Cuisine

Poached Pears with Raspberry Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup white wine or white cranberry juice
• 2 medium pears, peeled and halved
• 3 tablespoons seedless raspberry spreadable fruit
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Fresh raspberries and mint leaves, optional

Directions

In a small saucepan, bring the water, sugar and wine to a boil. Reduce heat; carefully add pears. Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until tender. Remove pears and reserve cooking liquid.

In a small bowl, combine spreadable fruit and vanilla. Stir in enough cooking liquid to form a sauce consistency. Cover and refrigerate sauce and pears separately until chilled.

Remove sauce from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving. Place two pear halves on each dessert plate; top with sauce. Garnish with raspberries and mint if desired. Yield: 2 servings.

Orange Poached Pears

Ingredients

• 8 whole pears
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

CHOCOLATE SAUCE:

• 4 ounces German sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup half-and-half cream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Orange peel strips, optional

Directions

With an apple corer or sharp knife, carefully remove core from bottom of pears to within 1 in. of stem, leaving pears whole with stem. Peel the pears.

In a Dutch oven, combine the orange juice, water, brown sugar, butter and orange peel. Bring to a boil; add pears. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until pears are tender, turning several times. Remove pears and set aside. Simmer cooking juices, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until thickened to a syrup consistency.

For chocolate sauce, in a small heavy saucepan over low heat, heat the chocolate, cream and butter until chocolate is melted; stir until smooth. Spoon pear syrup into dessert dishes; place a pear in each dish and drizzle with chocolate sauce. Garnish with orange peel if desired. Yield: 8 servings.

Anjeer Smoothie

Ingredients

• 8 dried figs (anjeer) , soaked overnight
• 1 cup chilled milk
• 1 cup vanilla ice-cream
• 8 almonds (badam) , soaked overnight and de-skinned
• 3/4 cup coarsely crushed sweet biscuits (parle g)
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup ice- cubes
• For The Garnish
• 2 dried figs (anjeer) , each threaded on a toothpick

Method

Combine the milk, vanilla ice- cream, dried figs, almonds, biscuits, sugar and ice- cubes and blend in a juicer till the mixture is smooth and frothy.
Pour equal quantities of the smoothie into 2 individual glasses.
Serve immediately garnished with a fig on the rim of each glass.

RECIPE SOURCE : Burgers and SmoothiesBuy this cookbook

STRAWBERRY TRIFLE

Ingredients

• 350g Madeira cake
• good quality strawberry jam
• strawberry or raspberry liqueur, or crème de cassis
• 400g strawberries, sliced or halved
• 1 tbsp golden caster sugar
• 500g pot of good quality vanilla custard
• 284ml pot double cream, lightly whipped

Method

Slice the cake and sandwich the slices together with jam. Cut into cubes. Sprinkle the sugar over the strawberries in a bowl.

Divide the cake between 6 glasses and sprinkle a little liqueur over each. Spoon over the sliced strawberries and any juice and then top each with a layer of custard and a layer of cream. Decorate with strawberries.