poached pears :: recipe

We're heading off for a few days and the fruit bowl has been stressing me out. It was full of just-ready-to-eat-right-now this minute pears and apples and peaches and bananas... So in among the packing and cleaning (another compulsion reserved for holiday time) I decided that poaching the pears was an absolute must. I normally do this as an autumn pudding poaching them with red wine and cinnamon. But summer time needs a lighter touch and so it was to saffron and cardamom I turned.

200g caster sugar
425ml water
3 tbsp lemon juice
6 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1/4 tsp saffron threads
5 pears, cored, peeled and halved

Put the water, sugar, lemon juice, cardamom and saffron into a largish saucepan and stir to dissolve the sugar. Then bring to a simmer and add the pears which you've peeled and cored. Cover with a lid made from parchment paper and then put on the actual saucepan lid. Leave this to simmer gently for 20-30 minutes until the pears are cooked. Let it cool completely, then lift out the pears and put them in a serving dish and pour over the syrup. This will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge.

Recipe from Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cookery Course