Sherry- poached Pears

We were out to dinner at Browns, yet again! and i am really really getting bored with the food. The menu has only about 10 mains and we have already tried almost all of it. The only thing we keep going back for, are the cocktails, which i must say are no longer attractive because, wait-for-it, I have tried them all, except the cream, whisky and rum based ones. We were going through the menu and i was like, had it, had it, had it and Ro finally exclaimed that I was an alcoholic mallu :)

My favourite, the Moonlight Martini, is definitely on the must-try-at-home list.

Anyways, let me not get side tracked..what i meant to say was, we never order desserts from Browns for the simple reason that it doesn't even slightly appeal to us in any way, but this time, we were just desperate for something sweet and was lazy to go elsewhere, so ordered the Poached Pear drizzled with chocolate sauce and served with ice-cream and we loved it. Above all, I had to try it out at home and I DID.

Outcome: Incredibly easy and gorgeously tasty dessert and i am so making this the next time i have people over.

Dessert Pears- 2, peeled

Dry Sherry- 1 cup

Orange juice- 1/4 cup (freshly squeezed or store bought. I obviously used store bought)

Sugar- 1/2 cup

Cloves- 2

Nutmeg- a pinch

Cinnamon stick- 1 inch

Ginger- 1/2 tsp, grated

Peppercorns- 2 or 3

In a saucepan big enough to hold the pears, mix the sherry and sugar and bring to a boil.

Add the orange juice, spices, ginger and pepper. Coverand simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add the pears and cover and cook on low heat for another 20 minutes or so. Pierce a knife of fork in between to see if the pears are cooked. Make sure you don't over cook it, as it would fall apart.

Transfer to a serving plate and pour some of the syrup over the pear and serve either hot or cold and if you want to jazz it up a bit, add a dollop of mascarpone cheese or ice-cream.

Notes: Dab some lime juice over the peeled pears to prevent it from browning.

The dessert pears were incredibly sweet and the syrup added to it. I might reduce the sugar a bit the next time.

You do not have to keep the pear intact, you can slice it up and poach it which means it would be much easier to serve if you are serving for a larger group.

PS: And that's my daffodil which has been growing like wild fire. More pics here.