The Washington Post - USA (2020-11-22)

R8 EZ EE THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22 , 2020

putting the pot on once the

biggest flames had started to die

down a bit.

Let it steam, but don’t let it

boil. While you’re not going to

lose all the alcohol content as the

drink warms, you don’t really

want the drink to boil. Allowing it

to simmer for 5 to 10 minutes is

fine; that will provide more time

for the spices to infuse. But if you

see the drink is starting to

bubble, take it off the fire. Add the

brandy and bitters, stir it up, and

it’ll be ready to serve.

Practice fire safety. Keep some

water nearby in case of rebellious

sparks, and you’ll want a good

oven mitt or work glove to handle

the pot.

[email protected]

Allan is a Hyattsville, Md., writer and

editor. Follow her on Twitter:

@Carrie_the_Red.

unripe hard pear won’t absorb

enough of the liquid or soften

enough during the cooking

process to work for the dessert.

Prep the serving mugs. It’s not

critical, but if you’re able to warm

the punch cups or mugs in

advance by filling them with hot

water as the drink warms, your

drinks will stay warm longer once

you serve them.

If you’re cooking over a fire,

using one pot is fine. For the sake

of ease, you may opt to toast the

spices in the same pot the drink

will be made in. Once the spices

have toasted over the fire for a

few minutes, just add the pear

nectar, port and strips of orange

peel. The liquids may sizzle a bit,

but that’s okay. Just stir them up

with the spices and watch for the

drink to start steaming. The cook

time will depend on the heat of

your fire — I got the best results

ever makes it to serving. I can’t

cook without snacking on

ingredients as I eat, and the flavor

of the poaching liquid is so

delicious, I’ve long thought it

deserves more of the spotlight.

Hence this cocktail, in which the

pears themselves are optional,

but the classic flavors of the

dessert become a warm, cozy

cocktail — to sip in front of the

fire, or in front of whatever show

you’re bingeing to get through

this craziness.

Here are some things to keep

in mind:

Look for fruit that’s just ripe.

If you decide to include the pears

to serve as a dessert later, look for

ones that are just ripening — not

hard and woody, not soft. Feel

around the stem, and if the pear

gives a little right there at the top,

you’ve got the just-right

Goldilocks of pears. Most

supermarket varieties will work

fine here; the degree of ripeness

is more important than the type,

since an overly ripe pear may fall

apart in its hot wine bath, and an

done versions of spiced cider and

Irish coffee this way. But for the

holidays, I circled back to an idea

that’s been floating in the back of

my head for years: turning a

classic dessert into a cocktail.

The dish I’ve had in mind is

pears poached in port. It’s

delicious and festive, yet pretty

simple to prepare. And it

captures the flavors and colors I

want to experience during

autumn: the voluptuous fruit

glazed in deep burgundy hues,

the dig of your spoon exposing

the golden flesh underneath, the

whole dish redolent with

cinnamon and cloves. Throw a

little vanilla or ginger ice cream

in with it, or serve the pears over

a slice of pound cake, the syrup

soaking into the crumb. Heck, do

both. A pandemic is no time for

dieting.

When I’ve made this dessert, I

usually reduce the liquid I’ve

used to poach the pears down a

bit, so it becomes a rich syrup to

pour over the pears and ice

cream. But it’s amazing the syrup

can easily do this on the stove top

instead — in fact, the stove top is

really optimal, because it makes

controlling the heat easier.

I offer the fire pit option only

because, for me at least,

gathering with a few others

around a fire, the vast outdoors

around us, has felt like one of the

few true comforts of the past

eight months, and one of the few

that seems safe to indulge in.

Smelling spices toasting over a

fire you’ve made and watching

the steam start to gather above a

pot full of wine and autumn fruit

— well, the world isn’t offering

too many good things right now,

but this feels like one. It’s also a

cocktail that facilitates social

distancing: Once the drink is hot,

each person can approach the pot

in turn and ladle out their own

portion, minimizing the need to

get close for serving.

There are any number of hot

drinks you could do in this large-

format, fire pit mode, so I invite

you to find a favorite recipe and

experiment with scaling it up. I’ve

Ingredients

l6 allspice berries

l2 cinnamon sticks

l4 whole cloves

l6 black peppercorns

l 11 / 2 cups pear nectar

l 11 / 2 cups ruby port

l4 ripe pears, peeled, cored and

quartered (optional, see

headnote)

lStripped peel from 1 orange

l1 cup brandy

l^1 / 2 teaspoon Angostura bitters

lNutmeg, for garnish (optional)

Steps

lFill your serving cups with hot

water to keep them warm while

you prepare the drink.

lIn a small pan over medium

heat, toast the allspice, cinna-

mon, cloves and peppercorns

until fragrant, stirring frequent-

ly to ensure they don’t scorch.

lIn a large pot over medium heat,

warm the pear nectar and port.

Add the quartered pears, if

u sing.

lAdd the toasted spices and

o range peel to the mixture and

bring to a simmer, then

d ecrease the heat to medium-

low. Let the drink infuse over

the heat for 10 to 15 minutes,

then add the brandy and bitters.

Stir to combine, and let the

drink warm up for 1 to 2 min-

utes.

lLadle the drink into mugs. Gar-

nish with a sprinkle of nutmeg,

if using. (Reserve the pears to

serve with ice cream.)

Nutrition | Per serving: 217 calories, 0 g

protein, 17 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 0 g

saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 4 mg

sodium, 0 g dietary fiber, 16 g sugar

Recipe tested by M. Carrie Allan; email

questions to [email protected]

As the weather
has gotten cooler
and the pandemic
news grimmer,
we’ve cast our eyes
ahead toward the
holidays and the long winter to
come and joined the hordes of
Americans buying fire pits. We’ve
socialized extremely rarely over
the months since March, always
outdoors, masked and socially
distanced, but the encroaching
dark and cold clearly call for new
strategies, and I’ve hoped that
having a backyard fire would
provide a means to safely
socialize with friends just a bit
longer into the cold months,
before the reality of winter and
conducting most relationships
via Zoom sets in.
I can see the end already,
though. While I generally like the
cold, here in Maryland right now
the fire pit is adding just enough
warmth to the increasingly chilly
evenings that the half of my body
facing the fire still enjoys being
outside, while my backside,
facing the dark and the cold, is
ready to go back inside and
return to its well-worn divot on
the couch.
Still, I plan to hold out as long
as I can. To be by the fire feels
comforting, primal and human in
a way little else does right now.
If yours is one of the many
households that has acquired a
fire pit to help you cope with the
upcoming hellish winter or
facilitate a safer gathering for
Thanksgiving, you might
consider doing this cocktail over
it. Much has been written about
the communal nature of punch,
the flowing bowl around which
celebrants come together, and if
there’s anything that will increase
the large-format cocktail’s
inherent invitation to gather, it’s
adding a fire underneath it —
casting light and warmth and
giving people something to stare
at. Put on your jackets, put your
chairs in a circle a safe distance
around the fire, and pass out the
blankets and mugs.
Some fire pits come with grates
that allow for cooking, but if you
have one that doesn’t
accommodate a grate, you can
buy a steel tripod that will allow
you to suspend a Dutch oven
above your pit. I’ve made hot
drinks over both models, and
each of them is workable. But you

Spirits

M. CARRIE
ALLAN

A warm cocktail and an open flame can bring some comfort as it gets cold

Portly Pear

4 to 6 servings

A warm, autumnal fortified wine drink based on the flavors of a

classic dessert, this shareable cocktail is great for sipping on cold nights

around a fire. You can even prepare it over one, if you have a firepit, but

keeping it over low heat on the stove will work just fine. If you want a

little more sweetness, add a tablespoon of brown sugar or maple syrup

to taste. You can even cook ripe pears in this drink as it warms, and

serve them with vanilla or ginger ice cream. If you opt to do this, add

them to the pot with the nectar and port.

The leftover cooked pears can be refrigerated in an airtight container

for up to 3 days.

From Spirits columnist M. Carrie Allan.

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