Ingredients Fruits Pear Poached Pears in Muscat Be the first to rate & review! Languedoc and Mediterranean France make beautifully aromatic, sweet Muscat dessert wines that soak into these poached pears. This recipe, which writer Steve Hoffman tasted in the town of Autignac, replaces the usual sugar with honey and counters the sweetness and floral notes of the reduced wine with some of the resinous and earthy aromas of the area's famous wild scrubland, namely bay, thyme, and fennel. A knife inserted into a poached pear should encounter about the same resistance as room-temperature butter. By Steve Hoffman Steve Hoffman Facebook Instagram Website Steve Hoffman is a food writer, tax preparer, and part-time French villager with 10 years of experience writing for local and national publications about the food of the Great Lakes North and Mediterranean France.Expertise: Northern Food, French wine and cuisine.Experience: Steve Hoffman is a James Beard Award-winning food writer who spends half of each year in his left brain, as a professional tax preparer, and the other half in his right brain, as a writer on the subjects of food, wine, and culinary travel. He splits his time between his native Minnesota and the Languedoc region of southern France. Steve dedicated four fall semesters to working with local winemakers in a tiny French village, assisting in the vineyards and wineries. His writing has appeared in numerous outlets including Artful Living, The Washington Post, Food & Wine, and the Minnesota Star Tribune, where he won an IACP Award for his article "From the Wild (Meals from a Hunter)." Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on August 19, 2021 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Photo by Mary Jo Hoffman Active Time: 20 mins Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Servings: 4 Ingredients 2 (375-ml.) bottles sweet Mediterranean Muscat dessert wine (such as Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, Muscat de Frontignan, Muscat de Lunel, or Muscat de Rivesaltes) 3 tablespoons clover honey 4 thyme sprigs 1 fresh or dried bay leaf 2 teaspoons fennel seeds Small pinch of saffron threads (15 to 20 threads) Pinch of fine sea salt 2 medium-size unripe to barely ripe Bosc pears (about 15 ounces) 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 to 2 cups boiling water Fromage blanc or crème fraîche, for serving Directions Combine wine, honey, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, fennel seeds, saffron, and salt in a small (3- to 4-quart) Dutch oven. Bring to a boil over medium-high. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. Meanwhile, peel pears, and cut in half lengthwise. Using a small spoon, remove seeds and core from each half, carving out neat half-spheres. Brush pear halves all over with lemon juice. Add pears to wine mixture in a single layer. Add 1 cup boiling water or more as needed to just submerge pear halves. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low until tender, 30 to 35 minutes, turning pears every 8 to 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer pears to a plate, and set aside. Bring poaching liquid to a light boil over medium, and boil, stirring occasionally, until sweet, syrupy, and reduced to about 3/4 cup, 15 to 20 minutes. Pour syrup through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a bowl; discard solids. Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons fromage blanc onto each of 4 shallow bowls or rimmed dessert plates. Nestle 1 pear half into fromage blanc, upright, if desired. Drizzle each pear half with 2 to 3 tablespoons syrup. Serve warm or chilled. Make Ahead Pears and syrup can be made up to 1 day in advance and stored in airtight containers in refrigerator. Rate it Print Updated by Erik Eastman