Poached Pear With Stilton, Walnuts, Dates and Bacon

Photo: Eva Taylor

Ingredients

Poaching Liquid:

1 cup water

1/2 cup dry white wine (use the same wine you will serve with dinner!)

1 tablespoon brown sugar (if pears are sweet, no need to add a lot of sugar!)

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 pear (1/2 each serving)

Dressing:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 inches slices bacon slided into 1 ½ pieces

1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard

3 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

1 medium shallot diced finely

Salad:

6 dates, pitted and chopped coarsly

1/4 cup Stilton, crumbled into medium sized bits

4 cups mixed flavourful greens (arugula, endive, radicchio,

1/8 cup chopped nuts

Preparation

In a large saucepan, bring water, wine and sugar to a boil.

Peel and core the pear, slice in half.

Place the pears cut side down into the poaching liquid and cover and simmer for about 25 minutes or until knife tender.

Remove from poaching liquid and set pears aside to cool.

In a large non-reactive sauté pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and add bacon and sauté until crisp. Remove bacon and drain off excess oil. Add another tsp of olive oil and toast walnuts until crispy. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel.

Add another tsp of olive oil to same sauté pan (no need to wash) and sauté shallots until tender.

Add balsamic vinegar and warm. Add dijon to emulsify the pan juices and the balsamic and keep warm.

Lay a bed of greens on a simple white plate. Place the pears just off centre and crumble the stilton into the core area and allow to cascade off the pear to the greens. Evenly distribute the bacon, dates and walnuts on each plate of greens. Pour 1/2 the warm dressing over each of the salads (this will wilt the greens. Try to avoid the cheese so it won’t melt!)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Enjoy!