Gourmet Express

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, with the light streaming into my living room just the way I liked it, I toyed with the idea of hitting the kitchen to satiate the sweet craving both my husband and I couldn’t ignore anymore. Since, I’m trying to be on an ‘eat healthy drive,’  failing miserably on most occasions, I was determined, this time, to whip something that was very healthy, yet tasty, a very rare combination, but read on, the combination does exist.

I decided to make Nigella Lawson’s ‘Poached Pears in Red Wine.’ I know the name sounds unbelievably fancy and seems like it would be a complicated recipe. But rest assured, there are only four ingredients in all and it’s not process heavy at all. All ingredients can be locally sourced as well.
After I tried the recipe (provided below), I was completely taken aback at how incredibly easy it was to make and I came out looking like a master chef. The dish looked fabulous with the pear halves having soaked in the runny wine sauce. They had turned a delicious burgundy, and looked moist and inviting. The pears retained their grainy texture and crunchiness but had soaked all the wine juices and oozed with amazing goodness with every lip-smacking bite that we took.

My presentation looked like I had toiled over the dish forever. I took a martini glass scooped half a pear and let it lay in an inviting pool of wine sauce. I garnished it with a sprig of mint that I plucked from my tiny vegetable garden patch. You could also add a scoop of vanilla ice-cream to complete the medley of flavours. But trust me; you don’t really need the ice-cream. The dish is mind-blowing on its own.

So the next time you have a dinner party or you have your girlfriends over, do try this recipe, you’ll come out a star. The whole dish looks and maintains a gourmet standard but is ridiculously simple to make and tastes fantastic. My husband wolfing down more than his fair share of the dish was ample proof of how good it was.

Recipe (Source: www.nigella.com/recipes/view/poached-pears-3418)
Ingredients
500ml red wine (any good red wine)
75g sugar
2 tblsp lemon juice
4 ripe, but firm pears (peeled, cored and halved)

Method
Serves: 4
Bring wine and sugar to the boil, simmer for 5 minutes.
Add lemon juice and pears, cover and cook for about 20 minutes on low flame.
Allow to cool, but serve slightly warm or room temperature. The longer they're left, the more of the wine the pears will absorb.
Serve with a little of the wine and a scoop of ice cream, a sprig of mint to garnish if you fancy.