Sweet and elegant... Vanilla Poached Pears

Fall is upon us. The pumpkins, gourds and spices are popping up in the markets, as are the pears. I love pears when they are in season, sweet juicy and very flavorful.
In the past I have substituted pears and dry fruit in pies meant for apples, the result is very similar but the spices tend to shine through a bit more. Not wanting to make a crust and heat the oven up to bake for an hour, I decided to combine the best of two recipes. The result is a very simple and elegant dessert that can be prepared a day or two ahead of time.

Vanilla Poached Pears

serves 4

4 ripe but firm pears

750 ml. Riesling Wine

1 whole star anise

1 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla bean paste

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Pour wine, water, and sugar into a 4 quart sauce pan. Add star anise and vanilla bean paste. Bring to boil and simmer until all sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to medium low. Peel and core pears, leaving the stems intact.

Place pears in liquid and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove pears from liquid and set aside. Reduce syrup to half the volume, 20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

To Plate: Pour syrup into a plastic squirt bottle, place a small pool in the center of a deep plate. Put pear in center and garnish with brown sugar crumble and whole star anise.

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Brown Sugar Crumble

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup oatmeal

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

4 tbsp. butter ( melted)

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients together, add butter to mixture. Dig in with your fingers and mix until moistened. Spread into the bottom of sheet pan. Bake until golden. 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. Crumble mixture once cool and garnish vanilla pears.