Poached Pears

I finally did it.  I poached pears.  Thanks to Chow for helping me to come up with a recipe using stuff I had on hand.

2 cups of port wine and 2 of cab
1 cup water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 stick cinnamon
1 tbsp or so of whole cloves
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
4 firm Bosc or Anjou pears (about 1 pound)

Combine all ingredients except pears in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Meanwhile, peel pears, leaving the stems intact. Slice off the bottom 1/8 inch of each pear to create a flat, stable base.

Reduce heat to keep poaching liquid at a bare simmer and add pears, laying them on their sides so that they are almost completely submerged. Cook, turning pears occasionally so that they become saturated on all sides, until they are just tender when pierced with a fork, about 7 minutes.  Be careful when turning - if the pears are ripe, or once they start to cook they get very delicate and you can end up gouging them with your spoon as you try to turn them.

Allow pears to cool completely in the poaching liquid. Serve or transfer pears and liquid to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

To serve, I broke up half of a bar of dark chocolate into a small bowl, added 1/4 cup of milk and nuked for a minute.  I stirred, added more milk (another tbsp or two) until I had the consistency I wanted, then spooned the chocolate onto the plate and spread it around a bit, and nestled the pears on top.