a jewel đjust for you + raton!
why not poach a pear? why not have a champagne cocktail?
Bonjour-Bonjour,
For some reason I decided to make poached pears and Iâm so glad. Hooray for dead week, the slow days between Christmas and the New Year when we get to lay low. The perfect time to have something slow-cooking on the stove, scenting the house, tempting you with incoming deliciousness!
As you may know, weâre camped in an Airbnb for a long stay in Nice, France. And like most Airbnbs, our kitchen is undersupplied in all things. We have a scorched and warped pan that Iâm certain was once used to beat someone about the head and shoulders and now is probably making us ill with its scratched non-stick surface. There are just 3 mugs, one with no handle, a random assortment of mismatched plates, knives so dull I think they were used to cut wood, and, only one sad and lonely wine glass.
You may also be interested to know that I had to disassemble the trap beneath the bathroom sink to remove a Florida sized glob of stinky, toothpasty hair, many lightbulbs needed replacing for our old American eyes, and Joel made a startling discovery when taking out la poubelle. Two garçons moved from the park into the buildingâs salle poubelle! âEnchantĂ©,â they said to Joel who could not shake hands as he carried two bags of trash. Next, a rat died somewhere, infusing the stairwell with the horrible stench of, well, dead rat.
Friends, our Airbnb is not cheap! Itâs quite charming. Itâs old, with sun warped blue shutters, parquet floors, wainscoting, and green walls. The location est magnifique. To be fair, once we alerted the kind and friendly owners to the scant necessities, we received a large Amazon box with all the things. The building management installed a lock on the door to la salle poubelle. As of this writing we do not have a key and so we port our trash to the bins in the park. Were we in a large American city, weâd be upset. And yet, here in France⊠câest la vie!
For the poaching project there were few-to-zero staples in the cupboard so I flew by the seat of my pants. Iâm happy to report, it worked out marvelously!
Hereâs the non-recipe recipe:
Find small, firm pears. Wash and peel them. Meanwhile, pour an entire bottle of red wine into a saucepan on low heat. Add several star anise, I think I used three. Add cinnamon sticks. I used four. Then, add about three tablespoons of orange marmalade. (I went this route because I bought a gorgeous jar in Menton, and I had no sugar in the house.) Once the marmalade has melted, lower in pears and let them rest in the warm, slow simmering wine hot tub. At some point I had a taste of the broth and found it too bitter, so I added a couple tablespoons of peach jam to sweeten it up. You could absolutely use sugar or honey to sweeten to your preference.
After cooking for about an hour (whatever it takes to soften your pears), remove the fruit and turn up the heat so the liquid reduces to a syrup.
For the dessert, arrange the pear in a bowl beside a boule of vanilla gelato. Next, dribble a tablespoon of the wine syrup over the entire project. Place a slice of toasted almond nougat in the dish as well. Chefâs kiss!
For the champagne cocktail:
Pour the champagne into tall flutes (we have none here so we used our new wine glasses). Add a tablespoon of the wine syrup and float some pomegranate seeds. Raise your glass to friends and family! Raise your glass to good health and big laughs! Raise your glass to you!!
Bonne Année mes amis!
Thank you for being a part of my life. If youâre not yet a paid subscriber and you wish to send a little love my way:
If you missed the last few jewels⊠no fear! Here are a few everyone seemed to love: re: coffee cups. beans. boobs. doors. mistakes.
To stay in the loop:
Stanley, waiting for lunch to be over!
Tell your people you love them, and take care of your skin!
The vagaries of rentals! Our Airbnb over Christmas had one tea towel and no oven mitt. Because it was the USA we were miffed.
I hope your bed and shower were more delightful than la cuisine!!