Aromatic pears

Yield: 6 servings

• 1 lemon

• 1 cup dry white wine

• 5 tablespoons granulated sugar

• ½ vanilla bean

• 1 stick cinnamon

• 2 whole cloves

• ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger

• 6 firm-fleshed pears or 12 Seckel pears

• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

and chilled, or 2 cups whipped cream

Directions:

1. Grate zest from the lemon and set aside. Cut the lemon in half, extract 1 tablespoon juice and set juice and lemon halves aside.

2. In a large, heavy saucepan, combine lemon zest, wine, sugar, vanilla bean, cinnamon stick, cloves, ginger and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer about 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, peel pears with a vegetable peeler, leaving stems on. Rub the surface of the pears with the cut side of a lemon half to prevent them from darkening. Poach pears in the syrup, turning occasionally, until their flesh

can easily be pierced with the tip of a knife, 10 to 20 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and let pears cool in syrup for 10 minutes.

4. Remove pears from syrup with a slotted spoon and arrange, stem-side up, in a shallow serving dish. Return syrup to a boil over high heat until reduced to 11/2 cups. Stir in lemon juice. Allow syrup to cool to lukewarm.

5. Carefully strain syrup over pears. To serve, pass pears accompanied by whipped cream in a separate bowl.

Per serving: 325 calories; 15 g fat; 9 g saturated fat; 45 mg cholesterol; 2 g protein; 41 g carbohydrate; 29 g sugar; 7 g fiber; 14 mg sodium; 60 mg calcium

—Recipe by “Crabtree & Evelyn Cookbook”