Poached Pears With Stilton Recipes

ROASTED PEARS WITH BLUE CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Peel the pears and slice them lengthwise into halves. With a small sharp paring knife and a melon baller, remove the core and seeds from each pear, leaving a round well for the filling. Trim a small slice away from the rounded sides of each pear half so that they will sit in the baking dish without wobbling. Toss the pears with some lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown. Arrange them, core side up, in a baking dish large enough to hold the pears snugly.
• Gently toss the crumbled blue cheese, dried cranberries, and walnuts together in a small bowl. Divide the mixture among the pears, mounding it on top of the indentation.
• In the same small bowl, combine the apple cider, port, and brown sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour the mixture over and around the pears. Bake the pears, basting occasionally with the cider mixture, for 30 minutes, or until tender. Set aside until warm or at room temperature.
• Just before serving, whisk together the olive oil, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, and 1/4 cup of the basting liquid in a large bowl. Divide the arugula among 6 plates and top each with a pear half. Drizzle each pear with some of the basting liquid, sprinkle with salt, and serve warm.

POACHED PEARS WITH STILTON

Steps:

• Pour wine into a medium saucepan; add lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla bean and seeds. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Continue cooking for 5 minutes more.
• Add pears and reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Place a parchment paper round in saucepan to cover and submerge pears. Cook until pears are easily pierced with a knife, but not mushy, about 45 minutes.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer pears to a large bowl and set aside. Return saucepan to stove; bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until reduced by half. Pour reduced liquid over pears. Place a parchment paper round in bowl to cover and submerge pears; cover bowl and transfer to refrigerator at least 6 hours and up to overnight.
• One hour before serving, remove pears from refrigerator; bring to room temperature. Just before serving, halve and core pears and serve drizzled with reduced poaching liquid and a slice of cheese.

ENDIVE SPEARS WITH STILTON CHEESE, TOASTED PECANS, AND SAUTEED PEARS

Steps:

• In a large saute pan, over medium heat, add the butter and sugar. Add the diced pears and cook until well caramelized, approximately 8 minutes.
• In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the garlic, red wine vinegar, salt, fresh ground pepper and olive oil. Add the mixture to the Stilton. Assemble the spears 1 by 1, starting with the cheese then the sauteed pear and topping them off with a toasted pecan. These can be garnished with a sprig of watercress or other herb, if desired. Arrange the spears on a plate by first making a small mound of cream cheese and then sticking each spear into the cream cheese in a floral, 3-dimensional pattern.

PEAR, DATE & WALNUT SALAD WITH CREAMY STILTON DRESSING

Steps:

• Cut the pear quarters into thin slices and toss in a bowl with the lime juice to help protect their natural colour. Blend the crème fraîche with half the stilton, ginger syrup to taste, and enough water (3-4 tbsp) to give a smooth, thick coating consistency. (Don't add too much water or it may separate.)
• Scatter the pear slices over six serving plates and follow with the walnuts, dates and remaining cheese. Can be prepared to this stage up to an hour ahead.
• Drizzle each salad with a little of the dressing and some walnut oil. Season with a grinding of pepper - you shouldn't need salt, as the cheese is salty. Mix the salad leaves and watercress very lightly with just a bit more dressing - some leaves should be touched by the dressing, some untouched. Gently pile the leaves on top of each salad.

POACHED PEARS IN SPICED RED WINE

Steps:

• Halve the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape out the black seeds and put in a large saucepan with the wine, sugar, cinnamon and thyme. Cut each piece of pod into three long thin strips, add to pan, then lower in the pears.
• Poach the pears, covered, for 20-30 mins, making sure they are covered in the wine. The cooking time will very much depend on the ripeness of your pears - they should be tender all the way through when pierced with a cocktail stick. You can make these up to 2 days ahead and chill.
• Take the pears from the pan, then boil the liquid to reduce it by half so that it's syrupy. Serve each pear with the cooled syrup, a strip of vanilla, a piece of cinnamon and a small thyme sprig.