Vanilla Poached Pears

Vanilla Poached Pears 

by Judy Dawson 

adapted from Alton Brown's recipe

This is a nice, light finish to any meal. For the Marx Foods Challenge, I used the vanilla bean for this recipe. 

1 750 ml bottle white wine (I used Riesling)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 whole Marx Foods Tahitian Vanilla Bean, split and scraped
4 firm, but ripe, Anjou or Bosc pears, peeled, leaving stem intact
Raspberry Drizzle

In a 4 quart saucepan, bring all ingredients (except pears) to a gentle boil. Decrease heat, place pears in liquid, cover and cook for 30 minutes at a slow simmer. Remove pears to serving dish, standing upright. Cool in refrigerator while preparing syrup.

To make syrup:
Remove vanilla bean from pan, increase heat to high and reduce the liquid to approximately one cup. This will take about 20 to 25 minutes. Once reduced, place syrup in heatproof container and place in refrigerator until completely cooled, approximately one hour.

To make Raspberry Drizzle:
In blender or food processor, puree one cup raspberries with 1/4 cup sugar. Strain through wire sieve to remove seeds.

To serve:
Place pears on serving dish, pour on syrup, then finish with a drizzle of raspberry sauce. Easy and delicious!