Côtes du Rhône Poached Pears

Total time: ~90 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 pears, bosc, peeled

• 1 bottle red wine - preferably Côtes du Rhône or Merlot

• 1 vanilla bean, scraped

• 5 cloves

• 2 star anise, whole

• 1 cinnamon stick (6 inches broken in half)

• 6 orange peels

• 1 bay leaf

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed

• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup

• 2 tbsp cold butter

Directions:

1. In the medium saucepan over medium heat, add wine, scraped vanilla bean (seeds and pod), cloves, star anise, cinnamon stick, orange peel, bay leaf, honey, and sugar. Stir to combine.

2. Once the sugar has dissolved, add pears to the wine. Ensure pears are submerged in wine while simmering to get an even coloring. Gently rolling pears over halfway through, spooning wine over the pears as they simmer may help.

3. Bring wine to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer pears for 30-40 minutes, or until depth of color is achieved. Take off heat. Let pears cool in wine, about 30 minutes. Once cooled, take pears out, set aside in the fridge. Strain wine. Pour wine back into the saucepan.

4. Place the saucepan back onto heat. Bring to a boil. Simmer wine, over medium-low heat, until reduced, about 15 minutes. Take off heat. With a whisk, gradually whisk in cold butter into the hot wine, a teaspoon at a time. The sauce should become glossy and thick.

5. Spoon sauce over chilled pears. You may garnish with powdered sugar and pomegranate seeds. It is also delicious served with vanilla ice cream or mascarpone!