Legal Poaching

Red wine-poached pears stuffed with mixed dried fruits will make a striking autumn dessert. Peeled and cored, they are poached whole in red wine sweetened with sugar and spiced with cinnamon and cloves. After the pears have been poached, the dried fruit is simmered in the wine and then cooled and stuffed in the pears. The pears can be completely prepared a day ahead and kept refrigerated.

WINE-POACHED PEARS STUFFED WITH DRIED FRUIT

4 cups dry red wine

2 cups water

2 1/4 cups sugar

2 cinnamon sticks

8 whole cloves

1 (4x1/2-inch) piece orange zest

8 large, firm-ripe pears, peeled but with stems left on

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup diced dried apricots

1/2 cup diced pitted prunes

1/2 cup diced dried peaches or dried sour cherries

Maple leaves or mint sprigs

1/2 cup mascarpone or 1/2 cup light cream cheese

1 tablespoon finely julienned blanched orange zest

Combine wine, water, sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves and whole piece orange zest in large, heavy 4- to 5-quart saucepan. Place over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring mixture to simmer.

Cut small slice off bottom of each pear so it can stand upright. Add pears to wine mixture and adjust heat so liquid barely simmers. Cook pears until just tender when pierced with knife. Remove pan from heat. Leave pears in pan to cool 1 hour or longer, but remove 2 cups poaching liquid and transfer liquid to heavy saucepan.

Add dried fruits to pan and cook, stirring often, over medium-high heat until liquid has evaporated and fruits are tender and have glazed appearance, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove and refrigerate about 45 minutes.

When pears are cool enough to handle, remove from liquid and core. Fill cavity of each with 1 tablespoon or more cooked dried fruit. Cover stuffed pears and extra dried fruit and refrigerate. Pears can be prepared day ahead.

Cook remaining poaching liquid in pan over medium-high heat until reduced and quite thick and syrupy, about 15 minutes. Cool and refrigerate sauce up to 1 day if not using immediately.

To serve, arrange maple leaves on 8 individual plates. Place 1 tablespoon cooked dried fruit to side of each pear and garnish with dollop of mascarpone. Sprinkle julienned orange zest over top of pears. Heat sauce and pass separately. Makes 8 servings.

Note: If you don’t have maple leaves, ladle little sauce onto each plate and swirl to cover bottom. Arrange pears with garnish of dried fruit and mascarpone on sauce. Sprinkle orange zest over pears and garnish plate with mint sprigs.