Poached pears

This past weekend I held my first official dinner party at my new place. Did I mention I now have a dining room? It's true! So what if it still contains a few packed boxes and a rogue sewing machine, it's still a dining room!

I thought a bit about what I might serve and decided on Jamie's Chicken in Milk, which I've made and posted about before. It turned out every bit as good this time around, and my recommendation still stands. I served it with mashed potatoes and some Swiss chard. A rather homey, hearty meal for what was actually a lovely spring day.

But for dessert, I opted to try something I've never cooked before: poached pears. The recipe's below, but it's pretty simple. Start by peeling four pears and scooping out the seed end with a small spoon. I small ice cream scoop or melon baller would work too, but I haven't got either.

Then you dunk the fruit in the poaching liquid, which is just sugar, water, lemon and I added in a rather sad vanilla pod I had lying around. Doesn't look like much, but the end result is quite tasty.

I served the pears with a delicious scoop of Pascale's ice cream, salted caramel flavour. So good! Then I decided the dish needed just a little something more, so I made some easy spiced walnuts.

Here they are toasting away in a pan.

While they're warming, mix up the spices. Note the addition of sunlight to my kitchen pictures. I have two windows now! Exciting times.

Then, all that's required is rolling the toasted nuts in a bit of maple syrup and the spices. They've got a little kick, so warn your guests ahead of time! If I make them again, I'll toast the nuts in the oven for a more even browning (note the black spots below).

It was a nice ending to a pretty good meal, if I do say so myself.

Poached Pears (recipe from The Art of Simple Foods, by Alice Waters)

4 cups water
1 1/4 cups sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 medium pears (I used Bosc)

Bring water and sugar to a boil in a heavy bottomed pan. Turn down to a simmer and add the lemon rind and juice and vanilla if using. Scoop out the small blossom end of each pear and put the pears into the barely simmering sugar syrup. Add more water if needed to cover the pears.

Cook them for 15-40 minutes depending on the ripeness, until tender and translucent but not soft. Test with a sharp paring knife at the thickest part of the pear. Remove from the heat and cool.

Spicy Maple Glazed Walnuts (recipe from Rachael Ray Magazine)

Makes 2 cups (but I halved the recipe)

Ingredients:

-1/4 cup sugar
-1 tsp. salt
-1/4 tsp. black pepper
-1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
-1/4 tsp. ground ginger
-1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
-3 tbsp. pure maple syrup
-2 cups walnuts

1. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, salt, black pepper, cayenne, ginger and cinnamon; set aside. Pour the maple syrup into a large bowl and set aside.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, toast the walnuts over medium-high heat, stirring or shaking the pan constantly, until they are hot, about five minutes. Immediately add the nuts to the maple syrup and toss to coat. Stir in the spice mixture until the nuts are evenly coated. Spread the walnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Let cool completely before serving, about 20 minutes.