Soeurved

Sunday Supper

February 23, 2010 at 4:03 AM Leave a comment

After I graduated from college, emerging from the hole of academic hermithood that was my undergraduate life, CAR and I vowed to cook Sunday supper together on a regular basis. Although we’ve struggled to stick to the “regular” part of the plan, we usually manage at least one end-of-the-week meal per month. A proper Sunday supper consists of hearty and comforting fare, but stops short of overindulgence; Mondays are sluggish enough as is.

Last night we prepared butternut squash risotto

Mixed greens with fennel, shallot (having inadvertently chopped more than we needed for the risotto), radish, and shaved carrot

And port-poached Anjou pears with cinnamon, cardamom, and star anise

All the poached pear recipes on Epicurious instruct you to combine the wine, sugar, and spices in a saucepan, bring to a simmer, and add the pears. We use a different technique: peel, halve, and core several firm but ripe pears. Place them face down in a glass baking dish. Add enough port or red wine to submerge 1/4 of each pear. Add about 1/8 cup of sugar per pear (taste to adjust the sweetness to your liking). Spice it up with cinnamon sticks and/or star anise and/or cloves and/or cardamom and/or ginger and/or vanilla bean. Bake at 350º for about 40 minutes, basting occasionally, until the liquid thickens and the pears become tender.

Entry filed under: Recipes, Tricks of the Trade. Tags: Dessert, Main Courses.