Ingredients:
- 1 conference pear
- 750 ml (25 oz) red wine
- 50 g (75 oz) sugar
- 5 g (15 oz) cinnamon sticks
- 1 g (0.035 oz) lemon zest
For the confectioner’s custard:
- 500 ml (25 oz) macerated red wine
- 100 g (5 oz) egg yolk
- 125 g (4 oz) sugar
- 50 g (1.75 oz) corn starch
Preparation:
Combine the wine with the cinnamon, 50 g (1.75 oz) sugar, and the lemon peel in a bag at 100% vacuum. Cook the mixture in the SmartVide for 30 minutes at 75ºC (165ºF).
Once that time has passed, take the bag out, open it, and strain the wine. Set aside.
Next, divide the macerated wine into two parts: 500 ml(17 oz) for the confectioner’s custard and 250 ml (8.5 oz) for the pear marinade.
Immediately after, take the pear and cut it as thinly as possible with a meat slicer. Place a few pear slices in the macerated wine, which should be in a tray, and vacuum seal it with the SU vacuum packer using the “staged vacuum” program. The pear will absorb the wine while releasing small air bubbles contained inside. This will make it transparent.
For the cream, on the one hand, boil the wine in a pot and, on the other, place the sugar, egg yolks, and starch in a bowl. Slowly incorporate the boiling wine into the second bowl, stirring well. Then, return the entire mix into the pot and cook for 4 minutes while constantly stirring.
Strain the mixture to remove any clumps and set it aside on a tray with plastic wrap so that it does not stick. Put it in the refrigerator to cool.
Put the remaining macerated wine from the pear slices in a pot and slowly reduce it until a thick sauce remains. Set aside.
Finally, put the cold confectioner’s custard into a pastry bag and the wine sauce in a bottle to be able to plate the dish. Put the custard and sauce on separate parts of the plate and then place the pear slices on top and decorate with a flower.
In this recipe, thanks to the use of sous-vide, we get a maceration in which no aromas are lost, as would happen with other methods to the volatile aroma of lemon, which is lost at high temperatures.
In addition, this different way of using sous-vide allows us to make original combinations for our dishes since some fruits and tubers become translucent with this technique.
