Riesling Poached Pears and Sorbet

If you're like me, you're always looking for something sweet to round off a meal. If you're like me, you also want your food to be healthy, so your body is properly fueled.  But eating healthily doesn't have to mean skipping dessert! Like so many other aspects of healthy living, all you need is a little shift in perspective. I've heard people complain that fruit can't possibly substitute for dessert, and I would agree that an apple won't satisfy a cake craving. But with a bit of creativity, a simple piece of fruit can be dressed up into something truly satisfying.

In the spirit of making simple food delicious, this recipe takes whole pears and makes them into a crave-worthy desert. And if the idea of cutting into a piece of fruit isn't dessert-y enough for you yet, you can take a few extra steps to make a gourmet sorbet to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Riesling Poached Pears
You can use any varietal of wine you like here, but Riesling pairs very well. Feel free to substitute fruit juice for wine in any proportion you like. Depending on the sweetness level of your wine or juice, vary the amount of honey added.
Yield: 6 poached pears

INGREDIENTS
6 whole pears (any variety), peeled
1 750ml bottle of Riesling wine
1-2 cups water (as needed)
1/4 cup honey
1 lemon, ends removed, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
Optional, to serve: goat cheese and honey

DIRECTIONS
1. In a pan large enough to place pears in a single layer, combine all ingredients and add enough water to let the pears float a little.
2. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer 15-30 minutes, until pears are just tender.
3. Remove pears from poaching liquid. If storing, store with a bit of the poaching liquid so they don't dry out. Reserve lemon slices for serving if you like.
4. Serving suggestion: Combine about 1 oz of goat cheese per serving with a few teaspoons of honey. Place on a plate, and use the cheese to hold the pear upright. Garnish with lemon and honey.

Now, if you'd like to take things a few steps further (or if you have leftovers!), you can make sorbet with these pears following the recipe below. This was inspired by a great ice cream store, Jeni's, who make (surprise!) a Riesling Poached Pear sorbet.

Riesling Poached Pear Sorbet
Freezing the fruit before pureeing it yields a sorbet-like texture, rather than a too-solid block of fruit ice. The lemon that was in the poaching liquid lends a tangy note to the finished sorbet, so if you want something that is more purely sweet, you can omit the lemon in the poaching step.
Yield: about 3 cups, depending on the size of your pears.

INGREDIENTS
6 Riesling Poached Pears (recipe above)
Optional: honey, to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Remove the core, seeds, and stem of the pears. Cut the fruit into 1-2 inch chunks.Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and freeze for a few hours.
2. Place pears in a food processor. Let run until smoothly blended, scraping down the sides several times.
3. If you want to, drizzle some honey over the blended pears, to create a honey swirl when you pack it. It won't stir in because the pears are too cold.
4. Package in an airtight container and freeze. Enjoy!


I mentioned on Twitter that our sprouts are starting to grow, and I'm pretty excited about our windowsill gardening adventure! The sprouts should start looking like baby plants soon.

Sweet Wine Cookies

 

This recipe is based on one from my second-favorite bakery in Columbus, Ohio - Pistacia Vera. (For the record, my first favorite is, and will always be, The Goodie Shoppe.)  The owner of the bakery gave the recipe for these cookies to the local newspaper. I was dying to make them at home - I'd had them from the bakery before, but they're a seasonal item.  Plus, I live about a thousand miles away from this bakery, so the ability to make these at home is a huge win in my book.

I made a few changes to the recipe. First, the recipe calls for marasla wine, which is a type of sweet Italian fortified wine. I just used some Malbec that we had leftover from the wedding - I think any "big" red wine would work. You want something with a lot of good fruity flavor, and you definitely want it to be something you'd drink by the glass. I don't think sweet versus dry matters too much here - my wine was pretty dry. If you think your wine is too dry, you can always add a pinch more sugar.

Second, the recipe calls for anise extract. While some people love the stuff, and it is certainly more traditional, my family doesn't care for it very much. What they do love is vanilla, so I used that instead. If your family loves anise, or almond extract, feel free to try those.

Finally, I changed up the method. I found the original recipe a bit fussy, and I thought I could just do this all in the bowl of my stand mixer. The cookies turned out great.

I can't say enough about how delicious these are - delicately sophisticated, yet easy to love - the flavor combination is both complex and well-balanced. I promise you'll love them.

Sweet Wine Cookies
Although the directions here are given for using a stand mixer, you could easily make these by hand - just use a whisk for the first part, then switch to a large wooden spoon. For the chocolate, I just ran my knife through some chocolate chips a few times - you want the varied size pieces from shavings to chunks to get a good distribution of chocolate flavor.
Yield: about 30 cookies

INGREDIENTS
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar, plus extra for dusting
Zest of one lemon
Zest of one orange
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup red wine - use one that you'd drink by the glass
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With the whisk attachment on the stand mixer, lightly beat the egg. Add the sugar, and continue beating until the mixture becomes lighter and color and slightly fluffy. Zest the lemon and the orange directly over the bowl.
2. Add vanilla, canola oil, and wine, and whisk until combined.
3. Switch to your paddle attachment (or spoon). In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon and baking powder, and stir together. Add the flour mixture, stirring until the dough is just combined. Stir in the chocolate.
4. Line cookie sheets with parchment or silicone liners. Put a little bit of sugar in a bowl. Scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Roll the ball around in the sugar to coat, then place on the baking sheet. These won't spread too much during baking, so leave an inch or so between cookies.
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to show signs of browning. (My cookies took 20 minutes.) Remove to wire racks to cool.

Suggestion for leftover citrus: slice and enjoy in still or sparkling water.

Suggestion for leftover wine: I think you can figure this out yourself.