Poached Pears with Milawa Blue, Candied Pecans and Bush Honey

This beautiful recipe is courtesy of the wonderful Studd Siblings, who did a fantastic write up about our Milawa Blue in the April edition of Delicious Magazine. 

INGREDIENTS:

11/2 cups (330g) caster sugar
2 cardamom pods, bruised
1 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped
6 pears, any variety, peeled, halved and core removed
1/2 cup (70g) pecans
11/2 tbs pure icing sugar
200g Milawa Blue, crumbled
Bush honey, to serve

METHOD:

1. Place the caster sugar, spices and 4 cups (1L) water in a large saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, untouched, for 10 minutes. Add the peeled pears and cook, covered, until the fruit is soft (this will take 20-40 minutes, depending on the pear variety and the ripeness). Test the softness of the pears by inserting a skewer; if it can be inserted easily, they’re ready. If not, continue cooking for a few more minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place pecans in a small frypan over medium heat. Cook, tossing occasionally, for 2-3 minutes until toasted. Slowly sift over icing sugar, tossing constantly, until sugar melts and starts to caramelise. Set aside to cool. Roughly chop.
3. To serve, arrange pears on a serving plate. Sprinkle with crumbled cheese, then drizzle with honey. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and serve immediately.

NOTE: If preparing pears in advance, store them in poaching liquid, covered, in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before serving. Strain the liquid and keep it to poach other fruit, or reduce to a syrup and use to drizzle over ice cream or cakes.