' poached PEARS with ORANGE SAUCE .'

Cider poached Pears, with Orange sauce, Frozen orange yoghurt, Pear crisp and Candied orange peel. 

                         Winter fruit can match their summer cousins when it comes to deserts, with this one I wanted to present these two winter fruits paired with contrasts of textures and temperatures to try and bring out the best of these delights. The idea for the pairing I'd seen before but the recipe used white wine instead of cider and was minus the accompaniments, with the addition of marscapone cream. This preparation has five components ( poached pears, frozen yoghurt, orange sauce, pear crisp and candied orange peel ) which seems daunting but in actual fact flows freely from one prep to the next seamlessly.                                                                                    
                          To make this desert I started by preparing the fruit, firstly zesting and juicing one orange and one lemon separately. I mixed some of the juice with vanilla yoghurt and placed covered in the freezer. Stirring with a fork from time to time. In a saucepan I put crisp pear cider, water, sugar, the zest from both the lemon and orange and a little lemon juice, I brought this to a simmer before removing from the heat. I then peeled the pears and trimmed the bottoms flat, standing them in the saucepan of syrup. Spooning or basting the pears frequently I simmered them for about twenty five minutes before removing them with a slotted spoon and transferring to a flat plate. The poaching syrup was strained and the liquid together with the orange juice was brought to a simmer in a saucepan for twenty minutes or so until the sauce becomes thick and reduced. With the zest from the poaching syrup, half was set aside to dress or decorate the pears and the other half was tossed in white sugar and laid on baking paper on a tray in a draughty area to dry. I then sliced thinly another pear into 1-2 mm thick slices, laying on a tray lined with baking paper and cooking in 140 deg.c. oven turning occasionally until dried and browned. These were taking out and laid out to cool with the peel.                                                        
                            Once all the elements were ready it was time to plate, I began by slicing and coring one pear to present flat on the plate, this will hold the frozen yoghurt. Next to this I stood the other pear and drizzled both pears with the orange sauce, sticking the lemon and orange zest to the side of the standing pear. Just before serving i placed a quenelle of the frozen orange yoghurt in the hole of the cored, sliced pear which was topped with the candied orange peel and a pear crisp to garnish.