Skip to main content

Star Anise-Vanilla Bean Kissed Pears in a Chocolate Sauce #Sponsored

 This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Quail & Olive.
Complimentary product was provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links.
However, all opinions expressed here are my own.


Last week Anni of The Quail & Olive* asked if I wanted to play around with their Star Anise Vanilla Bean Vinegar and come up with some ways to use it. Yep. Sure thing!


As soon as I got it home and had everyone smell and taste it. It has all of the qualities you expect from a balsamic vinegar with the added allure of vanilla and the warmth of star anise. I had the idea of pairing it with chocolate...and pears. So I decided to poach some pears in red wine with a kiss of vinegar and serve them in a pool of chocolate sauce. Oh, delicious, chocolatey decadence was achieved!

You should poach the pears the day before you want to serve them. Or, at least, early enough in the day that they get to sit in their syrup for at least six hours before serving. And you should make the sauce right before you want to serve because there's nothing much better than warm chocolate sauce.

Ingredients serves 6

Pears


Sauce
  • 1 cup organic heavy whipping cream
  • 8 ounces semisweet chocolate (minimum of 64% cacao though I prefer 75%), chopped or use chips
  • 1 Tablespoon butter
  • 1 Tablespoon red wine (I used the some leftover Merlot)
  • 1 teaspoon Star Anise Vanilla Bean Vinegar

Procedure

Pears
Peel the pears, but leave the stem intact. That makes it easier to pick them up without damaging the flesh and it also looks cool!

Pour the red wine and vinegar into a saucepan and add the sugar. Heat and swirl the pan until the sugar is dissolved.


Place the pears in the red wine mixture and simmer gently at a very low heat for 25 to 30 minutes. You want the pears softened, but still retaining their shape. Once softened, remove from the heat, and leave the pears in the poaching liquid. You will need to turn the pears if they are not completely submerged in the liquid. I probably turned mine 4 times while they cooled. Then I refrigerated them - in the liquid - overnight.

Before serving, remove them from the liquid and bring them to room temperature.


Sauce
Pour the cream into a small sauce pan. Heat over medium high heat until the cream begins to steam and small bubbles form around the edge of the pan.


Once the cream is heated, pour in the wine and vinegar. Add in the chocolate and butter. Swirl the pan until the chocolate is completely submerged. Let stand for 3 minutes. Whisk until a smooth sauce forms. 


To serve, spoon the chocolate sauce into a shallow serving bowl. Pick up a pear by its stem and gently place it in the pool of chocolate. If the pear doesn't stand upright, you might need to slice the bottom flat.


on the web, on Facebook, on Instagram, on Twitter

*Disclosure: I receive compensation in the form of complimentary products for recipe development 
and generating social media traction. All opinions are my own.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce