Abercrombie & Feast

Our third  recipe from The River Cottage Year is for poached pears with granita and panna cotta.  I would like to tell you more about this recipe in a poem.

Ode to a Dessert

Poached pears and granita,
I really really want to eat ya.
But panna cotta, you’re not so lucky.
I think you are kind of yucky.

You are part of this recipe, written by Hugh. 
But panna cotta, I’m going to skip you.

So on to the pears, poached and sweet.
And on to the granita, crunchy to eat.

Placed in a pan and covered with wine,
(There was one glass left, that was mine!)
Added a bit of citrus, nothing wrong with fruit,
A bit of pepper and cinnamon to boot. 
Poured in some sugar, made it nice and sweet,
Simmered ‘til soft and ready to eat. 

The liquid was strained into a clean pan,
Tasting sweet and tangy, that was the plan.
Then it was frozen, all fragrant and rich,
‘Til scrapped up with a fork and placed in our dish. 

Pears slightly warm, granita nice and cold,
Eaten with a fork so we could grab hold. 
When it was all gone, husband said, “Nice try…
but not quite as good as your sweet potato pie.”

Poached Pears with Granita

Serves 2

2 pears (Conference or Comice are good for this), peeled
3/4 of a bottle of white wine
1 orange
1 lemon
1 cinnamon stick
3 peppercorns
2 cloves
2 strips of lemon peel
50g caster sugar

Place the pears in a pan into which they fit snugly.  Pour in enough white wine to cover them by 3.4.  Add the juice of one orange and 1/2 lemon.  Top up with water to cover the pears completely.  Add the cinnamon stick, peppercorns, cloves, lemon peel and sugar to the pan. 

Bring gently to the boil. Stir occasionally to dissolve the sugar. 

Simmer the pears until they are soft, but not so tender that they are falling apart.  The time will vary, depending on the size of your pears.  Mine took about 15-20 mins. 

Remove the pan from the heat and allow the pears to cool in the liquid.  Once they are cool, lift the pears out of the liquid and place into a plastic bag, along with a few spoonfuls of the cooking liquid.  Keep in the fridge. 

Strain the remaining liquid into a new pan.  Discard the spices and lemon peel.  Taste the liquid.  Does it need more sugar or lemon juice?  If so, add it in!  Make it to your own tastes. 

Pour the liquid into a plastic container and place into the freezer.  This will become your granita. 

To serve, take the pears out of the fridge and bring to room temperature.  Place one pear on each plate.  Remove the granita from the freezer and use a fork to scrap up the frozen liquid into frozen shards.  Scoop up big spoonfuls of the ice and place it over and around the pear. 

Eat right away before it all starts to melt!