Citrus Spice Tea Poached Pears

My year last year was busy. So busy, in fact, I found myself cheating a bit and searching for the easiest recipes to incorporate into my cooking with tea routine. But I still wanted to be creative and I certainly didn’t want to sacrifice flavor. So I was thrilled to come across this tea poached fruit recipe.

Poaching fruit is extremely easy. It’s kind of like making simple syrup, only with large, luscious pieces of fruit thrown in. You can make it ahead—in fact, you have to. You can eat poached fruit chilled, at room temperature or gently warmed back up. You can dress it up for an impressive dinner party dessert (e.g. drizzle with crème anglaise or serve with vanilla bean ice cream). Or keep it simple for morning or afternoon snacking (e.g. chop it up into your granola or serve with plain yogurt). And you can poach other stone fruits besides pears, like peaches, nectarines or plums.

I used my own citrus spice tea blend here, which I make with Assam black tea, orange peel, cloves, pink peppercorns and star anise. But you could easily use your favorite spiced tea, a hearty chai, an Earl Grey, or even a jasmine green tea as the tea that provides the dish’s flavor.

If you’re like me and want an interesting and flavorful dish that doesn’t take a lot of work, you’ll enjoy these other tea foodie quickie-but-goodie recipes:

• Chamomile Breakfast Quinoa
• Fresh Herb and Green Tea Pesto
• Mango-Ginger Tea Vinaigrette
• Sweet Lavender Guacamole
• Jasmine Tea Poached Peaches (a la Julia Child)

Happy cooking and sipping!

(Adapted by Suzanne Klein, Tea Foodie from the Peaches in Kenya Tea Sauce recipe in the Cooking with Tea cookbook by Robert Wemischner and Diana Rosen.)

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

3 cups water

3 tablespoons spiced loose leaf tea (I used my own citrus spice black tea blend)

¾ cup sugar

4 barely ripe pears, peeled, halved and cored

Preparation:

1. Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat, add tea leaves, cover and steep for 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Strain mixture to remove tea leaves and return brewed tea to the saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in sugar, stirring until dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes. Add pear halves and cook at a simmer until they are tender but not mushy, 5 to 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer pears to a heatproof bowl and set aside.
3. Bring remaining poaching liquid to a simmer over medium heat until it is reduced by about half and can coat the back of a spoon lightly, about 10 minutes.
4. Pour reduced liquid over the pears and let the mixture cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. These will last in the fridge for up to 2 days and can be served chilled, at room temperature or warmed over low heat on the stovetop. Be sure and serve with a hefty spoonful of the poaching liquid. Delicious with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Tips:

• This recipe works with other stone fruit, like peaches, apricots or plums.
• If you have leftover poaching liquid (after you’ve devoured the fruit), use it like you would a simple syrup—sweeten iced tea, flavor cocktails, drizzle over ice cream or pound cake, or stir into plain yogurt.