Earl Grey Poached Pear

I have always been a big fruit eater. I love fruit after breakfast, lunch, dinner, and as a snack. Fresh fruit salad, fruit smoothies, frozen fruits, cooked fruit, and fruit in baked goods such as muffins, bars and crisps are all amazing. Fruit makes such a nice end to a meal, and poaching is an easy way to prepare fruit for a simple warm dessert.

A couple of months ago, a co-worker mentioned her love of earl grey tea. It had been such a long time since I had earl grey, but I immediately recalled the floral notes of the bergamot (which is extracted from a sour orange). Not long after that conversation, I picked up some earl grey tea and began enjoying it for breakfast. I decided to add the tea to the poaching liquid for pears. I often poach pears and apples and thought this would make a nice twist.

Earl Grey Poached Pear

Ingredients:

1 pear, cored and sliced in half
3/4 cup of water
pinch each of cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg
1 rounded tsp of coconut sugar, or other sweetener
1 bag of earl grey tea

Directions:

Place the pear halves, cut side down in a saucepan and add all of the remaining ingredients. Let the pears simmer over low heat for about 7 minutes - until they are tender. Remove the pears, drizzle on a little of the cooking liquid, and scoop out the flesh to eat. You can eat the peel, too if you like.

The sauce is fairly strong so I only drizzle a little of it over the pears. You can add a little cornstarch if you would like to thicken up the sauce, but I like to leave it fairly plain and simple and usually skip this step.

Nutritional information for 1 pear from caloriecount.about.com.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 322 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  98 Calories from Fat  3

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  0.3g 0%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  7mg 0%

Potassium  168mg 5%

Total Carbohydrates  25.7g 9%

Dietary Fiber  4.6g 18%

Sugars  17.6g

Protein  0.6g

Vitamin A 1% • Vitamin C 10% Calcium 2% • Iron 2%

Nutrition Grade B+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet