malbec mulled wine poached pears with Castello camembert cheese
you might remember back in december i teamed up with Castello Cheese and shared an autumn cheeseboard with a puff wrapped baked brie…well we are teaming up again to bring you a valentine's day themed cheeseboard creation. this cheeseboard is meant to be shared with not only your significant other but a group of your nearest and dearest friends!
i actually love this idea so much, it is kinda like the "friendsgiving" that happens at thanksgiving. you gather up some friends that don't have family in town or maybe their family is going away for the holidays and they can't join them, or they just don't want to hang with family (haha we've all been there). well this is kinda the same thing, except maybe it’s you and your single girlfriends, or a few of your couple friends or maybe you just want to have your family over on valentine's to say how much you love them!
a cheeseboard is the ultimate in sharing and entertaining. relatively simple to piece together, it always looks incredibly stunning on a table and who doesn't love to nibble on all the different flavours and textures you can combine on a cheeseboard?! for this valentine’s day gathering i chose three cheeses: Castello Camembert {goes deliciously well with the poached pears}, Castello Extra Creamy Danish Blue {smooth and creamy with a milder “blue” taste, just enough and not too overpowering} and Castello Double Crème White {covered in a thin rind, the middle is velvety soft, extra creamy & melts in your mouth}.
cheeseboards don't always tend to have a dessert component, besides the odd fruit or piece of chocolate or chocolate dipped strawberries, so i wanted to add an extra dessert-like touch to my valentine’s cheeseboard this year.
poached pears are absolutely stunning when you present them yet so easy to make! trust me, your guests will think you are a masterchef when you serve these pears! of course in valentine’s form i decided to poach these beauties with a spiced red malbec; the colour of the pears is gorgeous as is the flavour. i made a super simple cinnamon & maple crème fraîche to go along with the pears and also served them with a slice of Castello Camembert Cheese. the soft creaminess of the Camembert went beautifully with the rich spiced wine and the crème fraîche added just a touch of tang. it’s a delightful combination!
the other bits and bobs in this cheeseboard include:
Castello Extra Creamy Danish Blue
locally made pepperoni
parmesan crusted salami
thinly sliced prosciutto
sweet red grapes
homemade 3 pepper jelly
fresh olive bread
assortment of italian olives
shelled nuts
& of course the poached pears....
now go get your love on folks, and remember whether you have a significant other or not, valentine's can be celebrated with all sorts of kinds of love xx
malbec mulled wine poached pears with Castello camembert cheese & maple cinnamon crème fraîche
ingredients:
1 bottle of Malbec {750 ml}
1 1/2 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole star anise
10 whole cloves
1 vanilla bean, sliced and seeds scraped
3 bay leaves
juice & zest of one blood orange
zest of one lemon
1 cup cane sugar
3/4 cup maple syrup
5 firm/just-ripe bosc pears
crème fraîche/ice cream/yogurt
directions
in a medium pot add all of the above ingredients except the pears and stir together.
with a knife or a vegetable peeler, peel the pears as nicely as possible. slice a little off the bottom of the pears so that they can sit upright when served.
place the peeled pears into the poaching wine {making sure they are fully covered}, bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat down to a simmer for 1 hour {this may be less or more time depending on the ripeness of the pears} or until pears are tender and a deep red hue. make sure to turn the pears every so often so that all sides make it into the liquid for poaching and colour.
once tender, take the pears out of the poaching liquid and set aside. turn the liquid back up to a gentle boil and reduce until the liquid turns into a thick syrup {about 20-25 minutes}.
to make the cinnamon maple crème fraîche: spoon 6 tbsp of crème fraiche into a small bowl, mix with 1/2 tsp of cinnamon & 2-3 tsp of maple syrup. alternatively you can serve the pears with ice cream, greek yogurt or whipped cream. i also served mine with a slice of Castello Camembert cheese and it was the perfect pairing.
to serve, spoon some of the cinnamon maple crème fraiche onto a plate, place a pear on top, drizzle with some of the poaching syrup, add a slice of camembert!
*thank you Castello Cheese for sponsoring this post. all comments, opinions and photography are my own.