Obama Cares Poached Pears

“You want to call it Obamacare — that’s okay, because I do care.”
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/president-obama-embraces-obamacare-label-but-why/2012/03/25/gIQARJ5qaS_blog.html

Obama Cares Poached Pears

Makes 4 servings

You may care to serve these often...tasty, tender and good for you, too!

2 cups white wine

2 cups water

1-1/2 cups sugar

4 Bosc pears, peeled, cored, and quartered

8 fresh ginger slices

8 whole cloves

1/2 lemon, cut into 2 pieces

Heat wine, water and sugar in large sauce pot until sugar is dissolved.  Add ginger, cloves and lemon.

Add pears; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until pears are just tender, about 25 minutes. 

Remove pears with slotted spoon; cover and set aside. Strain ginger, cloves and lemon from cooking liquid; discard.  Return liquid to sauce pot and bring to boil, then cook on medium-high heat until liquid is reduced by half, about 15 minutes.  Pour into small serving vessel and refrigerate 15 minutes to quickly cool. 

To serve pears, place in shallow bowls and drizzle a bit of the reduced cooking liquid over. 

Tips:

Serve with vanilla bean ice cream.

To core pears, cut in half after peeling.  Use a mellon baller to remove centers from pears.

Make ahead of time and store in refrigerator in a covered container with the reduced cooking liquid.