Poached Spiced Plums Recipes

Steps:

• To prepare the plums: wash and cut them into quarters, then remove the stones.
• Tip the sugar into a pan with 225ml water, the cinnamon and vanilla. Gently heat until the sugar dissolves.
• Slide the fruit into the syrup. Bring the pan to the boil, then let it simmer for 5-10 mins - depending on the ripeness - until the plums are soft. Leave to cool slightly and serve as they are with something creamy.

Steps:

• Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large nonreactive saucepan. Add tea bags, remove from heat, cover, and steep for about 10 minutes. Remove tea bags and bring back to a boil. Add sugar and lemon juice and stir until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes.
• Reduce heat to medium low so that liquid is barely simmering. Add plums and poach until tender, 30 seconds to 1 minute. (If plums are not very ripe, this will take longer.) Remove plums from liquid and let cool. Reduce poaching liquid to the consistency of light syrup. For an elegant presentation, pull plum skin back from fruit, leaving it attached at the stem end (this doesn't work on all plum varieties). Serve plums with some of the poaching liquid.

Steps:

• Place the vin santo, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla bean, and zests in a large, shallow saucepan with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Peel the pears, leaving the stems intact, and scoop out the seeds from the bottom with an apple corer or melon baller. Lay half the pears on their sides in the poaching liquid and simmer for 20 minutes, carefully turning the pears once with a spoon. Remove with a slotted spoon. Poach the remaining pears in the same liquid. Snip off the hard stems from the figs with scissors. Add the figs, apricots, prunes, and the first batch of poached pears and simmer 5 to 10 more minutes, until the pears and the dried fruit are all tender.
• Chill the pears, dried fruit, zests, and poaching liquid. Remove the cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla bean before serving if you like.

Steps:

• Score a cross shape in the bottom of each peach. Put the peaches into a large pot of boiling water, for 30 seconds, then transfer the peaches to a large bowl filled with cold water to refresh. Set aside for another 40 to 45 seconds, then drain the peaches, and peel using a sharp knife.
• Put the measured cold water, cinnamon, whole star anise, ginger slices, and sugar into a large saucepan, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture resembles syrup.
• Add the peaches to the syrup mixture, and cover them with a disk of greaseproof or parchment paper measuring the same diameter as the pan. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce the heat to a simmer, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the peaches are cooked through (they will be soft when pricked with a knife.) Remove the peaches, and set aside on a warm plate. Continue to boil the syrup until its volume has reduced to about 1 cup. Set aside to cool.
• Brush the peaches with a little of the syrup. Stir half of the remaining syrup and the ground star anise into the Greek-style yogurt until well combined, adding more syrup as necessary, to taste.
• To serve, cut each of the spiced poached peaches in half and place 2 of the peach halves onto each of the serving plates. Spoon a portion of the star anise yogurt alongside each peach. Drizzle a little syrup over each peach. Sprinkle over the toasted almonds.

Steps:

• cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise.
• Scrape seeds into a small bowl, discard bean (or place in a container of sugar for a very pleasant vanilla scented sugar) Add sugar, and stir well.
• Place plums in a 1 quart baking dish, add sugar mixture and lemon juice, tossing gently to coat.
• Dot with margarine, cover and bake at 400f degrees for 20 minutes or until plums are tender, stirring once.

Steps:

• Heat wine, sugar, water, peppercorns, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, cinnamon, vanilla bean and lemon zest to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat.
• Meanwhile, remove the pear cores with a melon baller.
• Add pears to saucepan; reduce heat to a simmer. Poach the pears until tender enough for a knife to pierce them without resistance, at least 20 minutes, longer if the pears are less ripe.
• Let pears cool in the poaching liquid, about 15 minutes.
• Place the pears on a serving platter.
• Strain the poaching liquid through a sieve into a large saucepan; discard the solids. Heat the liquid to a boil; reduce heat to low. Cook until reduced to a thick syrup, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly.
• Serve the pears drizzled with the warm syrup.

Steps:

• Stir sugar and water together in a 2 1/2-quart souffle dish. Add cinnamon stick. Cook, uncovered, at 100 percent in a high-power oven for 3 minutes. Stir thoroughly, making sure there are no grains on the bottom of the dish. Cover with a lid or microwave plastic wrap. Cook for 6 minutes. Prick plastic, if used, to release steam.
• Remove from oven and uncover. Stir in lemon zest and vanilla bean. Add plums. Cook, covered, at 100 percent power in a high-power oven for 8 minutes.
• Remove from oven and uncover. Let cool. Remove vanilla bean and store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.
• Serve chilled, in a bowl, with some of the syrup.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a shallow baking dish with cooking spray.
• Place the plums, cut-side up, in a single layer in the baking dish.
• Whisk together the orange juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, and cardamom in a bowl; drizzle over the plums.
• Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until plums are hot and the sauce is bubbly. Top with toasted almonds, if desired (see Cook's Note).