Alison Lambert -taste of my life

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ORIENTAL LIME TEA INFUSED POACHED PEARS
1 litre water
4 tablespoons Oriental lime tea leaves (The T Shop)
1 cup white wine
1 cup raw cane sugar
1 fresh lime, zest and squeeze of lime juice

Infuse the tea leaves in 2 cups boiled water, which has sat for a couple of minutes to cool. Let infuse for 10 minutes and strain, reserving the liquid. Discard the leaves.
In a deep pot which will hold 4 - 6 pears. Add the remaining water, tea, white wine, sugar and lime zest. Boil gently to dissolve sugar and for the flavours to mingle.
Peel the pears leaving the stems on, slice a thin piece of each pear so it will sit upright. And remove core (from bottom of the pear, upwards).
Place the pears in the poaching liquor and cover with a slightly smaller lid, which will help to keep the pears submerged, resulting in them cooking evenly. Poach gently for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Remove from the cooking liquor and set aside. Reduce the liquid until it gets to a syrup stage. Taste, add the squeeze of lime if necessary.
Spoon the syrup over the pears, serve with yoghurt panna cotta’s or good quality vanilla ice cream.