Pear Belle Hélène Smoothie Recipes

PEARS BELLE HELENE

Steps:

• Peel, halve, and core the pears and sprinkle over them the lemon juice to stop them from discoloring. In a wide shallow pan (in which the pears will fit in 1 layer - otherwise cook them in batches) put 1 1/4 cups water, the sugar, and the vanilla bean, if using. Bring to a boil, stirring every now and again to make sure the sugar dissolves, then lower the heat slightly and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract, if using. Put the pears into the liquid, cut side down, and raise the heat again so that the syrup boils up and the pears are covered by it. You may need to spoon the syrup over. After half a minute or so, lower the heat, then cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes; turn the pears, cover the pan again, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Continue poaching until the pears are cooked and translucent; they should feel tender (but not soggy) when pierced. They may need more or less cooking time - it depends on the pears. Take off the heat, keep covered, and leave to cool.
• Now the chocolate sauce: place the chocolate, broken up into small pieces, in a thick-bottomed pan with the coffee and sugar and melt over a low heat, stirring occasionally. Then pour in the cream, still stirring, and when it is very hot pour into a warmed sauceboat or a bowl with a ladle.
• To serve, arrange pears cut side down on a big flat plate and pour some syrup over. (Any remaining syrup will keep in the refrigerator or freezer and can be used to pour over apples or other fruit when making pies or crumbles. You can wash the vanilla pod, wipe it and put it in a canister of sugar.) Offer with ice cream, sauce, and pistachios, if using, served separately; allow diners to help themselves.

POACHED PEARS BELLE HELENE

Steps:

• Place water in a heavy pot. Stir in zest and juice of 1 lemon. Place pears in pot. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and split pods to the poaching liquid. Pour in sugar.
• Bring pot to a simmer over medium-high heat; stir gently to dissolve sugar with minimal jostling of the pears. Reduce heat so pears continue cooking over a steady, gentle simmer. Pears need to stay submerged, so place a small plate over them in the pot to keep them under the liquid. Simmer until pears are just tender, 20 to 25 minutes. (Remove plate to test the pears for doneness.) Remove pot from heat and let pears cool to room temperature in the poaching liquid.
• Transfer pears and vanilla beans to a storage container and cover with some of the poaching liquid. Cover and refrigerate until pears are thoroughly chilled, several hours or overnight. Reserve all of the poaching liquid (see footnote).
• Heat hot fudge sauce in a saucepan over medium heat until warm. Dip base of pear into the chocolate and spoon chocolate along the sides except for the top inch or so of the pear.
• Place dipped pears in individual serving bowls with another generous spoonful of syrup and a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.

PEAR BELLE-HéLèNE SMOOTHIE

Steps:

• Using a piece of parchment paper, make a lid to cover the pears by cutting out a round disk that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the pan you will be using to poach the pears. Line a baking sheet with freezer paper. Set aside.Peel the pears and leave the stems intact. Using a melon baller or an apple corer, remove the core from the bottom of the pears (be careful not to break or split the sides of the pear).Combine the water, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla in a nonreactive heavy medium saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Place the pears on their sides in the poaching liquid and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pears with the parchment lid, and cook for about 40 to 50 minutes, or until the pears can be pierced easily with a wooden skewer or toothpick, turning the pears occasionally. Remove the pears from the liquid and place them on the prepared baking sheet to cool. Once the pears are cool, remove and discard the stems and cut each pear into quarters. Freeze the pears for 1 hour or more.When you are ready to make the smoothie, place the milk, pears, Hot Fudge Sauce, and ice cream in a blender and mix by using the on/off pulse function until the ingredients are mostly blended. Continue mixing, gradually increasing the speed, until the mixture is smooth. Pour the smoothie into a glass and garnish with a Pear Chip (see Great Garnishes), if desired.From SINFUL SMOOTHIES: more than 130 dessert smoothies & other indulgences. Copyright © 2004 Donna Pliner Rodnitzky. All Rights Reserved.