Poached Pears Anglaise

Make this an extra fancy feast with poached pears.

Ingredients

6 pears, slightly underripe
4 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 Teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
Creme Anglaise Sauce (recipe below)

Directions

Peel the pears, leaving the stems on if desired. Drop them immediately into cold water that contains a little lemon juice to prevent them from darkening.

In a large pot, bring the four cups water, sugar, lemon juice and lemon rind to a boil. Add the cinnamon stick, cloves and the pears. Cover and keep the syrup at a rolling boil -- until the pears are tender. This should take about 30 minutes, depending on the ripeness and the size of the pears. When finished cooking they should be slightly translucent, and easily pierced with a kitchen fork.

With a slotted spoon, carefully transfer pears to a shallow, flat-bottomed dish. Stand them up if possible so that they keep their shape -- they are very pliable and apt to flatten out slightly if they lie on their sides.

If necessary, trim the bottoms when pears are cooler to help them stand up. Pour a little of the syrup over the pears, cover and chill for several hours. Drizzle with Creme Anglaise when ready to serve.

Note: Poach pears such as Bosc or Anjou. They should be slightly underripe. If you use pears that are ripe for eating then they will fall apart during poaching. Watch the pears very attentively as it cooks. If you let if boil it will curdle. To prevent this, stir steadily and keep the pot at a very low temperature.