Braised Pear Salad

Recipes from “Perfectly Aged” Makes 6 servings

CHAMPAGNE VINAIGRETTE

Makes 3 cups

1 cup champagne vinegar

3 tablespoons finely minced shallots

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

10 teaspoons granulated sugar

2 cups extra-virgin olive oil

Sea salt to taste

Ground white pepper to taste

Instructions: In a large mixing bowl, combine the vinegar, shallots, mustard and sugar. Whisk in the olive oil slowly. Season with salt and pepper. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Whisk again if needed before serving.

BRAISED VANILLA PEARS 1½ cups granulated sugar 1 cup water 1 vanilla bean 2 bottles dry sparkling wine 6 pears, peeled

Instructions: Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and boil for 2-3 minutes, creating a simple syrup. Split the vanilla bean in half, scraping the inside to remove the pulp. Add the sparkling wine and vanilla bean to the simple syrup. Bring to a simmer and add the pears. Poach the pears until tender, about 6-8 minutes. Remove, cool and refrigerate overnight if possible. Cut the pears in half and remove the cores.

SALAD 4 blood oranges, supremes,

sectioned 2 bags (5 ounces each) spring

mix Braised vanilla pears 8 ounces goat cheese,

crumbled ¾ cup walnuts, toasted Champagne Vinaigrette

Instructions: Slice the tops and bottoms off the blood oranges. Place each orange on its flat top or bottom and remove the rest of the peel, leaving only the flesh, by carefully slicing down the orange. Pick up the orange and cut out he segments without any white membrane.

Place about 1 cup of spring mix on each salad plate and top the center with two halves of the braised pear. Portion out the blood orange supreme segments, crumbled goat cheese, and toasted walnuts. Drizzle with champagne vinaigrette and serve.