Poached Pears Recipe

We have a pear tree in the orchard which we managed to save from the ravages of the sheep. It had a lot of pears on it, however we failed to pick them early enough (it turns out you are meant to pick them and let them ripen off the tree) so only got a few. Doug isn't too keen on fresh pears (mushy texture not much taste) so I cooked them in red wine.

2 pears
1 cup red wine (cheap is fine - ours cost 0.8 EUR per liter!)
1/4 cup sugar
Spice if you wish (eg cinamon stick, couple of cloves, a star anise)

You can do the pears whole or cut in half (easier to get the core out). Either way peel and core the pear. If you are doing whole then cut the bottom so it is flat and you can serve standing up.
Put all the ingredients in a pan and simmer for about 30 mins until the pear feels soft and you can easily stick a fork in it.
Put the pears in the serving bowls (or anywhere you like) and continue to boil the liquid until it thickens at which point it starts boiling in a much more foamy way. Pour it over the pears and serve warm or cold.