Southern Poached Pears With Gentlemen Jack Sauce Recipe

+ Directions : Servings: 6 Carefully peel pears, leaving stems intact. Place in pot or saucepan large enough to hold all 8 pears and cover with water. Add brown sugar and slowly bring to a boil. Reudce heat and simmer about 8 to 10 minutes or until pears can be easily pierced with a fork. Do not overcook or they will become mushy. Remove from heat and allow to cool in the poaching liquid. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Remove pears from liquid, reserving liquid. Place liquid on the stove, bring to a boil and boil until liquid is reduced in volume to 1 cup. When reduced, set aside and allow to cool. While liquid is reducing, halve the pears lengthwise, leaving the stems attached to one half of each pear. Carefully remove the core of each pear half, taking care to leave pears intact. Set the six most attractive pear halves with stems attached and their "mates" aside. Remove the stems from the two remaining pear halves and place with their two mates in a blender container. Pour the reduced poaching liquid and Gentleman Jack Rare Tennessee Whiskey into the container with the pears and puree until smooth. Makes about 2 cups puree. (At this point the pear halves and puree can be covered and refrigerated until ready to serve. ) To serve, divide half of the puree equally among each of six plates, pouring a little sauce on the bottom of each plate. Place a pear half with stem attached, cavity side down, on each plate on top of puree. With a sharp knife, starting about 1/2-inch from the stem end, carefully make slices in the pear half all the way through the opposite end and about 1/4 inch apart. Fan the slices apart by pressing gently on them until the ends separate slightly. Place remaining pear halves without stems, cavity side up, next to each fanned pear half. Fill cavity with a 1-ounce (2 tablespoon) scoop of ice milk. Place a mint leaf beside each pear stem for garnish. Add a few slices of strawberry for color, if desired. Serves 6. Each serving contains approximately 210 calories, 2 mg cholesterol, 2 g. fat, 16 mg sodium. From "Cook It Light", Jeanne Jones Rochester, NY Times-Union. (July 22,1991)