There are many blogs that I enjoy reading, and one of them is palachinka. She has some really delicious Serbian recipes, both sweet & savory, and I love to check the site from time to time for inspiration. I recently came across a recipe she made with poached pears filled with blue cheese and wrapped in bacon. It looked absolutely delicious, but I was concerned about it being a little too salty for me, especially since the whole thing was wrapped in bacon. I decided I was going to poach the pears and fill them with a gooey brie, and then wrap them in a thinly cut bacon. I must tell you that these were absolutely delicious! They would make a great appetizer using small pears like the forelles that I used, or you can make it with larger pears like bosc, and serve it with a salad on the side for a great light lunch. Thank you Palachinka for the idea…I am sure that I will be making these many, many times.
***Recipe adapted and modified from palachinka.blogspot.com
Wine Poached Pears with brie & Bacon
6 forelle pears (or crispy, firm pears of your choice)
6 Tablespoons brie, skin removed
18 pieces thin cut bacon
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup filtered water
1 cup white wine
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons sugar
½ cup honey
2 Tablespoons honey
1 cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves
Add the water, wine, sugar, the half cup of honey cloves & cinnamon into a small pot, mix well and bring the liquid to a boil. In the meantime, add the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to a small bowl. Peel & core the pears and leave the stem intact. Level the bottom of the pear with your knife to make sure that the pear can stand up on its own. Once you peel and core each pear, roll in the lemon juice to prevent oxidation and set aside. Once you have finished cleaning the pears, the poaching syrup should be at a boil. Remove from heat and slowly add the pears (upright) in the liquid. I also add the lemon juice that the pears have been sitting in to offset the sweetness of the poaching liquid. Reduce the heat to low, and put the pot of pears back on the heat to simmer until tender…about 30-45 minutes. You can check the pears for doneness, by inserting a sharp knife into the flesh that will come out easily. Remove the pears from the liquid and allow to cool completely. Cut the brie into pieces that will easily fill the crevices of the pear. Once the pears are cool, add as much cheese into the crevice as you can. At this point preheat your oven to 350°F. Then, take the first slice of bacon and lay it on your work surface. Sit the pear on top of this, and roll the bacon up one side and then the other. Have a pair of kitchen shears handy, because you will probably need to trim the bacon. Each pear will take 3 slices of bacon, so go around the pear and repeat this procedure, gently overlapping each piece. Secure each piece of bacon at the top with a few tooth picks that have been soaked in water. Put all of the pears onto a sheet pan with a piece of parchment.
Take the 2 tablespoons of sugar and drizzle over the bacon on each pear before baking. Add the tray to the top shelf of your oven and bake completely until the bacon is crispy, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, plate the pears and drizzle each one with the remaining 2 tablespoons of honey and serve immediately.
Leave a Reply