After ordering poached pears several times, I decided to try to make them myself. I picked up a few pears at the store. I peeled one, split it into two pieces, and cored it.
I boiled it for about 20 minutes in water, sugar, and a little bourbon.
After cooking the pears, I let them cool while I boiled down the syrup a little more. Some whipped cream finished them off. The result was good, but my pears weren't as ripe as they should have been. I tried again with another pear a few days later and the result was much softer. This dish works well with several poaching fluids: straight syrup, syrup with wine. Its simplicity adds to its elegance. And it doesn't take a lot of effort.
I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...



Comments
Post a Comment