I bought a large bag of d’anjou pears at Costco, not realizing that getting them in a more green state would prevent me from eating them in a timely fashion. To help them ripen, I put them in a paper bag with a couple of apples, but it was taking way too long. I thought they’d rot from the inside by the time I’d get to eat them fully ripe.

So, I set out to do something else with them. I tossed around the idea of making a tart or a crumble, but I decided to keep it simple. I hadn’t made poached pears before, so I played around with spices and flavours that I liked for the poaching liquid and they turned out incredible. Many poached pear recipes require wine, or other alcohol, but mine are alcohol-free.

The smell in my kitchen was intoxicating and it lingered all day. Even if I don’t have pears, I might boil up some of those spices just to have the aroma wafting throughout the house.

Choose pears that are mid-way between hard and ripe. Too green and they’ll be tough, too ripe and they’ll be mushy.

Pot that will fit 4 pears lying down
Vegetable peeler
Slotted spoon
Whisk

4 pears of your choice, whole
1 litre of water
1 cinnamon stick
Seeds from 2-3 cardamom pods
2 narrow strips of orange peel
1 tbsp orange, or lemon, juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp cold water
2 Tbsp plain non-dairy yogurt
Ground cinnamon to taste

Wash the pears and peel all the skin off, leaving the stem intact (submerge them in a bowl of cold water to prevent them from browning).

Add a litre of water to a pot and bring it to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium low to keep the water simmering. Add the cinnamon stick, vanilla, cardamom, orange peel, orange/lemon juice and maple syrup. Lower the pears into the pot carefully, ensuring they are completely covered in the liquid. Simmer for 10-30 minutes. Doneness will depend on how ripe the pears are. They should be fork tender but hold their shape. After 10 minutes, test them by poking with a fork, or knife. If it goes in and comes out easily, they’re done. If not, keep testing after another 10 minutes until they are.

Remove pears to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Remove cinnamon stick and orange peel. Cover pears with 2/3 of the hot liquid.

In a small bowl, whisk 1 Tbsp cold water into the cornstarch until dissolved. Add the slurry to the remaining liquid in the pot. Bring to a boil, while whisking, and allow the sauce to thicken. If, after a few minutes, it hasn’t thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, add a little more slurry of a teaspoon of cold water and teaspoon of cornstarch. Boil again, while whisking, and watch for thickening. Once it looks like a thickened, clear glaze, remove from heat and set aside.

Pears can be eaten warm or cold. Glaze can be served warm or cold. Place one pear in a bowl. Add your yogurt beside it. Spoon the glaze over the pear and yogurt. Top with ground cinnamon. The flavours are bold and comforting. Enjoy!

You can also quarter the pears and remove the core before poaching if you prefer less “fancy” poached pears. Cooking time will be reduced with this method. Coconut whipped cream or non-dairy ice cream would also be great accompaniments.