Poached Pears

DAY BEFORE COOKBOOK'S POACHED PEARS

Serves 2-4.  Can be multiplied.  For New Year's Eve, 6 pears are enough for ~30-40 guests who can choose from multiple desserts. 

Peel and slice vertically into 8 wedges, removing seed part and any hard stem sections:
        2 pears, D'Anjou or other*  (best if they're not totally 
               ripe; ripe ones are slimy when cooked)

In saucepan, bring to boil
        1/4 c red wine
        1/4 c sugar
        1/2 cinnamon stick (or a whole small one)

Add pears, reduce heat, simmer 25 minutes covered, or until pears are soft but not falling apart.

Remove pears with slotted spoon.** Serve or refrigerate overnight Longer is probably OK, too.  Bring to room temperature a few hours before serving time.
      ** For a fancier presentation: 
      Turn heat up on remaining sauce.  Stirring occasionally, 
      bring to boil.  Let boil a few minutes to thicken and 
      reduce for a glaze.  Arrange pears on platter.  Spoon on 
      glaze.  

Refrigerate until a few hours before party.  Overnight is OK.  More than a day would probably be fine, too.  Refrigerate leftovers.  They are delicious.

* Note on Varieties of Pears
I've tried all different varieties of pears and in fact

the batch I made when I revised the recipe had 8 pears: 2 D'Anjou (woody but easy to handle), 3 Starkrimson (slimy, and the tops are so narrow that they break off too easily) and 3 overripe Bosc (would have been better if they weren't overripe; maybe the ones that broke were the Bosc???).  Back several years ago when I typed up the recipe the first time, I'd decided that D'Anjou are the best for poaching, but I really have to do a more careful experiment one of these days.

rjm 12/31/06 (printout only); 1/2/11; 1st draft for blog 8/31/12