Cranberry Poached Pears With Cinnamon Spiced Neufchatel Cheese Recipes

CRANBERRY-POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Place pears in a saucepan large enough to hold them snugly. Add enough water to barely cover them (about 4 cups). Add sugar, cinnamon, citrus peels, honey, and lemon juice. Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape vanilla seeds into pan, and toss in pod. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat, and simmer gently until pears are tender, about 10 minutes.
• Add fresh cranberries, and simmer until cranberries are soft but not mushy, about 3 minutes more.
• Use a spoon to transfer pears to a dish. Spoon cranberries and syrup around pears. Add tea bag and dried cranberries if using. Let cool for 15 minutes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
• Before serving, remove vanilla bean, cinnamon stick, citrus peels, and tea bag. Transfer pears to plates with some of the cranberries, syrup, and a dollop of yogurt, creme fraiche, or cheese.

RED WINE & CRANBERRY POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring the first 6 ingredients to a boil; add cranberries. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes., Meanwhile, core pears from bottom, leaving stems intact. Peel pears. Add to pan, in a single layer on their sides. Simmer, uncovered, until pears are almost tender, about 10 minutes longer, turning occasionally. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes., Drain pears; reserving poaching liquid and cranberries. Remove peppercorns. Place pears on dessert plates; drizzle with reserved poaching liquid. Top with cranberries and crème fraiche, if desired.

PEARS AND CRANBERRIES POACHED IN WINE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Place pears in a greased 13x9-in. baking dish, cut side up. Top with cranberries., In a small saucepan, combine wine, sugar, cranberry juice, butter and lemon zest; bring to a boil. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved; spoon over pears., Bake, covered, 30-35 minutes or until pears are tender, basting occasionally. Serve with creme fraiche.

POACHED PEARS FILLED WITH CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Cut lemons in half, squeeze juice into a medium bowl half filled with cold water, and add squeezed lemon halves to bowl. Peel pears as carefully and smoothly as possible, leaving stems attached. Place pears in lemon (acidulated) water as you peel them.
• In a large saucepan, combine wine, 3 cups water, 1/2 cup sugar, peppercorns, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a bare simmer. Remove pears and 2 of the squeezed lemon halves from water, and add to the saucepan. Keep pears submerged in liquid by placing a lid slightly smaller than the pan, a damp piece of cheesecloth, or a clean dish towel over them. Simmer until pears are tender and translucent, 10 to 30 minutes, depending on ripeness.
• Remove from heat, and let pears cool in poaching liquid. Refrigerate when cool. (Pears can be prepared to this point up to 2 days in advance.)
• In a medium saucepan, combine fresh cranberries, kumquats, 1 cup water, and the remaining 1 cup sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and let cranberries simmer gently until skins burst and mixture thickens slightly, about 15 minutes. Stir in dried cranberries. Remove from heat, cool completely, and refrigerate. (Cranberry sauce can be prepared up to 2 days in advance.)
• Remove pears from poaching liquid with a slotted spoon, and cut in half lengthwise. Drain on paper towels. Using a melon baller or small spoon, carefully scoop out seeds and a little of the surrounding flesh to create a small, round cavity in each pear half. When ready to serve, fill each cavity with 1 to 2 tablespoons chilled cranberry sauce. Serve extra cranberry sauce on the side.

POACHED PEARS WITH SPICED CREAM

Steps:

• Stir juice cocktail into dry gelatin mixes in large saucepan. Bring to boil on medium-high heat, stirring frequently until gelatin is dissolved.
• Add pears; partially cover pan with lid. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 25 min. or just until pears are tender, stirring every 5 min. Remove pears from liquid; discard liquid or reserve for other use. (See Tip.)
• Refrigerate 1 hour. Cut pears in half. Using the tip of a paring knife or a melon baller, carefully remove seeds. Mix cream cheese with remaining ingredients. Spoon 2 Tbsp. cream cheese mixture into center of each pear just before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

SPICED POACHED PEARS IN CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Steps:

• In a pan big enough to hold the pears snugly, tip in all the ingredients except the pears. Half fill the pan with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 mins to infuse, drop in pears, cover and gently poach for about 30 mins until soft. Turn off the heat and set aside. The pears can be poached up to 2 days ahead and kept in the poaching syrup in the fridge.
• To make the chocolate sauce, tip the chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream, milk and cinnamon to the boil and pour over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted. To serve, drain the pears and, holding them by the stem, dip them in the chocolate sauce to completely cover. Serve each pear with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.

CRANBERRY POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Put the cranberry juice, orange juice and sugar in a saucepan large enough to hold the pears. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar. Add the cinnamon and star anise, if using, and boil for 5 minutes.
• Peel the pears and immediately stand them in the pan with the cranberry syrup. Cover and simmer gently for 40 minutes, or until the pears are cooked and soft through to the center when pierced with a skewer.
• Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely in the syrup. Chill for 2 hours or overnight, occasionally turning the pears in the syrup to achieve an even color.
• Remove the pears from the pan and bring the cranberry syrup to the boil for 20 minutes, or until reduced to a thick syrup. Add the fresh cranberries and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside until competely cooled.
• Place the pears on a plate with the cranberries and pour the sauce over and around them.

CRANBERRY-POACHED PEARS

Steps:

• Place the pears in a saucepan large enough to hold them snugly. Add enough water (about 4 cups) to barely cover them. Add the honey, sugar, orange and lemon zests, lemon juice, and cinnamon stick.
• Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape the vanilla seeds out of the pod and add them to the pan. Toss in the pod and add the tea bag. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Reduce the heat and simmer until the pears are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, about 10 minutes.
• Add the cranberries and return to a simmer until they burst, about 3 minutes. Remove and discard the tea bag.
• Transfer the pears to a large bowl and pour over the cranberries and syrup. Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.
• Remove and discard the citrus zest, cinnamon stick, and vanilla bean. To serve, arrange the pears on a platter. Spoon over the cranberries and as much of the poaching liquid as desired. Serve.

MERLOT-POACHED PEARS WITH VANILLA & CINNAMON

Steps:

• Tip the wine, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla into a deep medium pan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Add the pears, making sure they are fully covered by the wine, then simmer for 30 mins until they are just tender. If the pears are very ripe, they may be ready in 20 mins. Can be made up to 2 days ahead - leave the pears in the syrup in the fridge until you're ready to finish the recipe.
• Remove the pears from the pan with a slotted spoon and boil the syrup for 30 mins to reduce it and make it more syrupy. Cool, then chill for up to 2 days. Remove from the fridge 1 hr before serving.

CRANBERRY POACHED PEARS WITH CINNAMON-SPICED NEUFCHATEL CHEESE

Steps:

• Bring first 3 ingredients and 1/4 cup sugar to boil in 2-qt. saucepan, stirring frequently until sugar is completely dissolved. Add pear halves; simmer over medium-low heat 20 min. or just until tender, stirring occasionally.
• Remove pears from liquid. Place on 4 dessert plates. Bring liquid to boil; cook over medium heat 30 min. or until liquid is reduced to 1/3 cup, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, mix Neufchatel, cinnamon and remaining sugar until blended. Gently stir in COOL WHIP until blended.
• Spoon Neufchatel mixture into pear halves; drizzle with cranberry sauce.