If you've never checked out Jacques Pepin's "Fast Food, My Way", you really should. Everything in this book is great, and the strange thing is, stuff that sounds kind of weird is always amazing. Case in point: coffee-poached pears. This one came about for three reasons: 1. It's January, and fruit dessert fits in with fat season. 2. I had pears that needed to be used. 3. The opening paragraph of this recipe said "if you're looking at a pot of coffee from breakfast..." and lo and behold: I was.
Here's the details: Peel 2 pears and cut into quarters. Put in a saucepan with a cup of old coffee, a little less than a 1/4c. of brown sugar, a cap of vanilla, and some booze. He called for port, but I didn't have any, so I used Creme de Noyaux, which is a bottle from the way back of the liquor cabinet that tastes like almonds. Poach for 10 min, or until the pears are soft. He called for thickening the remaining sauce, but I did'nt feel like it. I served with sliced almonds, chocolate chips, and a little yogurt, but if I'd had ice cream I would have used that. It's pretty deceptive: dark, dark brown pears look a little unappetizing, but the bitterness of the coffee and the sweet of the pears is really nice. If I'd taken the time to pretty it up it would actually look quite elegant.
Plus my acupuncturist just told me that pears are good for the lungs and the dry, hacking coughs everyone seems to be having this time of year. Health food! Who knew?
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