J is another letter that is a bit limiting in the ‘ingredient’ basket. I have chosen Juniper berries as they are a wonderful background flavour to many savoury and sweet dishes, usually of a slow cooked, homely, comfort dish.
Juniper is also the main flavouring ingredient in one of my favourite drinks, gin.
I selected poached pears in red wine, juniper, and other spices. It is warm, delicious, fragrant and a dessert you don’t have to feel guilty about enjoying. I love to serve it with a tangy greek yoghurt and some of the juices. You could reserve most of the cooking liquid and boil down to a syrup to use an ice cream topping. Yum.
This Sunday will mark the first Father’s Day (in Australia) without my dad. I miss him so much and wish for him here every day, but I will use this Sunday to remember him and what a great dad he was and how he was such a big influence in so many aspects of my life. He was a collector of fine wines and he loved these kind of dishes.
My husband is father to our 3 wonderful children and he exceeds every part of what I might have thought a dad would / should contribute to our family. He is patient, funny, and caring and our kids idolise him. I’m glad we have this day to say thanks and we love you.
- 3 cups red wine
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 4-6 beurre bosc pears, peeled, halved and cored
- 1 cinnamon quill
- 1 star anise
- 4 cardamom pods, bruised
- 10-15 juniper berries
- greek or any other plain yoghurt for serving
- In a heavy based pot, combine the red wine, sugar and spices
- Heat the wine and simmer until sugar has dissolved
- Turn the heat down to low, place a lid on the pot and simmer for about 45 min to 1 hour
- When done, a knife should slide through the pear with no effort.
- Serve warm or cold with syrup and yoghurt
