Spice up your Pears - Poached in Cider

I never thought I would get so enthusiastic about cooking but the promise of a lovely new kitchen when I move, and the influence of some amazing cooking photographers and bloggers ... I couldn't resist.

Every time I see a photo of poached pears I think 'oh I really must remember to try that' and immediately forget. They look so gorgeous when ruby red, poached in wine or port, but I really didn't want to open a bottle of wine just to poach the pears, so I rummaged in the wine rack and found something that I guessed might work.

I read a lot of different poaching recipes to get the general idea, some of which were for mulled wine, with cinnamon and other spices, and so I guessed that my random left over bottle of un-opened Heston mulled cider would probably be just as good.

Unfortunately no longer available for sale, maybe it will come back on the shelves again at Christmas. It's an oak aged Herefordshire cider that is spiced with cloves, cinnamon and ginger. Great, I thought, seeing as I don't have any cloves or cinnamon sticks in the cupboard, this should do the trick.

I peeled the pears very carefully, leaving the stalks intact, and slicing just a bit off the bottom so they can stand up. However I didn't poach them standing up, but laid them in a saucepan with a lid and covered in the cider, some sugar, and a chunk of fresh ginger. I also added a dash of vanilla and maple syrup.   

Simmer the pears for anywhere between 30 to 60 minutes, some recipes say longer but personally, I think they might have fallen apart if I'd left them too long.

Remove the pears from the saucepan and leave to one side while you boil up the leftover cider to reduce it. I had no idea how it would taste so it was a complete guess.  Served with a dollop of fat free greek yoghurt and a drizzle of the cider reduction.

Eh, voila! A beautiful warming way to get one of your five a day!

So I mentioned on Vero that I would feature some of the great accounts I have found there. I'm about to try a recipe for a Bundt cake from the www.eighty20nutrition.com which is the website of Donna Crous, if you see the photos there you will want to make everything, and they are not only healthy but also use things like the nutribullet to whizz up the ingredients (which was a relief as I don't have any gadgets). 

More of that bundt cake coming soon ... don't forget to find me on vero love and pears xx