Uploaded September 2022 | Updated September 2026, 17 hours ago
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Spiced Candied Pecan Recipe: youtu.be/EqSNlzwkOWA
I can only imagine that this idea has been around for about as long as there has been wine and brandy. It’s the sort of recipe which will come out well without much in the way of exact measurements. And it has all the luxurious bits and pieces which would impress the guests of medieval hosts, since after poaching in wine (and optionally honey) with whole spices, the pears are stuffed with a mixture of goat cheese, candied nuts, and brandy-soaked dried apricots.
The pears may be poached in either white or red wine. Of course they come out with different aromas, so the choice of aromatics used with a white wine might reasonably be different from those used with red. Using red wine makes it perhaps a little easier to tell when a pear has been sufficiently poached, but it also makes any tool marks accidentally made on the pears very visible.
To make macerated dried apricots, soak dried apricots in some nice brandy. We used Grand Marnier, and it was
delicious.
Once the pears are poached adequately, let them cool in the poaching liquid and then chill them in it. To serve, remove pears from the wine bath and stuff them with filling, and optionally sauce them with something like creme anglaise or dulce de leche, perhaps topped with finely chopped candied nuts (as used in the filling).
Makes 6-8 pears.
Equipment:
• saucepan which holds the pears close together, immersed standing up
• plastic or silicon-coated tongs are ideal to avoid damaging the pears
• melon-baller, or smallish spoon, to core out the flower end of the pear
Ingredients:
6-8 ea pears Bosc or Anjou; avoid Bartlett; cleaned, stems left on
1 ea bottle of wine there may be leftovers to drink
2-3 ea star anise rosettes
2-4 pc 3” cinnamon stick Perhaps break down a large cinnamon stick into smaller ones
2-4 ea cloves
1 tsp allspice berries
1 Tbsp juniper berries optional; if using white wine, substitute chopped fresh ginger
Filling:
120 g chevre plain goat cheese; at room temperature
1/4 cup macerated dried apricots chopped
1/4 cup candied pecans chopped
Procedure:
1. Test the clean pears in some pots before peeling them, to ensure the pot will hold them properly.
2. Once the proper pot has been identified, set up the poaching liquid by bringing 1/2 – 2/3 of the wine slowly to the simmer with all of the aromatics in it.
3. Timed if possible to be about done with the pears when the poaching liquid is just boiling, core and peel the pears, leaving the stem on. Entering through the flower (bottom) end, carve out just enough flesh to get the seeds out of the pear. There is a tough string of tissue from this area up through the pear’s stem which you will need to break through. A melon-baller really helps with this process; use the small end.
4. Once the pears are ready, place them all into the poaching liquid and let them poach, just barely simmering, for 20- 30 minutes. It is best, if possible, to handle them only by their stems.
5. The pears’ flesh becomes more translucent as it cooks, and perhaps also a bit softer, depending on how ripe your pears were to start with. Once they seem done, turn them off, let them cool, and chill them in the liquid, preferably overnight but for at least a couple of hours.
6. To make the filling, combine the chevre with the chopped macerated dried apricots and the chopped candied pecans until the mixture is homogeneous.
7. To serve the pears, first prepare any optional sauce you may wish to use. Then, taking cold pears from their spiced wine bath and ensuring no spices are stuck to them, fill their cavities generously but carefully with the filling.
8. It is tempting to serve them in pairs, being pears and perhaps seeming dainty, but one is really enough at a time. They may be stored for 2 or 3 days in their poaching liquid.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
Check our our Patreon!
patreon.com/loveyourfood
Need a kitchen thermometer? Check out ChefsTemp! Use code LoveYourFood for 15% off a meat thermometer!
shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=2084649&u=3322095&m=111859&urllink=&afftrack=
Spiced Candied Pecan Recipe: youtu.be/EqSNlzwkOWA
I can only imagine that this idea has been around for about as long as there has been wine and brandy. It’s the sort of recipe which will come out well without much in the way of exact measurements. And it has all the luxurious bits and pieces which would impress the guests of medieval hosts, since after poaching in wine (and optionally honey) with whole spices, the pears are stuffed with a mixture of goat cheese, candied nuts, and brandy-soaked dried apricots.
The pears may be poached in either white or red wine. Of course they come out with different aromas, so the choice of aromatics used with a white wine might reasonably be different from those used with red. Using red wine makes it perhaps a little easier to tell when a pear has been sufficiently poached, but it also makes any tool marks accidentally made on the pears very visible.
To make macerated dried apricots, soak dried apricots in some nice brandy. We used Grand Marnier, and it was
delicious.
Once the pears are poached adequately, let them cool in the poaching liquid and then chill them in it. To serve, remove pears from the wine bath and stuff them with filling, and optionally sauce them with something like creme anglaise or dulce de leche, perhaps topped with finely chopped candied nuts (as used in the filling).
Makes 6-8 pears.
Equipment:
• saucepan which holds the pears close together, immersed standing up
• plastic or silicon-coated tongs are ideal to avoid damaging the pears
• melon-baller, or smallish spoon, to core out the flower end of the pear
Ingredients:
6-8 ea pears Bosc or Anjou; avoid Bartlett; cleaned, stems left on
1 ea bottle of wine there may be leftovers to drink
2-3 ea star anise rosettes
2-4 pc 3” cinnamon stick Perhaps break down a large cinnamon stick into smaller ones
2-4 ea cloves
1 tsp allspice berries
1 Tbsp juniper berries optional; if using white wine, substitute chopped fresh ginger
Filling:
120 g chevre plain goat cheese; at room temperature
1/4 cup macerated dried apricots chopped
1/4 cup candied pecans chopped
Procedure:
1. Test the clean pears in some pots before peeling them, to ensure the pot will hold them properly.
2. Once the proper pot has been identified, set up the poaching liquid by bringing 1/2 – 2/3 of the wine slowly to the simmer with all of the aromatics in it.
3. Timed if possible to be about done with the pears when the poaching liquid is just boiling, core and peel the pears, leaving the stem on. Entering through the flower (bottom) end, carve out just enough flesh to get the seeds out of the pear. There is a tough string of tissue from this area up through the pear’s stem which you will need to break through. A melon-baller really helps with this process; use the small end.
4. Once the pears are ready, place them all into the poaching liquid and let them poach, just barely simmering, for 20- 30 minutes. It is best, if possible, to handle them only by their stems.
5. The pears’ flesh becomes more translucent as it cooks, and perhaps also a bit softer, depending on how ripe your pears were to start with. Once they seem done, turn them off, let them cool, and chill them in the liquid, preferably overnight but for at least a couple of hours.
6. To make the filling, combine the chevre with the chopped macerated dried apricots and the chopped candied pecans until the mixture is homogeneous.
7. To serve the pears, first prepare any optional sauce you may wish to use. Then, taking cold pears from their spiced wine bath and ensuring no spices are stuck to them, fill their cavities generously but carefully with the filling.
8. It is tempting to serve them in pairs, being pears and perhaps seeming dainty, but one is really enough at a time. They may be stored for 2 or 3 days in their poaching liquid.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
