Classic Poached Pears in White Wine Recipe

1. Start by preparing the pears: thinly peel the pears making sure you keep the stem intact. If the pears are wobbly on the bottom, you can trim them slightly to make them flat and enable them to stand up in the pan and when serving. 
2. Stir together the sweet white wine, water, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a large saucepan.
3. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat and add the prepared pears.

1. Poach the pears, uncovered, for 7 to 9 minutes, until they turn tender; you will need to watch this process carefully as you do not want the pears to be mushy or they will collapse.
2. Take them from the poaching liquor sooner rather than later. 
3. Use a large slotted spoon to transfer the pears to a serving plate. Return the poaching liquid to a simmer, add the sugar, and allow the mixture to reduce by half in volume, this will take about 6 to 8 minutes.
4. The syrup is ready when it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean from the syrup and strain the liquor through a fine sieve. 
5. Arrange the pears on individual serving plates and drizzle with the wine syrup.

Alternatives to the Poached Pears in White Wine

You can ring the changes in this recipe by switching the variety of pear you use; with many different ones you can create different tastes, sweetness, and textures. 

Use a dry white wine rather than sweet; this will radically change the flavor from syrupy sweet to a drier yet still sweetish taste to the pears.