pieces into warm syrup and add rum.
• Serve pears on a heated platter, surrounded with warm chocolate sauce.

Steps:

• Peel the pears, but leave them whole. With the stem end intact, cut off a thin slice at the bottom so that the pears can stand upright.
• In a nonreactive saucepan, bring the port, sugar, and 2 cups water to a boil.
• Place the whole pears in the liquid, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for about 35 minutes, turning the pears occasionally, until they are tender.
• Remove the pears with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool.
• Increase the heat under the saucepan and reduce the liquid by half by boiling vigorously for 20 minutes to a medium-thick syrup. Add the Cointreau and vanilla.
• Place the pears upright in a serving dish and spoon the reduced syrup over them. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Steps:

• Peel the pears using a swivel-bladed paring knife. Cut away the stems.
• Combine enough water to cover the pears when added and 4 tablespoons lemon juice and add the pears as they are peeled.
• Cut the pears lengthwise in half. Scoop out the cores, and a little of the meat, of each half to form a nice-sized cavity.
• Combine the 3 cups water with 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and the vanilla bean or extract. Bring to the boil and add the pear halves and the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice. When the mixture returns to the boil reduce the heat and cook about 20 minutes or until pears are tender when pierced with a fork. Remove the pears and reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Let the pears cool.
• Put half of the berries in the container of a food processor or electric blender and blend while gradually adding the reserved 1 cup of pear-cooking liquid and the orange juice. This mixture may be used as is, but it is best to put it through a fine sieve of the sort known in French kitchens as a chinois, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. There should be about 1 1/3 cups.
• Fill the cavity of each pear with about 3 of the remaining berries. Quickly invert the pears on an ovenproof serving dish.
• Preheat the broiler.
• Beat the egg whites until stiff and gradually beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Continue beating until stiff. Spoon the resulting meringue into a pastry bag outfitted with a star-shaped tube (No. 3B). Squeeze out the meringue in star patterns over the pears. Pour the sauce around the pears. Place the dish under the broiler about 4 inches from the source of heat. Broil briefly until the tips of the stars are browned. Garnish around the sauce with a circle of the remaining raspberries.

Steps:

• Peel gingerroot and slice thin. Cut slices into thin strips and in a saucepan simmer in 1 quart water 10 minutes. Drain gingerroot and discard water.
• In a saucepan just large enough to hold pears lying on their sides bring 3 cups water to boil with gingerroot, sugar, Port, and lemon juice, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
• Peel pears, leaving stems intact, and cut a thin slice from bottom of each if necessary to enable pears to stand upright when served. Arrange pears on their sides in poaching liquid, adding enough of remaining water as necessary to just cover. Simmer pears, turning them occasionally, until tender, 20 to 40 minutes depending on ripeness. Carefully transfer pears with a slotted spoon to a bowl and boil poaching liquid until reduced to about 3/4 cup and slightly syrupy. Pour sauce over pears. Pears may be made 1 day ahead and cooled in sauce before being chilled, covered. Serve pears warm or chilled.