Sous Vide Marsala Poached Pears + Video

Cooked to perfection, these Sous Vide Marsala Poached Pears make a delightful treat, paired with spiced pecans and mascarpone cream.

I'm serving up a plate of sexy, sparkly, scrumptious Sous Vide Marsala Poached Pears for this instalment of  Sous Vide Sunday.

So, The Sinner! Have you watched it? The last episode aired the other night and I have such mixed feelings. In the first episode - the main character, played by Jessica Biel, is on a picnic at the beach with her husband and son when she suddenly gets up and stabs a dude, two blankets over, multiple times.

With the 'who' revealed, the series eight episodes that follow, delve into the 'why'. And it's disturbingly good. I'll leave things there, so that I don't ruin it for anyone currently watching.

OK, back to these Sous Vide Marsala Poached Pears. I've made David Lebovitz's Baked Marsala Pears in the past, so I thought I would try a sous vide version. I used pretty much the same ingredient list - he used Conference pears, I used Bartlett/Williams. I peeled the pears, his were skin on. He used icing sugar, I used demerara. His were baked, mine sous vide. I served mine with mascarpone cream and spiced pecans to add a contrasting texture.

The variations were based solely on what I had on hand and what suited the cooking technique.

I know, I know... for someone who doesn't like cooked fruit, I sure seem to be piling them on lately. I made these Sous Vide Marsala Poached Pears for company a few weeks ago. I loved how the marsala wine infused the pears with its warm, chocolatey, toffee flavour.

We normally keep a bottle of Marsala wine on hand for cooking. If you are in my neck of the woods, you can buy it at the LCBO for $14 all the way up to $185. It's a fortified wine from Sicily that adds a wonderful flavour to both sweet and savoury dishes. Hint - it's amazing in tiramisu!

I was first introduced to Marsala wine in Zabaglione, an Italian type of sabayon. The lightest, creamiest, most delicious topping for a bowl of fresh fruits. I recently made a sous vide version that I'll be sharing with you soon.

Sweet Tips For Making Sous Vide Marsala Poached Pears:

• Start with firm, ripe pears that have been washed - preferably organic.
• You may need to shave a bit off the bottom of the pear to help them stay upright in the pouch.
• Immediately cooling the cooked pears off in a water bath helps to quickly slow/stop the cooking, if you plan to store them in the refrigerator. If not, you can have them while still warm.
• You may enjoy the pears as is, or use for other applications like pie, crostata, crisp, puree for baking, drinks or bonbons. In the past, we have paired them with pork as a side.
• The cooked pears along with the poaching liquids may be stored in the sealed vacuum pouch in the refrigerator for a couple days.
• To serve, heat the poaching liquid to reduce it to a caramel sauce consistency and drizzle over the pears.

Here's a video showing how I made them!