Chardonnay Poached Pears and a Slow Cooked Christmas

Christmas cooking doesn't have to be rich and heavy, full of sugar and fat.  I love a lush sugary treat but sometimes it's also nice to have a lighter fruity dessert like these poached pears.  The recipe, and the wine, were supplied by Eisberg wines and I've replicated the recipe in it's original form below.  However, I used my Slow Cooker to poach the pears instead of a pan on the stove.  I've added the slow cooker instructions below the stove recipe. I would also recommend removing the core of the pear from the base which is not mentioned in the original recipe.

I stopped drinking alcohol for 'Stoptober' and carried on into November, I did have one glass of wine when I was out for dinner recently, but really didn't want any more.  I'm definitely on the look out for alternatives to wine, but I'm afraid this one didn't do it for me.  I'm not a huge fan of Chardonnay and found that this non-alcoholic version was not dry enough for me, however it was very good in the recipe.

Eisberg Chardonnay Poached Pears

Serves 4

Preparation time: Approx. 10 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

4 pears

500ml Eisberg Chardonnay

2tbs honey

1 whole vanilla pod, split almost all the way lengthways

1 cinnamon stick

1 orange, zest and juice

For the orange mascarpone:

a little orange zest and juice

2tbs mascarpone cheese

1tsp icing sugar

Method:

Find a saucepan in which the pears will sit neatly with their stalks up and without too much room around them. Peel the pears but keep the stalks attached and set aside.

Pour the Eisberg alcohol-free wine into the pan and add the honey, vanilla pod and cinnamon stick. Using a vegetable peeler, peel most of the zest into the pan, then remove the rest using a zester or grater and set aside for the mascarpone.

Squeeze most of the juice from the orange into the pan but keep 2 teaspoons for the mascarpone. Turn on the heat and stir gently until the honey has dissolved then add the pears. Simmer very gently for 15-20 minutes until the pears are tender then remove them onto a plate.

Turn up the heat to high and boil the liquid until reduced and thickened to a glossy syrup, which will take about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the mascarpone into a small bowl and stir in the reserved orange zest and juice with the icing sugar.

Serve the pears with extra syrup poured over and a dollop of orange mascarpone on the side.

Slow Cooking

To poach the pears in your slow cooker, follow the directions in the recipe placing the pears, wine, honey and spices. Set the slow cooker to high and cook, covered, until the pears are tender and easily pierced with the tip of a knife, about 1 to 2 hours. 

I didn't make the orange mascarpone, but instead served the pears with vanilla ice cream.

Eisberg alcohol-free wine is made in the same way as your favourite wine, but at the end of the process the alcohol is gently removed using one of the world’s most advanced processes, leaving all of the flavours of the wine, but none of the alcohol and with only a third of the calories.

There are four varieties in the range: A refreshingly aromatic Riesling, a crisp Chardonnay, a juicy succulent Rosé and a fruity red Cabernet Sauvignon.

Eisberg website
Eisbert Facebook Page

The full range is available in Morrisons and selected varieties in Asda, Tesco, Waitrose, RRP £3.50

How to Enter the Slow Cooked Challenge
December Theme: Slow Cooked Christmas

• Make your recipe in your Slow Cooker or other slow cooking method and post a photograph and the recipe, or a link to a recipe, on your blog
• Link to Farmersgirl Kitchen
• Use the Slow Cooked Challenge logo in your post
• If you use twitter, tweet your post with @FarmersgirlCook and #SlowCookedChallenge and I will re-tweet it to my followers AND post your picture on the dedicated Pinterest Board. 

Rules: 

• Please do not publish recipes from cookbooks on your blog without permission, they are copyright.
• If you are using recipes from another website, please link to the recipe on the website rather than publishing the recipe.
• One entry per blog.
• Recipes must be added to the linky by the 28th of each month.

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