Poached Pears

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This recipe is great for easing a dry, hacking cough. It has been adapted (with
very minor changes) from the Poached Pears in a Cinnamon-Ginger Syrup
recipe in Nina Simonds’ cookbook, A Spoonful of Ginger.

10 cups water
1 ½ cups sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
5 Chinese red dates (optional, but yummy)
8 slices fresh, unpeeled ginger, about the size of a quarter, smashed lightly with the flat edge of a knife
6 slightly under-ripe Bosc or Anjou pears
2 lemons

In a large pot, combine the water, sugar, cinnamon sticks, red dates and fresh
ginger. Heat until boiling, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 30 minutes.

Using a vegetable peeler or a paring knife, peel the pears, and rub the outside
with cut lemons to prevent them from turning brown.

Squeeze the juice from the lemons and add along with the pears to the cinnamon liquid.
Heat until boiling and reduce the heat to low, so that the water barely boils. Cook
uncovered for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until the pears are just tender. Remove and
place in a bowl.

Transfer about 3 cups of the cooking liquid to a smaller saucepan. (Discard the
ginger, dates and cinnamon sticks.) Heat until boiling, reduce the heat to
medium, and cook about 35 minutes or until the liquid thickens slightly. It should
be like a syrup.

Arrange the pears in serving bowls and pour the cinnamon-ginger syrup on top
and serve.

To serve cold, pour the syrup over the pears in a large bowl, cover with plastic
wrap, and refrigerate for several hours before serving.