DISH NAME : PEARS IN RED WINE

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 40 minutes

Chilling Time : 2 hours

Description

In this recipe, the red wine turns the pears a pretty pink.
A dry wine is a wine that has no residual sugar, making it less sweet. When grape juice converts to wine, alcohol is produced in the fermentation process because yeast eats the sugar present in the juice. In many wines, the winemaker stops the fermentation process before the yeast has time to eat all the sugar, making the wine sweet. When a winemaker leaves a little sugar behind, we call this residual sugar. To make a dry wine, the winemaker will let the fermentation process finish completely, allowing the yeast to consume all the sugar present. No more residula sugar, so no sugary sweetness. Then the wine is called dry.

Note

1) Choose a pan deeper than the height of the pears.
2) Do not reduce wine too much, it will start sticking to the pan.

Method

1) Peel the pears.
2) Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each pear so it stands upright.
3) In a large pan, combine wine and sugar and bring to boil. Boil for 5 minutes and add pears, bay leaf, orange juice and whole spices. 4) Reduce heat to a simmer, cover pan and cook pears for about 30 minutes or till very tender and can easily be cut with the tip of the knife.
5) Remove from heat, open pan and let the pears cool in the syrup.
6) Drain them from the syrup and arrange in a shallow serving dish.
7) Strain the syrup and reduce over high heat for 5-10 minutes or until thick enough to coat a spoon. Do not let it caramelize. Adjust the flavouring, adding sugar or orange juice to taste. Let the syrup cool slightly, and spoon it over the pears.
8) Chill for 2 hours in the fridge.

Serving Suggestions

Serve cold with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.