Beaujolais Pears With Cassis And Prunes Canned Recipes

PEARS POACHED IN RED WINE AND CASSIS

Steps:

• Combine wine, honey, and crème de cassis in a medium saucepan. Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean halves into wine and add pods.Add cinnamon stick and raisins and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, fill a bowl with water and add lemon juice. Peel, quarter and core pears and drop into the acidulated water. (This prevents the pears from discoloring.)
• Drain pears and add to simmering wine. Bring back to a simmer, cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes more, until pears areslightly translucent. Turn off heat and remove cinnamon stick. Add almonds. Serve warm or chilled.

PEARS POACHED IN BEAUJOLAIS

Steps:

• Fill a bowl with water, and add the lemon juice. Peel the pears, taking care to leave the stem intact, and place in the bowl of water.
• Tie the peppercorns and cinnamon stick into a cheesecloth pouch, and place in a large saucepan. Add the wine and honey, and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer 10 minutes. Drain the pears and carefully add to the wine. Simmer very gently for 10 minutes, then remove from the heat and allow the pears to cool in the liquid. Discard the cheesecloth bag.
• Place the pears in serving dishes. Return the wine to the saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce by half of its volume. Spoon over the pears. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled.

CANNED POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Have ready two clean wide-mouth pint jars with screw-on bands. You can reuse jars and bands if they aren't chipped or dented, but you must use new lids every time you process. Bring a small pot of water to a simmer over medium-low heat and add two new lids. Simmer for a few minutes, then turn off the heat.
• Cut the pears in half from pole to pole. Using a small spoon, scoop out the seeds. Trim the stem ends to create round pear halves, leaving the pears as large as possible. Peel. Place the lemon juice in a bowl with 2 cups of water. Stir and add the peeled pears.
• Place the sugar, thyme and 1 cup of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a low boil over medium heat to dissolve the sugar. Add the cider and heat through. Add the pears and simmer for a few minutes, until they are heated through. Gently pack the pears, cut-side down, in the jars. Three halves will fit in each jar. Tuck one bay leaf, 3 or so peppercorns and a lemon peel in each jar.
• Strain the syrup over the pears, filling the jars about ¾ full. Using a butter knife, gently release any air bubbles. Top the jars with the wine, leaving ½ inch of space between the liquid and the lid. If the pears bob a bit above the liquid, it's O.K.
• Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean towel, place the lids on and screw on the bands fingertip-tight - don't crank them closed. Place the jars in a pot with a rack and cover with water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, let the jars rest for 5 minutes, then remove them to cool. You will hear a popping sound as the vacuum seals the lid to the jar. When the jars are cool, check the seals: Press on the lids. They should be taut and pulled down toward the inside of the jar. If a lid bounces when you press on it, the seal is imperfect and you will have to reprocess the jar with a new lid, or refrigerate and eat within two weeks. The pears may float in the liquid; it's O.K. Store in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Refrigerate after opening.
• To serve, drain the pears and boil the canning liquid in a small saucepan until syrupy and reduced by half. Drizzle over the pears. They are good at room temperature, cold or warmed in the syrup. Garnish with crumbled amaretto cookies or a dollop of ricotta sweetened with confectioners' sugar.

BALSAMIC CHICKEN & PEARS

Steps:

• Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook until a thermometer reads 165°, 8-10 minutes. Remove., Meanwhile, stir together next 5 ingredients until blended. Pour into skillet; add pears and dried cherries. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat and simmer, covered, until pears are tender, about 5 minutes. Return chicken to skillet; simmer, uncovered, until heated through, 3-5 minutes. If desired, sprinkle with additional minced rosemary.

PORK WITH PEARS, PRUNES & VERJUICE

Steps:

• Mix the pork with the garlic, lemon zest, coriander, thyme, verjuice and prunes in a non-metallic dish. Season well. Cover and marinate in the fridge for up to 12 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/fan oven 160C. Remove the pork and prunes from the marinade and set aside separately. Pat the pork dry, then toss in the flour. Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan and brown the pork on all sides (you may have to do this in batches). Transfer the pork to a large, wide casserole dish.
• Wipe out the frying pan, add the remaining oil and brown the onions or shallots on all sides. Remove and set aside. Add the marinade to the pan and bring to the boil. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then stir in the stock and sugar and bring back to the boil. Pour over the pork, cover and cook in the oven for 11⁄2 hours. (You can prepare up to this stage a day ahead. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Next day, skim off fat if necessary; reheat until bubbling before carrying on with the recipe. You may need to add a little more stock or water.)
• About 20 minutes before the pork is ready, peel the pears and cut them into wedges, then remove the cores. Remove the pork from the oven and adjust the seasoning, adding more sugar if you like. Stir in the onions or shallots, pears and potatoes, cover the casserole and return to the oven for another 40 minutes or until the potatoes are just tender.
• Uncover the dish and stir in the prunes, then stir in a little more stock if the casserole seems dry. Return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are fully cooked. Check the seasoning, then scatter the parsley and lemon zest over the top.

PRUNEAUX AU BEAUJOLAIS (PRUNES IN BEAUJOLAIS)

Steps:

• Place the prunes in a mixing bowl and add the wine. Let stand 24 hours at room temperature until the prunes have softened well.
• Place the prunes and wine in a saucepan. Add the vanilla, sugar and lemon rinds. Bring to a boil; simmer for 30 minutes. The mixture should be syrupy. Chill. Remove rinds. Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.

CASSIS & BAY-BAKED PEARS WITH BLACKBERRIES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Halve the pears - you don't need to peel or core them - and put them, cut-side up, in a baking dish in which the fruit can sit quite snugly in a single layer. Pour the cassis and red wine over the pears, sprinkle with the sugar and tuck the bay leaves under the fruit.
• Bake - spooning the juices over the pears from time to time - until the fruits are tender right through to the centre (how long this takes depends on the ripeness of the fruit; start checking after 20 mins, but it could take as long as 45 mins). It's a good idea to turn the pears over a couple of times while they're cooking so that they are cut-side down in the liquor for part of the cooking time.
• By the time the fruit is cooked, the juice around it won't be thick, but should be syrupy and sweet enough to serve as it is. If you don't think it is, then remove the pears and bay leaves and reduce the juices by boiling them for a little while, leave to cool, then pour them back into the dish with the pears. Leave at room temperature and add the berries about 30 mins before you want to serve, spooning the juices over them, otherwise they get very soft sitting in the red wine syrup.

BEAUJOLAIS PEARS WITH CASSIS AND PRUNES (CANNED)

Steps:

• In large nonreactive pan combine wine and sugar, bring the mixture slowly to a boil, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved; remove from heat.
• Peel the pears, removing blossom ends, but leaving stems intact. Drop them immediately into wine syrup to prevent discoloration.
• Tie cinnamon stick, broken in half, cloves, and allspice in a square of cheesecloth. Add spice bag, rosemary, and prunes to syrup; bring it slowly back to a boil, and simmer 20 minutes. (Pears don't have to be completely cooked at this point.).
• Discard spice bag and rosemary. With slotted spoon transfer pears and prunes to large (2 or 3-quart) warm jars, standing pears upright on the bottom layer and arranging the next upside down. Continue alternating until jars are filled.
• Boil syrup until reduced by about 3/4, (the equivalent of 1 bottle of wine. Stir cassis into syrup. Strain liquid through a double thickness of dampened cheesecloth; ladle it into jars, and seal them.
• Process jars in a boiling water bath: 1 hour for 2-quart jars, 1 hour and 10 minutes for 3-quart jars. Let them cool completely before checking seals and storing.